The Relationship Between Japan and the United States of America Properly Began in 1853

Ethical Development in a Global Environment

The United States, Japan, and the Atomic Bomb…

Past, Present, and Future

Professor Lusignan

December 5th, 2003

Megan Bordelon

Catalina Morris

Lindsey Regan

Dana Sorensen

A Rocky Relationship

The relationship between Japan and the United States of America properly began in 1853 with the arrival in Japan’s Uraga Bay of the black ships commanded by Commodore Matthew Perry, which was followed by the signing of the U.S.- Japan Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854. As we mark the 150th anniversary of these events, one may question, in the history of the world, what other two nations that were engaged in war have so rapidly established so strong a partnership? Since their initial encounters to the present, overcoming various trials, Japan and the United States have strengthened exchange in all kinds of fields, including politics, economics, and culture, and forged the friendly and cooperative relations that exist today. Despite the fact that the international community has experienced drastic change and faced a variety of challenges, Japan and the United States have maintained a positive alliance due to their shared values of freedom, democracy, and a market economy. Though the two countries with such differences in history and culture currently have a friendship and basic trust in each other, their relationship in the first half of the 20th century was far from stable.

In 1905, President Roosevelt helped to end the Russo-Japanese War and persuaded Japan to drop its demand for war reparations. Months after, the United States recognized the Japanese control of Korea in return for Japan’s pledge not to get involved in the Phillippines. A decade later, many nations found themselves involved in the First World War. Japan joined the Allied powers, but played only a minor role in fighting German colonial forces in East Asia. President Wilson maintained that the United States would continue to take a neutral stance in the growing war. However, after events like the German U-boat’s attack on the U.S. ship Lusitania, and amidst a burst of patriotic fever, the United States entered the conflict in April of 1917 and joined Japan on the side of the Allied Powers. World War I resolved few of the problems that had caused it and served as a prelude to an even greater war a generation later. The United States was arguably the only nation to emerge from the conflict stronger than when it had entered it, and was now clearly the pre-eminent power in the world. However, Japan was in fact able to expand its influence in Asia and its territorial holdings in the Pacific. The postwar era brought Japan prosperity, and they went to the peace conference at Versailles in 1919 as one of the great military and industrial powers of the world and received official recognition as one of the “Big Five” of the new international order.

The period between WWI and WWII was a chaotic time for the world. For most of those in the civilized world, it seemed as if the majority of the trouble was arising from Europe. Germany and Italy were threatening the free world with their oppressive ideals, and had banded together for their mutual benefit. With Hitler leading the Nazis, and Mussolini leading the Fascists, the future of Europe was hanging in the balance. These problems, however, were not the only ones the world would have to deal with. In the Pacific, an alien and seemingly remote country, that until just under a century ago had been totally un-industrialized, was threatening its neighboring Asian countries. Using their powers of adaptation and an unconquerable spirit, Japan had forced themselves into being one of the most powerful nations in the world. They had seen what the world had to offer, and had “immersed themselves into becoming a force in the world instead of becoming a province of another world power. The nation they would become, in accordance to their method of borrowing outside concepts and re-conceiving them with a distinct Japanese identity attached, was heavily dependent on the interactions that they would experience with other nations” (Butler, p. 67). The actions taken by the Japanese in World War II were arguably a direct result of the relationship that had developed between the United States and Japan between WWI and WWII. The major events that shaped this relationship were the incidents occurring in China, instabilities within the Japanese government, and the actions taken by the United States towards Japan.

Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the fragile world established in the aftermath of WWI suffered a series of devastating economic, political, and military blows. Although actual fighting in WWII seemed inevitable for the Americans, there were actions taken by the United States to try to stay out of the conflict. The U.S. attempted to avoid conflict in the Pacific by allowing the Japanese to conquer some nations in Southeast Asia without any military defense. However, the relationship between the United States and Japan quickly took a turn for the worse. In early 1931, in reaction to Japan’s invasion of Manchuria four months prior, Secretary of State Henry Stimson announced that the U.S. would refuse to recognize any territorial acquisitions that violate American treaty rights. Japan’s seizure had violated the Kellog-Briand Treaty of 1928, which renounced aggression, as well as the nine-power Open Door Policy Pact of 1922 (Adams, p. 82). While most Americans anxiously watched the course of the European war, tension rose in Asia. Throughout the course of 1937, Japan went on to seize Peking, Tietnsin, Shanghai, and Nanking. In the process, they conducted devastating bombing raids during which American hospitals, missions and schools, though clearly marked, were often hit. Japan’s denial that it was at war with China gave U.S. President Roosevelt an excuse not to invoke the provision of the Neutrality Acts, which enabled America to provide arms to China (Daniel, et al., p. 134). In December of that year, Japanese aircraft bombed and sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on the Yangtze River as it was rescuing war-stranded Americans near Nanking. Although Japan apologized for the incident that killed two and wounded thirty, negative tension increased. The following year, Japan put the United States on notice that it no longer recognized the Open Door policy. Rejecting protests that American rights had been repeatedly violated, Tokyo asserted that the U.S. and other countries must recognize Japan’s “New Order” for East Asia. Taking advantage of an opportunity to improve its strategic position, Japan announced this new order in its attempt to exercise control over the entire Pacific. This move by Japan came in the wake of the U.S. State Department’s decision to impose a “moral embargo” on aircraft exports to Japan, which reportedly used American planes to bomb Canton the year prior. Battling for its survival against Nazi Germany, Britain was unable to resist Japan’s aggression, withdrawing from Shanghai and temporarily closing the Burma Road. By 1940, American ambassador to Japan Joseph C. Grew warned that further conciliatory measures towards Japan would be pointless and unwise, for relations between the countries were continually deteriorating (Adams, p. 97). However, the U.S. ignored this and went on to warn the Japanese against putting pressure on the Nichy government to grant Japan further bases on the northern part of French Indochina. Tokyo resented this warning, and eventually won permission from the weak Vichy government to use airfields in Indochina, and by September had joined the Rome-Berlin Axis. As a countermove, the United States imposed an embargo on export of oil and scrap metal to Japan, materials on which they were heavily dependent in its war with China. As expected, Japan was angry. It seemed that they might turn southward toward the oil, tin and rubber of British Malaya and the Dutch East Indies. In July 1941, the Japanese occupied the remainder of Indochina; the United States, in response, froze Japanese assets. Negotiations over the situation in the Far East appeared to have reached an stalemate and war in the Pacific seemed not just possible but likely. General Hideki Tojo became prime minister of Japan in October, and sent a special envoy to the U.S. in November to meet with Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Among other things, Japan demanded that the U.S. release Japanese assets and stop U.S. naval expansion in the Pacific. Hull countered with a proposal for Japanese withdrawal from China and Indochina in exchange for the freeing of the frozen assets. The Japanese asked for two weeks to study the proposal, but on December 1st rejected it. Due to the extreme gravity of the situation, Franklin Roosevelt personally appealed for peace directly to the Japanese emperor, Hirohito, on December 6th. The following morning, however, Japanese aircraft carrier-based planes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in a devastating, surprise attack. Nineteen ships, including five battleships, and about 150 U.S. planes were destroyed; more than 2,300 soldiers, sailors, and civilians were killed. President Roosevelt consequently asked Congress to declare war on Japan, and received a unanimous Senate vote. In keeping with the terms of their Tripartite Pact, Germany and Italy responded by declaring war on the United States.

Much of America’s international behavior in the 1920s and 1930s had reflected a desire to insulate the U.S. from any possible future wars. In the end, however, the cautious, limited American internationalism of the inter-war years proved inadequate either to protect the interests of the U.S. or to encourage global stability. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor only confirmed what had been growing obvious for some time: that the U.S. was now so central to the affairs of the world that it could not remain isolated from its troubles.

The attack on the United States disarmed the appeal of isolationists and permitted quick military mobilization. As a result of Pearl Harbor and the fear of Asian espionage, Americans also committed an act of intolerance: the internment of Japanese-Americans. In February 1942, nearly 120,000 Japanese-Americans were removed from their homes and interned behind barbed wire in ten temporary camps, later to be moved to “relocation centers” outside isolated southwestern towns. However, the post-war shame Americans may experience as a result of the internment camps may fail in comparison to that which was caused by our most serious of acts—dropping two atomic bombs in the heart of Japan.

