U.S. won’t return Futenma site unless Japan agrees to long runway at Henoko

WASHINGTON –

The U.S. Department of Defense has said that it would not return the site of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture to the Japanese side unless a long runway is secured at a replacement facility.

In 2017, the Government Accountability Office, part of the U.S. Congress, pointed out that the planned two runways at a Futenma replacement facility to be built in the Henoko coastal district in the city of Nago in the prefecture would be shorter than the runway at the existing base, thereby lowering the Marine Corps’ operational capabilities.

In response, the department told the GAO last year that it “is continuing to work with the government of Japan to find a long runway.”

Finalizing the selection of the alternative runway is “the responsibility of the government of Japan,” and the Futenma base site “will not be returned to Japan until it makes that selection,” the department added.

Regarding this, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said at a news conference Monday, “We are not thinking at all that the Futenma site will not be returned to Japan after the base is relocated to the replacement facility in Henoko.”

The Defense Ministry is working to confirm the U.S. department’s view presented to the GAO, the top Japanese government spokesperson added.

While the runway at the Futenma base in the Okinawa city of Ginowan is roughly 2,700 meters long, the two Henoko runways, to be arranged in a V shape, will be about 1,800 meters each.

The Japanese and U.S. governments have agreed that the Marines Corps would use a private-sector airport if a long runway is needed.