日米合同委員会廃止　親愛なる在日米軍司令部副司令官ジョージB.ラウル4世准将への要求文英文

February 1, 2023

Brigadier General George B. Rowell IV
Deputy Commander, United States Forces Japan

Dear General Rowell,

We have gathered here today as Japanese citizens for the purpose of presenting to you, in your capacity as Deputy Commander of the United States Forces Japan, this formal demand for immediate policy changes, specifically as a protest against the Japan-US Joint Committee.

The Japan-US Joint Committee is an organization made up of high ranking officers in the United States Forces Japan and of high ranking officials in the government of Japan that meets in secret at the New Sanno U.S.Force Center in downtown Tokyo on a regular basis.

The following is our formal demand:

When the Treaty of San Francisco that formally established peaceful relations between the United States and Japan took effect on April 28, 1952 the “US-Japan Security Treaty” and the “Administrative Agreement under Article III of the Security Treaty between Japan and the United States of America” also took effect.

The Japan-US Joint Committee was set up as an institution assigned the purpose of carrying out all consultation regarding the administration of the “U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement” (which replaced the “Administrative Agreement” in 1960).

If we considered the intention of the U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement, we would assume that the Japan-US Joint Committee must be a place where a discussion is held in the open about what is in the interests of both nations, and that this discussion would be carried out by members of the Diet (for Japan) and members of the Congress (for the United States) who are empowered with the solemn trust of the citizens of both countries, the citizens in whom the ultimate sovereignty is vested. The members of the committee would thereby represent all of the citizens of the two allied nations.

However, the Japan-US Joint Committee consists of Japanese civil servants who are not elected in any election and unelected American military officers assigned to Japan. Moreover, the meetings are held in absolute secrecy.

We the people of Japan are incensed that this consultative meeting is being carried out in a manner that degrades the sovereignty of Japan as an independent nation.

The members of the Japan-US Joint Committee have no obligation to make public the agenda, or the topics discussed, at the regular meetings, nor to make available any of the documents describing what agreements have been reached.

It is precisely for this reason that the Japan-US Joint Committee is viewed as a black box wherein numerous secret agreements have been made.

As far as all previous meetings of the Japan-US Joint Committee are concerned, it is recorded that an agreement was reached “not to make public the content without a mutual agreement by Japan and the United States.” The reason given for this secrecy is that “there is a concern that the relationship of trust between Japan and the United States might be damaged, that the stable stationing of American troops, and the smooth carrying out of their activities, might be impinged on, and that the safety of Japan might be harmed” if this information were made public.

The result is that all records of the meetings, and all written agreements that result from the meetings, are, in principle, secret and unavailable to the public.

But various secret agreements have been made public as a result of requests following the American Freedom of Information Act in the United States and the documents released demonstrate that these secret agreements reached by the Japan-US Joint Committee openly violate the sovereignty of Japan.

For example, at a meeting of the Japan-US Joint Committee in October, 1953, the subcommittee on criminal proceedings within the special committee on legal jurisdiction carried out deliberations on policy at which they agreed to an “secret agreement relinquishing rights of jurisdiction for Japan,” stating that “regarding criminal actions by members of the US military in Japan, with the exception of extremely important incidents for the nation of Japan, legal jurisdiction will not be exercised.”

The comments of the Japanese representative at that subcommittee, Tsuda Minoru, who was at that time director general for the criminal justice division at the Ministry of Justice, were recorded and they remain in the transcripts made public since then.

Another case made public involves the deliberations at a meeting of the Committee on Commercial Aviation of the Japan-US Joint Committee in May, 1975 which produced an “Agreement concerning traffic control for aviation and transportation.” This agreement resulted in the complete control of the airspace around the Yokota Base, the Iwakuni Base, and the Kadena Base by the United States military in violation of Japanese sovereignty.

Even though the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has formally stated that “even though there may be an agreement of the Japan-US Joint Committee in effect, there is no pressing legal basis for it to take precedence over Japanese aviation law,” the reality today is that aviation management continues to follow exclusively the agreements reached in secret by the Japan-US Joint Committee for takeoff and landing in the airspace at the Yokoda Base and Atsugi Base. Moreover. In addition, air control for the airspace of all of Japan for the altitude of 2450 meters to 7000 meters is reserved for US military aircraft and in placed entirely in the hands of the US military. The result is that Japanese civil aircraft that wish to use that airspace are required to have permission from the US military command.

The cases described above are but two examples of the numerous secret agreements reached at the Japan-US Joint Committee which grant special rights to the US military in Japan. The fact that the records of the meetings cannot be made public means that we have no way of knowing how many other secret agreements have been reached. These secret agreements are kept hidden from the citizens of Japan who have sovereignty in this republic in accord with the constitution. Moreover, the elected representatives of the Japanese people in the Diet, who are entrusted with legislative authority, are also not privy to these agreements.

These egregious special powers and privileges assigned by the Japan-US Joint Committee have no legal basis in the original “U.S.–Japan Status of Forces Agreement” and are by their very nature unacceptable for an independent nation state.

These embargoed agreements decided in secret rooms have eaten away at the very foundations of the rule of law in Japan, creating a world of shadows that is incompatible with the Japanese constitution which must serve as the highest legal authority in the nation.

The grave consequence is that our sovereignty is transgressed and degraded by these secret agreements.

We Japanese of conscience cannot tolerate the reduction of our nation to a vassal nation in blatant violation of our constitution and our sovereignty.

We therefore, in place of the members of the Japanese Diet who have been stripped by the United States and the United States military of the authority granted by our constitution, respectfully request that you, honorable Brigadier General George B. Rowell IV, in your capacity as Deputy Commander of United States Forces Japan, carry out the following actions:

First, abolish the US-Japan Joint Committee.

Second, make public all records of the proceeds of the US-Japan Joint Committee since its founding, and make them accessible to all Japanese citizens.

Third, in addition to releasing to the Japanese public all the secret agreements decided on by the Japan-US Joint Committee without authorization by the citizens of Japan, take immediate action to assure that all such secret agreements are from this moment null and void.

Respectfully,

Presenters

Kai Masayasu #Michibata

Kawaguchi Tomoya YouTuber.JT3Reload

Signatories

Aburaya Yasushi

Ikeda Toshie Assemblyman, Hino-shi

Izawa Keiko Assemblywoman, Mitaka-shi

Iwamoto Yusuke Association of Corona-19 Victims

Uekusa Kazuhide Political Economist

Uta Sakurako Assemblyman, Nagareyama-shi 　

Emanuel Pastreich, former candidate for US president, Green Party of the United States

Ohshima Aito Assemblyman, Yashioshi-shi

Okazaki Hiromi former member of House of Representatives

Ono Kosuke “Ishin to Kyoa” assistant editor

Ono Kimihide Michibata@Kunitachi

Orimoto Tatsunori Assemblyman, Chiba Prefecture

Kimura Akira ISF Independent Media Forum

Kimura mitsuhiro Chairman, Issuikai

Kobayashi Koki former member of House of Representatives

Suetake Asunaro

Suzuki Nobuhiro Professor, Agricultural Biotechnology Department, University of Tokyo

Takahashi Kiyotaka Journalist

Tsubouchi Takahiko Journalist

Nakamura midori

Nakayama Naoaki Musician

Matsunami hiroyasu