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Japan Press Weekly
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1 trillion yen has been committed to U.S. military realignment
Of the three trillion yen that the United States says necessary for the ongoing realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, one trillion yen has already been ear marked.
Japanese Communist Party representative Kasai Akira revealed this fact on November 28 at a House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting.
The Japan-U.S. agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in 2006 includes construction of a new military base in Okinawa, relocation to Guam of part of the Marine Corps units currently stationed in Okinawa, and relocation of a carrier-borne aircraft unit to the Iwakuni Base in Yamaguchi Prefecture from the Atsugi Naval Air Facility in Kanagawa. It also calls for other measures under the 1996 SACO (Special Action Committee on Okinawa) agreement to be implemented.
In answer to Kasai’s question, a Defense Ministry official said that the total amount of the costs for the U.S. military realignment and the SACO since the 2006 agreement is 277.6 billion yen.
Since Japan agreed to pay 6.1 billion dollars (about 700 billion yen as of when the agreement was made), the total amount Japan is to pay is nearly one trillion yen.
The U.S. side has reportedly pointed out the possibility of increasing the costs for the relocation of the U.S. Marine unit to Guam. Asked by Kasai what if Japan is asked to pay additional costs, a Defense Ministry official said that he cannot answer such a hypothetical question.
“While recognizing costs for the U.S. military realignment as a ‘sacred cow’, the government drastically cuts budgets for social security programs. With one trillion yen, it can make food items tax-exempt,” said Kasai, and called for a halt to the realignment plans. -Akahata, November 30, 2008
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