Japan relied on the US for security and focused on growth, while domestic politics limited its military role.
Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru set Japan's basic strategy. Japan would rely on the USA for security, rearm only lightly, and concentrate on economic recovery. This became known as the Yoshida Doctrine.
Japan created the Self-Defense Forces in 1954, but Article 9 and public opinion kept them small and defensive. Many Japanese, scarred by the war and by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, were pacifist. The Socialist Party opposed the US alliance.
In 1960, Prime Minister Kishi revised the Security Treaty to make it more equal, adding a US commitment to defend Japan. Huge protests, the Anpo protests, filled the streets of Tokyo. The treaty passed, but Kishi resigned.
In 1967, Japan adopted three non-nuclear principles: not possessing, producing or allowing nuclear weapons into Japan. In 1972, the USA returned Okinawa to Japan, though large US bases remained. Domestic consensus thus limited how far Japan would go in the alliance.
- Yoshida Doctrine
- Security from the US; light rearmament; focus on growth.
- Self-Defense Forces
- Created 1954.
- Anpo protests
- 1960, against the revised Security Treaty.
- Non-nuclear principles
- 1967.
Worked example: Domestic politics as a factor
How did domestic politics shape Japan-USA relations?
- Pacifism and Article 9 limited rearmament.
- The 1960 Anpo protests showed opposition to the alliance.
- The non-nuclear principles constrained US nuclear policy in Japan.
- But the ruling Liberal Democratic Party kept the alliance at the core of policy.
Watch out for this
Japan had no armed forces at all during the Cold War.
Japan created the Self-Defense Forces in 1954. They were kept small and defensive because of Article 9 and public opinion.
Check your understanding
What did the 1960 revision of the Security Treaty change?
- It added a US commitment to defend Japan, making the treaty more equal.
- It removed all US bases from Japan.
- It allowed Japan to build nuclear weapons.