Okinawa Elects Pro-Base Governor as Ruling Party-Backed Koja Defeats Tamaki
Okinawan voters elected a candidate backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling party on Sunday, delivering a landslide win to Genta Koja and ending 12 years in which the prefecture’s governor opposed a contentious U.S. military base relocation plan.
Koja, 42, defeated incumbent Denny Tamaki, 66, who had sought a third term and built his political career around demanding that the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base be moved out of Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture.
According to the prefectural government, Koja won 423,124 votes to Tamaki’s 276,060.
The result puts a supporter of the central government’s plan in the governor’s office for the first time in more than a decade. Under that plan, Futenma would remain on Okinawa’s main island but be relocated to a less populated area. Tokyo and Washington first agreed to move the base from Ginowan in 1996, after the rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen sparked widespread anti-base protests.
The relocation was approved in 2013 by then-Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, but he lost the following year to an opponent of the move. The issue has since remained a defining fault line in Okinawan politics, pitting local concerns about safety, noise and environmental damage against Tokyo’s alliance priorities.
Koja, a former civil servant and deputy mayor of Naha, the prefectural capital, campaigned largely on economic issues. He pledged to double Okinawa’s average income, the local government’s childcare budget and tourist spending on the island, which has long lagged behind much of Japan economically.
On Monday, he said he would 'make progress on livelihood issues, the economy and childcare assistance' by listening to the views of all Okinawan residents.
Takaichi told reporters in Tokyo that she would 'do my utmost to coordinate efforts with the new governor to strengthen the Okinawan economy.' She added that she would address other matters after hearing from Koja.
The U.S. military presence is likely to remain a central challenge for Koja. About 54,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan, most of them in Okinawa, and a series of incidents over the years—including sexual assaults—has fueled local anger. Pollution, aircraft noise and helicopter crashes have added to residents’ complaints.
Okinawa hosts a disproportionate share of U.S. bases in Japan and occupies a strategically important position in the alliance, but the burden of hosting them has repeatedly strained relations between the prefecture, Tokyo and Washington.
Koja’s victory may ease pressure on the central government as it seeks to advance the Futenma relocation, though local opposition remains deep. For Tamaki and his supporters, the vote marks a sharp reversal after years in which the prefecture used the governor’s office to challenge the plan.
In the coming months, Koja will face the difficult task of balancing his economic promises with the security and environmental concerns that have long divided Okinawa.