United States Military Bases— Japan
As part of the 1951 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty and related Administrative Agreement signed on 28 February 1952, the United States was granted the right to establish military bases in post-peace treaty Japan. This right continued following the revision of the security treaty in 1960 (Article 6) and the signing of the Status of Forces Agreement regarding the use of bases in Japan. In the early 2000s, there are ninety U.S. exclusive-use facilities in Japan, including thirty-seven in Okinawa. The main bases include Misawa, Yokota, Yokusuka, Zama, Iwakuni, Sasebo, Kadena, and Futenma.
In the 1950s, the United States began scaling down its military presence in mainland Japan due to budgetary considerations and friction, crimes, and accidents involving the bases. Several of these units were moved to Okinawa, which was under U.S. administrative control at the time and thus were not subjected to the same restrictions that existed in mainland Japan under the Security Treaty. Following Okinawa's reversion to Japan in 1972, bases (land area) were reduced some 60 percent in mainland Japan, with a 15 percent reduction in Okinawa. At present, approximately 75 percent (land area) of U.S. bases in Japan are located in Okinawa, which has led citizens in Okinawa to protest the disproportionate share of bases in their prefecture.
Further Reading
Aketagawa Toru. (1999) Nichibei Gyosei Kyotei no Seijishi (A
Political History of the Japan-U.S. Administrative Agreement). Tokyo: Hosei Daigaku Shuppankyoku. Green, Michael J., and Patrick M. Cronin. (1999) The U.S.-Japan
Alliance: Past, Present, and Future. New York: Council on Foreign Relations.
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