is a subordinate unified command of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command. USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and is commanded by the Commander, U.S. Forces Japan who is also commander of the Fifth Air Force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history.
USFJ oversees U.S. military personnel, assets, and installations in Japan, including approximately 55,000 active-duty servicemembers and 15 major bases.Nicastro, Luke and Tilghman, Andrew. "U.S. Overseas Basing: Background and Issues for Congress". Congressional Research Service, 10 July 2024, pp. 8-9, 32. USFJ supports U.S. responsibilities under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, and its activities are governed by the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Japan. The command plays a major role in security-related coordination and dialogue with the Government of Japan and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.
In July 2024, the U.S. Department of Defense announced that USFJ would be upgraded to a "joint operational headquarters", a move U.S. secretary of defense Lloyd Austin characterized as "the most significant change to U.S. Forces Japan since its creation".
History
Origins
After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in Asia, the United States Armed Forces assumed administrative authority in Japan. The Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were decommissioned, and the U.S. Armed Forces took control of Japanese military bases until a new government could be formed and positioned to reestablish authority.Allied forces planned to demilitarize Japan, and the new government adopted the Constitution of Japan with a no-armed-force clause in 1947.
After the Korean War began in 1950, Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in Japan, in agreement with the Japanese government, established the paramilitary "National Police Reserve", which was later developed into the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. It means the de facto remilitarization of postwar Japan.
In 1951, the Treaty of San Francisco, signed by the Allies and Japan, formally ended the state of war with the Allies and restored Japan's formal sovereignty. At the same time, the U.S. and Japan signed the Japan-America Security Alliance, a ten-year renewable agreement. By this treaty, USFJ is responsible for the defense of Japan. As part of this agreement, the Japanese government requested that the U.S. military bases remain in Japan and agreed to provide funds and various interests specified in the Status of Forces Agreement. At the expiration of the treaty, the United States and Japan signed the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan. The status of the United States Forces Japan was defined in the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement. This treaty is still in effect, and it forms the basis of Japan's foreign policy.
20th century During the Vietnam War, U.S. military bases in Japan, especially those in the Okinawa Prefecture, were used as important strategic and logistic bases. In 1970, the Koza riot occurred against the U.S. military presence on Okinawa. Strategic bombers were deployed to the bases on Okinawa. Before the 1972 reversion of the island to Japanese administration, it has been speculated but never confirmed that up to 1,200 nuclear weapons may have been stored at Kadena Air Base during the 1960s.疑惑が晴れるのはいつか, Okinawa Times, 16 May 1999
21st century The Japanese government paid ¥217 billion (US$2.0 billion) in 2007思いやり予算8億円減で日米合意、光熱水料を3年間で, Yomiuri Shinbun, 12 December 2007 as annual host-nation support called .PRESS RELEASE U.S. and Japan Sign Alliance Support Agreement , The embassy of the United States in Japan As of the 2011 budget, such payment was no longer to be referred to as omoiyari yosan or "sympathy budget". Japan compensates 75% ($4.4 billion) of U.S. basing costs.
Immediately after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, 9,720 dependents of United States military and government civilian employees in Japan evacuated the country, mainly to the United States.Tritten, Travis J., "Evacuation from Japan a vacation? Not so much", Stars and Stripes, 31 May 2011.
The relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko Bay was resolved in December 2013 with the signing of a landfill agreement by the governor of Okinawa. Under the terms of the U.S.-Japan agreement, 5,000 U.S. Marines were relocated to Guam, and 4,000 Marines were sent to other Pacific locations such as Hawaii or Australia, while around 10,000 Marines were to remain on Okinawa. No timetable for the Marines redeployment was announced, but The Washington Post reported that U.S. Marines would leave Okinawa as soon as suitable facilities on Guam and elsewhere were ready. The relocation move was expected to cost $8.6 billion, including a $3.1 billion cash commitment from Japan for the move to Guam as well as for developing joint training ranges on Guam and on Tinian and Pagan in the Northern Mariana Islands. Certain parcels of land on Okinawa which were leased for use by the American military were supposed to be turned back to Japanese control via a long-term phased return process according to the agreement. These returns have been ongoing since 1972. In October 2020, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz was activated on Guam. The new base is meant to house Marines relocated from Okinawa, with the final relocation planned for 2025.
