Japan pays for American noise pollution with US$466 million in lawsuit damages over aircraft nuisance

Japanese courts have ordered compensation is paid to people living close to five US bases, as part of a ‘sympathy budget’ for hosting American troops

The US is supposed to pay 75 per cent of any damages if its forces are at fault, but lawmakers say there’s no evidence any payment has ever been made

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US military MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft parked at the Futenma air base in Okinawa in December last year. Photo: Kyodo

Published: 10:00am, 5 Mar 2024Updated: 11:21am, 5 Mar 2024

Japanese taxpayers have been footing the bill for noise pollution caused by American aircraft in dozens of compensation suits filed by people living close to US military bases.

It’s seen as part of the “sympathy budget” that Tokyo bears to host American troops, with Japan keen to show its primary security ally that it is playing its part in shouldering the burden, according to an analyst who spoke to This Week in Asia.

Confirmation that the Japanese government has paid more than 70 billion yen (US$466 million) to people living near five US bases for the excessive noise generated by American aircraft came in an official response to an opposition politician on February 27, the Mainichi newspaper reported.

The response also confirmed that under the US-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, which dates to 1960, the United States is required to pay 75 per cent of any damages resulting from its troops’ actions, while Japan pays the remaining 25 per cent. The compensation is split equally when both nations are found to be at fault.

The request for information filed by Tomohiro Yara, of the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, revealed that while Tokyo has asked the US to meet its compensation commitments, “there is no evidence that any payment of any kind has been made by the US government at this time”.

Masafumi Chinen, whose father fought a long-running lawsuit against the US Futenma Air Station in Okinawa prefecture, said local people had long believed that compensation payments were not being made by the US.

“People in Okinawa have not believed that for many years, but I think that most people in mainland Japan did not realise what was going on,” he told This Week in Asia.

“I’m angry, and I hope they are angry as well,” he said. “It is not fair that we have to live with the noise from the bases, and it is not fair that Japanese taxpayers are paying the compensation for the noise the US military makes.”