September 10, 2025

The Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers’ group on September 9 demanded that the Ministry of Finance and the Cabinet Office increase the Okinawa-related budget for fiscal 2026.

The group demanded that the central government allocate more than 300 billion yen, as requested by the Okinawa prefectural government, mainly as the “Okinawa development and promotion block grant” which has a high degree of freedom in how it is used.

Since fiscal 2014 when a prefectural government which was opposed to the construction of a new U.S. military base was inaugurated, the central government has reduced the Okinawa-related budget. The relevant budget is 264.2 billion yen for fiscal 2025, down 85.9 billion yen from 2014.

JCP Secretariat Head Koike Akira presented the Ministry of Finance with materials compiled by the prefectural government detailing the negative impacts associated with the budget cuts. He pointed to serious consequences such as delays in renovating schools, cleaning up rivers, and repairing local roads.

Koike emphasized that the Okinawa development and promotion budget stems from the need to “compensate” for Okinawans’ suffering ever since the 1945 Battle of Okinawa that took the lives of many Okinawans and the subsequent 27 years of U.S. military occupation of Okinawa.

Criticizing the linking of the U.S. base issue to this budget as “contrary to how public finances should be managed,” Koike urged the central government to return to the budget’s original purpose. In response, a Finance Ministry official said, “We will thoroughly discuss your demand with relevant ministries and agencies to come up with a comprehensive budget allocation for Okinawa.”