Japan agrees to pay US$9.33 billion for upkeep of US forces over five years to 2026
- The US and Japan are long-term allies and have deepened their cooperation in recent years through the Quad grouping in the face of China’s rising power
- Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Japan and the US have been negotiating to strengthen the Japan-US alliance’s deterrence and response capability
Japan has agreed with the United States to pay 1.06 trillion yen (US$9.33 billion) to share the upkeep of US forces stationed in Japan over five years from next April, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Tuesday.
That amounts to 211 billion yen a year, up from 201.7 billion yen for the current year ending March 2022.
About 54,000 US military personnel are stationed in Japan.
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“With the security environment surrounding Japan getting tougher, we have been negotiating (with the US) to support the stable presence of the US forces and strengthen the Japan-US alliance’s deterrence and response capability,” Hayashi said.
A spokesperson for the US State Department confirmed that agreement has been reached on the issue.
“We can confirm that representatives of the governments of the United States and Japan have reached consensus on the contents of a new proposed Special Measures Agreement and Host Nation Support Framework between the United States and Japan, the spokesperson said, referring to the financing agreements.
“This demonstrates the strength of the US-Japan Alliance, which is the cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.”