WASHINGTON — A U.S.-Japan agreement announced yesterday is intended to strengthen military cooperation, reduce the number of U.S. Marines in Okinawa and give Tokyo more responsibility for security in the Pacific.

The decisions — part of an American effort to streamline its military overseas and create a leaner, more flexible fighting force — would affect forces in Hawai'i.

The statement said Japanese forces would train in Hawai'i.

"The exact details (on Japanese training) haven't been worked out," said Army Staff Sgt. Bryan Beach, public affairs duty officer at Camp H.M. Smith on O'ahu.

"Any details as to how many people will be involved, how long those exercises will take place — we haven't gotten that far down the road," Beach said.

The agreement said "Marine Corps crisis-response capabilities" would be redistributed among Hawai'i, Guam and Okinawa, but did not say which would gain or lose military personnel.

The accord said that 7,000 U.S. Marines will transfer from Okinawa to Guam, a move that is expected to take six years.

Last week, the two governments agreed to close the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station in the crowded southern part of Okinawa and move its functions to Camp Schwab in the north, clearing the way for broader weekend talks on defense issues.

Okinawans have long complained of crime, crowding and noise associated with the American bases. There are 14,460 Marines in Japan, the largest contingent based overseas, and nearly all are in Okinawa.

Both Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and his Japanese counterpart, Yoshinori Ono, said the 14-page document would transform the U.S.-Japanese alliance. They were joined at a Defense Department news conference by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura.

"We have agreed to the findings and recommendations to strengthen our alliance and achieve strategic objectives," Rumsfeld said.

Ono said the alliance is getting "a fresh start, new energy and opening a new era ... to improve peace and security."

The accord said the United States and Japan will step up joint military planning, hold military exercises together and share use of the Kadena air base and other facilities in Japan.

Calling the alliance the anchor of regional stability, the agreement gives Japan more responsibility for its own defense and an enhanced security role in the region.

It says Japan will defend itself and respond to situations in areas surrounding Japan, including addressing new threats and diverse contingencies "such as ballistic missile attacks, attacks by guerrilla and special forces and invasion of remote islands."

The United States will deploy state-of-the art radar in Japan for ballistic missile defense and closely coordinate command and control systems with the Japanese, the document says.

At the same time, the accord reaffirms the role of U.S. forces in the defense of Japan, which dates back to the end of World War II.

"The U.S. military presence in the Asia-Pacific region is a core capability that is indispensable to regional peace and security and critical to both the U.S. Japan," the accord says.

The document said Japan, recognizing the strong desire of Okinawa residents for a rapid force reduction, will work with the U.S. government to examine what financial and other measures it can take to help facilitate the movement to Guam.

The two sides committed themselves to producing realignment schedules by March 2006.

The agreement to close the Futenma air base was followed by announcement Thursday that Japan will allow a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be based there for the first time. The Japanese public has long been wary of a U.S. nuclear presence because of the fear of radiation leaks.

About 80 people — many of them victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki — rallied yesterday in Hiroshima against the aircraft carrier plan, said Kazutoshi Kajikawa, who heads the Hiroshima Peace Movement Center.

"It makes me angry that America can even consider basing a nuclear carrier in Japan, the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack," Kajikawa said.

Basing the ship in Japan will also put the Japanese public at risk of being exposed to a radiation leak, he said.

The U.S. has said the carrier can be operated safely in Japanese waters. American Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer told reporters Friday that nuclear ships had made 1,200 visits to Japan in the past 40 years without harming the environment.

The U.S. Navy said the nuclear-powered ship has greater capabilities.