Election of governor backed by nation’s ruling party could stabilise the US military presence and drive a defence build-up
3-MIN READ3-MINGabriel DominguezPublished: 10:00pm, 15 Sep 2026Okinawa’s election on Sunday of a governor backed by Japan’s ruling party ended 12 years of local leadership opposed to the relocation of a US airbase and elements of Tokyo’s defence build-up plans.While experts say that Genta Koja’s victory will not give Tokyo any new military authority in the region, it could lead to closer integration of civilian infrastructure into Japan’s defence network in case of a conflict – including one over Taiwan.
Maslow said much of this shift would probably have happened regardless of the election result. But with a prefectural government backed by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party, the process would be “less noisy and perhaps faster”.
