U.S.-Japan Relations

U.S.- Japan Security Alliance

In the wake of the Second World War, the U.s and Japan forged a security alliance alliance and since then, this alliance has served as one of the important military relationships and anchor of U.S. security in Asia. The Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, revised in 1960, grants the United States the ability to have military bases on the archipelago. In exchange for this, the United Sates has pledged to defend Japan if there is an attack.

This treaty, originally signed in 1951, outlined a ten-year  long, renewable security arrangement for Japan, in light of the country's pacifist constitution.

Japanese bases were used by the U.S.
during the Vietnam war for combat
operation, drawing vehement opposition
in Japan, creating tensions and
fears of entrapment regarding
the alliance. 

Japan military role in the alliance was minimal in the years following the Second World War. The constitution prevented the deployment of Japanese troops overseas. However, the United States utilized their access to Japan's bases.

The U.S. used Japanese bases to facilitate in the forward deployment of U.S. forces in Asia.

This alliance has endured many geopolitical shifts and changes. Cooperation during events such as the Iraq and Gulf wars and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake strengthened and reaffirmed the alliance, yet challenges did not cease to exist. With the fall of the Soviet Union came a big shift in the regional security environment; North Korea nuclearized and an ascendant China emerged. North Korea’s nuclearization, territorial disputes regarding China, and Japan’s push to upgrade its defensive preparedness have tested the alliance.