Okinawans Reject U.S. Heliport

TOKYO — Nearly 54% of the voters in a referendum Sunday said that they do not want a U.S. military helicopter port to be moved near their city on the island of Okinawa.

The outcome of Sunday’s vote in the northern city of Nago is not binding, and it was not immediately clear whether the proposed floating heliport could be built.

The city’s mayor, Tetsuya Higa, had said earlier that the vote would be one factor in deciding whether to accept the heliport, which would be built offshore from the city.

But Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota, who has pressed for Japan’s central government to remove U.S. bases from the island, said, “We have to put great importance on what the people have said through this vote.”

Okinawans have long objected to the noise and inconvenience of the U.S. bases, which take up about 20% of their small island, as well as to the crime and loss of autonomy they associate with the military.

Two-thirds of the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa.