Japan is positioned to deploy its troops overseas for the first time since World War II. Under a controversial peacekeeping operations (PKO) bill passed by the Japanese Diet (parliament) on June 15, 1992, Japan is allowed to dispatch Self-Defense Forces (SDF) soldiers abroad for noncombat service with United Nations peacekeeping forces (PKF). [1] The politically sensitive PKO legislation comes two years after Japan was stung by international criticism for its failure to send troops to the Persian Gulf, even just for noncombat support. The day after the passage of the bill, Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa pledged an early dispatch of SDF personnel to Cambodia.

The prospects for Japan-U.S. relations in a rapidly changing minternational environment were explored in depth in a September 27, 1991, CRS seminar entitled "The Future of U.S.-Japan Relations: Global Partnership or Strategic, Rivalry?" A full transcript of the proceedings was published in February 1992 by the House Committee on Ways and Means as a Committee Print. This report summarizes the principal findings of that seminar.

Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu's concurrent two-year term as president of the Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and Prime Minister of Japan expires at the end of October 1991. The May 1991 death of Shintaro Abe, the front runner to replace him, opened the field to nearly a dozen candidates. These include Kaifu for another term, senior LDP faction leaders Kiichi Miyazawa, Michio Watanabe, and Hiroshi Mitsuzuka, former Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, and several others. A clear favorite from this group has not emerged, in part because most except Kaifu are rumored to be involved in current and past stock market and banking scandals.

On May 25, 1989, President Bush proposed that the United States undertake the Structural Impediments Initiative (SII), a series of discussions with Japan to address certain fundamental Japanese economic policies and business practices that the United States claims impede U.S. exports and investments. The SII was, in part, a Bush Administration response to the stubborn U.S. trade deficit and other problems that have caused friction in the U.S. trading relationship with Japan. It was also a response to congressional pressure to deal more aggressively with Japanese unfair trade practices and to calls from critics to adopt a "managed" trade policy toward Japan.

The 1995 U.S.-Japan Financial Services Agreement further liberalizes aspects of Japan's financial markets, particularly in asset management, corporate securities, cross-border financial services, and in providing greater transparency for administrative procedures. Implementation will have to be monitored, however, and some issues still remain unresolved.

Front: Maps: Silhouette maps of Japan and Korea, U.S., and Germany and Austria help illustrate the distribution of men in the Army as of 1 July 1946. Back: Text and color illustrations show various shoulder insignia of United States Army combat divisions with a partial list of their combat locations (World War II).

Interview with Jerell E. Crow. He entered the Coast Guard in 1940 and trained in Florida and New York City. He served aboard a Landing Ship, Tank (LST) when those ships were first introduced. He traveled to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Neville Island Shipyard operated by the Dravo Corporation as part of a crew that brought an LST down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. From there, the crew practiced operations at Biloxi, Mississippi. Eventually, Crow travelled to San Diego aboard the LST through the Panama Canal. From there, he went to Guadalcanal and unloaded tanks. Eventually, his ship was hit at Saipan and he was wounded. He also served aboard an LST during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Afterwards, Crow's LST was present in Tokyo Bay for the surrender. He visited Hiroshima while on occupation duty after the atomic bomb was dropped. Eventually, his LST made its way back to San Francisco where he was discharged.

Interview with J. Glen Cleckler, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He discusses his background, including the day he and seven of his friends skipped school to see a movie. In order to provide a believable excuse for their absence to their principal, they went to a recruiting office to get informational forms. The principal then gave them permission to graduate early to join the Marines. He discusses his experiences in boot camp and other training programs and the Battle of Iwo Jima, including hygiene during the battle and the famous flag-raising there. He shares some stories about one of the flag-raisers, Harlan Block, who had been part of the group that enlisted in the Marines with him. He also recalls returning to the United States on a ship full of Section-8 soldiers (PTSD victims), meeting German prisoners of war, and living with Jim Crow laws.

This report looks at Japan-U.S. relations since WWII. The report focuses on some problems which can be addressed by Congress, including the earthquake and tsunami which hit Japan in March 2011, the Futenma Marine Air Station in Okinawa, bilateral trade, and economic issues resulting from the recent credit crisis and related economic recession.

Interview with landscape architect and Army veteran William Garbo Sr. The interview includes Garbo's personal experiences about the G Troop, 112th Cavalry, in the Southwest Pacific Theater during World-War II, growing up in an Italian-American family in Mississippi during the Great Depression, volunteering for the draft and processing at Camp Shelby, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, basic training at Camp Lee, Petersburg, Virginia, being assigned to the 26th War Dog Platoon and to New Guinea in 1944, the Battle of the Driniumor River and his attachment to elements of the 32nd Infantry Division, jungle patrols on New Guinea with his dog, his transfer to Troop, 112th Cavalry and the invasion of Layte, Philippines, and the living condition in the Philippine jungles. Additionally, Garbo speaks about the fighting prowess of his comrades in the 112th Cavalry, jungle patrols on Leyte and Luzon, the 112th's activities around Marungko and Antipolo, Luzon, descriptions of cannibalism by Japanese soldiers, his wounds from artillery shrapnel and evacuation by helicopter, his return to the 112th Cavalry and preparations for the invasion of Japan, witnessing the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay, occupation duty at Tateyama, Honshu, relations between Japanese civilians and American occupation troops, the destruction of Japanese defensive fortifications …

This report discusses the relationship between the United States and Japan, including Japanese efforts to support the U.S. in the wake of the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks and the two countries' economic ties, especially with regards to the recent economic downturn. This report also discusses the general political atmosphere of Japan, including the recent and ongoing political turmoil in Tokyo.

This report discusses the development in global warming as a global issue. Topics include issues that have arisen regarding the ETS and considerations for cap-and-trade.

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Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Photocopy of a script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story.

Interview with Robert H. "Hal" Jackson regarding his experiences as a Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. It details his experiences with different aircraft and on carriers and in land-based squadrons in the Pacific.

Letter from A. H. Blackshear, Jr. to D. W. Kempner providing updates about the night watchmen on Kempner's estate, cotton gin reports, correspondence from Bill Keyser, a meeting with John Harris about the Galveston Orphans' Home, cotton sold to Japan, seed prices, and notice that he is leaving for Paragould.

Letter from B. F. Nell to Captain J. M. Wightwick regrading their vessel set to discharge at Galveston. He requests them to keep the case safe.