Japanese FM visits Okinawa on US Futenma base relocation

TOKYO - Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Saturday visited the country's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa to discuss the long-stalled issue of relocation of a key US air base, local media reported.

Kishida met with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and asked the governor to support the plan agreed by Japan and the United States to relocate the base within Okinawa to a less populated area, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

The visit came few days before a four-day US trip by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who will try to restore Japan-US alliance scratched by the spiny issue.

However, the minister failed to reach an agreement with Nakaima as the governor, who also discussed the issue with Abe earlier this month, reiterated that Okinawa people want the base to move outside Okinawa as soon as possible, according to the report.