U.S. Forces Japan told The Japan Times that the approximate cost of the U.S. presence in Japan is $5.5 billion, based on the 2017 Operation and Maintenance Overview by the Office of the U.S. Undersecretary of Defense.
It said Japan will pay ¥192 billion in the current fiscal year in direct support. U.S. Forces Japan said it does not attempt to calculate the percentage of burden-sharing.
Asked about the different figures, a Foreign Ministry official in charge of the Japan-U.S. security treaty said the ratio varies depending on which expenses are used to calculate costs, and that the ministry has no plan to issue its own calculation.
A Defense Ministry official also said that the U.S. usually does not want to crunch the numbers, as doing so would hint at who pays the most among the U.S. allies.