Okinawa Times reported that Okinawa Governor Tamaki held his first “talk caravan,” a program to raise awareness of Okinawa’s position on the new base construction in Henoko, in about two years in a virtual format with participants in Fukuoka on Thursday. It was his first “talk caravan” since he rejected the Okinawa Defense Bureau’s application for design changes to its plan to relocate the Futenma base to Henoko. Tamaki reportedly called for the cancellation of the Henoko base construction by saying: “Building a new base will not reduce our excessive base-hosting burden. The people of Okinawa are against it.” The governor also reportedly pointed out that it will be difficult to construct a new base in Henoko due to the area’s weak foundation. The daily said the event had been suspended since it was last held in Sapporo in November 2019 due to the pandemic. Tamaki is planning to hold his next virtual “talk caravan” with participants in Kobe on Feb. 9.