Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono was forced Thursday to retract earlier comments supporting the U.S.-proposed transfer of command functions of the U.S. Army First Corps in Washington state to Camp Zama in Kanagawa Prefecture.
The retraction reveals that there are conflicting views within the government on the extent of Japan's alliance with U.S. military forces.
Ono and Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, both appointed late last month, had repeatedly floated ideas to expand the scope of the Japan-U.S. security treaty beyond the Far East -- the area stipulated in the treaty under the unified government's view.