U.S. forces realignment poses risk of unlimited increase in Japanese military expenditure

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U.S. forces realignment poses risk of unlimited increase in Japanese military expenditure

Part of the expenditures for the U.S. military realignment in Japan that are included in the draft FY 2007 budget for the first time are earmarked separately from the military expenditure.

By setting up separate categories, the government intends to use tax money without limits for implementing the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.

These expenditures amounting to 16.6 billion yen are labeled as "budget for reducing local base burdens," but in fact they will be used to force local residents to shoulder more base burdens.

They include the research cost to construct a new base equipped with V-shaped runways on the shoreline of U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Okinawa, expenses to relocate U.S. fighter jets exercises from the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to the mainland, and research expenses to relocate a U.S. carrier-borne aircraft unit to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

A research cost of about 0.3 billion yen for relocating a U.S. Marine Corps unit from Okinawa to Guam is also put in this category. It is unprecedented for a country to pay for the strengthening of the functions of foreign military bases located outside of its territory.
- Akahata, December 21, 2006