Japan, U.S. broadly agree on Tokyo's costs to host U.S. troops

Kyodo -- Feb 11

Japan and the United States have broadly agreed to extend by one year the current deal on Tokyo's costs for hosting American troops, Japanese government sources said Wednesday.

Under the agreement, Japan will shoulder roughly 200 billion yen ($1.91 billion) in fiscal 2021, around the same level as last year, for the so-called host nation support, they said, adding a formal accord is expected to take place soon.

Talks for cost-sharing for fiscal 2022 and onwards will resume in April later, they said.

The current five-year deal will expire next month.

Tokyo shoulders part of the cost of stationing around 55,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan, including their utility, labor and training expenses, under a bilateral security treaty.

Japan had tentatively earmarked 201.7 billion yen for the initial budget plan for fiscal 2021, about the same amount as the previous year.