After COVID-19 cases spiked in prefectures with U.S. military facilities early on in the current wave of infections, local pressure on the central government to toughen up testing procedures on Japan-based U.S. military personnel entering Japan grew considerably.

But under the 1960 U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement between the two countries, there is little Japan can do to force American military members and their families to adhere to Japanese laws and government requests. This, in turn, has led to calls by prefectural governors to fundamentally revise the SOFA agreement.

What is SOFA?