TOKYO - The U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has demanded Japan triple its spending on hosting American troops to more than 3 trillion yen ($19 billion) over five years starting in fiscal 2027, sources familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Japan is considering substantially increasing the payment to its key security ally to roughly 1.5 trillion yen, they said.
The upcoming host-nation support for U.S. forces stationed in Japan is expected to include spending to beef up resilience and survivability of U.S. military facilities in Japan in the event of an attack and could total more than 300 billion yen annually.
Bilateral cost-sharing negotiations got into full gear in Tokyo this summer. Another round of talks is expected to take place possibly next week, with the Japanese and U.S. governments aiming to reach an agreement by the end of the year, the sources said.
"While 3 trillion yen over five years would be difficult to accept, there is a possibility to pay around 1.5 trillion yen," a diplomatic source said.
Total outlays for hosting U.S. military bases were set at 1.06 trillion yen for the five years from fiscal 2022 to fiscal 2026 through next March, or around 211 billion yen annually.
The largest total was 1.35 trillion yen for the five-year period from fiscal 1996 to fiscal 2000.
Regarding resilience-enhancement spending, the Japanese government is considering supporting measures such as moving base functions underground and strengthening building structures to prepare for explosions and electromagnetic attacks.
During his first term as president, Trump also pressed Japan to shoulder a massive share of the cost of hosting U.S. troops.
The current spending package was agreed to under the previous administration of Joe Biden and includes funding for items such as the procurement of advanced systems to be used in joint training by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military.
