The next meeting of the Japan History Group (JHG) at the Institute of Social Science (ISS), University of Tokyo, will be held on Friday, 21 June 2019, at 6:00 PM in No.1 Meeting Room (Dai-ichi Kaigi-shitsu), 1st floor of the Main Building of ISS, Hongo Campus.



Presenter: Seung Mo KANG (PhD Candidate, International History Department, LSE)



Title: The Japanese Peace Treaty and the Question of Fisheries



Discussant: Joji Morishita (Professor, Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology)



Abstract:

This paper traces the making of Article 9 of the Japanese peace treaty. It attempts to understand why the treaty only incorporated a simple statement of Japan's intention to negotiate separate fisheries agreement with other countries, despite the fact that there were strong demands for a more specific and restrictive clause. This paper argues that there were three important reasons. First, the US government, being the most powerful actor in the crafting the peace treaty, wanted an early peace settlement, and thought it best to address the question of Japan's postwar fishing operations in a separate agreement. Second, in comparison to other issues, especially security, the question of fisheries was relatively negligible, and therefore easier for other countries to "give up." Third, Japan continuously expressed its intention to voluntarily restrain its fishing activities and promptly negotiate fisheries arrangements with concerned countries. Article 9 is important not only in light of the fact that fish constitutes vital part of Japan's everyday diet, but also because it has not received sufficient attention in the existing Cold War historiography. Post-war Japanese fisheries question is also intriguing, considering the fact that the US government had to deal with not only different governments, but also formidable domestic pressure from the American West Coast.