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

32 • ACQUISITION AND CROSS-SERVICING AGREEMENT
Nagano’s terse assessment revealed Japan’s military and strategic
bankruptcy some two years before it finally surrendered. Foreign
Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu seized this pessimistic atmosphere to
assert that diplomacy offered Japan its only hope. He outlined four
points that he deemed crucial to Japan’s future. First, Japan must
strengthen its cooperation with Germany. Second, peace must be
maintained with the Soviet Union. Third, peace with China must be
secured. Fourth, Japan must end its interference in the internal affairs
of nations throughout East Asia, leaving to them actual control of
their governments and economies.
Held to its own standards, the Japanese government failed in every
respect. It proved utterly unable to prevent the United States (and its
allies) from penetrating the absolute sphere of imperial defense, it did
nothing to strengthen cooperation with Germany, it was unable to
stop the Soviet Union from entering the war, it could not reach peace
with China, and it did nothing to liberate the region from overt colonial
controls. See also PACIFIC WAR; WORLD WAR II.
ACQUISITION AND CROSS-SERVICING AGREEMENT
(ACSA). The Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA)
between the United States and Japan was concluded in April 1996 and
became effective the following October. In the event the Japanese
Self-Defense Force (JSDF) asks the United States or U.S. military
forces ask Japan to provide either goods or services, either would be
obligated to accede to the other side’s request for goods or services. In
July 2004, this agreement was revised to encompass aiding each other
in the event of a military attack, promoting the efforts of the international
community to contribute to international peace and security,
providing relief for large-scale natural disasters, and other purposes.
The revised agreement also allowed both countries to provide each
other with ammunition in emergency contingencies in areas surrounding
Japan. In predictable military attacks, when the JSDF provide the
U.S. forces with goods and services, the revised ACSA makes it possible
for the JSDF to use arms for self-defense. The revised ACSA
also allows an overseas JSDF mission to exchange goods and services
with U.S. forces that are also abroad. In regard to the JSDF dispatch
to Iraq in 2004, the Japanese government decided to apply the revised
ACSA, a first for an overseas JSDF mission. See also DEFENSE.