Tokyo, October 2 (RHC)-- In Japan, voters in Okinawa have elected a new governor who has promised to oppose the long-running U.S. military presence on the Japanese island. 

Denny Tamaki has vowed to block the controversial relocation of a U.S. military base -- a move which is likely to upset both the central government and the United States, which has long depended on Okinawa to accommodate its military bases and personnel. 

Many residents of the small island have opposed the U.S. military’s presence for decades.  Okinawa is home to about half the 54,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan and houses the largest U.S. air base in the Asia-Pacific region.  

But many Okinawans feel that their small island bears an unfair burden of the U.S. military presence in Japan.  They have strongly protested crimes committed over the years by members of the U.S. military, including the rape and murder of Japanese women and girls.