As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe readies to meet U.S. president-elect Donald Trump Thursday in New York, some in Okinawa hope Trump's business experience means he will decide that relocating a U.S. base on the island is economically unfeasible and should be scrapped.
Prior to the election, Trump repeatedly said the U.S. was paying too much to keep troops overseas and that Japan should pay more for hosting them. He also indicated he would consider withdrawing troops from Japan unless Tokyo agreed to increase the amount of money it spends on housing and food.
Japan's expenditure on the U.S. military under a so-called "sympathy budget" is about ¥192 billion in 2016, up from about ¥190 billion in 2015. When other directly and indirectly related expenses are included, Japan pays up to half the costs of hosting U.S. troops.