In March 2024, media reporting suggested that the organizational remit and status of USFJ would be changed—possibly including the creation of a new joint task force as well as the elevation of the USFJ commander's rank—as part of a broader 'upgrading' of the U.S.-Japan alliance to be announced during the April 2024 visit of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to the United States. As part of that visit, Prime Minister Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden stated the following in a Joint Leaders' Statement: Recognizing the speed at which regional security challenges evolve and to ensure our bilateral Alliance structures meet these critical changes, we announce our intention to bilaterally upgrade our respective command and control frameworks to enable seamless integration of operations and capabilities and allow for greater interoperability and planning between U.S. and Japanese forces in peacetime and during contingencies. More effective U.S.-Japan Alliance command and control will strengthen deterrence and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific in the face of pressing regional security challenges. We call on our respective defense and foreign ministries to develop this new relationship through the Security Consultative Committee (our security "2+2").In July 2024, DOD announced that USFJ would be upgraded to a joint operational headquarters. According to one DOD official, this will result in USFJ transitioning from a primarily "administrative command" into an organization with more operational and warfighting responsibilities.
United States presence debate As of May 2022, the stationing of U.S. military personnel at military facilities across Okinawa Island remains a hotly-contested and controversial issue, with the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma often being at the forefront of protests against the presence of U.S. military presence on the island. Okinawa makes up only 0.6% of the nation's land area;Yoshida, Reiji, "Basics of the U.S. military presence", Japan Times, 25 March 2008, p. 3. yet, approximately 62% of United States bases in Japan (exclusive use only) are on Okinawa.http://www.pref.okinawa.jp/site/chijiko/kichitai/documents/petition20031116.pdf , Okinawa Prefectural Government Despite an agreement to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma first being reached by the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996, progress to relocate the base has stalled because of the protests as well as environmental concerns resulting from the construction, operation and relocation of the base. The U.S. government employs over eight thousand Master Labor Contract/Indirect Hire Agreement workers on Okinawa (per the Labor Management Organization), not including Okinawan contract workers.
There is also debate over the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) since it covers a variety of administrative technicalities blending the systems which control how certain situations are handled between the U.S.'s and Japan's legal framework.
Surveys among Japanese In May 2010, a survey of the Okinawan people conducted by the Mainichi Shimbun and the Ryūkyū Shimpō, found that 71% of Okinawans surveyed thought that the presence of Marines on Okinawa was not necessary (15% said it was necessary). When asked what they thought about 62% of exclusive use United States Forces Japan bases being concentrated on Okinawa, 50% said that the number should be reduced and 41% said that the bases should be removed. When asked about the US-Japan security treaty, 55% said it should be a peace treaty, 14% said it should be abolished, and 7% said it should be maintained. Many Okinawans challenge colonial narratives around the foreign military presence and this contributes to the decolonisation on knowledge. Many question if the presence is beneficial for the people. A 2023 research paper in the International Relations of the Asia-Pacific journal found that, Okinawans have "considerably unfavorable attitudes toward the US military presence in their prefecture... regardless of their contact with Americans and economic benefits and their general support for the US military presence within Japan." Their finding supported a "not-in-my-backyard" reason for the negativity.
Many of the bases, such as Yokota Air Base, Naval Air Facility Atsugi and Kadena Air Base, are located in the vicinity of residential districts, and local citizens have complained about excessive aircraft noise.基地騒音の問題 , Yamato City横田基地における騒音防止対策の徹底について（要請） , Tokyo Metropolitan Government嘉手納町の概要 , Kadena Town The 2014 poll by Ryūkyū Shimpō found that 80% of surveyed Okinawans want the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma moved out of the prefecture. On 25 June 2018, Okinawan residents protested against the construction of a new airfield. Activists holding placards and banners went to sea on 70 boats and ships. Protesters urged the Japanese authorities to stop the expansion of the U.S. military presence on the island. Some of the boats went to the guarded construction site, where they came across the Coast Guard patrol vessels. Some activists were arrested for entering a prohibited zone.
On 11 August 2018, about 70,000 protesters gathered at a park in the prefecture capital of Naha to protest the planned relocation of a U.S. military base on the southern Japanese island. Opponents of the relocation said the plan to move Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded neighborhood to a less populated coastal site would not only affect the environment, but would also go against local wishes to have the base moved from the island entirely.
Crime
At the beginning of the occupation of Japan in 1945, many U.S. soldiers participated in the Special Comfort Facility Association. The Japanese government organised the enslavement of 55,000 women to work providing sexual services to U.S. military personnel before the surrender. On discovery of the program, the association was closed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.