Ikego forest

It was also agreed Sept. 2 that the United States would return more land held by U.S. forces in a bid to get the controversial housing project started.

In July 2003, Tokyo and Washington agreed to build 800 additional housing units for the U.S. military in the Ikego forest area, which straddles Yokohama and the city of Zushi, in exchange for the return of four vacant military facilities in Yokohama.

In the new agreement, the U.S. side will reduce the number of new housing units by 100 to 700 and return an additional three sites to the city of Yokohama.

The land and facilities to be returned are the 53-hectare Koshiba oil storage facility, 1.2 hectares of land in Ikego and 50 hectares of the Kamiseya communications complex. With the additional concessions, all the Kamiseya facilities will be returned to Japan.

However, Zushi Mayor Kazuyoshi Nagashima said that his city will not change its plan to file a lawsuit against the central government to stop the U.S. housing construction in Ikego.

Zushi has argued that the plan contravenes a 1994 agreement between the city, Kanagawa Prefecture and the national government that there would be no expansion of U.S. military housing in the Ikego forest.

The Japan Times Weekly: Sept. 11, 2004
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