Okinawa Governor Genta Kojya will ask the government to set a clear date for the return of the US military's Futenma Air Station and to back efforts to double prefectural income, according to the full text of a request he plans to submit at a meeting on Friday. Multiple people familiar with the matter confirmed the contents on Thursday.
Kojya is due to hand the request to the government at the Okinawa Policy Council, a forum where the central government and the prefecture discuss base and development policy. The return of the Futenma site in Ginowan has been promised for years without a firm handover date.
A formal request is one of the few levers a prefectural governor holds over base policy, which is set by the central government and by the agreement between Tokyo and Washington. The income target adds an economic demand to the base issue.