January 18, 2026

Spending related to the U.S. forces in Japan, which the Japanese government incurred for FY 2025, has amounted to 1.2 trillion yen with a record high of 888.6 billion yen in the initial budget and 345.1 billion yen in the supplementary budget, Akahata reported on January 18 based a response to its inquiry from the Defense Ministry.

The U.S. military maintains hundreds of installations worldwide, from Europe and the Middle East to the Pacific. Among these countries, Japan is the only country that pays such an enormous amount of money for the stationing of the U.S. military in Japan.

The “expenses related to the U.S. forces in Japan” include the Defense Ministry’s contribution to the cost of stationing the U.S. forces in Japan (the so-called “sympathy budget”), U.S. military realignment costs, and the Japan-U.S. Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO)-related costs. In addition to these costs, several ministries bear expenses, for example, for the provision of subsidies to U.S. base-hosting municipalities.

Regarding the ongoing projects for the realignment of the U.S. military forces in Japan, the Japanese government shoulders the expenses for the construction of a new U.S. base in Okinawa’s Nago district, field carrier landing practice (FCLP) facilities on Kagoshima’s Mageshima Island, and military facilities on Guam. In Europe, it is the U.S. side which bears the cost for the construction and maintenance of U.S. military-related infrastructure.

Article 24 of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) stipulates that the U.S. side will bear, without cost to Japan, all expenditures incident to the maintenance of the U.S. armed forces in Japan except land rent and compensation for local communities. However, the Japanese government in 1978 began providing voluntary host-nation support, known in Japan as the “sympathy budget”, by using the U.S. financial crunch as an excuse. It covers various stationing expenses including fringe benefits to Japanese employees in U.S. bases, fees for building housing units, schools, and recreational facilities for U.S. personnel and their families, and U.S. military drill relocation costs.

Furthermore, under the pretext of reducing Okinawa’s base burdens, the Japanese government has been paying SACO-related costs (from 1997) and other costs which Japan has no obligation to pay under the SOFA.

Past related article:
> US holding on to Okinawa while receiving 373 billion yen from Japan for construction of USMC base in Guam [January 8, 2026]