Treaty signed in San Francisco dictating that Japan grant the United States the territorial means for it to establish a military presence in the Far East and prohibited other countries without the consent of the United States to do the same
This treaty established a U.S. military presence in post-occupation Japan, shaping East Asian security arrangements for decades.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 8 September 1951
- U.S. troops in Japan at enactment
- 260,000 troops
- Facilities used by U.S.
- 2,824 facilities
- U.S. Senate ratification
- 20 March 1952
- Treaty entered into force
- 28 April 1952
- Superseded by revised treaty
- 19 June 1960
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
As World War II ended, the United States occupied Japan and sought to maintain a strategic military foothold in the Far East amid rising Cold War tensions. The U.S. made ending its occupation of Japan conditional on Japan agreeing to allow continued American military basing rights, effectively imposing the treaty as a prerequisite for restoring Japanese sovereignty.
On 8 September 1951, the United States and Japan signed the Security Treaty in San Francisco alongside the Treaty of San Francisco ending the war. The five-article accord permitted the U.S. to maintain military bases on Japanese soil, barred Japan from granting basing rights to third parties without U.S. consent, and set no expiration date. A secret 29-article Administrative Agreement elaborating the basing arrangements was made public on 28 February 1952 without a legislative vote.
The treaty provoked widespread protests in Japan due to its one-sided nature and lack of a mutual defense clause. Negotiations between Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi and President Dwight D. Eisenhower ultimately produced a replacement agreement, the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, which took effect on 19 June 1960 and established a more reciprocal framework for the U.S.-Japan alliance.
Political Outcome
Japan granted the United States the right to maintain military bases on its territory indefinitely; Japan was prohibited from offering basing rights to other foreign powers without U.S. consent. The treaty was superseded in 1960 by the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security.
Japan under full U.S. military occupation with no recognized sovereignty
Japan restored as a sovereign nation but bound to host U.S. military bases under a unilateral security arrangement