Japan's new Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said on Monday he was willing to listen to the opinions of the people in Okinawa prefecture regarding the relocation of a controversial U.S. base there.

In his inaugural address to some 800 defense ministry and Self- Defense Forces officials, Tanaka said it was imperative to gain the trust and confidence of the local people in Okinawa regarding the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenam Air Station and that he would do his utmost to lessen their U.S. base hosting burden.

"I would like to steadily implement the plan while accepting the critical voices in Okinawa with sincerity and taking steps to establish a trusting relationship," Tanaka said.

Tanaka, on his first day on the job since joining Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's reshuffled Cabinet on Friday, also said that developing a stronger relationship with the Unite States -- Japan's key security ally -- was important for security and peace in the region.

But the new defense chief has already drawn fire from the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party for stating unequivocally that construction projects related to the Futenma base's relocation should start this year and for showing a lack of knowledge about key defense issues.

"Whether we can begin the construction within this year has been a focus of the procedures for the time being but we cannot move the project forward without acceptance by the people of Okinawa," Tanaka said on a TV program aired by public broadcaster NHK.

He also indicated that if construction work didn't commence within this year then the bilateral agreement on the base's move from the crowed Ginowan city to the coastal Henoko region of Nago in Okinawa, made between Japan and the Unite States, maybe compromised and have to be rethought.

"If the plan doesn't proceed, the United States would be pressed to review it," the new defense chief said.

Tanaka's comments marked the first time the Japanese leadership has put a fixed timeline on the building of a replacement facility.

But opposition party's have been quick to mount their attack, suggesting Tanaka's comments were inappropriate and calling into question his experience.

"I am not sure if someone who can easily say that the relocation would begin by the end of the year is suitable for defense minister. We intend to completely press him to see if Tanaka is the right person, to see if he is qualified," LDP Vice President Tadamori Oshima told a news conference Monday.

Tanaka's predecessor was unceremoniously ousted from the Cabinet, after being slapped with a censure motion by the opposition-controlled upper house last month, for being a self- professed defense "novice" and for a spate of gaffes he and a subordinate made about U.S. forces based in Okinawa.

Tanaka has also drawn flak for seemingly confusing the principle behind the Self-Defense Forces' use of weapons abroad as regards Japan's pacifist constitution, with the recent decision by Japan to relax its ban on weapons exports.

The lack of Tanaka's knowledge on these key defense issues became abundantly clear on NHK's Sunday show and has done little to counter views that he is another defense novice.

In fact, the gaffe led to Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party to label Tanaka an "amateur" on Monday.

But despite Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura ostensibly backing Tanaka, saying his comments regarding the relocation were acceptable and conceding that those regarding SDF weapons use were just "confusing," the deadlock over the issue will remain as long as there is local opposition.

By law, no work on the relocation and the landfill required in Henoko can begin without the permission of Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima who is staunchly opposed to the plan.

In addition, Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago, the city earmarked to host the new base in the Henoko region of the island.

"I'd like to tell Mr. Tanaka that we won't let him build any military base either on the sea or the land in Henoko," Inamine told local reporters earlier Monday.

About half of the 47,000 U.S. forces in Japan are deployed in Okinawa and the island's politicians have resisted further efforts by Tokyo to have more troops stationed there.

Under the bilateral agreement, around 8,000 U.S. marines based in Okinawa will also be transferred to the U.S.-held Pacific island of Guam, a move that will also be largely financed by the Japanese side.

But despite the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives agreeing recently to slash key funding to relocate its troops from Okinawa to Guam, plans to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within Okinawa remain the same, Japan's central government maintained.

However, speculation is growing that the U.S. side agreeing to cut from its fiscal 2012 budged 150 million U.S. dollars earmarked to relocate its marines and their families to Guam, along with a host of flip-flops and gaffes on Japan's part, may derail the strategic deal made between the two countries.

The cash-strapped Japanese government has said it will allocate around 475 million U.S. dollars from this year's defense budget for operations related to the marines' transfer, but these funds may be frozen as the troops' transfer is dependent on the successful completion of the Futenma relocation by 2014, which, in light of the growing deadlock, may be unfeasible.

The current impasse between the government of Okinawa and Japan 's central government has strained security ties between Japan and the United States and the deadlock has recently intensified due to Japan's former defense minister Yasuo Ichikawa being central to a string of gaffes concerning the U.S. military in Okinawa.

Ichikawa and one of his subordinates made indiscreet remarks about the relocation plan, which infuriated the local government and people in Japan's southernmost prefecture and Ichikawa was forced to sack his Okinawa-based subordinate.

The ex-defense minister himself was subsequently slapped with a censure motion from Japan's upper house of parliament and subsequently ousted by Noda and replaced by an already embattled Tanaka.