Tag - us-bases

 
 

US BASES

Okinawa Prefectural Police Headquarters in the city of Naha. Police have sent prosecutors papers on two U.S. Marines suspected of sexually assaulting women in the prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 24, 2025
U.S. Marines suspected of sexually assaulting women in Okinawa
One of the two is suspected of sexually assaulting an acquaintance in January, and the other of sexually assaulting a woman and injuring another at a military base in March.
Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, poses with a "Make America Great Again" cap at the White House in Washington on April 16.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 23, 2025
Japan wants to 'separate' tariff and security issues. That may be tough.
Disentangling the two will prove a challenge as U.S. President Donald Trump continues to voice long-held complaints about the alliance’s fairness.
U.S. military personnel join Japanese officials and residents for a one-off joint nighttime patrol on the streets of the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, late Friday in the first such joint operation since 1973, following sexual assault cases involving U.S. servicemen.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 19, 2025
Japan and U.S. patrol Okinawa streets after sexual assaults
In the first such joint operation since 1973, participants walked along a downtown street dotted with restaurants, bars and clubs near a U.S. airbase.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani speaks to reporters in Tokyo on April 11.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 18, 2025
Japan defense chief says 'no reason' to change current U.S. troop deal
Gen Nakatani said that spending “is appropriately shared between the Japanese and U.S. governments based on mutual agreement, with a set time frame.”
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025
Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.
Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki may participate in a joint patrol in the prefecture by Japanese and U.S. officials, an official in the area said.
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2025
Japan and U.S. to hold joint patrol after Okinawa sexual assaults
The one-off joint operation through busy areas until the early hours of the next day was proposed by the U.S. side.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in February
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 11, 2025
Trump calls U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided’ as nations prepare for tariff talks
The U.S. president's remarks rekindled fears that he might use the talks to ask Tokyo to pay more for hosting troops, buy more weapons or further boost defense spending.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's pick to be ambassador to Japan, attends a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on March 13.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 9, 2025
Japan gets a new U.S. ambassador — and he has his work cut out for him
The U.S. Senate has voted to confirm George Glass, whose top agenda items include resolving the tariff row and getting Tokyo to spend more on defense.
A MQ-4C Triton drone taxis at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2025
U.S. to send long-range surveillance drones to Japan amid Taiwan tensions
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that the drones will be sent to the U.S. air base in Kadena, on Okinawa Prefecture’s main island, in the coming weeks.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2025
Pentagon eyeing plan to halt U.S. Forces Japan upgrade, reports say
The move could create “political risk” for Washington with Tokyo and reduce the scope of command and control in the Indo-Pacific region as the U.S.-China rivalry heats up.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi addresses an opening ceremony on Sunday for a new medical center built in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2025
New medical center opens at former U.S. military site in Okinawa
The Faculty of Medicine of the University of the Ryukyus and its affiliated hospital have moved to the new medical center.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Japan, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025
Trump's ambassador pick to press Japan to spend more to host U.S. troops
The remarks by George Glass were the latest volley from the Trump administration to target Japan, following comments by other nominees.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025
U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule
The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
A building in Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, that houses the Naha District Public Prosecutor's Office
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025
U.S. Marine not indicted in sexual assault case in Okinawa
After comprehensive consideration, the prosecutor's office determined that it is difficult to build a case against the marine.
Airmen from the U.S. Air Force's 104th Fighter Wing complete post-flight checks on four F-15C fighter jets at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture, in October 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 10, 2025
U.S. falling behind on aircraft shelters in Asia as China’s missile arsenal grows
Beijing has also been making substantial investments to defend, expand and fortify its air bases.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025
U.S. Marine suspected of sexual assault in Okinawa
The U.S. Marine is suspected of sexually assaulting and injuring a woman indoors on Okinawa's main island last November.
A Self-Defense Forces soldier from a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile unit takes part in a drill at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, western Tokyo, in August 2017.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2024
U.S. military coordination unit eyed in central Tokyo
Such a location near the Defense Ministry is expected to allow both sides to smoothly draw up joint operational plans.
A work boat dropping sand on the seafloor for ground improvement work off Henoko, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2024
Ground improvement work begins in Okinawa's Henoko
The work is part of the project to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, Okinawa.
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024
Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen
The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
A Japan Ground Self-Defense Force V-22 Osprey tiltrotor military transport aircraft participates in a live fire exercise at GSDF's training grounds in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2024
Japan's SDF to resume Osprey flights
Officials announced the decision after the U.S. military said that its Ospreys will resume flights after undergoing an additional safety inspection.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.