Japan defense chief says no decision yet on relocating U.S. military’s command

Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Friday said that no decision has been made on U.S. Forces Japan’s reported command relocation to central Tokyo.
“Details will be discussed in a Japan-U.S. working group after consideration in the United States,” he also told a news conference.
The U.S. newspaper Stars and Stripes reported on Tuesday that U.S. Forces Japan is considering moving its command from its Yokota base in Tokyo’s western suburbs to central Tokyo.
The relocation would support cooperation with the Self-Defense Forces’ joint operations command, to be set up in the Ichigaya district in central Tokyo at the end of fiscal 2024.
As part of efforts to build a closer relationship with the SDF, U.S. Forces Japan is reorganizing itself including by creating a joint force headquarters with some operational authority.
According to the report, the Akasaka Press Center, which has a heliport, in the busy Roppongi district is emerging as the likely site. The land was commandeered by the U.S. military immediately after the end of World War II.
The SDF’s new command will be some 40 kilometers away from the Yokota base, while the press center will be just 3 km away.
Meanwhile, the Tokyo metropolitan government has been calling on the U.S. side to fully return the land of the press center.
U.S. Forces Japan “is in the early stages of determining the specific resources and facilities necessary” for the expected relocation, the Stars and Stripes quoted a U.S. Forces Japan spokesman as saying.