An aerial view of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, southern Japan. Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima approved landfill work on December 27 to relocate the controversial U.S. military base, breaking 17 years of stagnation on the base's transfer plan, the government of Okinawa said Friday. 
Hundreds of protesters stage a rally opposing the approval of the relocation in the lobby of Okinawa prefecture's government building in Naha on Friday, December 27. The Futenma air base, which is in a highly populated area, has been unpopular with the island's residents because of crimes committed by U.S. military personnel and allegations against them in the past. 
Japan-based Marines board an aircraft for areas hit by Typhoon Haiyan hit in the Philippines at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma on November 10. 
MV-22 Osprey aircraft head for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station on August 12, as the U.S. military resumed transport of Ospreys from the Iwakuni base after a fatal helicopter crash. 
An Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft flies over Ginowan on August 3, heading for the Futenma Air Station for additional deployment. The stagnation of the relocation issue has been a thorn in the side of relations between Tokyo and Washington since 1996, when the two governments agreed on the original plan to move the base. 
A U.S. Marine Corps' MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft is seen through the window of another Osprey at Futenma on August 3. 
Two Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft land at Futenma for additional deployment on August 3. 
An evening view of Futenma on April 5. 
An area off the shore of the Henoko district of Nago, northern Okinawa. Nakaima approved the Japanese government's application to reclaim land for a new base in Henoko, which would replace the U.S. Marine Corps base in Futenma, a more congested part of Okinawa's main island, Japanese media reported. - Takeshi Onaga defeats two-term incumbent in Okinawa's gubernatorial race
- Onaga wants U.S. Marine base there closed, not just relocated
- The current governor approved relocation plans last year after 17 years of deadlock
- Crimes by U.S. military personnel have made the base controversial
(CNN) -- It took 17 years for the approval of plans to relocate a controversial U.S. military base in Japan, and now it appears those plans won't happen after all.
On Sunday, Takeshi Onaga won Okinawa's gubernatorial race. He defeated the two-term incumbent who, in 2013, approved the move of the base, according to the Kyodo News agency.
Onaga's victory delivers "a de-facto no vote" to the relocation, Kyodo reported. Onaga wants the base closed rather than moved, The Washington Post reported.
When Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima finally approved a landfill measure in December of last year, he ended a 17-year stalemate on plans to transfer the base from a densely populated area to a more sparsely populated one.
When Nakaima approved that measure, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel issued a written statement that called the decision "absolutely critical to the United States' ongoing rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region and our ability to maintain a geographically distributed, operationally resilient, and politically sustainable force posture in the region."
The U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa was built in 1945, following the battle of Okinawa in World War II, according to the Marine Corps' website.
In recent years the base has been unpopular with the island's residents because of allegations against, and crimes committed by, U.S. military personnel.
Many residents were incensed by the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl in 1995 by three U.S. military personnel. It sparked some of the worst anti-U.S. military demonstrations seen in Japan in decades.
In 2002, a U.S. staff sergeant in the Air Force was convicted of raping a Japanese woman in a parking lot outside a popular nightclub in Okinawa. Intense media coverage of the case brought pressure on the Japanese government to review its agreement with the United States about handling criminal cases in Japan involving the U.S. military.
And allegations that a Marine raped a 14-year-old girl caused a furor in 2008. The girl later decided not to pursue charges.
In 2012, three U.S. servicemen were arrested in connection with rapes in Okinawa.
About half of all U.S. military personnel in Japan are stationed on the island.
According to Kyodo, the base relocation was a major issue in this gubernatorial election.
"We proved that the people of Okinawa disagree (with Nakaima)," Onaga told reporters, describing the outcome as opening "a new page in history," Kyodo reported.
CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki and Ben Brumfield contributed to this report.
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