Japan has decided to accept a request by the United States to pay more for hosting its military forces from fiscal 2022 after the two countries held working-level negotiations in Washington from late November through early this month, diplomatic sources said Sunday.
Japan is expected to reach an agreement later this month on the increase with the United States before Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet decides on a draft budget for the fiscal year starting in April, the sources said.
The Japanese government is believed to have determined that a certain amount of increase in so-called host nation support is inevitable in light of the need to boost their long-standing security alliance. U.S. forces are currently mobilizing their most advanced hardware in the region to address China's rapid military expansion.