Richard Lawless, U.S. defense deputy undersecretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs, and U.S. Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey, held separate meetings in Tokyo as Japan and the United States nail down proposals to update the alliance.

Lawless kicked off his two-day visit in talks with Kazuyoshi Umemoto of the Foreign Ministry's North American Affairs Bureau and Hironori Kanazawa of the Defense Agency's Defense Policy Bureau, said a defense agency official who declined to be named, citing agency policy. Harvey met separately Japan's Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga.

The talks follow similar discussions held in Honolulu, Hawaii, from March 7-11.

By the end of this month, the two sides hope to finalize the details of an agreement that includes a proposal to shift 7,000 U.S. Marines from the southern Japanese island of Okinawa to the U.S. Pacific island territory of Guam.

The Tokyo talks are expected to focus on a U.S. request for Japan to pay 75 percent of the US$10 billion (euro8.29 billion) cost to move the Marines to Guam, Japan's Kyodo News agency reported, citing unidentified government sources.

Fumio Kyuma, chairman of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's General Council, told Lawless during a separate meeting Thursday that Japan is willing to shoulder the relocation cost "to some extent," because the plan helps alleviate the burden on Okinawa, public broadcaster NHK reported.

Okinawa hosts most of the 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan.

Harvey discussed separate plans to develop a joint missile defense shield and Japan's contributions to the war on terror, including logistical support to operations in Afghanistan and a contingent of noncombat troops to Iraq, a different Defense Agency spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

The United States and Japan started jointly researching ballistic missile defense technology in 1999, one year after North Korea test-fired a long-range missile over northern Japan.

In 2003, Japan became the first U.S. ally to buy elements of the U.S.-designed missile defense system when it upgraded Aegis radars already on board its naval destroyers. Japan also bought SM-3 interceptors from the United States.

Japan's Defense Agency is also planning to buy 124 Patriot surface-to-air missiles by 2010.

The realignment plan, which would give Japan greater responsibility for security in the Asia-pacific region, would also shift U.S. forces elsewhere in Japan but has met opposition from local communities.

On Wednesday, the mayor of Nago, a town slated to host an unpopular new U.S. military landing strip, met with the defense chief, as the prime minister indicated that minor changes might be allowed to the plan.

But the two reportedly reached no agreement in their meeting.

The realignment plan would boost troop numbers and upgrade facilities at a U.S. Army base south of Tokyo, and move an air wing from the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier, now based near Zama at Atsugi city, to Iwakuni in southern Japan.

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