Japan's southern Okinawa Prefecture begins gubernatorial election

Voters in Okinawa cast their ballots on Sunday in the gubernatorial election in Japan's southernmost prefecture.

Incumbent governor, Denny Tamaki, is running against five other candidates, including Liberal Democratic Party-backed candidate Genta Koja.

The estimated voter turnout as of 6 p.m. local time was 25.56%, up 2.74 percentage points from the previous election four years ago, according to NHK, citing the election commission.

Okinawa is becoming key for the Japan-US military alliance in the face of growing tensions with China, while Japan also rapidly seeks to build up its military in the southwestern region.

The southern island is home to about half of the 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan under the bilateral security pact.

Many Okinawans complain about risks of accident, noise, pollution and crime associated with US bases.

Despite the protests, Japan and the US are constructing a replacement facility for the US Marine Corps Air Station at Henoko.