Blackwell Reference Online

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Associated with, and signed on the same day as, the san francisco peace treaty , which ended the occupation of japan. The US was allowed to maintain military bases in Japan and Okinawa was to remain under American control until 1972. The 260,000 US troops in Japan could use the bases for action in Asia without consulting the Japanese government. The US had jurisdiction over American personnel who committed crimes in Japan. The treaty could be ended only by mutual consent. Both right and left bitterly attacked the treaty, as it subordinated Japanese foreign policy to that of the US and it seemed like a return to the unequal treaties imposed on Japan in the nineteenth century, yoshida shigeru managed to secure its passage through the Diet (parliament) but there was a major crisis when it was revised and renewed in 1960, in spite of US service personal being subject to Japanese law. Opposition members of the Diet staged a sit-in to delay ratification and there was unprecedented popular opposition, with a series of huge strikes and violent demonstrations by workers and students. On 15 June hundreds were injured when police attacked students who had invaded the Diet. When the bill was passed the Prime Minister, Kishi Nobusuke, resigned and the opposition lost its impetus, yet this had been the most severe upheaval in postwar Japan. To prevent such scenes in the future the treaty has ... log in or subscribe to read full text