Military

Tokunoshima Mayors Refuse to Talk to Tokyo

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Hirofumi Hirano

Tokyo -- The three mayors of the remote Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture revealed today that they have refused to meet with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano in connection with the possibility of moving part of the functions of the US Marine base at Futenma to their location.

Hirano appears to have asked for the meeting in a telephone call to one of the mayors, only to be rebuffed.

The three mayors declared, "We cannot overturn the will of our island's people. We will not have any meetings with the government about the Futenma issue."

On Sunday, an estimated 15,000 of the islands residents turned out for an anti-base rally. That number represents more than half of the island's total population.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has promised to resolve the Futenma relocation issue by the end of May.



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