About 30 years ago, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was concerned about the impact on the administration of Prime Minister Kaifu over the Japanese side's burden of the U.S. Forces Japan's stationing expenses, the so-called "compassionate budget," and did not put it on the agenda of the Japan-US summit meeting. It was revealed in a published diplomatic document that he was persuading the American side.
The Japanese side's burden of stationing expenses for the US military in Japan, the so-called "compassionate budget," is that the Japanese government bears part of the salaries and utility costs of employees working at US military bases.
In a diplomatic document released on the 23rd, senior officials from Japan and the United States set the agenda for negotiations on stationing expenses before the then Prime Minister Kaifu visited the United States for the first time in 1989 and held a summit meeting with President George W. Bush. It is written that they continued to exchange information as to whether or not to do so.
The U.S. side has proposed that President Bush should mention the trends of the parliament at the summit meeting and instruct the foreign ministers to discuss with each other, given the increasing pressure in the parliament to increase the burden on Japan. I am.
In response, Tatsuo Arima, director of the North American Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, pointed out that "a quiet dialogue should be held on the premise of accumulating from the administrative level," and "it was received in Japan that pressure was applied from the United States to Japan. For example, it has caused strong criticism and the Kaifu administration is in a difficult situation, "he said, calling for the issue not to be taken up at the summit.
In response to the US side saying, "The president's remarks cannot be guaranteed," Arima said, "Japan is determined to do what it should do under the Japan-US security system, but if this matter is raised at the summit, the Japanese government He is in a difficult position and is very likely to be unable to do what he can. ”As a result, President Bush did not directly mention the cost of stationing at the meeting.
Professor Takashi Shinobu of Nihon University, who specializes in the history of diplomatic relations between Japan and the United States, said, "It is a document 30 years ago, but after all, the same discussions and the same negotiations are still going on. As long as the US military is stationed in Japan, the problem of stationing costs is It will continue forever. "
For strict negotiations between two generations of parents and children
At that time, Tatsuo Arima (87), who negotiated as the director of the North American Affairs Bureau, was known as the American connoisseur of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1962 after completing a doctoral course at Harvard University Graduate School.
He was involved in negotiations for the return of Okinawa at the Treaty Bureau, which is now the International Legal Affairs Bureau, and during his time as Director of the North American Affairs Bureau, he was involved in negotiations on the cost of stationing US forces in Japan, as well as Japan-US talks on joint development of support fighters for the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Was also involved.
Arima's second son, Yutaka (53), is also a diplomat who joined the Ministry in 1991 and is a counselor of the North American Affairs Bureau.
Currently, I am the chief negotiator of the Government of Japan in the negotiations that are underway over the Japanese side's burden of the USFJ stationing expenses.
Negotiations are extremely unusual and will be carried over to next year due to the fact that the United States is in the transition period of the administration and the specific burden cannot be reached. Will be.