Office of the Historian

234. Letter From the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Robertson) to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs (Sprague)1

Washington, October 5, 1957.

Dear Mannie: Thank you for your letter of September 182 with your clarification of the talks in June with Admiral Hoshina, Mr. Uemura and Mr. Kaihara. This letter was most helpful. We are pleased to note that no United States proposal was made for a change in the Military Assistance Program for Japan since, upon our joint authorization, [Page 511] Ambassador MacArthur assured the Japanese Government in August that this was the case. Moreover, I am informed that Finance Minister Ichimada, during his call on Secretary Wilson, was assured that our policy with regard to military assistance for Japan was unchanged.3

I recognize that the reduction in the Mutual Security aid level voted by the Congress4 will require a reappraisal of the aid programs for all countries, including Japan. The Japanese Government, I am sure, is also aware of this fact. However, as you know, Prime Minister Kishi is the first Japanese Prime Minister since the Peace Treaty to show evidence of a real willingness to tackle the problem of building an adequate defense force in Japan. In June of this year he directed and obtained Cabinet approval for both a basic defense policy and an official defense plan covering the Japanese fiscal years 1958, 1959 and 1960. However, he still faces formidable opposition in this endeavor. Therefore, I know you share our concern that in considering our military assistance programs for Japan, we make certain that as far as possible such programs support the present effort of the Japanese Government to build an effective defense force.

In the light of the foregoing, we are most anxious that there be the closest possible liaison between our two departments and with our Embassy and military representatives in Tokyo. Through this means, military aid proposals will be carefully weighed in the light of their impact upon the Japanese defense build-up.

Sincerely yours,

Walter S. Robertson5
  1. Source: Department of State, Central Files, 794.5–MSP/9–1857. Confidential. Drafted in NA on October 3.↩
  2. Document 224.↩
  3. See footnote 11, Document 229.↩
  4. For text of the Mutual Security Appropriations Act of 1958, see 71 Stat. 601.↩
  5. Printed from a copy that bears this typed signature.↩