Despite persistent demands from Okinawa Prefecture for sweeping revisions to the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, the central government is hoping the most recent surge in anti-American sentiment can be appeased by improvements in the implementation of the pact.

While the SOFA, which governs the activities of the U.S. military in Japan, often attracts attention when U.S. military personnel are suspects in off-base crimes, the agreement covers a wide range of issues such as the use of facilities, immigration procedures for military personnel, taxes and driving licenses.

Pressured by Okinawa's insistence for steps to be implemented to update the 40-year-old SOFA, most recently highlighted by a U.S. Marine being charged with serial arson last month, Japan and the United States agreed Thursday to start discussions on expanding the jurisdiction of Japanese authorities in crimes involving U.S. service personnel.

The pact stipulates that the U.S. retains custody of U.S. military personnel suspected of off-duty crimes until they are indicted.

However, after a 12-year-old girl was raped by three U.S. servicemen in 1995, the two sides agreed that U.S. authorities will give "favorable consideration" to Japanese requests for the transfer of suspects before indictment in cases of "serious crimes," such as murder and rape.

This time round, Tokyo hopes to expand the scope of such "serious crimes" to offenses including kidnapping for ransom and arson.

But there is growing sentiment within Okinawa, which hosts about 75 percent of the land allocated by Tokyo for U.S. military facilities in Japan, that this is still not sufficient.

Kantoku Teruya, an independent House of Councilors member from the prefecture, said the government -- acting as an independent sovereign nation -- must challenge the entire agreement, which he claims grants U.S. forces excessive privileges and affects Okinawan's human rights, from environmental pollution to compensation for victims of crimes and accidents by military personnel.

"If the (central) government continues to ride out the anger of Okinawans by 'improving implementation' every time crimes or accidents by the U.S. forces occur, what Gov. (Keiichi) Inamine referred to as the 'magma' (of anger) of Okinawans will explode and make smooth operation of the military bases impossible," he warned.

The debate over the SOFA is nothing new. Last year, the Okinawa Prefectural Government handed the central government a list of 13 items on the agreement that it wanted reviewed, ranging from such issues as environmental measures to the treatment of children born to locals and U.S. military personnel.

But while some Cabinet ministers, including Foreign Minister Yohei Kono and Ryutaro Hashimoto, state minister for Okinawa, appeared receptive to the idea of revising the SOFA after the arson incident, as time went by top Japanese officials began to backpedal and claim that improvements in implementation should come first -- a position the Foreign Ministry supports.

Mami Mizutori, director of the ministry's SOFA Division, pointed out that improvement in implementation is the realistic solution when anticipating the difficult and protracted negotiations with Washington before the pact can be revised.

Many observers say that since the U.S. has similar agreements with host nations all over the world regarding the status of its military forces, revising one SOFA would possibly affect other countries that may have similar concerns.

"(Foreign Ministry officials) have said (a SOFA revision) is a Pandora's box from which all kinds of problems will break out once it is opened," said a senior government official who has participated in past negotiations with the U.S. over the implementation of SOFA. "(In effect,) that means this treaty is full of problems."

Mizutori also argued that should diplomatic negotiations over the agreement start, the U.S. could possibly bring new demands of its own to the table.

"(In the end,) we don't know just how much we would actually gain," she said.

In addition, Foreign Ministry officials maintain that the agreement between Japan and the U.S. is one of the most advanced of the various pacts the U.S. has with other host nations.

Some experts point out that limitations on the custody of U.S. military personnel suspected of committing crimes -- arguably the issue most visible to Okinawans -- similarly exist in the agreement between Germany and NATO forces.

But Hiroshi Honma, a professor of law at Surugadai University, said the German-NATO treaty was drastically amended in 1993 with the addition of a supplement protocol so that local residents' rights are better respected.

The additional protocol, for example, imposes domestic flight regulations on NATO military aircraft, while in Japan, where U.S. forces have a large say over the large flight areas that it uses, noise pollution and low-altitude flights often adversely affect the everyday lives of local residents, the professor said.

The Germany-NATO agreements also oblige forces to obey domestic laws, including environment conservation, when they use facilities and relevant areas, while the Japan-U.S. pact grants the U.S. exclusive authority over the use of these areas, he said.

The additional protocol to the original Germany-NATO pact, which was concluded in 1954 when the Cold War was at its height, reflects drastic changes in Europe's security environment.

While many experts acknowledge that a security shift of similar magnitude would be necessary in Asia for agreements between Japan and the U.S. to change fundamentally, Honma added that smaller, yet symbolic changes to the SOFA are still possible in the current circumstances.

After more than five years of negotiations with Washington, South Korea in January succeeded in revising the pact for U.S. service members stationed there.

Among the changes was a clause that allows Korean authorities to take into custody upon indictment any U.S. military personnel suspected of any of 12 crimes determined as "serious."

"I am tired of the weak-kneed attitude of the Foreign Ministry. They only look toward the U.S. and never care for us Okinawans," Teruya said.