The Diet on Wednesday endorsed a Japan-U.S. accord on the planned transfer of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam by 2014. The opposition-controlled Upper House voted it down, but under a constitutional provision, the Lower House's earlier approval of it prevailed.
The total relocation cost is set at $10.27 billion. Under the accord, Japan will shoulder $6.09 billion — up to $2.8 billion directly from the Japanese government and the remaining $3.29 billion in loan provisions. The Japanese money will be used for constructing the headquarters buildings, residences, schools and infrastructure, including water supply and sewerage. The government has not provided a clear cost breakdown — the main reason for the opposition parties' opposition to the accord. The accord is unusual in that Japan will be paying for the construction of some U.S. military facilities overseas.
The relocation of marines is contingent on the moving of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan — in the central part of Okinawa Island — to the Camp Schwab in Nago in the northern part of the island. The U.S. and Japanese governments have agreed on the detailed location of the new airfield. But the Okinawa prefectural government is against the location. Thus the move has been stalled.