The article attempts to analyze and explain the decision process of Okinawa reversion in the Japanese government as a case of what the writer calls a model of “critical” decision making. The model and its general paradigmatic perspective are outlined in the first section, while the middle section discusses in terms of the model five selected events in the evolution of the reversion issue in the years 1964-69. The last section summarizes the major points of the discussion and suggests that the model used in the study deserves further elaboration and refinement as a potential additional tool of empirical research and theory building in foreign policy decision making, in the Japanese government and in general.

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Since the end of the Cold War, the US allies in Asia such as Japan and Australia have enhanced their bilateral and trilateral security cooperation including the United States. Does it mean that, as some suggest, the US-led “hub and spokes” system—a bilateral alliance network centered on the US “hub” and regional allies as “spokes”—has transformed to a more “networked” alliance structure based on horizontal relations between the United States and regional allies?

To answer this question, the paper first focuses on the asymmetric nature of the “hub and spokes” alliance system. Previous studies suggest that an asymmetric structure of the US alliance system in Asia—in a sense that regional allies do not assume defense obligations or burden which are equivalent to those of the United States—has prevented the emergence of the collective defense mechanism such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Europe. In particular, the US regional allies did not wish to establish a collective defense mechanism in Asia, so long as the United States continuously committed to regional allies’ defense bilaterally.

This in turn suggests that, should the US security commitment become less credible, regional allies have greater incentives to enhance their mutual defense cooperation in order to prepare for the loss of security provided by the United States. Indeed, Japan and Australia began to enhance their security cooperation immediately after the Cold War, out of fear that the US military presence in the region would become weaken. In order to maintain the strong US military presence in the region, these two allies began to assume greater burden-sharing with the United States.

Such cooperation continued after the 2000s, at which the rise of China became more prominent. In order to maintain the US strategic primacy in Asia, Japan and Australia actively contributed to the US-led global “war on terror”. Both countries also increased their roles in regional peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance and disaster reliefs activities. As a result, the trilateral security cooperation became institutionalized in the late 2000s. As such, trilateral security cooperation between Japan, the US and Australia have enhanced as Japan and Australia assumed greater burden and responsibilities in both regional and global security.

This ostensibly suggests the transformation of the US alliance network from an asymmetrical “hub and spokes” system to a more symmetrical alliance network. In reality, however, these regional allies enhanced their security cooperation in order to maintain the US strategic primacy, so that they can continuously enjoy the US security commitment to them through bilateral alliance relations. This means that, quite ironically, the so-called “spokes to spokes” cooperation could help to endure, rather than transform, the existing hub and spokes system by maintaining its asymmetric alliance structure.

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　“U.S. Military Base Issues in Okinawa” refers to the issues and problems

caused by the presence of U.S. Military bases in Okinawa. People living in

Okinawa have been tormented by accidents and incidents caused by the U.S.

Army. The U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement has prevented inhabitants

as well as national and local governments from taking effective action to solve

the problems caused by the U.S. Army. This article reports how the regional

newspaper“ Ryukyu Shimpo” has grappled with such issues and problems.

　　Right before the outbreak of the Pacific War, the then-Japanese government

forced “Ryukyu Shimpo” to be integrated with other papers into “Okinawa

Shimpo” as the single regional newspaper published in Okinawa. After

the integration, the newspaper cooperated with the government to fight the

war and played the part to raise the fighting sprits of inhabitants. The lesson

that people working for the newspaper learned from the experience during the

war was that “we must not write to help the government wage a war again.”

With this principle in mind, the journalists working for“ Ryukyu Shimpo” tackle

the issues concerning the presence of the U.S. Military bases. On the other

hand, the national government of Japan apparently learned how to successfully

control public opinion from its experience during the war period.

　　The suffering caused by the stationing of the U.S. Army began at the

moment when the Japanese government abandoned Okinawa and provided the

United States with the most southern prefecture in Japan as a military base in

exchange for the restoration of the sovereignty of mainland Japan. The message

issued by the Japanese emperor regarding the Okinawa War confirmed

that Okinawa was sacrificed for the restoration of Japan’s sovereignty. Even

after the U.S. government handed over Okinawa to the administration of Japan,the Japanese government requested that the U.S. government maintain their

military bases and that the U.S. keep them in Okinawa. This is why people in

Okinawa have been tormented by the problems that the U.S. Army causes.

