# Mercury Public Affairs-Okinawa Prefecture FARA Registration [[Okinawa Prefecture]], the Japanese local government that hosts most of the U.S. military's bases in Japan, has hired the Washington firm [[Mercury Public Affairs]]. Mercury registered the client under [[FARA]], the Foreign Agents Registration Act, on **October 20, 2026**. The filing is signed by [[David Vitter]], the former Republican senator from Louisiana. ## The terms From Mercury's foreign-agent filings (Exhibits A and B) and the attached contract: | | | |---|---| | **Client** | Okinawa Prefecture, a "government of a foreign country" under the Act | | **Signed for the client by** | Governor Yasuhiro "Denny" Tamaki | | **Client contact** | Kazuhiro Miyagi, Director, Military Base Affairs Division | | **Contract date** | September 1, 2026 | | **Term** | September 1, 2026 to January 31, 2027 | | **Fee** | Up to **$30,000** | | **Work** | "Governmental relations advice and services including possible outreach to U.S. governmental officials." The Japanese contract title describes a base-policy research commission on U.S. defense-policy trends | | **Political activity** | Yes, as defined by the Act | | **Money received at registration** | None | ## Why it matters The dollar figure is small. The timing is not. Okinawa has spent more than a decade fighting the Japanese and U.S. governments over moving a U.S. Marine air base within the island rather than off it. Under Governor Tamaki the prefecture pressed that case in Washington. He signed this contract on September 1. On **September 13** he lost the governor's race to **Genta Koja**, a former deputy mayor of Naha backed by Prime Minister [[Sanae Takaichi]]'s Liberal Democratic Party, by 423,124 votes to 276,060. Koja accepts the national government's relocation plan. So a contract signed by an anti-base governor was registered in Washington five weeks after he lost. Whose message Mercury carries to U.S. officials, and whether the new administration keeps the contract, is the thing to watch. It also adds a prefecture's base office to the roster of a firm with close Trump-world ties. Mercury once employed White House Chief of Staff [[Susie Wiles]]. ## Connects to - [[Mercury Public Affairs]] · [[David Vitter]] - [[Okinawa Prefecture]] · [[Japan]] · [[Japanese Influence]] - [[FARA]] · [[Revolving Door]] ## See Also - [[Lobbying Hub]] - [[Deals Hub]]