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Sakima wins Ginowan mayoral election in Okinawa Pref.

GINOWAN, Japan - Atsushi Sakima (C), a former member of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, celebrates his victory in Ginowan mayoral election at his election office in Ginowan, the city hosting the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, on Feb. 12, 2012. Sakima, backed by Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima as well as the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party and its ally the New Komeito party, beat former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha in the closely contested election.

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Ex-Ginowan mayor Iha loses in mayoral election

GINOWAN, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha (R) looks dejected in his election office in Ginowan, the city hosting the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, on Feb. 12, 2012, after losing in the Ginowan mayoral election. Atsushi Sakima, a former member of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, won the election held the same day.

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Mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture

GINOWAN, Japan - Atsushi Sakima casts his vote in the mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Feb. 12, 2012. Two independents -- Sakima, 47, a former member of the Okinawa prefectural assembly, and former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha, 60 -- are vying for the position amid controversy over a plan to relocate a key U.S. base from the city.

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Mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture

GINOWAN, Japan - Yoichi Iha casts his vote with his wife in the mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Feb. 12, 2012. Two independents -- former Ginowan Mayor Iha, 60, and Atsushi Sakima, 47, a former member of the Okinawa prefectural assembly -- are vying for the position amid controversy over a plan to relocate a key U.S. base from the city.

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Ginowan mayoral election

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha campaigns on Feb. 5, 2012, for the mayoral election in the Okinawa Prefecture city, with the relocation of a key U.S. Marine Corps base in Ginowan the top issue.

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Iha fails at Okinawa governor bid

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha bows to supporters in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, as he lost to incumbent Hirokazu Nakaima in the Okinawa gubernatorial election.

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Okinawa gubernatorial election

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa gubernatorial election candidate Yoichi Iha bows to supporters in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, after the media reports his rival, incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, is heading for reelection.

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Okinawa governor reelected

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) receives a kiss from his daughter Chisato at his election office in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, after he won reelection, beating strong challenger former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha.

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Iha fails at Okinawa governor bid

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha speaks to reporters in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, as he lost to incumbent Hirokazu Nakaima in the Okinawa gubernatorial race.

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Candidates make last pitches for Okinawa gubernatorial race

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha delivers a speech at a final meeting for the gubernatorial election in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Nov. 27, 2010, a day ahead of the election. The race is considered crucial to the future of the Japan-U.S. security alliance involving a planned relocation of a U.S. military base.

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Okinawa governor election campaigning

NAHA, Japan - Incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima shakes hands with eligible voters in Naha on Nov. 11, 2010 as official campaigning began for the Nov. 28 gubernatorial election. The controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base is a major focus in what is effectively a two-man race against former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha.

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Okinawa governor election campaigning

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha waves to people in Naha on Nov. 11, 2010 after filing his candidacy the same day to challenge incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima in the Nov. 28 gubernatorial election. The controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base is a major focus in what is effectively a two-man race.

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Okinawa governor election campaigning

NAHA, Japan - Incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima waves to people in Naha on Nov. 11, 2010 as official campaigning began for the Nov. 28 gubernatorial election. The controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base is a major focus in what is effectively a two-man race against former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha.

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Okinawa governor election campaigning

NAHA, Japan - Incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima delivers a speech in Naha on Nov. 11, 2010 as official campaigning began for the Nov. 28 gubernatorial election. The controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base is a major focus in what is effectively a two-man race against former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha.

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Okinawa governor election campaigning

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha delivers a speech in Naha on Nov. 11, 2010 after filing his candidacy the same day to challenge incumbent Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima in the Nov. 28 gubernatorial election. The controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base is a major focus in what is effectively a two-man race.

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Nago mayor to run for Okinawa governor election

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha announces his bid to run for the Okinawa gubernatorial election during a press conference in the city Aug. 20, 2010. The mayor has demanded that the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station be moved from the city.

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Host city plans to sue state over Futenma base

NAHA, Japan - Yoichi Iha, the mayor of Ginowan City in Okinawa Prefecture, speaks at a news conference at the municipal office on July 2, 2010 about a plan to sue the state over the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Air Station in the city. Iha said that by continuing to provide the United States with the use of the facility, ignoring the danger posed to the citizens, the state's actions are ''unconstitutional.''

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SDP chief will look closely at Japan-U.S. statement on Futemma

NAGO, Japan - Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two junior partners in the governing coalition, speaks at a news conference in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 25, 2010, after separate meetings with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, Nago Mayor Susumi Inamie and Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the prefecture.

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SDP chief will look closely at Japan-U.S. statement on Futemma

NAGO, Japan - Mizuho Fukushima (R), leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two junior partners in the governing coalition, and Nago Mayor Susumi Inamine shake hands after their talks at the city government building in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 25, 2010. Fukushima also held separate meetings with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the prefecture.

