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

42 • ANTI-TERRORISM SPECIAL MEASURES LAW
nation’s war planners at about the same time began planning for a
possible war against both Germany and Japan.
ANTI-TERRORISM SPECIAL MEASURES LAW. This law was
enacted on 29 October 2001, promulgated and became effective on 2
November 2001. In relation to the series of terrorist attacks that took
place in New York and Washington, D.C., on 11 September 2001, this
law stipulates the ways in which Japan assists the United States and
other foreign countries for their sanctions against Afghanistan. It is a
law as temporary legislation with a two-year term limit. This law
consists of 13 articles and a supplementary provision. The law was
groundbreaking because it enabled the Japanese government to dispatch
the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) abroad during wartime.
Japan’s logistical support included mid-ocean refueling of U.S. navy
ships and those of other foreign countries in the Indian Ocean and the
Arabian Sea by supply vessels of the Maritime Self-Defense Force
(MSDF), assisting transportation of materials and soldiers between
military bases including U.S. bases in Japan by the Air Self-Defense
Force, and search and rescue activities. In November 2001, Tokyo dispatched
Maritime Self-Defense Force to the Indian Ocean. In October
2003, this law was extended for two years; in October 2005, the law
was extended again for one more year. See also DEFENSE.
ARITA–GREW CONVERSATIONS. From 10 June 1940, Foreign
Minister Hachirō Arita and Ambassador Joseph C. Grew entered
conversations with an eye to effecting a Japanese–American diplomatic
rapprochement. The American objective in these talks was colored
by the success that the German armies achieved in Europe.
Through Grew, the United States State Department hoped to prevent
both a Japanese–German alliance and a Japanese advance into the defenseless
colonial regions of Southeast Asia. For his part, Arita hoped
to revive the two countries’ treaty of commerce and navigation, which
Washington had abrogated six months earlier in response to Japanese
aggression in China. It became readily evident throughout the course
of the conversations that the United States would not consider such a
step until Japan first renounced the use of force. The conversations
broke down in July 1940, and soon thereafter the cabinet of Admiral
Mitsumasa Yonai collapsed. Its successor cabinet, which included