　　“Ryukyu Shimpo” has repeatedly reported the issues and problems concerning

the U.S. bases. It constantly reports the unfairness and unjustness of

the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement and campaigns for its revision. The

national news media, however, are not so eager to report the issues in Okinawa

caused by the U.S. Military bases.

　　The current Abe Cabinet put the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated

Secrets into force, which is argued to have the consequences of shrinking

the activities of journalists. In Okinawa, journalists were exposed to pressure

from the national government. A notable incident occurred in which journalists

were detained at the site of their coverage of the Okinawa U.S. bases. While the

spirit of the Japanese Constitution that stipulates the renouncement of war is

faltering, the raison d’être of journalists are called into question.

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1972年のニクソン大統領による訪中・訪ソ, および翌年1月のベトナム和平協定の成立により, 日米両国を取り巻く国際環境は劇的に変化し, そのなかで日米は, 両国関係をいかに位置づけるべきかという問いに直面した。日米関係は一時的に動揺を見せたものの, 1970年代半ばにかけて改善に向かう。その過程で, 両国政府が強調したのが, 「価値観の共有」 であった。本稿の目的は, その要因を明らかにすることにある。米国は 「価値観の共有」 を掲げ, 冷戦対立の緩和とグローバルな政治・経済情勢の混迷のなか, 西側同盟の結束を図るため尽力した。一方の日本も, 国際秩序の変容を受けて自国の対外政策のあり方を模索するなかで, 米国をはじめとする価値観を共有する西側先進諸国との協調路線を鮮明にした。そして日米両国は, 「価値観の共有」 を同盟関係の基盤の一つとして理解するようになった。それは両国が, 軍事的意義にとどまらない, 日米同盟関係のもつ重層性への認識を深めたことの帰結であった。そのことは, 冷戦終結を経てもなお日米同盟関係が命脈を保ち続けている所以を考察するにあたっても, 重要な示唆を与えうるであろう。

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本稿は集団的自衛権が1945年から今日まで行使されたことがないのか検証することを目的とする。また、本稿は日本を取り巻く国際環境が刻々と変化し、従来の考え方が国際社会において通用しにくくなってきている今日、安全保障環境を憲法解釈というレンズを通して判断することは非常に重要であると考えたことを問題意識としている。

2015年に成立した安全保障関連法案は限定的な集団的自衛権の行使を認めるものであり、国際環境の変化を如実に示すものであった。この法案が審議されている間、国会近辺等では学生団体まで巻き込んだ反対運動が展開され、テレビや新聞もこれを大々的に喧伝した。この時に反対する勢力が口を揃えて言ったのはこれまで1人も戦死者を出していない自衛隊が集団的自衛権の行使容認によって戦死者が出るような組織になってしまうのではないかという危惧であった。

では、これまで、本当に戦後日本は集団的自衛権を一度も行使したことはなかったのであろうか。このことについて研究を始めた際、偶然、朝鮮戦争時に日本が朝鮮海域に「日本特別掃海隊」を派遣していたことを知った。そして、そこでは若い隊員が「戦死」していたのである。

朝鮮戦争はどのような経緯で始まり、どのような経過を辿ったかについて、国際環境や戦局を概観し、当時組織された国連軍がどのような状況にあり、日本の助けを必要としていたかについて考える。

そして、この戦争において日本は自国の領域内外においていかなる協力を行ったのか。占領期であったとはいえ、日本国憲法が施行されて5年経つ日本が行った協力について考える。日本が行った協力には現在の法制ではとても考えられないような協力を行っている場合もあり、これについては政治的判断以上の解釈を行うことは難しい。

その様々な協力を踏まえた上で、現在、日本国憲法下において国防任務にあたっている自衛隊の成立過程と変化してきた憲法解釈についても考え、どのような解釈が時代の変化とともに採られるようになってきたのかを併せて考える。

日本の憲法解釈の変遷に基づいて、PKO協力法、周辺事態法、イラク特措法、そして平和安全法制について、成立の経緯や歴史、当時の国際環境等を勘案し、述べていく。

そして最後に、日本の集団的自衛権行使を限定的ながら認めるという新しい憲法解釈が政治的判断を狭めるものであり、時代に適したものであるのか、そうでないのかについても判断する。

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