Japan's central government has revived the Okinawa Policy Council for the first time in 13 years, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged a visible reduction in the burden of hosting United States military bases.

The council, a forum for the central government and Okinawa Prefecture to discuss US military bases and economic development, met on Friday 6 November at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo. Takaichi, Cabinet ministers and Okinawa Governor Genta Koja attended.

"We'll make every effort to realize a visible reduction in the base-hosting burden," Takaichi told the meeting, adding that the government would work with the prefecture on regional development. She also said the central government would firmly work to prevent further incidents and accidents involving US military members in the prefecture.

Koja called for measures to expand Okinawa's development programmes and for sufficient state funding to build a strong Okinawan economy. He also urged the central government to drastically review the Japan-US status of forces agreement, which governs the US military's use of facilities and its legal status in Japan, and to present a clear timeline for the return of the site of the US Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan.

Funding gap at the centre of talks

A focal point of the meeting was the state outlay for Okinawa's economic development. In its budget request for fiscal 2027, the Cabinet Office sought ¥289.7 billion for such measures, below the ¥300 billion requested by the prefecture for the sixth consecutive year.

The meeting was arranged in response to a request Koja made after winning the prefecture's gubernatorial election in September. The council last met in 2013.