Abstract
Japan and the U.S. once viewed each other as enemies from across the Pacific Ocean, but the strong relationship of alliance constructed in the post-World War II environment has consistently been a cornerstone of Japan’s security. The concrete nature of Japan-U.S. collaboration based on this alliance has changed with the flow of the times. Currently, it plays a major role in the security of the region overall as well. It is also true that this alliance, as seen from the U.S. perspective has factors that are different from other alliances due to the specific particularities in the Japanese situation that arose in the process extending from the conclusion of the war to the establishment of Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The collaborative relationship between the JSDF and INDOPACOM was not always smooth from the beginning. In this chapter, we will consider the relationship between the JSDF and INDOPACOM in light of Japan's unique historical conditions and situations and examine how Japan and the United States overcame the problems and issues that arose through a process of changes in that relationship, ultimately arriving at the solid partnership of today.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The fact that the minesweepers under the JCG were engaged in wartime minesweeping in Korean waters during the Korean War was initially kept a strict secret. However, in addition to the text of pages 119–135 of the Japanese translation of James E. Auer's The Postwar Rearmament of Japanese Maritime Forces, 1945–1971 (Vol. 1) (translated by Sadao Senoo, published in Japan by Jiji Press, 1972), currently the details have been clarified in such other sources as the text in pages 205–270 of Takeo Okubo's Uminari no Hibi (Days of the Roar of the Sea) (Kaiyo Mondai Kenkyukai 1978) and pp. 88–112 of Naoyuki Agawa's Umi no Yujo: Beikoku Kaigun to Kaijo Jieitai (Friendship across the Seas: the US Navy and the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force) (Chuko Shinsho 2001).
- 2.
Prime Minister Yoshida's Response 90th Imperial Diet House of Representatives Session Stenographic Records, No. 6 (Official Gazette Extra Edition, June 27, 1946), p. 81.
- 3.
Ibid., p. 82.
- 4.
NSC 13/2, “Report by the National Security Council on Recommendations With Respect to United States Policy Toward Japan”, Washington, 7 October, 1948, FRUS, 1948, Vol.6, The Far East and Australasia (US GPO, Washington, 1974), pp.858–862.
- 5.
7th Legislature House of Representatives Session Records, No. 11 (Official Gazette Extra Edition, January 24, 1950), p. 132.
- 6.
7th Legislature House of Representatives Session Records, No. 15 (Official Gazette Extra Edition, January 29, 1950), p. 206.
- 7.
Prime Minister Yoshida was reportedly in favor of establishing independence through early separate peace arrangements with the United States before MacArthur's New Year's address and supposedly wanted to entrust the defense of a freshly sovereign Japan to US troops stationed in Japan based on a Japan-US security treaty. Kiichi Miyazawa Tokyo-Washinton no Mitsudan (Secret Talks Between Tokyo and Washington: The Memoirs of Miyazawa Kiichi, 1949-1954) (Jitsugyo no Nihonsha, December 1956), pp. 46, 54.
- 8.
13th Legislature House of Representatives Budgetary Committee Session Records, No. 5 (January 31, 1952), p. 18.
- 9.
Japan Defense Agency Director-General Seiichi Omura “Government Unified View,” 21st Legislature House of Representatives Budgetary Committee Session Records, No. 2 (December 22, 1954), p. 1.
- 10.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Taro Nakayama, 119th Legislature House of Representatives Plenary Session Records, No. 4 (October 18, 1990), p. 10.
- 11.
Tanaka (2010).
- 12.
Ibid., p. 34.
- 13.
Australia and the United States issued a proclamation of agreement that the September 2001 bilateral terrorist attack on the United States “met the requirements for exercising the right to collective self-defense defined in the ANZUS treaty.” In October of that year, Australia dispatched warships and troops to assist American forces, Defense of Japan 2002: digital edition. http://www.clearing.mod.go.jp/hakusho_data/2002/w2002_00.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 14.
Regarding this point, Japan revised the Self-Defense Forces Act in the 2015 Development of Security Legislation, adding a provision that allowed “the protection of weapons and other equipment of the units of the U.S. and other countries’ Armed Forces” by JSDF even during peacetime. However, there was no revision of the actual security treaty itself.
- 15.
Sado (2003).
- 16.
Defense of Japan 2012, p. 121.
- 17.
Ministry of Defense “Report of the Subcommittee for Defense Cooperation Approved by the Japan-United States Security Consultative Committee,” November 27, 1978. http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/anpo/shishin/j781127a.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 18.
Cheney (1991), Appendix E.
- 19.
