The Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan, was signed on 8
September 1951 in San Francisco, California between representatives of
the United States and Japan. The agreement contained five articles,
which dictated that Japan grant the United States the territorial means for
it to establish a military presence in the Far East. Moreover, the accord
stated that Japan be prohibited from providing foreign powers any bases or
any military-related rights without the consent of the United States. The accord
was ratified by the United States Senate on 20 March 1952 and then it was
ratified again by the President of the United States on 15 April 1952.
Ultimately, the treaty went into effect on 28 April 1952.
Text = Introduction=
Japan has this day signed a Treaty of Peace with the Allied Powers. On the
coming into force of that Treaty, Japan will not have the effective means to
exercise its inherent right of self-defense because it has been
disarmed. There is danger to Japan in this
situation because irresponsible militarism has not yet been driven from
the world. Therefore, Japan desires a Security Treaty with the United States
of America to come into force simultaneously with the Treaty of Peace
between the United States of America and Japan.
The Treaty of Peace recognizes that Japan as a sovereign nation has the
right to enter into collective security arrangements, and further, the Charter
of the United Nations recognizes that all nations possess an inherent right of
individual and collective self-defense. In exercise of these rights, Japan
desires, as a provisional arrangement for its defense, that the United States
of America should maintain armed forces of its own in and about Japan so as to
deter armed attack upon Japan. The United States of America, in the
interest of peace and security, is presently willing to maintain certain of
its armed forces in and about Japan, in the expectation, however, that Japan
will itself increasingly assume responsibility for its own defense
against direct and indirect aggression, always avoiding any armament which could
be an offensive threat or serve other than to promote peace and security in
accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations
Charter. Accordingly, the two countries have
agreed as follows: = Article I=
Japan grants, and the United States of America accepts, the right, upon the
coming into force of the Treaty of Peace and of this Treaty, to dispose United
States land, air and sea forces in and about Japan. Such forces may be utilized
to contribute to the maintenance of international peace and security in the
Far East and to the security of Japan against armed attack from without,
including assistance given at the express request of the Japanese
Government to put down largescale internal riots and disturbances in
Japan, caused through instigation or intervention by an outside power or
powers. = Article II=
During the exercise of the right referred to in Article I, Japan will not
grant, without the prior consent of the United States of America, any bases or
any rights, powers or authority whatsoever, in or relating to bases or
the right of garrison or of maneuver, or transit of ground, air or naval forces
to any third power. = Article III=
The conditions which shall govern the disposition of armed forces of the
United States of America in and about Japan shall be determined by
administrative agreements between the two Governments.
= Article IV= This Treaty shall expire whenever in the
opinion of the Governments of the United States of America and Japan there shall
have come into force such United Nations arrangements or such alternative
individual or collective security dispositions as will satisfactorily
provide for the maintenance by the United Nations or otherwise of
international peace and security in the Japan Area.
= Article V= This Treaty shall be ratified by the
United States of America and Japan and will come into force when instruments of
ratification thereof have been exchanged by them at Washington.
= Signatories= IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned
Plenipotentiaries have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at the city of San Francisco, in the English and Japanese
languages, this eighth day of September, 1951.
See also Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and
Security between the United States and Japan
The second US-Japan alliance treaty, since 1960 to present.
Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Japan under Allied occupation, from 1945
until 1952. References
Sources Yale University - Security Treaty
Between the United States and Japan Further reading
Hughes, Christopher W. Japan's Security Agenda: Military, Economic, and
Environmental Dimensions. Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004. ISBN 1-58826-260-X