Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto indicated April 7 that his government will try in the future to grant itself legal and ultimate authority to forcibly rent land for use by U.S. military bases.
Hashimoto said the government will consider ways to take over the necessary procedures after it receives a set of recommendations in June from its panel studying the division of authority between the state and local governments. Under the present legal system, the central government entrusts such administrative functions to local governments. The panel is expected to recommend that the functions fall under the state's direct control.
Hashimoto made the remark in response to a question by Shinshinto lawmaker Nobuaki Futami in the first day of a session of a special House of Representatives committee in charge of delivering a government-proposed bill on the issue. If enacted, the bill, submitted last week, would enable the government to continue providing land inside U.S. military facilities after leases expire May 14.