The United States in 1964 urged Japan not to scrap a secret agreement allowing U.S. nuclear-armed vessels to make stops at the island nation's ports, Kyodo News reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 14).
In September 1964, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin Reischauer met with Masayoshi Ohira, a senior official in Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to obtain assurances that the pact would remain in force, according to papers recently released by Washington. Remarks by a Japanese defense official had prompted U.S. fears that the agreement was in danger.
Tokyo -- which adheres to principles that bar it from producing or possessing nuclear weapons or allowing nuclear arms deployments on its soil by other states -- apparently acceded to Washington's request.
The reported deal is now under investigation by Japan's newly installed government under the Democratic Party of Japan. The review is expected to be finished this month (Kyodo News/Breitbart.com, Nov. 1).