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SDP chief will look closely at Japan-U.S. statement on Futemma

NAGO, Japan - Mizuho Fukushima (L), leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two junior partners in the governing coalition, and Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha shake hands after their talks at the city government building in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 25, 2010. Fukushima also held separate meetings with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the prefecture.

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17,000 people encircle Futemma base in 'human chain'

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha (R) and Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine (C) join a ''human chain'' encircling the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 16, 2010. About 17,000 people took part in the demonstration to call for an early return of the base and opposing plans to relocate its functions within the prefecture.

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Anti-Futemma base rally in Okinawa

YOMITAN, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha addresses a nonpartisan rally in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 25, 2010, calling for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station now in Ginowan.

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Ginowan mayor seeks early Futemma base closure

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha (R) talks about the city's hosting of the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station (in distance) to members of a House of Representatives committee at a park in the city in Okinawa Prefecture on April 12, 2010. Iha repeated a call for the closure of the base on the 14th anniversary of the original Japan-U.S. agreement for that end.

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Ginowan mayor seeks early Futemma base closure

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha speaks at a press conference in the city in Okinawa Prefecture on April 12, 2010. Iha repeated a call for the closure of the controversial U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the city on the 14th anniversary of the original Japan-U.S. agreement for that end.

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Okada, Ginowan mayor discuss U.S. base issue

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha holds a meeting with Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 5, 2009. Okada told the mayor, whose city hosts the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, that the Japanese government is facing a tough situation as it seeks a settlement over where to relocate the U.S. military base.

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Okada, Ginowan mayor discuss U.S. base issue

NAHA, Japan - Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada holds a meeting with Ginowan Mayaor Yoichi Iha at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 5, 2009. Okada told the mayor, whose city hosts the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, that the Japanese government is facing a tough situation as it seeks a settlement over where to relocate the U.S. military base.

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Okada discusses U.S. base issue with Ginowan mayor

NAHA, Japan - Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada (L) holds talks with Ginowan Mayaor Yoichi Iha (C, right) at a hotel in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 5, 2009. Okada told the mayor, whose city hosts the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, that the Japanese government is facing a tough situation as it seeks a settlement over where to relocate the U.S. military base.

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Okinawa people urge gov't to confer from unified position over Futemma

TOKYO, Japan - Mayor Yoichi Iha (L) of Ginowan in Okinawa Prefecture speaks during a news conference while Mayor Takeshi Onaga (R) of Naha, the capital of the prefecture, listens after they urged the central government to negotiate with the United States from a unified position over where a U.S. military airfield in the prefecture should be relocated.

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Iha, against U.S. base plan, reelected Ginowan mayor in Okinawa

GINOWAN, Japan - Incumbent Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha (C) celebrates his assured victory April 22 in the mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa, which hosts the U.S. Marines Corps Futemma Air Station subject to a relocation plan. Iha is opposed to the plan to relocate the air station within the prefecture in line with an agreement between Japan and the United States.

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Okinawa city uses bumper stickers to protest U.S. military base

GINOWAN, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha pastes a sticker on his official car in a bumper sticker campaign he began on Sept. 7 to urge a resolution to the problems associated with having a U.S. military base in the Okinawan city. In August 2004, a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter from Futemma Air Station crashed into a university campus adjacent to the base in Ginowan.

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Ginowan mayor leaves for U.S. to push for Futemma relocation

NAHA, Japan - Yoichi Iha (L), mayor of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, speaks July 10 at Naha airport before leaving for the United States to make a fresh pitch for the U.S. government to soon relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station and return the land it is on to his city.

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Ginowan mayor visits U.S. military HQ to protest chopper crash

FUSSA, Japan - Yoichi Iha, mayor of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, speaks with reporters after visiting the U.S. military headquarters at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo on Sept. 22 to protest a Marine helicopter crash in the city in August.

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(1)U.S. resumes Futemma drills after copter crash, despite protest

NAHA, Japan - U.S. Brig. Gen. James Flock (L), commander of the Marine Corps Base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, meets with Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha at the latter's office on Aug. 16. U.S. forces resumed flight drills despite a protest by the mayor following the Aug. 13 crash of a U.S. Marine helicopter at Okinawa International University in the city.

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U.S. base relocation opponent becomes Ginowan mayor

GINOWAN, Japan - Iha Yoichi is tossed into the air at his election campaign office in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 27 after winning the mayoral election on a pledge to demand the closure of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the city and to oppose the central government's plan to relocate the base within Okinawa.

