Donald Trump’s rise sparks alarm in Japan

Oh, no! Trump might cut their aid dollars!!!!!!

So does that mean Trump will pull U.S. Marines out of Okinawa and the U.S. Navy ships out of Japan?

No, it means that Japan will pay more to sustain our presence there. It is called burden-sharing. The US has been paying the vast bulk of the costs of defending the Free World, both in blood and treasure. We are going broke doing it.

FYI: The Japanese on Okinawa would like to see the US military out and have for a long time.

The US has defended Japan for a number of reasons. First, we do not want to see a re-militarization of Japan especially a nuclear armed one. Second, we helped insert Article 9 into the Japanese constitution, which the state formally renounces the sovereign right of belligerency and aims at an international peace based on justice and order. The article also states that, to accomplish these aims, armed forces with war potential will not be maintained, although Japan maintains de facto armed forces, referred to as the Japan Self-Defense Forces which may have originally been thought of as something akin to what Mahatma Gandhi called the Shanti Sena (soldiers of peace) or a collective security police (peacekeeping) force operating under the United Nations.

In July 2014, instead of using Article 96 of the Japanese Constitution to amend the Constitution, the Japanese government approved a reinterpretation which gave more powers to its Self-Defense forces, allowing them to defend other allies in case of war being declared upon them, despite concerns and disapproval from mainland China and South Korea, whereas the United States of America supported the move. This change is considered illegitimate by some Japanese parties and Japanese citizens since the prime minister circumvented Japan's constitutional amendment procedure.

In September 2015, the Japanese Diet made the reinterpretation official by enacting a series of laws that included that the Self-Defense Forces may provide material support to allies engaged in combat internationally. The justification is that by not defending/supporting an ally, it would weaken alliances and endanger Japan.

If people like us, who post here, get a bodyguard, would they charge us or guard us for free?

No, it means that Japan will pay more to sustain our presence there. It is called burden-sharing. The US has been paying the vast bulk of the costs of defending the Free World, both in blood and treasure. We are going broke doing it.

They already provide all the land the U.S. forced use free of charge. What more do you want them to pay?

They already provide all the land the U.S. forced use free of charge. What more do you want them to pay?

They need to help pay for the operating costs of our forces. It is like a business with overhead. We pay the salaries, R&D costs for weapons systems, the maintenance costs of equipment, fuel, etc. They should help cover those costs.

The Saudis and Kuwaitis paid us close to $30 billion to cover the costs of the Gulf War.

They need to help pay for the operating costs of our forces. It is like a business with overhead. We pay the salaries, R&D costs for weapons systems, the maintenance costs of equipment, fuel, etc. They should help cover those costs.

If all the forces were doing there was defending Japan then you might have a point. But face it, we keep those bases there because it's easier to stage troops and ships to the Middle East or Korea than it is from the West Coast. Japan isn't going to pay for that, nor should they.

The Saudis and Kuwaitis paid us close to $30 billion to cover the costs of the Gulf War.

And how much did we pay?

If all the forces were doing there was defending Japan then you might have a point. But face it, we keep those bases there because it's easier to stage troops and ships to the Middle East or Korea than it is from the West Coast. Japan isn't going to pay for that, nor should they.

No one is asking Japan to pay all the costs. They will just have to pay more. I served as a naval officer including on deployment to Asia including Japan. You do realize that we employ thousands of Japanese to work at our bases. Only recently, have the Japanese agreed to pick uppart of their health costs.

FYI: We don't use Japan as a staging point for the ME.

And how much did we pay?

I was stationed in SA for the entire Gulf War. If the truth be known, we made a little profit from those costs, but it certainly did not cover the several hundred people we lost. Kuwait actually paid for the construction of a new US Embassy in Kuwait.

F#ck’em!

The media:

People who harm America good because white people = bad.

People who say “American good” = bad.

People who say “America bad” = good.

In the 1980s, I was stationed for three years in Sasebo, Japan, where the US uses a former Japanese naval base and ammunition depot from World War II.

The US Navy occupies prime real estate in the middle of the harbor and most of the Navy base is operated by Japanese nationals who get paid to do all the construction and other work on the U.S. Navy base.

In fact, the US is one of the biggest employers in the city of maybe 200,000. I loved living there and lived in a home on the local economy.

You can't help believe that Japan should be picking up more of the expenses and today they are not. But I date myself.

My guess, there's lots of room for Trump to negotiate a better deal. In fact, if the US pushes its position, then Japan will be forced to turn its Self-Defense force into a real fighting army/navy. And that's what Prime Minister Abe wants anyway -- more independence. But there's also strong public pressure to not have a real military -- and WW2 is why.

But everybody is worried about what North Korea would do. And I sure enough, Trump knows this and is the only candidate I can recall talking about the North Korean threat at all.