Thursday, June 23, 1960: U.S.-Japan security treaty

The treaty, revised from the original 1951 agreement, states that the United States will help defend Japan if it is attacked, and also provides for the continued use of bases and ports by the U.S. military. It was signed on January 19 but went into effect only after Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi forced it through the Japanese legislature. Because of widespread protests (photo) -- many Japanese resented the American presence, opposed an alliance with a nuclear-armed U.S. and feared Japan might be pulled into a war not of its own making -- President Eisenhower had canceled a planned trip; Kishi would resign following ratification.

* Chronology of U.S-Japan relations: @

* Text of 1960 treaty: @. (Details of Article VI: @)

* More about resistance to the treaty: @ and @ and @

* Text of 1951 U.S.-Japan treaty (which recognized both Japanese sovereignty and the country's limited capabilities for self-defense following World War II): @

* Text of concurrent 1951 treaty (the San Francisco peace treaty) that officially ended World War II: @

* More about Japan's postwar defense policy: @

* U.S. Forces in Japan (official website): @

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