James S. Du Pre comments

Funny, there is no mention by the esteemed Governor, regarding the referendum that allowed the people of Okinawa to choose, by popular vote, whether to become an independent nation, join the US as a US Territory or to rejoin Japan as a prefecture of Japan. The PEOPLE of Okinawa voted to rejoin the National Government of Japan and subject themselves as a Prefecture of the National Government of Japan. That means that the Okinawan Governor and his Prefecture are subject to the law of the Japanese National Government. If he and the Okinawan people wanted to be able to dictate their "national" policies, then they should have chosen independence as a Nation, rather than subjugation as a Prefecture of Japan, where the National Government makes defense and national security decisions, for the entire people of Japan, not just the people of Okinawa. Okinawa had its chance, but instead chose to opt for the financial hand-outs from the National Government of Japan and is still dependent upon those hand-outs, so Onaga-san, sorry, but you lack the authority to bind the National Government and it's for Prime Minister Abe to send the JGSDF in to secure the work-zone and get to work reclaiming the land so that the International Agreement between the US and Japan can finally move forward.

Why not open "Cowboy Land" or some USA centric themed park, and capitalize on all the American's living on Okinawa because so much military is stationed there. There are many spouses of the military as well as military who marry Okinawans and then remain on Okinawa after leaving the military. Most Japanese will never travel to the US, but with the movie connection so apparent, highlight some "typical" and mythical Yankee culture and give a taste of the USA to Japanese and other foreign tourists. I've never understood why Disney doesn't do the same thing, instead of exporting European fairy tales around the world, with the typical Disney twist.