Decision against Local Community

The 1st Petty Bench of the Supreme Court issued a decision on Monday that demanded the government of Okinawa to obey the request of the national government for promoting construction of new military base along the coast of Henoko. Although the decision authorized the process the national government had been taking, it is still unclear whether the construction plan is actually viable enough and receives support of the people in Okinawa. As regional security tension is raised by the advances of neighbor authoritarian regimes, Japanese government has still not been successful in achieving the domestic local support.

In April 2020, Ministry of Defense submitted to the Government of Okinawa a revised plan of landfill off the northern coast of Camp Schwab in Henoko, which was to drive 70,000 piles into the seabed that was reputed as soft as mayonnaise. The government of Okinawa Denny Tamaki, having an authority of approving the construction, disapproved the plan claiming that the consideration of instability of the soil was insufficient.

 

The following activity of the national government has been controversial. Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transportation and Tourism issued a “decision” in 2022, which invalidated Tamaki’s disapproval. When Okinawa did not obey that decision, the minister then issued an “order” demanding Okinawa correcting its attitude. Complaining about that coercive process, the Government of Okinawa sued the national government.

 

The judgement of the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal of Okinawa both on the decision and the order. It said “If a local government, after national government’s decision of invalidating disapproval on a legally delegated affairs, was repeatedly allowed disapproving with the same reason, quick solution of a conflict will be difficult,” said the court. The obligation of Tamaki, who had been elected twice with the policy against building Henoko base and achieved over 70% of votes against the landfill in a referendum in 2019, to approve the revised plan was determined.

 

Some scholars in political science argue that that activity of the national government is inappropriate. The system of administrative appeal, which became the basis of the national government’s measures against Okinawa, was basically established for private citizens whose human right was violated by the administrative authority. It can be said that the government pretended to be a private citizen. Anyway, Tamaki is caught between keeping his political promise by refusing the approval and complying the rule of law.

 

However, the point is about power balance between the national government and the local government. By the Integrated Decentralization Act in 2000, the relationship between the two was defined as equal. Coercive rule of the national government over the local community will leave the complaints unsolved. It may cause further damage on cooperative relationship between US Force in Japan and the local community. Japanese government looks to be too focused on enhancing Japan-US alliance to achieve a smooth progress with broad supports.

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