Dropping the Atomic Bomb

We have all seen the photo of the mushroom cloud of smoke rising up into the atmosphere, almost like a scenic painting, yet beneath that cloud lays a question that may never be answered. The United States decision to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has been a controversial topic, and was so even before the bombs hit the two Japanese cities. It has turned out to be a very interesting historical case to study. It marked the first time nuclear weapons were used in warfare, and caused the most destruction and death from a single blast. Not since Hiroshima and Nagasaki have we seen a nuclear weapon used during warfare, so why was it necessary to use then? We will never know the exact facts of why our government chose to completely destruct two cities, and kill hundreds of thousands of civilians, but what we can do is analyze the facts, and look at the research and make some sense of all the information that has been uncovered. The facts are clear and there is no argument about when and how the bombs were dropped, but when it comes to the reasons behind the decision there are points of view from both the government, and the scientists involved. The pictures, sociological studies, and interviews with people who had some involvement in the events on August 4th and 9th of 1945 tell a very interesting story with massive implications.

President Truman took office after the abrupt death of President Roosevelt in 1945. Shortly after his being sworn in, Truman learned of a top-secret governmental project that was more commonly known as ‘The Manhattan Project.” Truman had no previous knowledge that this project even existed, let alone its political and social implications. In 1939 Einstein and a few other scientists approached President Roosevelt with information regarding the possibility of developing an atomic bomb. One article headline from a newspaper in 1947 said “Einstein’s Letter prodded F.D.R into Atomic Race Oct 17, 1939.” The article goes on to say “foreign born scientists, in this country as refugees from Facism and Nazism, supplied Mr. Roosevelt with much of the information which motivated him in throwing this government into atomic research.” The scientists were later named in the article as Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard, and Einstein’s letter stated that experiments by Enrico Fermi and Leo Sziliard “led me to expect that uranium could be turned into energy, and that Germany had put an embargo on all exports of uranium from Czech when they invaded” (Blackwelder). After the bomb was dropped on Japan, the government made no secret of the fact that our country developed the bomb because of the possibility that Germany would have a nuclear weapon first. During the U.S. raid on Germany we destroyed all of their nuclear labs, resulting in no real threat of Germany using a nuclear weapon for a long time, so why did we continue with our nuclear weapon development?

Truman was the person who made the ultimate decision, but he was not necessarily the most informed person in the White House. Secretary of War Henry Stimson (1940 -1945) was one of the closest advisors to Roosevelt, and thus Truman, regarding the development and use of the atomic bomb. Two years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Stimson wrote an article to both the Washington Post and Harper’s Magazine addressing the decision to drop the bomb. Stimson was aiming to explain the government’s reasoning, and therefore clear both his name and the names of others involved in making the decision. As an essential player in the decision, the letter contains some definite biases because he can only speak from his side and because he may not have wanted to disclose the exact reasons why they dropped it for fear of negative responses from the American public. Stimson was faced with living with the decision to kill hundreds of thousands of people, so naturally he would want to defend his side.

Stimson’s initial discussions with Roosevelt outlined three important aspects of the atomic bomb question were “1.To suppress doubts that the bomb of this potential could be successful 2 .The implications of success in terms of its long range post war effects 3. The need for public statement upon first use of the weapon” (Dooman, Box 1). When Roosevelt died Truman was suddenly made aware of the power and potential destruction that this new weapon could cause, and a committee was appointed to advise the President on the bomb as it continued to be developed. The committee was termed the Interim Committee and included members of the government, including Henry Stimson, and was assisted by a scientific panel that was involved in building the bomb. The committee came up with three recommendations as a result of their discussions - “1. The bomb should be used against Japan as soon as possible 2. It should be used on a dual target - that is, a military installation or war plant surrounded by or adjacent to houses and other buildings most susceptible to damage 3. It should be used without prior warning of the nature of the weapon.” (Dooman, Box 1)

Stimson did talk about how the committee reviewed some other alternative options, such as using the bomb in a demonstration first, and scaring the Japanese into surrendering. “They were not likely to get Japan to surrender and involved serious risks. It would be devastating to drop a dud in a demonstration.” (Dooman, Box 1) Stimson also discussed why they felt such drastic measure was necessary for surrender and not just a series of bombs dropped, or a ground attack. “I felt that to extract a genuine surrender form the Emperor and his military advisors, they must be administered as a tremendous shock which would carry convincing proof of our power to destroy the Empire. Such an effective shock would save many times the number of lives, both American and Japanese, that this would cost.” (Dooman, Box 1) His point was that the Japanese showed some strength and could continue the fighting for a long period of time, possibly even years and thus cost millions of American lives. While the atomic bomb would kill hundreds of thousands of Japanese it would save lives on both sides in the long run. Stimson claimed that they had knowledge that Japan was showing a willingness to keep fighting and that they were not weakened enough to want to surrender. Stimson said that the Japanese still had 5,000,000 men and about 5,000 kamikazes to fight with.