Japan and US agree on 1-year cost-sharing deal for hosting troops

Allies worked quickly to come to terms before current pact expires in March

A Japan-U.S. joint exercise using MV-22 Osprey aircraft is conducted at a training ground of the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force in Yamato, Kumamoto Prefecture, Southwestern Japan, on January 23, 2020. © AP

Nikkei staff writers

February 17, 2021 20:15 JST

Updated on February 18, 2021 07:54 JST

TOKYO -- Japan and the U.S. have agreed to keep Tokyo's costs for the stationing of American forces in the country, known as host-nation support, at around the current level for fiscal 2021, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Wednesday.

That means Japan's expenditure will be around $1.9 billion for the year, roughly the same standard it has been for the past five years.