TOKYO —

It was a ‘‘secret duty’’ of vice ministers to inform foreign ministers of a secret accord between Japan and the United States that has outlined the handling of nuclear weapons since 1960, a former vice foreign minister said Monday. Ryohei Murata unveiled the yet-unknown details about the clandestine accord during a telephone interview with Kyodo News in which he agreed to break the anonymity he had initially requested in speaking about the pact, on which Kyodo reported last month. Serving in the ministry’s top bureaucratic post from 1987 to 1989, Murata, 79, is one of the four former vice ministers cited in the May 31 report that the accord has been controlled by top Foreign Ministry officials and only a handful of prime ministers and foreign ministers were informed of it. He also indicated his readiness to disclose the truth about the pact if summoned by parliament, although he said, ‘‘I maintain positive feelings about the Foreign Ministry…so I would like to decline’’ to testify before the Diet if not compelled to do so.
   
The House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee is considering summoning witnesses concerning the secret deal, the very existence of which has been denied by the Japanese government although shown by U.S. diplomatic documents declassified in the late 1990s. Under the deal, which the two countries agreed on in revising the Japan-U.S. security treaty in 1960, Tokyo would give tacit approval on the stopover of U.S. military aircraft or vessels carrying nuclear weapons, although the treaty stipulates the need for Washington to hold a prior consultation with Tokyo to bring nuclear weapons into Japan. In a press conference Monday morning, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura reiterated the government’s view that such a secret pact ‘‘does not exist’’ and that no nuclear weapons must have been brought into Japan because prior consultations have never been held.

Kyodo

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3 Comments

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  MagnusGarstin at 01:25 AM JST - 30th June

  What a surprise! - Japan, the 51st state, having a clandestine agreement regarding nuclear weapons with it's nice American overlords. (Let's face it, the occupation is still in force as far as I can see - if not, then all the US military must have simply "forgotten to go home" back in 1952)

  And as for Takeo Kawamura reiterating "the government’s view that such a secret pact ‘‘does not exist’’ - well, Japanese goverment officials taking the classic ostrich "Can't see it = it doesn't exist" approach is also hardly novel, is it?

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  cooeecobber at 09:58 AM JST - 30th June

  The US military has at least dozens of nukes in Japanese territory. Nothing secret about it. Let's get real here. They just "neither confirm nor deny" their existence. It works in other allied countries, too. Ah, except New Zealand, the only country honest enough to call a spade a spade on the issue.

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  NuckinFutz at 03:55 PM JST - 30th June

  If such a classified agreement does in fact exist wouldn't this former ministry official be guilty of unauthorized disclosure and subject to criminal charges? Oh, I forgot, this is Japan ... nevermind!

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