By TAKATERU DOI/ Senior Staff Writer
December 23, 2021 at 16:43 JST
Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, right, and U.S. President George H.W. Bush head to a meeting in London in July 1991. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
The billions of dollars that Japan now commits annually in host nation support for the U.S. military seems to have its roots in a bilateral summit meeting three decades ago when the Persian Gulf crisis was raging.
Diplomatic documents declassified on Dec. 22 by the Foreign Ministry include one that concerns a Sept. 29, 1990, exchange in New York between Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and U.S. President George H.W. Bush.
About a month earlier, after Iraqi forces under Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, the government pledged $1 billion (138 billion yen) to the multinational force gearing up to deal with the crisis.
U.S. Congressmen and others in Washington were concerned by the slow pace at which Japan made the decision to limit its contribution to financial assistance, rather than put boots on the ground, especially as it depended on the Middle East for the bulk of its oil imports.
Bush made that point when he met with Kaifu and told him that host nation support also came into the picture with regard to Japan’s contribution. Bush said the U.S. Congress would take it as a positive sign if Japan decided from fiscal 1991 to greatly increase its outlays in that regard.
From fiscal 1991, Japan began shouldering more of the expenses that would normally have been borne by the United States under the bilateral security treaty. In fiscal 1993, Japan’s contribution exceeded 200 billion yen for the first time. Subsequently, more items were added to what Japan was obliged to pay for.
On Dec. 21, the government announced a new five-year plan from fiscal 2022 under which it would pay an average of 211 billion yen ($1.8 billion) annually.
When Kaifu met Bush, the government was in the process of compiling a new five-year Medium-Term Defense Program to begin in fiscal 1991. Kaifu told the U.S. president that Japan would do its best to incorporate host nation support in the medium-term strategy paper being drawn up.
After Japan announced the $1 billion monetary contribution on Aug. 30, 1990, criticism arose in the U.S. Congress about Tokyo’s perceived foot-dragging on the issue and its refusal to dispatch Self-Defense Forces to the Middle East.
Mindful of the backlash, Japan on Sept. 14 announced an additional monetary contribution to the multinational force totaling $3 billion.
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This article is a part of a series of stories based on diplomatic documents declassified by Japan’s Foreign Ministry in December 2021.
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS: Nakasone spoke bluntly in private with Hussein during Gulf crisis
December 22, 2021
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS: Kaifu tells Bush he won’t release state oil reserves during Gulf crisis
December 22, 2021
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS: Tokyo told not to overhype Peru leader Fujimori’s visit in 1990
December 23, 2021
DIPLOMATIC DOCUMENTS: Polish leader Walesa praised Japan in talks with Kaifu
December 22, 2021
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