NAHA, Okinawa Pref.: A Japanese high court on Wednesday ordered Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki to approve a design change for ground improvement work under a US base relocation project in the southernmost prefecture.

The Naha branch of Fukuoka High Court ruled in favor of the central government on the lawsuit it filed against Tamaki in October over his refusal to approve the design change.

If Tamaki does not follow the order by Monday, the central government will be allowed to approve the design change on his behalf, in its first ever proxy execution, and start ground improvement work. The Okinawa prefectural government will be able to appeal to the Supreme Court, but the appeal cannot stop the proxy execution.

In Wednesday’s ruling, presiding Judge Takashi Miura said that Tamaki was clearly and firmly determined not to approve the design change. This amounts to a case in which proxy execution is the only viable step the central government can take under the Local Autonomy Law, the judge said.

The lawsuit revolved around the project to relocate the US Marine Corps’ Futenma air base in a heavily populated area in Ginowan, Okinawa, to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, also Okinawa.

Miura said, “It harms the interests of the society and the public” that Okinawa has not approved the design change after over three years have passed since the Defense Ministry filed for approval of the design change and the Supreme Court in September found the prefecture’s approach illegal.

Still, Miura said it was “fully understandable” that Okinawa residents have feelings against the relocation work, given Okinawa’s historical background including US occupation.

JIJI Press