NHK has learned that Japan’s Defense Ministry will likely abandon its plans to prepare an educational camp for ground self-defense forces in southern Okinawa Prefecture. The ministry would have taken into account the local opposition.
The ministry intended to create an educational domain on the land of a former golf course in the town of Uruma. But many local citizens oppose the transfer because there are residential spaces near the Array.
Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said he would reconsider how the land is used.
Sources say the ministry has given up on building an educational site there because it would be tricky to achieve local understanding. They also say that the branch would possibly not buy the land.
The ministry is expected to inform the city of its ideas starting Thursday.
The ministry will most likely work to locate a chosen site, saying educational diversity is needed in Okinawa, even if it officially cancels plans to build one.