March 26, 2022

A special agreement that will extend Japan's payment of the so-called "sympathy budget" for another five years was approved on March 25 in the Japanese Diet by a majority support from the Liberal Democratic-Komei coalition, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, the "Nippon Ishin no Kai" party, and the Democratic Party for the People. The Japanese Communist Party and two other opposition parties were opposed to paying for the stationing of U.S. Forces Japan.

Under the special agreement, the amount of the budget in question Japan will shoulder for the next five fiscal years (FY2022-FY2026) will increase to 1 trillion yen from the current 946.5 billion yen. A new budget category will be created in order to support the procurement of materials and equipment for U.S. military training exercises. The relocation cost of US fighter jet training drills to Alaska will be additionally imposed on Japan.

Past related article:
> Japan may have to bear materials/equipment costs for US fighter jet training drills even in Alaska [March 2 & 3, 2022]