Nixon in Japan in 1953
In November 1953, then US Vice President Richard Nixon visited Japan.
On this occasion, Nixon expressed his opinion about the Pacifist Constitution of Japan. Nixon said, "It was a big mistake for the US to have advised and requested Japan to adopt the Article 9 which forbids full-scale rearmament of Japan and denies the right of belligerency to the Japanese Government." Indeed, though the Korean War (1950-1953) went into suspension of hostilities in July 1953, the US wanted to be physically and militarily supported by Japan in the Cold War.
Nixon was then asked by the Japanese Government led by Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida to visit and show respect for the Tokyo Yasukuni Shrine which enshrined souls of fallen soldiers of the Empire of Japan. But Nixon declined the idea since the Empire lost war against the US and dissolved in 1945.
Then Nixon visited PM Yoshida at his home in Oiso facing the Pacific Ocean. Yoshida asked Nixon if the US intended to officially establish diplomatic relationships with China led by the Chinese Communist Party. Nixon didn't give a clear answer. Indeed, communist leaders of China had sent so many soldiers to Korea to stop advancement of the US and allied forces from the south to the north in the Korean War.
Shigeru Yoshida resigned as primer minister in December 1954. Afterwards Yoshida's disciple Eisaku Sato became Japanese Prime Minister in 1964 to continue his premiership till 1972. In 1969 Sato visited the White House to negotiate return of administrative authority over Okinawa from the US to Japan with President Nixon. It went well smoothly. President Nixon promised to return Okinawa to Japan without nuclear weapons kept in US military bases in Okinawa islands. With this transaction, Japan concluded its efforts to restore territories which had been occupied by the US after WWII. It was one of the biggest historic incidents for Japan after WWII.
As Nixon respected Yoshida, he must have trusted Sato, which must have been a key to good relationships between the two countries in the era of Nixon, though Nixon visited Beijing without prior-notification to Japan of his historic trip to China.
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Mat 6:12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.