"Japan believes that the continued presence of the U.S. Navy ... will contribute to Japan's safety and ... stability in the Far East," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday.This reticence towards allowing nuclear vessels is probably not indicative of a general resistance to all things nuclear, as I had previously assumed. The Japanese have had their own nuclear power plants since the 1960s. The fear of leakage likely stems from an awareness of the very real danger of nuclear radiation. Japan has had nuclear incidents in the past, most notably the Tokai-mura incident in 1999.
He said the agreement would not threaten the safety of Japanese residents, who have long been wary of a U.S. nuclear presence because of radiation leaks.
"The U.S. side has told us that it will maintain safety ... and take strict (measures)," he said.
Hosoda added that to ensure safety, the carrier will stop its nuclear reactor while anchored at a base in Japan and conduct no repairs while in Japan.
So, in other words, the fact that they're letting us park a nuclear aircraft carrier at Yokosuka is pretty big news. It's a huge demonstration of trust.
I imagine there will be quite a few unhappy citizens.
[Edit 4:35pm:] I told you!
Asahi.com: U.S. Navy plans nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at Yokosuka; city outraged
The U.S. Navy said it will station a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, starting in 2008, drawing immediate outrage and bewilderment in the city.The mayor seems to be invoking Hiroshima and Nagasaki there, doesn't he? At least, I'm sure that's what people will think of when they read his statement, rather than the Tokai-mura incident, which, for example, I had never heard of until I read about it last night.
[...]
Yokosuka Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya said the city definitely opposes the plan, and criticized the way the decision was handled.
"The fact that the announcement was made without any prior word makes us wonder if the feelings of our city were taken into account," Kabaya said. "Anxieties that residents of the city and Japanese as a whole have toward anything nuclear remain strong, which we have emphasized to both governments." The Navy made the announcement Thursday, apparentlyspurred by the agreement reached by Japan and the United States the day earlier on realigning U.S. forces in Japan.
2 comments:
It's hard to idenify how in todays political and economic climate how the US can continue to benifit Japans general security as it is equally hard to identify how the US continues to occupy Japanese territories occupied during world war two conquests.
Japan with its new identity and culture and economic clout should prepare its own path for subsequent US withdrawl and ensure they develop the capacity to persue their own autonomous efense policy and resourcing.
It is clear from the contact I have in working for a Japanese company of many years that this view is generally the opinion of the mass of the voting Japanese populus.
If that's the case, maybe the new constitution will allow for Japan's own military forces for defense, like Koizumi wants.
(Here's a guy, though, who wants to keep Article 9.)
Did you hear that the number of US Marines in Okinawa is being nearly halved?
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