December 22, 2014
The Japanese government will spend 673.9 billion yen by the end of FY 2014 to cover the costs of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, while imposing the heavier consumption tax rate on the general public, Akahata reported on December 22.
Akahata calculated this total expenditure based on information the Foreign Ministry disclosed at the request of Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken.
A budget of 673.9 billion yen is equivalent to 12.4 million yen per U.S. military personnel and their family members living in Japan. The budget includes: 184.8 billion yen in the so-called “sympathy budget” which is used to pay the wages of Japanese employees on U.S. bases and the construction costs of residences for U.S. servicemen: 180.8 billion yen for measures to compensate base-related damages, including soundproofing of private houses: 166.5 billion yen to cover land rents used by the U.S. forces: and 90.9 billion yen to help pay for the planned realignment of the U.S. military in Japan.
Leland Buckley, who is making a documentary film about the sympathy budget, said in an Akahata interview that a vast amount of Japanese taxpayers’ money is used to build luxurious quarters for the U.S. military, while many victims of the 2011 massive earthquake are still living in cramped and uncomfortable temporary housing units and the general public is suffering yet again from a consumption tax rate increase.
Past related articles
> Japan pays \700 bil. for US bases in Japan while US cuts its 212 bases in world [December 13, 2011]
> ’Sympathy budget’: Japan’s extraordinary generosity to US forces [December 22, 2010]
Akahata calculated this total expenditure based on information the Foreign Ministry disclosed at the request of Japanese Communist Party member of the House of Representatives Akamine Seiken.
A budget of 673.9 billion yen is equivalent to 12.4 million yen per U.S. military personnel and their family members living in Japan. The budget includes: 184.8 billion yen in the so-called “sympathy budget” which is used to pay the wages of Japanese employees on U.S. bases and the construction costs of residences for U.S. servicemen: 180.8 billion yen for measures to compensate base-related damages, including soundproofing of private houses: 166.5 billion yen to cover land rents used by the U.S. forces: and 90.9 billion yen to help pay for the planned realignment of the U.S. military in Japan.
Leland Buckley, who is making a documentary film about the sympathy budget, said in an Akahata interview that a vast amount of Japanese taxpayers’ money is used to build luxurious quarters for the U.S. military, while many victims of the 2011 massive earthquake are still living in cramped and uncomfortable temporary housing units and the general public is suffering yet again from a consumption tax rate increase.
Past related articles
> Japan pays \700 bil. for US bases in Japan while US cuts its 212 bases in world [December 13, 2011]
> ’Sympathy budget’: Japan’s extraordinary generosity to US forces [December 22, 2010]
