Defense & Security

Oura Bay Work Begins in Henoko Base Relocation Project

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Landfill operations are seen at the Oura Bay side of the Henoko coastal area in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture on Tuesday.

Jiji Press

17:43 JST, August 20, 2024

Nago, Okinawa Pref., Aug. 20 (Jiji Press) — Japan’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday began its first full-scale U.S. base relocation work on the Oura Bay side of the Henoko coastal area in the city of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.

The work, which involves the construction of seawalls on the Oura Bay side with soft ground, is part of the project to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in the Okinawa city of Ginowan. The ministry plans to fill in the area surrounded by the seawalls with soil.

Meanwhile, the Okinawa prefectural government is demanding that the Oura Bay work be halted, claiming that the ministry has not completed its prior consultation with the prefecture.

On Tuesday, metal stakes were driven into the seabed, as protesters rallied around the site.

Following the discovery of the soft ground on the Oura Bay side, land minister Tetsuo Saito gave proxy approval for a design change to the base relocation project in December last year, after Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki refused to approve the change.

The ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau then notified the prefectural government in June that it would end prior consultation with the prefecture side and launch the full-scale Oura Bay work as early as Aug. 1.