Historical Dictionary of United States-Japan ... - Bakumatsu Films

NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL • 187
One British traveler was killed and two were injured. The Tokugawa
shogunate apologized and paid an indemnity to the British government,
but Satsuma domain refused, leading to the Kagoshima Bombardment
one year later. Occurring one and a half years after the murder in
Edo of American legation secretary Henry Huesken, the Namamugi Incident
demonstrated that the “revere the emperor, expel the barbarian”
movement was still strong. See also MEIJI RESTORATION.
NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR BLOCKING REVISION OF THE
JAPAN–U.S. SECURITY TREATY. The National Council for
Blocking Revision of the Japan–U.S. Security Treaty was established
on 28 March 1959 by the Japan Socialist Party, the Japan Communist
Party, the General Council of Trade Unions of Japan, and
more than 100 organizations shortly after Japanese and U.S. officials
began holding high-level discussions on revising the Japan–U.S. Security
Treaty. The Council, which became the main umbrella group
of Japanese civic organizations opposed to treaty revision, conducted
a nationwide petition drive and hosted mass demonstrations in
opposition to the pro-revision position of Japanese Prime Minister
Nobusuke Kishi. The principal argument of the Council was that
treaty revision would bind Japan more strongly to the United States,
thereby restricting Japan’s independence and obligating it to participate
in military conflicts that were outside the control of the Japanese
citizens or their government. The Council voiced three policies:
Japan’s security would be best maintained by not joining a military
bloc; the Japanese would best be served by being militarily selfdependent;
and Japan should pursue a neutral-country diplomacy.
The Council believed these goals could be realized without violating
the tenets of Japan’s postwar “peace constitution.”
Nevertheless, despite widespread popular resistance, the Liberal
Democratic Party was able to accomplish ratification of revisions to the
treaty in the Lower House of the Japanese Diet. In the end, however,
the powerful protest campaign waged by the Council triggered the resignation
of Prime Minister Kishi’s cabinet. See also ARTICLE NINE.
NATIONAL DEFENSE COUNCIL (NDC). In addition to the two
military defense institutions Japan already had, the Defense Agency
and the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the National Defense Council