Japan Press Weekly

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2012 November 21 - 27 [US FORCES]

Japan shoulders costs for US exercises in Guam and US bases in Japan

Japan will shoulder three quarters of the cost needed for large-scale expeditionary training exercises of the U.S. Marine Corps scheduled to be held in Guam and Tinian.

Japan’s share of the cost for the relocation of U.S. military training has ballooned to about four billion yen this fiscal year compared to the previous year’s 800 million yen.

The exercises will take place between November 29 and December 18 with the participation of 880 marines stationed at the U.S. Iwakuni base in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, the U.S. military will conduct combat exercises and bombing exercises at the Anderson Air Force Base in Guam and at the U.S. Farallon de Medinilla Target Range in the Northern Mariana Islands. Along with the 880 marines from Iwakuni, 20 FA-18 fighters, three air-refueling aircraft, and four MV-22 Osprey aircraft will take part in the exercises.

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Japan pays 651.5 billion yen for stationing of US military in Japan

Japan’s share of burden for the cost for U.S. forces activities in Japan amounts to 651.5 billion yen this fiscal year.

The amount was revealed in the Foreign Ministry documents that were disclosed in response to Japanese Communist Party representative Akamine Seiken’s inquiry.

Despite the severe fiscal situation, the Democratic, Liberal Democratic, and Komei parties last year together forced through a Diet approval on a special supplementary accord in which Japan would pay as much as 200 billion yen in the so-called “sympathy budget” annually between FY 2011 and FY 2015.

The amount of burden the United States shares for its military operations in Japan this year has not yet been revealed. As of FY 2010, it shouldered about 5.3 billion dollars amounting to about 435 billion yen. The U.S. burden was well below the amount of 714.6 billion yen Japan paid during the same period of time.

The Foreign Ministry documents show that Japan pays for the maintenance cost of the U.S. bases, the construction cost of bases, the fuel and oil cost of the bases, and costs for U.S. training exercises. In the maintenance budget, such items are included as payment of wages to Japanese civilians who are employed at the bases, utilities for the bases, the rent for the land the U.S. forces use, and expenses needed for measures to deal with areas surrounding the bases.

In contrast, the U.S. pays for payment of wages to U.S. personnel and U.S. civilian employees, and operational and maintenance costs. Namely, Japan pays for almost all expenses except for U.S. servicemen’s wages.