Chronologies
US - Japan
Chronology from Oct 2001 to Dec 2001
: Tokyo announces relocation of heliport from the Futenma Air Station to East Nago City. The Nago heliport will also accommodate helicopter operations now conducted from Camp Schwab.
: U.S. Special Force training facilities to be built in Hansen U.S. Marine base.
: Secretary of State Colin Powell urges Japan’s economic reform.
: Tokyo expresses understanding of U.S. withdrawal from 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
: Japan National Security Council decides to buy mid-air refueling tankers (B-767) from Boeing Co.
: U.S. delegation led by Deputy Treasury Secretary Ken Dam visits Tokyo to hold talks on foreign direct investment.
: U.S. Air Force Senior Staff Sgt. Timothy Woodland pleads not guilty to a charge of rape at Naha District Court.
: Deputy Secretary of Transportation Ford suggests possible U.S. aid to defend the Senkaku Islands in case of an emergency.
: Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld meets with Defense Agency head Nakatani in Washington, D.C.: Rumsfeld says the U.S. appreciates Japan’s contribution to the anti-terrorism campaign.
: Sixtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack. Survivors from both Japan and U.S. attend the ceremony.
: Moody’s Investors Service downgrades Japanese government bond rating from Aa3 to Aa2, the worst grading among industrialized countries.
: Crown Princess Masako gave birth to Princess Aiko.
: Tokyo announces unemployment rate reaches 5.4 percent.
: Fujitsu announces it will close a semiconductor plant in Oregon next spring.
: Japanese industrial output falls to the lowest level in 13 years.
: Merrill Lynch Japan announces partial withdrawal from Japanese market.
: Lower House approves SDF dispatch to Indian Ocean.
: Japanese Finance Minister Shiokawa Masajuro says yen should be further weakened.
: Ambassador Baker expresses disappointment at Tokyo’s failure to dispatch Aegis-equipped destroyers to aid U.S.
: Suzuki Ichiro, Seattle Mariners outfielder, receives American League Most Valuable Player award.
: U.S. and Japan co-host sub-Cabinet-level-international conference on reconstruction of Afghanistan in Washington D.C.: delegations from G-8, European Union, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, the World Bank, and the Asia Development Bank attend.
: SDF dispatch framework approved by the Cabinet.
: Urasoe Mayor Gima Mituso announces that the city will host the U.S. Navy port as an alternate site for the Naha port facilities.
: U.S.-Japan working-level meeting agrees that Japan will dispatch supplies (food and fuel) to Diego Garcia by sea; in the area around Japan C-130s will be used.
: Defense Agency head Nakatani Gen announces Japan will dispatch “two destroyers with helicopters on board and a supply ship, to a sea area leading to the Indian Ocean.”
: President Bush is reported to have sent a letter to Koizumi urging Japan to join new round of global trade liberalization talks.
: Ehime Maru investigation ends after recovery of eight bodies. Ehime Maru memorial monument will be built in Honolulu upon the victims’ families’ request.
: Standard & Poor’s warns Tokyo that raising interest rates would hurt financial strength of Japan.
: Tokyo announces framework for U.S. aid by SDF.
: U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick criticizes Japanese agriculture policy in runup to Doha trade talks, saying “the Japanese have just said no to everything in the process, and that just won’t work.”
: Anti-terrorism bill passes Upper House.
: Bush and Koizumi meet at APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Shanghai; Bush urges Japan to host peace conference.
: California Superior Court judge rules that the court has a right to hear POWs claims against Japan, overturning a U.S. Department of Justice decision.
: Special Measures to Fight Terrorism Bill passes Lower House.
: President Bush, in interview with People’s Daily, Yonhap News, and Yomiuri Shimbun, requests SDF rear support, Japan’s cooperation in checking finances for terrorist groups, and says he expects Japan to take part in nation building after the war in Afghanistan ends.
: Special Measures to Fight Terrorism Bill, the SDF law amendment that enables the SDF to patrol U.S. facilities in Japan, and the Kaijyo Hoancho amendment, which allows the use of fire against territorial violations, pass Lower House Anti-Terrorism Special Committee.
: Japanese Ambassador to U.S. Yanai Shunji says U.S. and Japan are holding unofficial talks on the political future of post-Taliban Afghanistan.
: Asashi Shibun poll shows support rate of Koizumi administration is 71 percent, and no effect as a result of Koizumi’s support for U.S. retaliation.
: PM Koizumi anticipates Constitutional revision in the near future to acknowledge the SDF is a military force, but restrictions on the use of force will remain.
: U.S. Navy begins salvage of the Ehime Maru.
: Starbucks Coffee Japan Ltd. debuts on Nasdaq Japan stock market at ¥80,000.
: U.S. Ambassador Japan Howard Baker says “America is very satisfied with Japan’s response.”
: Japanese Cabinet approves dispatch of SDF aircraft to Pakistan to airlift relief supplies for Afghan refugees.
: Japanese Cabinet approves a bill to support U.S. counterterrorist operation. The legislation allows the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to provide logistic and other noncombatant support to the expected U.S.-led multinational force, engage in search-and-rescue activities for missing military personnel, and carry out humanitarian relief operations for refugees.
: U.S. federal judge dismisses a lawsuit filed against Japan by 15 Asian women who were forced to work as “comfort women.”
: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell requests Japanese financial aid following the ouster of the Taliban.