Denny Tamaki Wins Okinawa Election

By Jackson Gillette

Denny Tamaki defeated Atsushi Samika in Okinawa’s gubernatorial election on September 30. Samika lost despite being backed by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan’s ruling party, and its leader, Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. Tamaki, on the other hand, was supported by the opposition camp in the National Diet.

Tamaki is a former member of the House of Representatives who, according to the New York Times, was the first Amerasian representative in the National Diet. Tamaki’s father was a former U.S. Marine and his mother a native of Okinawa, Reuters recounts.

One of Tamaki’s notable campaign initiatives was to oppose the longtime stationing of U.S. military bases in Okinawa, according to the Mainichi Shimbun. The issue of the American military presence in Okinawa is deep-rooted, dating back to post-World War II occupation. Per Asahi Shimbun, Okinawa’s previous governor Takeshi Onaga, whose passing in August prompted the election, ardently opposed any U.S. military presence on the island. As a result, Onaga’s family supported Tamaki’s candidacy.

However, the central government remains at odds with the Okinawan government, advocating for a U.S. presence on the island in the wake of Chinese expansionism in the South China Sea. Per the New York Times, the American and Japanese governments signed an agreement relocating the current air base in the southern city of Ginowan to a rural section of the city of Nago in the northern part of the prefecture. Thus, Tamaki’s victory could represent a considerable barrier to the central government’s agreement to relocate the airfield.