Tamaki, critic of U.S. bases on Okinawa, wins governor race

TOKYO — Denny Tamaki, who campaigned criticizing the American military presence on the southwestern Japanese islands of Okinawa, won the election for governor Sunday, defeating a ruling party-backed candidate pushing the status quo.

The race was to choose a successor to Takeshi Onaga, who died in August of pancreatic cancer. He wanted the bases off Okinawa.

Tamaki, a legislator who had pledged to continue with Onaga’s “spirit,” thanked his supporters as his campaign office broke into a cheer and later began dancing Okinawastyle, after several major Japanese media polls, including Kyodo news service, declared him the winner.

“The strong feelings of Takeshi Onaga, risking his life to stop the construction of any more bases, helped bring this victory,” Tamaki told reporters.

He defeated Atsushi Sakima, a mayor who had argued Okinawa should work with the national government to sort out the problem. The final vote count was not yet available. But media reports said Tamaki led in almost all areas of Okinawa, making his win certain with the vote partially counted.

Tamaki’s victory throws into further question Japan’s plans for a new air base still under construction in coastal Okinawa.

Okinawa houses about half of the 54,000 American troops stationed in Japan and makes for 64 percent of the land space used by the U.S. bases, under a bilateral security treaty, according to John S. Hutcheson, spokesman for the U.S. Forces in Japan.

The arrangement has long been protested by some as an unfair burden on Okinawa, which makes up less than 1 percent of Japan’s land space.

Japan remains highly dependent on the U.S. for defense, but crimes by members of the military, including hit-and-runs as well as rapes, have outraged the people of Okinawa. They are also angry about noise pollution and the dangers of crashes from military aircraft.

Tamaki, whose father is a U.S. Marine he has never met, has often said he is a symbol of the predicament of his people. His mother is Japanese.

“I can clearly state we no longer want in Okinawa the U.S. bases that destroy our peace and destroy our nature,” Tamaki, 58, said during his campaign.

He has promised policies that care about “the weak,” helping workers, students and those who face discrimination.