USFJ to Return a Large Portion of Facilities

The Japanese news agencies reported on September 3 about the anticipated return of a large area in Yokohama, which is currently occupied by United States Forces in Japan (USFJ) as its military base.

The U.S.-Japan Joint Commission held a coordinating meeting, and the United States and Japan have reportedly agreed on returning 3.8 million hectares of six U.S. military facilities in Yokohama over a set period of time, while building 700 residence units for U.S. servicemen on some parts of the returned site.

When this agreement is carried out, it will be the largest-scale facilities return after the 1970s when USFJ gave back the Tachikawa Airbase.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government has organized a working-level consulting group comprised of officials from each department in response to the realignment of USFJ in order to arrange plans to reduce the impact of the realignment on areas such as Okinawa with U.S. Army bases while maintaining the combat ability of USFJ.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com