Major construction work is set to resume in August at a planned Marine Corps runway into Oura Bay at Camp Schwab, Okinawa, shown here Nov. 16, 2023. (Matthew M. Burke/Stars and Stripes)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – The Japanese government plans to resume major construction, delayed more than four years, on an airfield for the Marine Corps at Camp Schwab, according to Okinawa prefecture.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau on Tuesday notified the prefecture that work on the Oura Bay section of the site will resume in August, a spokesman for the prefecture’s Seashore Disaster Prevention Division told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday. The defense bureau represents the Japan Defense Ministry on Okinawa.
The runway being built on reclaimed land in Oura Bay in the Henoko area of Okinawa is meant to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in urban Ginowan. That base, surrounded by homes and schools, is considered inherently dangerous by some Japanese officials.
The construction zone at Schwab is divided into two main sections: 279 acres on the base’s north side and 91 acres in the south, according to the prefecture’s website.
Work on the Oura Bay side, or north side, has been on hold since April 21, 2020, when Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki refused to approve changes to the construction plans to solidify the soft seabed.
Japanese Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Tetsuo Saito eventually approved the permits Dec. 28 after Tamaki ignored a Dec. 25 deadline from Fukuoka High Court. The court handed Saito that authority if Tamaki refused.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi in January announced that work to reclaim land from the bay would resume. The Japanese government in January created a storage yard at the site for construction materials, the seashore division spokesman said Thursday.
The prefecture and the bureau have gone back and forth on design details and environmental preservation measures along the Oura Bay side since February, according to the spokesman.
The prefecture filed its most recent questions June 5 and the bureau responded Tuesday with the August start time, he said.
“The prefecture just noticed us that will start work on the places that are under discussion, which means the Oura Bay side,” the spokesman said. “We don’t have any details at the moment, we don’t know if these works mean about the seawall constructions or the soil improvement work.”
He said the prefecture asked the bureau to delay construction until their discussions had concluded.
Some government officials in Japan may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
The bureau did not respond to a phone call from Stars and Stripes seeking comment Thursday.
The project, originally slated for completion by 2014, is expected to take until at least 2032 and cost the Japanese government $6.9 billion.
Hayashi at a press conference Wednesday in Tokyo refrained from commenting directly on the discussions between the prefecture and the bureau.
He said the government “will continue explaining politely to the local community,” and that “steadily moving forward with the construction” will eventually eliminate hazards at MCAS Futenma.
Relocating the airfield to the Henoko region of Okinawa “is the only solution” he said.
