US Forces Japan Considering Relocating Command from Yokota to Central Tokyo; Roppongi Site Is One Potential Candidate

By Hiroshi Tajima / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

15:10 JST, November 15, 2024

WASHINGTON — U.S. Forces Japan command is weighing a move from Yokota Air Base, in western Tokyo, to somewhere in central Tokyo, as part of a review of the command and control framework between Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces, the U.S. forces newspaper “Stars and Stripes” reported on Tuesday.

The move is intended to facilitate coordination with the SDF joint operations command, a body which is set to be established at the end of this fiscal year, but there are some uncertainties about its implementation.

Tokyo’s Ichigaya area, where the Defense Ministry is located and the SDF joint operations command will be set up, is more than 30 kilometers from Yokota Air Base, making travel between the two inconvenient and time-consuming.

Akasaka Press Center, a U.S. military facility in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo, which includes a heliport, has been suggested as a possible relocation site, according to the newspaper. If realized, this would put U.S. Forces headquarters about three kilometers from the Defense Ministry. However, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been demanding that the U.S. military return the land, which it originally seized after the World War II.

The Pentagon plans to move forward with a reorganization of the U.S. Forces Japan by next March to coincide with the establishment of the SDF joint operations command. However, it is increasingly believed that the review process will be delayed due to the start of the second Trump administration.

A Japanese government source said on Thursday that they had not heard about the proposed relocation to the city center.