The Best Course Available: A Personal Account of the Secret U.S.-Japan Okinawa Reversion Negotiations

Chapter 14 In the Dark Recesses of History

My two demands to the prime minister following his return to Japan At ten past three on the afternoon of November 26 the prime minister and his party arrived in Haneda Airport on a special Japan Airlines flight. At the airport, the prime minister was greeted by both Japanese and American government officials: on the Japanese side, several cabinet members were present, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Ishida and Acting Vice Premier Hori, as well as numerous LDP Diet members, including the party vice president Kawashima [Shòjirò] and Secretary General Tanaka [Kakuei]. The American side was represented by David Osborne, the deputy chief of mission and acting U.S. ambassador to Japan [while Meyer was in Washington]. Greeted by loud cheers of “banzai” from the audience, the prime minister read the following statement at the airport: I have just returned from my ten-day long visit to the United States. First of all, before anything else, I would like to announce to my countrymen that as a result of my talks with President Nixon, the long-standing goal Chapter 14 In the Dark Recesses of History of the entire population of Japan has finally been realized: Okinawa will be returned to its ancestral land in 1972, free from nuclear weapons and governed by the same conditions that operate within the Japanese homeland . Standing here today at Haneda, having completed this important mission, I am conscious of the unstinting efforts of the Japanese government and people—efforts that extend back to the San Francisco Peace Treaty [of 1951]. I also recall the hardship and struggle experienced by the Okinawan people, who for more than two decades of American administration have campaigned strenuously for national unification. Would that the goal could have been achieved earlier, although the Okinawans can, as Japanese, take pride and honor from their persistence in this matter. At the same time, my ability to make this happy announcement is the result of the profound understanding and support that I have received from each and every citizen, and as the individual responsible for negotiating with the Americans, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you. From now on, we shall be beginning substantial preparations for Okinawa ’s reversion to Japan—work that must be carried out both in the Japanese homeland and in Okinawa. I do not believe that Okinawa’s reversion can be fully realized simply through the return of administrative rights. Only when Okinawa has been transformed into a truly prosperous prefecture and when reversion represents something real to all the citizens of Okinawa—not merely materially, but also in a psychological sense—will it be possible for the first time to regard national unification as complete. With this common view in mind, we need, collectively, as the people of Japan, to do all that we can to make this possible—a point that I would like to impress on you all in asking for your cooperation, beginning with the people of Okinawa. In the case of my visit to America, President Nixon and I were able frankly to discuss the respective roles that our countries ought to play within the international order during the next decade [the 1970s]. Thanks to the Okinawa reversion, amicable relations between Japan and America are expected to grow even stronger in the future. In light of this, President Nixon and I discussed our common intention firmly to maintain the Japan–U.S. Mutual Security Treaty and agreed that our two countries should from now on become more involved in supporting the global community as we enter the 1970s, especially where the establishment of peace and prosperity in Asia is concerned. I firmly believe that the resolution of the Okinawa reversion problem will be important in motivating our country—a nation committed to peace—in promoting peace and prosperity both at home and abroad. On the completion of my important mission and having returned to Japan, I am especially determined to do even more to create a free and prosperous 312 In the Dark Recesses of History society both domestically and internationally, and I very much hope that every citizen will support me in this endeavor. Allow me at this point to thank all of you who so kindly saw me off when I left for the United States, as well as you who have given me such a warm welcome here today.1 The...