Asahi reported online that Defense Minister Onodera visited Okinawa this morning for the first time since assuming his current post and held separate meetings with USFJ Deputy Commander Maj. Gen. Chiarotti, Brigadier Gen. Paul J. Rock Jr., Commanding General, Marine Corps Installations Pacific, and Okinawa Governor Onaga. Onodera reportedly explained to the Okinawa side the position of the GOJ which endorsed continued Osprey flights in Japan ahead of the planned “2+2” meeting slated for Aug. 17 in Washington. The daily wrote that the people of Okinawa are increasingly expressing concern and criticism about the GOJ’s endorsement of continued Osprey flights in Japan despite the recent fatal accident in Australia.