By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Shigeru Ishiba, the incoming prime minister of Japan, is seeking the presence of Japanese forces on Guam, saying it is high time Tokyo and Washington level their lopsided agreement.
“The current Japan-U.S. security treaty is structured so that the U.S. is obligated to ‘defend’ Japan, and Japan is obligated to ‘provide bases’ to the U.S.,” Ishiba said in a statement provided to Hudson Institute.
“The time is ripe to change this ‘asymmetrical bilateral treaty,’” said Ishiba, who is set to assume the post this week.
Described as "a centrist and moderate conservative," Ishiba has been elected president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which thrust him into the prime minister's seat, succeeding Fumio Kishida, who decided not to seek another three-year term.
Ishiba, a former defense minister, recommended the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and Status of Forces Agreement to allow the stationing of Japan Self-Defense Forces on Guam “to strengthen the deterrence capabilities of Japan and the U.S.”
“If this happens, a status agreement for the ‘SDF in Guam,” could be made the same as that for U.S. forces in Japan,” he added.
“Furthermore, expanding the scope of joint management of U.S. bases in Japan would also reduce the burden on U.S. forces in Japan,” Ishiba said.
He said his goal is to elevate the Japan-U.S. alliance to the level of the U.S.-U.K. alliance, in which both countries are "equal partners."
“To achieve this, Japan must have its own military strategy and become independent in terms of security until it is willing to share its own strategy and tactics on equal terms with the U.S.,” Ishiba said.
As a conservative politician, Ishiba said he intends to build a “security system that can protect its own nation by itself” and actively contribute to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific nations based on the Japan-U.S. alliance.
At the end of the year, Guam anticipates the arrival of the first wave of U.S. Marines who will be relocated from Okinawa as part of the 2006 agreement between Wahington and Tokyo. Approximately 5,000 Marines will be relocated to Guam.
The U.S. Forces Japan is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, where it oversees U.S. military personnel, assets and installations in Japan, including approximately 55,000 active-duty servicemembers and 15 major bases.
According to the USFJ website, the U.S. has seven different bases on mainland Japan. Yokota and Misawa, representing the Air Force; Camp Zama, representing the Army; Iwakuni; the Marine Corps; and Yokosuka, Atsugi and Sasebo, the Navy. The closest of these is Camp Zama, which is approximately 20 miles from Yokota. The next largest facility on the island is Yokosuka, which is 70 kilometers away and can take two to three hours by car.
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