🇯🇵🇺🇸 Okinawa Accepts Osprey Deployment

Okinawa Gov. Genta Koja said Friday the prefecture accepts the deployment of U.S. MV-22 Osprey aircraft at Futenma air station, reversing the local government's longstanding opposition. Koja, who took office late last month, said the deployment should no longer be retracted after more than a decade of operations and with Japan's Self-Defense Forces also using the aircraft.

Previous Okinawa administrations had opposed the Osprey presence since before its initial deployment in 2012, citing safety concerns linked to accidents in Japan and abroad. Koja also supports relocating the U.S. Marine Corps base from densely populated Ginowan to the coastal Henoko area in Nago, aligning his position on the aircraft with backing for the broader base transfer plan.

The shift removes a long-standing point of prefectural resistance to the Osprey presence in Okinawa. It also brings the governor's stance closer to the existing Japan-U.S. basing framework on the island.

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