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U.S. Kadena Air Base (center) next to the town of Kadena. (Mainichi)

The Kadena Municipal Government in Okinawa has joined hands with U.S. forces in the prefecture -- whom it has repeatedly criticized for many years over noise pollution -- in trying to prevent the central government from going ahead with a plan to integrate U.S. Air Station Futenma into Kadena Air Base.

Kadena Mayor Tokujitsu Miyagi, 73, met with base commander Brigadier General Kenneth Wilsbach at the base on Oct. 5. The mayor handed over a copy of the national government's scenario for relocating Air Station Futenma out of Japan to Wilsbach. The mayor then told the commander that the parliamentary vice minister of defense would visit Washington with the document.

The scenario proposed that Futenma base would be first integrated into Kadena base on condition that its use be limited to 15 years, and subsequently relocated to Guam and the U.S. mainland.

It further calls for the relocation of 28 Kadena-based F15 fighters to other bases, a ban at Kadena on any exercise using any aircraft that are based at other bases to reduce noise pollution, and the closure of other U.S. bases south of Kadena.

The commander smiled and jokingly asked if the Japanese government intends to intervene in U.S. forces.

The mayor seriously told Wilsbach, "You should inform the home government of the scenario before the parliamentary vice minister visits the United States."

Wilsback agreed, saying the scenario is unacceptable.

Mayor Miyagi obtained a copy of the scenario from Mikio Shimoji, 48, a People's New Party (PNP) legislator elected in Okinawa Prefecture. Shimoji serves as chief of the policy board of the PNP, a coalition partner of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

"Would you please make judgment from a broader perspective?" Shimoji said when he told the mayor that Parliamentary Vice Defense Minister Akihisa Nagashima will soon visit Washington to put forward the plan.

Shimoji declined to comment on what he discussed with Miyagi, but emphasized that the government has no choice but to go ahead with the original relocation plan. "It's not a question of whether U.S. forces will accept the integration of Futenma with Kadena base. They want to stick to Henoko (the area where a substitute facility for Futenma would be built under the original plan). We're under strong pressure from the U.S."

The plan to integrate Futenma base with Kadena base was considered when Tokyo and Washington agreed in 1996 to close Futenma base on condition that a substitute facility be built within the prefecture.

However, the plan went up in smoke after Kadena residents voiced stiff opposition to it and U.S. forces expressed reluctance to allow joint use of the same facility by Air Force fighters and Marine Corps helicopters.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada brought forth the plan again on Oct. 23, 18 days after Miyagi met with Wilsback. After obtaining a copy of the scenario, Miyagi, who is opposed to the integration, promptly took action before the government unveiled the integration plan. The mayor chose to launch a joint struggle with U.S. forces -- whom he had frequently protested against over noise pollution from Kadena base -- against the Hatoyama administration.

"The commander is the best one through whom we can convey our opposition to the integration to the United States. The Foreign Ministry isn't the right choice," says Mayor Miyagi. His words reveal his deep distrust of the national government.

Behind his distrust is local residents' longstanding anger at the fact that measures the national government has worked out to reduce noise pollution were either watered down or never implemented. (Part-one of a three-part series)