Bow ties and tuxedos--Japan's 'sympathy budget' for U.S. Forces in Japan in 2004

Akahata of March 3 reported the details of Japan's FY 2004 "sympathy budget" for the U.S. Forces in Japan (USFJ), totaling 244.1 billion yen (about 2.7 billion dollars). The paper obtained them on the previous day from the Defense Facilities Administrative Agency.

The "sympathy budget" includes funding for items ranging from uniforms and bow ties and tuxedos for Japanese personnel to costs for touch-and-go training.

It also includes 22.7 billion yen to be spent for the extension of the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station runway; 12.9 billion yen for extending a pier at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base for a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier; 42.7 billion yen for 798 housing units in Yokosuka Base; 700 million yen for a gymnasium and a baseball stadium at Camp Hansen in Okinawa; a junior high school for Kadena Air Base; and 400 million yen for flying FA/18 fighter/attackers to the Iwojima Islands (half a million yen per hour).

In 2004, Japan pays the USFJ 143 billion yen for labor costs, 74.9 billion yen for base facility construction, 25.8 billion yen for public utilities, and 400 million yen for Night Landing Practices (NLP) by carrier-borne aircraft.

Under the Japan-U.S. Special Agreement on Okinawa (SACO), Japan also pays 22.6 billion yen for expenses including the construction of a new U.S. air base in Okinawa.

This year's "sympathy budget" provides research costs for new U.S. military facilities. Even though the U.S. has made no such request, the DFAA allotted 23 million yen for taking air photos over 12 U.S. bases in Kanagawa so that Japan can provide more sites for U.S. bases.

The Status of U.S. Forces in Japan Agreement (SOFA) under the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty does not provide that Japan must pay money within the "sympathy budget." The SOFA's Article 24 provides that "the United States will bear for the duration of this Agreement without cost to Japan all expenditures incident to the maintenance of the United States armed forces in Japan."

Kanemaru Shin, then Defense Agency director general, in 1978 began to compile a "sympathy budget" every year for labor costs of workers at U.S. bases, advocating that Japan must be considerate toward the USFJ. The budget has constantly increased while covering more and more fields. (end)