This article examines why U.S. troops are still stationed in Japan, 70 years after the end of World War II. It looks at the historical context of U.S.-Japan relations, Japan's strategic location in the Pacific, the role of U.S. troops in Japan and other factors that have kept them there such as the Status Of Forces Agreement (SOFA), the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance, North Korea's nuclear weapons program and Japan's defense spending cap. The article concludes that these factors all combine to keep American forces in place and ensure a continued partnership between two former enemies.