Japan Press Weekly

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2012 March 14 - 20 [US FORCES]

‘Sympathy budget’ maintained using ‘eco-friendly’ rhetoric

Using a Japan-U.S. “green alliance” agreement as an excuse, the government earmarked 2.85 billion yen for “eco-friendly” renovation work under the FY 2012 “sympathy budget” for the U.S. forces in Japan.

This was revealed by the Defense Ministry to Japanese Communist Party House of Representatives member Akamine Seiken.

The Japanese and U.S. governments in early 2011 concluded a special pact to maintain the sympathy budget of 190 billion yen a year for the next 5 years. The pact includes Japan-U.S. cooperation concerning a so-called “green alliance”.

The renovation work is allegedly to reduce energy use in U.S. military facilities and family housing units by introducing solar-power generation systems, heat-pump water heaters, and other systems.

A solar power generation system for a household costs 2 million yen, and a heat-pump water heater costs 0.6-0.8 million yen.

Since the relocation of the U.S. Futenma base in Ginowan City in Okinawa was agreed to by Japan and the United States in 1996, a sympathy budget of 1.6 billion yen has been used for the base. A Defense Ministry official disclosed this to Akamine at the Lower House Special Committee on Okinawa meeting on March 7.

The Japanese government is thinking of sharing the cost for large scale renovations at the Futenma base.