Lawmakers in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party established a group Tuesday to push for revisions of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
The move came after lawmakers of the LDP and the Social Democratic Party proposed revisions this year to allow U.S. military personnel suspected of committing crimes in Japan to be handed over to Japanese authorities before indictment. The changes would also oblige U.S. forces in Japan to take environmental measures, group members said.
"We want to improve the bilateral partnership by revising the agreement," the group, headed by House of Representatives member Toshio Kojima, said in a statement.
The group will map out a set of proposals after consulting with members of local party organizations in all 47 prefectures, it said.