Tokunoshima is not a viable alternative for Futenma relocation

The Japanese government is scrambling to find a replacement site for the Futenma military base.  One of the sites it has proposed for relocating some marine corps functions is Tokunoshima, a small island just north of Okinawa. As you can see from the following slide show, Tokunoshima is not a suitable alternative site.  4000 residents of Tokunoshima protested against the possible U.S. military base on their island.   This issue was covered by the Kurashi blog http://martinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/03/tokunoshima-island-shima-no-uta.html The alternative that neither the U.S. nor the Japanese government is proposing: remove the Futenma base from Okinawa without a replacement site and reduce the overall U.S. military bootprint in the Pacific.