The Japan-U.S. Joint Committee reached agreement Monday on the U.S. military returning land used by six facilities in Yokohama and reducing the amount of new military housing to be built in the city.
Also Monday, Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa submitted a demand to the Foreign Ministry that it inform local governments about the ongoing Japan-U.S. discussions of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
The United States has proposed relocating the U.S. Army's 1st Corps from the state of Washington to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture, but Matsuzawa said the national government has not provided any information, leading to worry and confusion among residents near the camp.
The joint committee, which involves the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. military, finalized a basic accord reached Sept. 2 between the two governments at another bilateral panel. The six facilities to be returned to Japan, totaling 380 hectares, include the Yokohama part of the U.S. military's Ikego residential area, which straddles the neighboring city of Zushi, and the Kamiseya communications facility in Yokohama.
The agreement includes limiting the number of new housing units to be built in the Ikego residential area to 700 units, 100 less than earlier planned, as requested by the Yokohama Municipal Government. Japan will discuss with the U.S. forces when the facilities will be returned and will survey the planned construction site for the housing units, the officials said.