ABSTRACT
In September 1950, the United States publicly announced that it was ready to proceed with Japanese peace treaty negotiations.1 In the JMFA’s preparations for the negotiations, the method of preservation of Japan’s security was the most important issue. Nishimura Kumao, the Director of the Treaty Bureau of the JMFA, argued that the United Nations would preserve Japan’s general security. Because the UN security system centered on the Security Council did not always function smoothly, he argued, the United States would have to supplement and strengthen this UN security function by stationing its armed forces in Japan. He believed that the US bases in Japan under the auspices of the United Nations would not have a deleterious effect on Japanese sentiment or on Japan’s national prestige.2
