Paper short abstract:

This presentation explains how Japan and the U.S. reached agreements on the management of military bases and Japan's defense build-up in the late 1950s, by focusing mainly on the defense contribution issue, in which Japanese rearmament and America's use of bases were most intricately intertwined.

Paper long abstract:

U.S. military bases in the Japanese mainland had been one of the most contentious issues between the governments of Japan and the United States throughout the 1950s. Accidents, water and soil pollution, and the deterioration of public safety in areas surrounding bases, and the negative effects of the occupation of vast areas and facilities by U.S. military forces on local economies heightened anti-base feelings among local residents. Such public sentiments in turn led to the nation-wide anti-base movements in the mid-1950s, interlocking with peace and anti-war/anti-military movements. Not only such movements but also the Japanese government's constant requests to have its voice in deciding the usage of U.S. military bases substantively undermined America's freedom of action in Japan. Meanwhile, Japan's reluctance to maintain the "defense contribution" to share the expenses of U.S. forces in Japan heightened the concern among U.S. diplomatic and military officials about Japan's commitment to the defense of itself and the West. As a result, the United States increased pressure on the Japanese government to expedite defense buildup and to expand several airfields in order to operate state-of-the-art fighter jets. Notwithstanding such significant social, economic and financial, and political costs of U.S. forces to stay in Japan, both Japanese and U.S. governments decided to keep placing the use of military bases in Japan at the core of bilateral cooperation in the late 1950s and after the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty was revised in 1960. In this presentation the author explains in what way both governments reached agreements on the management of military bases in the Japanese mainland and the establishment of Japanese defense forces. By focusing mainly on the defense contribution issue, in which Japan's rearmament and America's use of military bases were most intricately intertwined, the author shows the development of "base politics" over the cost of U.S. forces stationed in Japan in the 1950s.