Former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama really is the Roh Moo-hyun of Japan:

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s remarks to the effect that he cited the deterrent role of U.S. Marines in Japan merely as a political maneuver to justify his administration’s decision to scrap its pledge to relocate the force’s Air Station Futenma out of Okinawa Prefecture is extremely irresponsible and outrageous.

During the campaign for the 2009 general election, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) pledged to relocate Futenma base out of the prefecture.

In May last year, however, then Prime Minister Hatoyama changed his policy and signed an agreement with the United States to shift the base to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, as agreed to under the previous administration comprised of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and New Komeito.

At the time, Hatoyama said his studies concluded that the presence of Marines in Okinawa Prefecture is indispensable as a deterrent against war.

In a recent joint interview with the Ryukyu Shimpo and other local newspapers in Okinawa, however, Hatoyama denied that he recognizes that the presence of Marines in the southernmost prefecture is necessary as a deterrent.  [Mainichi]

Read the rest at the link, but basically Hatoyama couldn’t find any other place in southern Japan to put the Marine base and admits to saying that the US Marines are necessary deterrent for Japan despite him not really believing this.  Considering the recent aggressive actions taken by the Chinese government in regards to the Senkaku Islands you would think the US Marines are in fact a deterrent.