The Kyodo News [nationwide telephone-based] opinion poll conducted on Aug. 25–26 asked pollees for their views on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma (Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture) to the Henoko district of Nago City. Some 62.2% of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) supporters said they back the plan while only 40.9% of Komeito supporters approve of it. This reveals that there is a difference in views between the ruling parties’ supporters. The question of the relocation will be a focal issue in the Okinawa gubernatorial election (on Sept. 30). Both parties are endorsing former Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima for governor, but there is a chance the difference in supporters’ views will impact electoral collaboration between the two parties.
Analyzing supporters of the LDP and Komeito, a higher percentage of LDP backers than Komeito supporters approved of the plan. A similar percentage of LDP supporters (26.1%) and Komeito supporters (29.1%) said they are opposed to the relocation to Henoko. Some 11.7% of LDP supporters and 30.0% of Komeito supporters said they “don’t know” or gave no answer. Komeito headquarters has adopted the stance of promoting relocation to Henoko in line with the government, but opposition by local Komeito organizations seems to be impacting the situation.
As for supporters of other parties, more were opposed to the relocation than in favor. Some 81.8% of Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan (CDPJ) supporters, 84.7% of Japanese Communist Party (JCP) supporters, and 82.2% of Social Democratic Party supporters said they oppose the plan. The majority of Democratic Party for the People (DPFP) supporters, Nippon Ishin (Japan Innovation Party) supporters, and independents also said they oppose the plan.
[Polling methodology: The survey was conducted by telephone on a computer-aided random digit dialing (RDD) basis on Aug. 25–26 targeting voters across the nation. However, the survey excluded landline numbers in some areas in Fukushima Prefecture. The survey covered 743 randomly selected households with eligible voters nationwide [by landline numbers], with responses collected from 514 people. A total of 1,151 people were accessed through their mobile phones, of which 513 responded.]