“Former Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ishihara speaks on the 1994 North Korean nuclear crisis that pounced on a government vacuum (a recounting),” The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, May 27, 2010.
- 20.
TV Asahi October 25, 2006 broadcast, “1994 Korean Peninsula nuclear crisis—‘The Night Before War’ and the Secret Talks,” http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/hst/contents/sp_2006/special2/061025.html; Former Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroshi Kumagai “Prepared to Execute Right to Collective Self-defense in 1994 Korean Peninsula crisis, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, April 12, 2012.
- 21.
Mikuriya (2002).
- 22.
Regarding “situations in surrounding areas,” the Ministry of Defense explains, “Situations in areas surrounding Japan will have an important influence on Japan's peace and security. The concept, situations in areas surrounding Japan, is not geographic but situational.” Ministry of Defense web page “The Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation Explanation” (in Japanese). http://www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/anpo/shishin/kaisetu.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
Additionally, in the Act Concerning Situations in Areas Surrounding Japan, it is defined in Article 1 as, “situations with a major impact on the peace and safety of Japan in regions surrounding Japan, such as situations that could possibly rise to the level of a direct armed attack on Japan if left unchecked”.
- 23.
Not only was application of the 1996 ACSA limited to cases of JSDF or the American forces engaging in PKO or humanitarian international emergency aid, the supply of weapons and ammunition by JSDF and supply of weapons systems or ammunitions by American forces was excluded.
- 24.
During the 1991 Gulf War, Japan was unable to dispatch JSDF due to constitutional restrictions, and instead gave aid amounting to 13 billion USD. Japan received criticism from the global community that while other countries were sacrificing sweat and blood, Japan was once again trying to get by with just giving money.
- 25.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Wakaru! International Situation Vol. 72 (The Japan-US bond spotlighted by the Great East Japan Earthquake),” May 20, 2011. http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/press/pr/wakaru/topics/vol72/index.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 26.
Ministry of Defense “Great East Japan Earthquake Lessons (Final Report),” November 2011, p. 19. https://warp.da.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/11347003/www.mod.go.jp/j/approach/defense/saigai/pdf/kyoukun.pdf (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 27.
“Chief Cabinet Secretary Talk,” December 17, 2013. https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/tyokan/96_abe/20131217danwa.html (accessed on June13, 2022).
- 28.
Regarding the limit of the use of force by JSDF in a survival-threatening situation, the government explains that, “Japan will continue hereinafter as well to not participate in situations like the Iraq War or the Gulf War with exercise of the use of force as a goal.” Cabinet Secretariat “Questions and answers ‘Concerning the Development of Seamless Security Legislation to Ensure Japan's Survival and Protect its People’.” https://www.cas.go.jp/jp/gaiyou/jimu/anzenhoshouhousei.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 29.
Defense of Japan 2011, p. 486.
- 30.
As evidenced by the Japan-U.S. bilateral training press releases from the Air Staff Office. http://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/news/houdou/index.html (accessed on June 13, 2022).
- 31.
Maritime Staff Office Press Release “Implementing bilateral training with the United States Navy,” November 10, 2017. http://www.mod.go.jp/msdf/formal/info/news/201711/20171110.pdf (accessed on June13, 2022).
- 32.
NHK News Web, November 29, 2017. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20171129/k10011239571000.html (accessed on June13, 2022).
- 33.
Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs/Published August 16, 2017. http://www.pacaf.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1279620/ (accessed on June 13, 2022).
References
Cheney, Dick. 1991. Secretary of Defense, Annual Report to the President and Congress, 3. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Mikuriya, Takashi and Akio Watanabe. 2002. Shusho Kantei no Ketsudan: Naikaku Fuku- Kanbochokan Ishihara Nobuo no 2600 Nichi (Decisions at the Prime Minister's Residence: 2600 Days of Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Ishihara Nobuo), Chuokoron-Shinsha, pp. 162–168.
Sado, Akihiro. 2003. Sengo Nippon no Boei to Seiji (The Self-Defense Forces and Postwar Politics in Japan), Yoshikawa Kobunkan, p. 288.
Tanaka, Akihiko. 2010. Nihon no Gaiko Senryaku to Nichibei Domei (Japan's diplomatic strategy and the Japan–US Alliance), Kokusai Mondai, 594, p. 42.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 Keio University
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nakamura, S. (2022). The Japan Self-Defense Forces and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. In: Tsuchiya, M., Roy, D. (eds) U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Evidence-Based Approaches to Peace and Conflict Studies, vol 12. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5268-5_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5268-5_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-19-5267-8
Online ISBN: 978-981-19-5268-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)