Mr. Hatoyama’s government could hang in the balance. He has pledged to come up with a plan by the end of this month to relocate the Marine air base and resolve a stubborn problem that has created months of discord with Washington. His delays and apparent flip-flopping on the issue have fed a growing feeling of disappointment in the prime minister’s leadership, driving his approval ratings below 30 percent. Visiting Okinawa for the first time since becoming prime minister, Mr. Hatoyama asked residents to entertain a compromise that would keep some of the functions of the base on the island while the government explored moving some facilities elsewhere. “Realistically speaking, it is impossible” to move the entire base, called Futenma, off the island, he said. “We’re facing a situation that is realistically difficult to move everything out of the prefecture. We must ask the people of Okinawa to share the burden.” But Okinawans seemed in no mood for burden sharing, heckling him after he met with local officials. “Shame on you!” one man shouted.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/world/asia12/098japan.html?scp=2&s??q=Japan&st=cse
May 13, 2010 at 3:15 am
Interesting article Jazmin, I see how you clearly described the time when you said that the government could barely hang in the balance of sustaining themselves.
May 14, 2010 at 1:18 am
Good Article Jazmin. Its good that Mr. Hatoyama pledged to come up with a plan to relocate the Marine air base and resolve a stubborn problem that has created months of discord with Washington.