The man who said 'no' to Japan's PMs

JAPAN - The governor of Okinawa, Mr Hirokazu Nakaima, hardly ever manages a smile.

And until last week, he was the only governor who dared to say "no" to a succession of prime ministers who sought his approval to relocate a controversial US airbase.

Since he took charge of the prefecture in 2006, Mr Nakaima has had to field tough questions from reporters all the time.

These include whether or not he supports building a runway at Henoko in Okinawa to replace the United States' Futenma airbase, which is located in the middle of a densely populated town in a different part of the prefecture.

Environmentalists object to the choice of Henoko, saying marine life in the area will be threatened, while many Okinawans want the Futenma airbase to be moved out of the prefecture completely.

But no other local authority in Japan is willing to host another US airbase.

Neither are the Americans keen to leave Okinawa.

Mr Nakaima has been grappling with this dilemma since he became governor, vowing to move Futenma out of Okinawa.

Procedurally, his assent is required for the reclamation of land at Henoko for a new base.

Successive premiers have tried to get him to say "yes" but without success - until Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week.

He has met every request from the central government with a stern "no" and an unyielding look on his face to underline it.

It is no wonder that Western reporters, used to seeing governors of other prefectures become all conciliatory when they meet the prime minister of the day, are inclined to view Mr Nakaima as pugnacious and belligerent.

But to understand why he appears to be so, one must remember that Okinawa is unlike other Japanese prefectures.

The independent kingdom of Ryukyu that became Okinawa after it was annexed to Japan 134 years ago still retains much of its uniqueness and a surprising reluctance by its people to be regarded as Japanese.

Okinawa residents still proudly refer to themselves as "uchinanchu" (people of Okinawa).

They use the word "Nihonjin" (Japanese) only when talking about people from other parts of Japan and "Nihon" (Japan) when speaking about the rest of the country.

Worried that Mr Nakaima might cave in to the overtures from the central government, one Okinawan assemblyman in October decided to ascertain where the governor's allegiance lies.

"What is Japan to Okinawa?" Mr Nakaima was asked in the local assembly.

He replied: "It has only been about 130 years since Okinawa became part of Japan. We may thus need to consider Japan's relations with Okinawa in that context and to drop the notion that Okinawa has forever been a part of Japan."

That was how he had felt, Mr Nakaima said, when he first came to Tokyo after high school to attend the prestigious Tokyo University where he studied engineering.

Despite having served many years in the national bureaucracy, followed by a stint as Okinawa vice-governor and later as head of the local power company, the 74-year-old's view remains unchanged.

"No doubt, the same thought has also crossed the minds of our officials," he added.

The answer left the assembly in no doubt as to the governor's credentials.

Okinawa's special history puts Mr Nakaima in a category of his own.

Prime ministers treat him differently from the country's other 46 prefectural governors.

To be sure, the special treatment also stems partly from the fact that prime ministers are desperate to resolve the Futenma issue, which has been stalemated since the US and Japan agreed in 1996 to relocate the facility.

When Mr Yoshihiko Noda, the previous prime minister, wanted to meet Mr Nakaima, he made an overnight trip to Okinawa even though the important Lower House budget committee was in session in Tokyo and his full attendance was expected.

When Mr Abe met Mr Nakaima in Tokyo recently, several ministers sat in.

Last week, after keeping everyone in suspense, Mr Nakaima announced that he would approve a project to reclaim 160ha of land off Henoko, but not before extracting from the government a 15 per cent increase in subsidies for Okinawa, the nation's poorest prefecture.

Not surprisingly, many Okinawans felt that he had betrayed them.

Only those who put their livelihoods first grudgingly supported the governor.

But Mr Nakaima may not necessarily have broken his promise to Okinawans.

Mr Susumu Inamine, the current mayor of Nago city of which Henoko is a part, is against the landfill project.

If he retains his job in next month's election, the project is unlikely to get off the ground.

Besides, demonstrators are likely to try to block it.

This may be the reason for Mr Nakaima's rare smile last week.

"I feel this will be a good New Year," he told reporters.

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