Can Japan ask US to leave Okinawa and close US base in their soil? -

Just wondering about these US military bases overseas. Does Japan have a choice or is part of some agreement after WWII? Thanks.

Our bases in Japan exist only because both he US and Japan want them there. The moment either party decided that they did not want the bases there - they would be closed.

They could. The US basically quot;rentsquot; the land that bases in foreign countries are sitting on. Like any landlord, the host country can decide not to renew the lease and ask the tenents to vacate at the end of the lease. The bases in Okinawa have had to deal with this possibility more than others. Part of the problem in land is at a premium in Japan and the bases take up large amounts that could be used for other things. The bases in Okinawa have continued to grow as well and their activity levels have increased. Even with those issues in play, it is unlikely that Japan will kick us out of Okinawa any time soon. The base provides hundreds of jobs for Japanese citizens, as well as boosting the economy off base as well. What is more likely to happen is tougher restrictions on active duty members and, when something does happen, it wouldn t surprise me if we see more active duty or family members dealing with Japanese court systems depending on the infraction/crime.

Yes, Japan can terminate the security treaty with the U.S. If that is the case, USF must leave Japan within a year. But this is not a realistic choice for both parties as people above said. The problem from Japanese view is that Japan has no say as to how many USF personnel should station on each USF bases and what kind of arms they should bring into Japan except for nuclear weapons. In other words, the U.S. has quot;extraterritorial rights.quot; The Japanese govt is not informed of the details of USF activities in its own territory. This is why revision of the treaty, including SOFA, is debated every time USF crimes and accidents take place in Japan, especially in Okinawa. The fact is that 75% of the USFJ facilities are concentrated in Okinawa prefecture where the fiercest ground battle was fought at the end of the Pacific War. This is the reality.

If the Japanese Diet (Parliament) votes to repeal the U.S.-Japan Mututal Security Treaty, then all U.S. military facilities will have to close within one year of that repeal. The downside will be that hundreds of thousands of Japanese who are employed by those bases and paid by the Japanese government will then be unemployed. They will also be the unemployed rank and file members of a powerful labor union. The civilian sector businesses which abut those bases will face a large economic downturn. A small taste of that is currently being felt in Okinawa Prefecture because U.S. Forces and their family members are restricted from shopping off base.

yes japan could kick us out. but why would they.. they are doing fantastically well as a thriving democracy. they dont have the massive burden of a full fledged national defence. as long as the us military is there there s no real threat of war with anyone else. and no need for their own military to be larger than a token force.

yes they can. will they? not any time soon. between the fact that they CANNOT adequately defend themselves against North Korea or China should either nation decide to get squirrelly, the amount of money the US military and their family members pumps into the Japanese economy may very well be the ONLY thing keeping it afloat right now.

Of course they can. But why would they? They are one of our closest friends and we provide excellent defense for them.

Sure. It s outlined in the Status of Forces Agreement. All overseas US bases have one with the host nation. The basic SOFA outlines that the host nation can pull thier sponsorship at any time, but there has to be a good reason.

Japan would never do that because they rely on us for protection. The US and Japan signed some treaty that said Japan would not develop a strong military as long as the US is there to protect them.

I guess they could ask...but that doesn t mean we will leave. I m pretty sure that was written into the Surrender Documents. Besides they depend on us to strongly to protect their shores from invading forces. You may have seen that China has tested some missiles which went out over the Sea of Japan...not close enough to violate their country...but close enough to be a threat. I ll take a quick look for Surrender Terms from Japan...and get back to you. Here is what I found..... Japan was once again an independent state (with the exceptions of Okinawa, which remained under U.S. control until 1972, and Iwo Jima, which remained under US control until 1968). Even though some 47,000 U.S. military personnel remain in Japan today, they are there at the invitation of the Japanese government under the terms of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan and not as an occupying force.