Japan Press Weekly

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2015 January 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

Japan has no obligation to offer ‘sympathy budget’ to US military in Japan

Akahata editorial (excerpt)

Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s Cabinet has approved the largest-ever 4.98 trillion yen defense budget plan for Fiscal Year 2015 which includes so-called “sympathy budget” and other monetary support that the Japanese government provides to the U.S. Forces in Japan despite being under no legal obligation to do so.

The U.S. Department of Defense earlier this month announced that it will close 15 military facilities in six European nations including Britain and Germany as a part of efforts to reduce military spending. The Pentagon, however, seems to have no intention to shut down its bases in Japan. This may be in part because of the extraordinary amount of financial support provided by the Japanese government.

The “sympathy budget” for FY 2015 amounts to 189.9 billion yen, covering spending at U.S. bases in Japan, including the labor costs of Japanese workers (142.6 billion yen), light, heat and water expenses (24.9 billion yen), and facility improvement costs (22.1 billion yen).

Article 24 of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement stipulates that the U.S. will bear “all expenditures incident to the maintenance of the United States armed forces in Japan”. The “sympathy budget” should be abolished as it goes against this provision.

In addition to the “sympathy budget”, the Japanese government is giving the U.S. military 146.1 billion yen for the plan to reorganize U.S. facilities in Japan, including the construction plan of a new base in Okinawa’s Henoko district and 4.6 billion yen for the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) to reorganize U.S. facilities in Okinawa. The total amount of money to be used for the U.S. military in Japan exceeds 340 billion yen.

While imposing the higher consumption tax rate and cuts in social welfare programs on the general public, the Japanese government plans to increase the defense budget and its economic aid to the U.S. military. The 2015 budget plan needs to be revised drastically.