Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi's Cabinet deserves praise for changing Japan's policy stance regarding the Japan-U.S. security system. First, the Cabinet recently proposed a 15-year time limit on U.S. use of the facility that would take over operations of the U.S. Futenma Marine Air Station in Okinawa, which is to be returned to Japanese control. Second, it reduced Japan's host-nation financial support of U.S. military bases by 2.5 billion yen under a fiscal 2000 government budget. These changes would have been inconceivable under the previous Japanese governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
The backdrop to the changes is made up of these factors:
* The end of the Cold War removed the Soviet military threat, the main target of the bilateral security system. The Cabinet sought to forestall the resurgence of domestic criticism of Japan's blind pro-U.S. political stance as the security treaty entered its 40th year.