[JohnBraden]

Japan's defense budget is much lower with the U.S. presence, problems or not. If they were to have to fend for themselves (and I don't mean non-allied) their expenditures for defense (self or not) would be much higher than I'm sure they would like.

Then there's the boost to the local economies outside of the bases. While some military personnel mess it up for the majority, I'm sure the pulling of military installations in Japan would decimate the local economies.