The government was aware it might have to shoulder the cost of restoring U.S. military land on Okinawa to its original state a year before the accord for the island's reversion to Japan was sealed in 1971, Japanese diplomatic records declassified on Thursday show.
The records show Japan had anticipated it would have to cover the restoration costs even before it entered full-fledged negotiations over Okinawa's reversion from U.S. control in May 1972.
In the end, Tokyo agreed to pay for the costs in a secret pact with Washington, although officially it was stipulated in a 1971 bilateral agreement that Washington would be the one to pay.