ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)<br/> <br />STORY: The governor of Japan's southern Okinawa Prefecture on Wednesday (February 12) urged the U.S. to reduce the burden of its controversial military bases on the region's main island.<br/> <br />Many local residents associate the concentration of U.S. bases on Okinawa island with accidents, pollution and crime such as the 1995 rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen.<br/> <br />A plan backed by Washington and Tokyo would see a Marine Corps base in Futenma moved some 50 km (30 miles) north to Henoko, which activists say will destroy an area home to the endangered marine mammal, dugong.<br/> <br />On Wednesday, Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima sat down with the newly-appointed U.S. ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, to call for her support in resolving the issues.<br/> <br />"There have been many incidents, accidents and environmental problems associated with the bases, and I would call on Ambassador Kennedy to do everything in her power to help
