Recently declassified documents reveal that in the 1960s the United States government made secret agreements with the government of Japan to circumvent the Japanese principles of never producing, possessing or allowing nuclear weapons on its territory. A 1963 secret agreement allowed US ships which were either powered by nuclear power or had nuclear weapons to enter Japanese seaports. In 1968, the USS Enterprise which was nuclear powered docked in Japan despite student protests, but on the ground it was allowed to do so by terms of the 1963 agreement.

The United States ensured its defeated enemy would never have access to atomic weapons and compelled Japan to make such provisions in its constitution and laws. Now, we learn, America circumvented those principles by compelling Japan to allow entry into its seaports of nuclear powered vessels that carried nuclear weapons. This is a sad story and fortunately, it belongs in the past. Hopefully, we today will ensure the Japanese nation never has to be involved in any form of nuclear weaponry.