Walk This Way

The first Japanese laureate of Nobel Peace Prize was described as a puppet of United States government. Newly disclosed diplomatic document revealed that former Prime Minister, Eisaku Sato, rewrote his speech to emphasize importance of Japan-U.S. alliance in his first visit to Okinawa in 1965, having received a request from U.S. The episode indicated the fact that Japan had long been told by U.S. “Walk this way.”

Sato visited Okinawa under administration of U.S. Force for the first time after the end of World War II as Japanese Prime Minister on August 19^th, 1965. He planned to deliver two speeches, one in Naha Airport at his arrival and another in a reception event hosted by Ryukyu local government. “I realize that our post-war era will not end as long as Okinawa is not returned to its homeland,” told Sato at the airport.

According to disclosed document, U.S. Embassy in Japan offered some points to edit Sato’s speeches after reading the drafts in August 17^th. The Embassy asked Japanese officials to let Sato describe about strategic and security importance of Okinawa and to add some phrases to recognize the importance for defense of Japan. Next day, U.S. Minister to Japan firmly requested to rewrite the draft, based on an idea that no reference on the importance was disparaging to U.S. administration in Okinawa and would disturb cooperative relationship in Okinawa between the two nations.

Japanese side explained that those two speeches were to be delivered to the residents in Okinawa and not a protest against U.S. However, U.S. criticized the draft as wrong in terms of its tone as a whole and ignoring U.S. in the speeches that would be most reported by news media. Although Sato did not change the speech in Naha Airport, the speech in the reception was edited to insert “the fact of Japan-U.S. alliance based on the Security Treaty, security importance of Okinawa and economic and social progress even under administration of U.S.”

Before the administrative return of Okinawa from U.S. to Japan, there were various diplomatic consultations between Japan and U.S. Among them was secret agreement over introduction of nuclear weapons to Okinawa or compensation of Japan for the cost of construction to return military bases to original status. In the negotiation between two nations, U.S. had always been dominant.

That structure still remains in the biggest issue in Okinawa, relocation of Futenma Marine Air Base. It is inevitable that a nation lost in an international war may be subject to a winner for certain period of time. The problem is Japanese government has been pretending to be equal in front of Japanese public.