Something for the Hat

FOREIGN RELATIONS

"When I went to Washington in January 1965, Mr. Johnson gave me a ten-gallon Texas hat. This time I'd like to get something to go in the hat." Thus spoke Japan's Premier Eisaku Sato as he departed from Tokyo for a seven-day American tour. Before the week was out, Sato had won concessions from Lyndon Johnson on matters peculiarly sensitive to Japanese pride--but whether they totaled ten gallons was debatable.

Specifically, the Premier came to the U.S. to discuss America's retention of Okinawa and the Bonin Islands, both of which were Japanese possessions before World War II, and have remained persistently sticky political issues in Tokyo. Sato won a promise that the Bonins would be returned, probably within a year, and that the status of Okinawa would be studied. In return, he assured Lyndon Johnson of his government's firm support for the U.S. commitment in Southeast Asia.

Constructive Stand. "America has taken a consistently active and constructive stand in its search for a peaceful solution in Viet Nam," said the Premier, who last month finished a ten-nation swing throughout Southeast Asia. "I was deeply impressed during my recent trip that the U.S. efforts in Viet Nam were well understood and appreciated by the governments and peoples of the Asian countries." Sato warmed Johnson's heart further when he pronounced himself "keenly aware that the position of a leader is often a lonely one filled with tribulations." Himself besieged by leftist anti-government rioters before he flew to the U.S., Sato commented dryly on dissent in America. "It has been suggested that perhaps we should institute an exchange program for demonstrators," he remarked with a crooked smile on his Kabuki-actor's face. "From what I have seen, I would not like to try it."

Though Japan's U.S.-imposed constitution forbids the use of force in settling international disputes--thus barring any Japanese troop commitment to Viet Nam--the country contributes more than $1,000,000 a year to Saigon. Sato promised to increase Japan's foreign aid by a full third, and to continue the Japanese-American security treaty beyond its 1970 expiration date. He repeatedly rejected the idea of a unilateral U.S. bombing pause over North Viet Nam without "reciprocal action" from Hanoi. To that extent, Sato paid more than he received in the way of U.S. concessions on the island territories.

Savory Settlement. The Bonin Islands, which include the bloody battleground of Iwo Jima where 21,000 Japanese and 4,189 American Marines died in early 1945, is a craggy archipelago of little modern-day strategic value, though it is just 700 miles southeast of Japan. Originally settled by 19th century seamen, including two New Englanders (many islanders still bear such old American names as Savory, Webb and Robinson), the islands are currently used by the U.S. only for a small naval and weather station, whose total complement is no more than 75 men.

On the more sensitive question of Okinawa, Sato received a promise of continuing consultations on the island's future reversion to Japan. This prospect has been clouded by the war, since Okinawa is America's major Western Pacific base, and a key way station for heavy bombers and troops headed for Viet Nam. The sooner the war in South east Asia ends, the sooner Japan will regain administrative control of Okinawa and the Ryukyu chain of which it is a part. With that in mind, perhaps, Sato offered last week to serve as best he could as a "third party" in seeking a negotiated end to the war.

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