After all the nonsense that occurred on Okinawa, once again just like Korea’s Roh Moo-hyun and the Camp Humphreys relocation, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama had to ultimately support the Futenma relocation because it made the most sense to reduce US troop levels and footprint on Okinawa:

The U.S. and Japan announced Friday that they will move ahead with plans to build a new Marine air facility on Camp Schwab on Okinawa to replace Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.The announcement ends eight months of political disagreement between the two countries as Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama searched for a way but failed in keeping a campaign promise to move the Marine air units off Okinawa.

Discontent from Okinawan leaders and members of Hatoyama’s ruling coalition, however, remained strong after the joint statement was released.

In the statement, signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Japan Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, the two countries confirmed their commitment to steadily implement a 2006 agreement to realign U.S. troops in Japan.Key to that 2006 plan is closing Futenma, amid Ginowan’s urban sprawl, and moving the Marine air units to the Henoko Peninsula on Okinawa’s rural northeast shore.

The plan also calls for moving key Marine command elements, including 8,000 Marines and their families, from Okinawa to Guam once the new air facility is built. The target date for the transfer is 2014. Also, most of the U.S. base property on Okinawa south of Kadena Air Base would eventually be returned.  [Stars & Stripes]

This guy is extremely incompetent considering he raised all this fuss and damaged relations with Japan’s best ally the United States, to only reverse course and decide the original plan was the best after all.