WASHINGTON — The United States is ready to discuss the possibility of forming a special bilateral pact with Japan to address environmental damage at U.S. military bases in Japan, the governor of Kanagawa Prefecture said Friday.
The offer emerged when Kanagawa Gov. Shigefumi Matsuzawa and Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima held separate talks with senior U.S. Defense and State Department officials, Matsuzawa said at a joint news conference with Nakaima in Washington.
Matsuzawa said the pact would be the first step in the new Democratic Party of Japan-led administration's goal of revising the bilateral Status of Forces Agreement, which governs U.S. military operations in Japan and legal arrangements for its personnel.