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(1)U.S. resumes Futemma drills after copter crash, despite prote

NAHA, Japan - U.S. Brig. Gen. James Flock (L), commander of the Marine Corps Base in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, meets with Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha at the latter's office on Aug. 16. U.S. forces resumed flight drills despite a protest by the mayor following the Aug. 13 crash of a U.S. Marine helicopter at Okinawa International University in the city. (Kyodo)

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Ginowan mayor leaves for U.S. to push for Futemma relocation

NAHA, Japan - Yoichi Iha (L), mayor of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, speaks July 10 at Naha airport before leaving for the United States to make a fresh pitch for the U.S. government to soon relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station and return the land it is on to his city. (Kyodo)

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Iha, against U.S. base plan, reelected Ginowan mayor in Okinawa

GINOWAN, Japan - Incumbent Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha (C) celebrates his assured victory April 22 in the mayoral election in Ginowan, Okinawa, which hosts the U.S. Marines Corps Futemma Air Station subject to a relocation plan. Iha is opposed to the plan to relocate the air station within the prefecture in line with an agreement between Japan and the United States. (Kyodo)

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U.S. base relocation opponent becomes Ginowan mayor

GINOWAN, Japan - Iha Yoichi is tossed into the air at his election campaign office in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 27 after winning the mayoral election on a pledge to demand the closure of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the city and to oppose the central government's plan to relocate the base within Okinawa. (Kyodo)

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Ginowan mayor visits U.S. military HQ to protest chopper crash

FUSSA, Japan - Yoichi Iha, mayor of the city of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, speaks with reporters after visiting the U.S. military headquarters at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo on Sept. 22 to protest a Marine helicopter crash in the city in August. (Kyodo)

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Okinawa's upper house race winner Iha meets reporters

Yoichi Iha meets with reporters at his home in Ginowan in the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa on July 11, 2016, after winning an upper house seat in the election the previous day. Iha, who beat incumbent Aiko Shimajiri, state minister in charge of issues related to Okinawa and the Northern Territories, said he will convey Okinawan people's opposition to the plan to relocate the Futenma air base within the prefecture, not only to Japanese but also to the U.S. governments. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Okinawa minister certain to lose upper house seat

Yoichi Iha (R), an independent candidate running in the House of Councillors election for the Okinawa prefectural constituency, celebrates with Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on July 10, 2016, after early returns showed Iha was certain to win the upper house seat from incumbent Aiko Shimajiri, state minister in charge of issues related to Okinawa and the Northern Territories. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Okinawa minister certain to lose upper house seat

Aiko Shimajiri, state minister in charge of issues related to Okinawa and the Northern Territories, speaks to reporters in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, on July 10, 2016, after early returns for the House of Councillors election showed the minister is certain to lose her upper house seat in the Okinawa prefectural constituency. Yoichi Iha, an independent newcomer opposed to the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma within the prefecture, was expected to win. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

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Okinawa city uses bumper stickers to protest U.S. military base

GINOWAN, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha pastes a sticker on his official car in a bumper sticker campaign he began on Sept. 7 to urge a resolution to the problems associated with having a U.S. military base in the Okinawan city. In August 2004, a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter from Futemma Air Station crashed into a university campus adjacent to the base in Ginowan. (Kyodo)

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Anti-Futemma base rally in Okinawa

YOMITAN, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha addresses a nonpartisan rally in Yomitan, Okinawa Prefecture, on April 25, 2010, calling for the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station now in Ginowan. (Kyodo)

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Okinawa governor reelected

NAHA, Japan - Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima (R) receives a kiss from his daughter Chisato at his election office in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, after he won reelection, beating strong challenger former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha. (Kyodo)

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Nago mayor to run for Okinawa governor election

NAHA, Japan - Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha announces his bid to run for the Okinawa gubernatorial election during a press conference in the city Aug. 20, 2010. The mayor has demanded that the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station be moved from the city. (Kyodo)

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Iha fails at Okinawa governor bid

NAHA, Japan - Former Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha speaks to reporters in Naha on Nov. 28, 2010, as he lost to incumbent Hirokazu Nakaima in the Okinawa gubernatorial race. (Kyodo)

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Host city plans to sue state over Futenma base

NAHA, Japan - Yoichi Iha, the mayor of Ginowan City in Okinawa Prefecture, speaks at a news conference at the municipal office on July 2, 2010 about a plan to sue the state over the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Air Station in the city. Iha said that by continuing to provide the United States with the use of the facility, ignoring the danger posed to the citizens, the state's actions are ''unconstitutional.'' (Kyodo)

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SDP chief will look closely at Japan-U.S. statement on Futemma

NAGO, Japan - Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two junior partners in the governing coalition, speaks at a news conference in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 25, 2010, after separate meetings with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, Nago Mayor Susumi Inamie and Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the prefecture. (Kyodo)

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SDP chief will look closely at Japan-U.S. statement on Futemma

NAGO, Japan - Mizuho Fukushima (R), leader of the Social Democratic Party, one of the two junior partners in the governing coalition, and Nago Mayor Susumi Inamine shake hands after their talks at the city government building in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, on May 25, 2010. Fukushima also held separate meetings with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha to discuss the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in the prefecture. (Kyodo)