June 4, 2025

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku on June 3 at a House of Councilors committee meeting brought up for discussion a news report in which the U.S. Trump administration demanded that Japan increase its spending related to the cost of stationing the U.S. forces in Japan.

According to the daily Asahi Shimbun dated May 29, the U.S. government in early May requested Japan to spend more for the stationing of the U.S. military in Japan. In response, the Japanese government began to consider allocating an additional several dozen billion yen to the Facilities Improvement Program (FIP) under which houses and other facilities are constructed on U.S. bases in Japan with the use of Japanese taxpayer money.

At the Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, Yamazoe said that the government should inform the United States that there is no valid reason to comply with the U.S. request.

Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi in reply said that he will refrain from prejudging the future policy regarding U.S. military-related government spending, and stopped short of denying the possibility of an increase in such expenses.

Yamazoe pointed out that the minister in March at the same Upper House committee meeting said that currently, the cost of stationing the U.S. military in Japan is “divided adequately” with the U.S. Referring to President Trump’s remark that the stationing cost borne by Japan is unfairly low, the JCP lawmaker stressed that if the government disagrees with this assessment, it should express sharp disagreement with the U.S. demand for an increase in Japan’s contribution to the cost of stationing the U.S. forces in Japan.

Past related article:
> Yamazoe criticizes Trump’s remark that Japan does not bear costs for stationing of US military [April 12, 2025]