October 3, 2025

Four or five U.S. military personnel carrying rifles walked on a public road, in violation of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), near the U.S. Army’s X-band radar base in Kyotango City in Kyoto Prefecture.

The Kyotango city government on October 1 received an explanation at the city hall regarding the facts from a Defense Ministry local defense bureau.

According to the explanation, the U.S. soldiers assigned to another U.S. base in Japan, who were participating in joint Japan-U.S.-Australia training drills, moved along the National Route 178 from their accommodation to the Kyogamisaki communications station with the guns over their shoulders. As this violated the Kyogamisaki base’s internal rules prohibiting the carrying of firearms outside the base, the Kinki-Chubu Defense Bureau requested that the base commander have the U.S. military personnel strictly abide by the rules and prevent a recurrence of similar events.

In an interview with the daily Akahata, Tanaka Kunio, a Japanese Communist Party member of the Kyotango City Assembly said, “In response to local residents’ opposition to the construction of a U.S. X-band radar site, we set up a liaison council with the participation of the U.S. military and established an agreement on safety measures.”

Due to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), Japan cannot enforce its Swords and Firearms Control Law on U.S. servicemembers. Therefore, the agreement requires the U.S. military to: not violate Japanese law; not carry firearms while walking on public roads; and provide advance notice of training exercises to local communities near the Kyogamisaki communications base.

JCP Tanaka said, “Any action that undermines this agreement is unacceptable.”

Past related article:
> Local residents don’t want US military base to be built in Kyoto [October 5, 2014]