Roundup: Japan celebrates U.S. return of military training land in Okinawa amid protests for resumption of Osprey flights

The Japanese government celebrated on Thursday the return by the U.S. military of a 4000-hectare training land in Okinawa, while local people continued efforts to protest against the resumption of controversial Osprey flights as well as U.S. military presence in the island prefecture.

A celebration ceremony for the return was held on Thursday at a coastal resort in Nago, Okinawa, with Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada attending, both vowing to continue their efforts to reduce Okinawa's burden for hosting the U.S. bases.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, for her part, called the land return a "milestone for the Japan-U.S. alliance" at the ceremony, promising that safety is "No. 1 priority" for the U.S. forces there.

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, however, absented himself from the ceremony to attend a rally held by local people to protest against the U.S. resumption of the controversial Osprey aircraft in Okinawa less than a week after a major accident that injured two. Over 4200 people attended the rally held in Nago.

Onaga was quoted by local reports as saying that the return of the training land would "not change the situation much" in terms of the base-hosting burdens imposed on Okinawa.

According to a 1996 pact made between Tokyo and Washington, the U.S. agreed to return some 4,000 hectares of the 7,800-hectare Northern Training Area in the villages of Kunigami and Higashi to Okinawa, though with a prerequisite that six helipads on the land shall be relocated.

Construction of the new helipads was completed in mid-December, despite strong protests from residents in the neighboring areas on ground of noise problems and safety concerns caused by the aircraft.

The local people, concerned over safety, also want the U.S. Osprey aircraft to remain grounded in Okinawa, as the the tiltrotor transport aircraft, designed to take off like a helicopter and fly like a plane, is known for a record of fatal accidents.

A MV-22 Osprey aircraft belonging to the Futenma base in the city of Ginowan made a water crash-landing off Okinawa on Dec. 13, injuring two crew members and triggering safety concerns and anger from local people.

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly passed a resolution Thursday, demanding the removal of the controversial aircraft as well as the U.S. Marine Corps from Okinawa.

The Japanese and U.S. governments have been seeking to move the Futenma base from Ginowan to the less-populated Henoko coastal area of Nago, saying that the plan is "the only solution" to address problems posed by the base without undermining the Japan-U.S. alliance.

The people of Okinawa, however, have been demanding the Futenma base to be relocated outside the prefecture. Endit