Japanese PM quits over US base in Okinawa

Under immense pressure from his own Democratic Party of Japan, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has stepped down over an American Marine base at Okinawa.

The resignation, reports from Tokyo said, comes less than nine months after the centre-left politician took office through a landslide win.

Hatoyama, addressing the national television, cited his failure to deliver on a promise to remove an American Marine base in Okinawa as reason for his resignation.

Hatoyama has seen his approval rating plummet from 70 per cent to 20 per cent since winning last September's election.
Hatoyama, reports said, promised to move the base off the island, but backtracked later under considerable pressure from Washington.

"Since last year's elections, I tried to change politics in which the people of Japan would be the main characters," he said in the televised speech.

Hatoyama took office, pledging to create a "more equal" relationship with the US.

According to reports, he promised to move the marine base off the island, which hosts more than half the 47,000 US troops stationed in Japan under a 50-year-old joint security pact.

Image: Yukio Hatoyama. Photograph: Reuters