International Relations of the Asia-Pacific Advance Access published online on August 27, 2009
International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, doi:10.1093/irap/lcp015
Balancing Okinawa's return with American expectations: Japan and the Vietnam War 1965–75
Graduate School of International Cooperation Studies (GSICS), Kobe University, 1-1 Rokko Dai Cho, Nada-Ku, Kobe, Hyogo 657-8501, Japan
Email: jamesdllewelyn{at}yahoo.com.au or jamesllewelyn{at}hotmail.com
The Vietnam War greatly destabilized Southeast Asia and led to almost a decade of fighting by America and its Asian allies. It was fought on the principle that if communism was unchecked it would overrun the region, with the Southeast Asian countries falling under communist control like ‘dominoes’. While countries such as Thailand, South Korea, and Australia provided military support to assist American strategic objectives, Japan, however, was constrained by its peace constitution and thus unable to provide direct military assistance. Nonetheless, under the leadership of the avid anti-communist conservative leadership of Prime Minister Eisaku Sato, Japan still managed to play a role in the Vietnam War. Although Japan initially entertained the notion of facilitating mediation, with Okinawa's reversion hanging in the balance after 1967, Japan's leadership took a more hawkish approach on Vietnam in order to ensure that Washington would agree to reverting Okinawa to Japanese administrative control.
Received for publication April 20, 2009. Accepted for publication July 27, 2009.