GINOWAN, Japan — In a country where land is a precious commodity, many U.S. bases in Japan boast golf courses, football fields and shopping malls whose food courts offer everything from Taco Bell to Subway and Starbucks.
They are the most visible points of grievance in a sharpening debate about the cost to Japan of supporting the 47,000 American service members here — about $2 billion a year.
That’s nearly a third of the total, and about three times what Germany pays to host U.S. forces on its soil.
But facing economic woes and seeking a more equal relationship with the U.S., Japan’s new reformist government is questioning whether it should spend so much on U.S. troops — a topic that was taboo under the pro-Washington administrations that governed Japan for most of the post-World War II era.
“This will be a very important year for our relationship,” said Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama last month. He took office in September.
The flash point of the debate is the southern island of Okinawa, home to most of the nearly 100 U.S. facilities in Japan. Futenma airfield, where several thousand Marines are stationed, was to have been moved from the town of Ginowan to Nago. But that plan came into doubt last month after Nago elected a mayor who opposes having the base.
At the same time, the U.S. is shifting about 8,000 troops from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam and expects Japan to pay an estimated $6 billion of the moving costs.
The frustrations run deep in cramped Ginowan. Local media run images of the golf course at nearby Kadena Air Base and criticize the forces whenever a service member is involved in a local crime.
“This is a bigger issue than the golf courses and free highway passes,” said Hideki Toma, an official dealing with the bases on Okinawa. “It goes back to the fact that Okinawa was occupied after World War II and why the bases have to be here in the first place.”
American officials say the deployment in Japan of troops, fighter jets and the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier based outside the U.S. has enabled Japan to hold down its own defense costs in line with its pacifist constitution.
They say the U.S. presence also prevents an arms race in east Asia, acts as a deterrent against North Korea, and counters the rise of China.
