Denny Tamaki, the newly elected governor of the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, said Wednesday he plans to visit the United States to discuss disputed U.S. military bases in Japan in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press.

Tamaki, 59, is the first person with an American parent to lead the southwestern Japanese island, campaigning on a longtime popular demand to reduce the U.S. military presence there.

Tamaki said he plans to visit the U.S. to talk to people and try to gain their understanding about what he sees as Okinawa's shouldering an unfair burden of hosting U.S. troops.

At the center of contention is relocating a U.S. air base from densely populated Futenma to less-crowded Henoko on the east coast. Early construction has begun at Henoko, but it's far from finished. The U.S. and Japan's central government support the relocation, and government ministries have rejected Okinawa's legal maneuvers to block the construction.

Tamaki said the root of the problem in Okinawa with the new military base is the public opposition to the proposition, as reflected in Friday's vote to hold a referendum on the issue.

"The people of Okinawa have opposed this new base for more than two decades and so there is a basic mistake in Henoko," he said.

"They say Henoko is the only one, Henoko is the only solution. But we think that it is definitely not the case and that they're refusing to think critically. The American side has made multiple proposals under reorganization plans and the Japanese government should consider them. The Japanese government should be relaying ways to put Okinawa at ease and to promote peace in Japan along with the message of the people reflected by my election victory to the American government," Tamaki said.

Tamaki also raised the question of whether Japan needs so much U.S. military support to defend itself. "We have to keep asking if we can't defend Japan without it, if we really need it," he said.

When asked about Okinawa's future under his leadership, Tamaki said: "Up to now, a black-or-white dichotomy of peace or economic development has been presented in Okinawa elections. Peace means the bases will be gone soon, and people will at last realize their dream of getting out of the postwar situation. Choosing the economy means the bases will stay but because of that, people will get aid money..."

"But what I said was that both are important. Aren't both peace and economy important? Without peace, there is no economic development," he said.

A new age for Okinawa has begun, Tamaki said, adding: "Okinawa is going to firmly push for these eternal values of democracy. A democratic country like the U.S. will surely listen to such an appeal, especially if I, someone who has an American father, am the one going there to express that."

Tamaki, who has vowed to continue fighting the new airbase, will set a date for the referendum, with local media saying it would likely be held before next spring.

Okinawa accounts for less than one percent of Japan's total land area, but hosts more than half of the approximately 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan.

Noise, accidents and crimes committed by military personnel and civilian base employees have long irritated local residents, as has the perceived refusal of other parts of the country to share Okinawa's burden.

Okinawa was the site of a major World War II battle that was followed by a 27-year U.S. occupation of the island.

The archipelago's location means it is of huge strategic importance for U.S. forward positioning in Asia.