Use the Experience of Operation Tomodachi to Deepen Japan-U.S. Alliance

Rescue teams from all over Japan and the world have rushed to the areas stricken by the great east Japan earthquake. We would like to express our sincerest thanks and respect for all of the support from overseas.

The U.S., especially, is continuing full-scale relief efforts in keeping with President Barack Obama’s declaration that “We will stand with the people of Japan.” The U.S.’s efforts show the Japanese people how the bonds fostered by the Japan-U.S. alliance have been reaffirmed.

The U.S. was quick to respond. Just two days after the earthquake, the nuclear aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan, destroyers and other vessels rushed to the coast of the disaster area. The search teams, personnel and transport of resources working in cooperation with the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) have been dubbed “Operation Tomodachi (Friends),” which has a commitment of 19 warships, 140 planes and 18,000 people. The U.S. military stationed in Japan, especially the Marines in Okinawa, are helping to restore Sendai Airport’s currently unusable runways, and they have also transported large quantities of essential goods to the isolated Sanriku coast.

The SDF has dispatched more than 100,000 ground, naval and air force troops in its ongoing largest-ever disaster relief deployment. While the SDF is consulting with the Japan-U.S. Joint Coordination Division that has been set up at Camp Sendai, the U.S. military’s considerable air transport capabilities, such as aircraft carriers, planes and helicopters, have provided tremendous support. This is unlike the Great Hanshin Earthquake, when Japan refused U.S. military assistance.

The U.S. has also been active in responding to the nuclear power plant accident. Their unmanned drones continue to provide clear images from inside the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and they have also decided to provide two freighters to spray fresh water into the nuclear reactors. They have also offered to dispatch special units equipped to decontaminate radiation and treat people suffering from serious radiation exposure.

The SDF-U.S. Army joint relief effort was developed abruptly in response to the emergency situation created by the earthquake. Japan must keep in mind the possibility of future accidents and take this golden opportunity to deepen their alliance with the U.S.

What needs to be done is already clear. For example, according to the new guidelines for Japan-U.S. defense cooperation, there is a mechanism in place for coordinating the SDF’s and U.S. military’s operations in the event of an emergency in or around Japan, but it is unclear who holds authority. Judging by the response to this earthquake, Japan and the U.S. need to work out this issue immediately.

The Democratic Party of Japan’s erratic handling of the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma incurred a distrust of Japan in the United States. On the flip side, the recent remark by the former U.S. State Department director of Japan affairs that “Okinawans are masters of extortion” caused offense in Japan. The experience of the earthquake will be a starting point for the formation of a new bond between Japan and the U.S.