This report discusses issues regarding U.S.-Japan economic relations, since the economic condition of each nation can affect the world economy and a U.S.-Japan bilateral economic relationship could influence economic conditions in other countries. U.S. and Japanese leaders have several options on how to manage their relationship, including stronger reliance on the World Trade Organization; special bilateral negotiating frameworks and agreements; or a free trade agreement.

The huge earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station on March 11, 2011, knocked out backup power systems that were needed to cool the reactors at the plant, causing three of them to undergo fuel melting, hydrogen explosions, and radioactive releases. Radioactive contamination from the Fukushima plant forced the evacuation of communities up to 25 miles away and affected up to 100,000 residents, although it did not cause any immediate deaths. Studies of the Fukushima disaster have identified design changes, response actions, and other safety improvements that could have reduced or eliminated the amount of radioactivity released from the plant. As a result, Fukushima has prompted a reexamination of nuclear plant safety requirements around the world, including in the United States.

The March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan caused widespread devastation that affected many of the country's agricultural and fishery areas. The nuclear crisis that followed at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, and the subsequent detection of radioactive contamination of food produced near the disabled facility, further raised fears about the safety of Japan's food production systems and its future food exports. Most reports acknowledge that Japan's current production and supply shortages, along with rising food safety concerns and possible longer-term radiation threats to its food production, could limit Japan's food exports while possibly increasing its need for food imports in the future. It is still not clear what effect, if any, Japan's current food supply and demand situation will have on world farm commodity markets and food prices.

This report looks at the pros and cons of the alliance with Japan, in which the United States maintains exclusive use of 89 military bases in Japan and, in exchange, guarantees Japan's security. The alliance has endured over 50 years, through periods of intense partnership and stretches of political drift; this report reevaluates the relationship based on international developments.

Interview with Floyd R. Thomas, a serviceman in the U. S. Army during World War II. He discusses his childhood and education at Peacock Military Academy. He then joined the army and spent time in Okinawa during and after the war. He recalls being a surgical technician and working with Japanese civilians after the surrender, meeting his wife, and working for saw mills as a salesman and a pilot. He remembers stealing pineapples on Hawaii and getting diarrhea, being treated for jungle rot, selling old Japanese army blankets to civilians, and shipping silk bolts and sabers back home.

Interview with Floyd R. Thomas of El Paso, Texas, who is a veteran of the United States Armed Forces during World War II. In the interview, Mr. Thomas recalls memories from before the war as well as his time in the military, including his training in Oregon and Hawaii, attacks on Okinawa, and various battle scenes.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS Franklin (CV-13) being bombed off Okinawa; locating and shooting down kamikazes; describing battle stations; aircraft water landings; being in a typhoon, etc. After the war ended, the Independence served as a troop transport taking GIs back home to the US. He describes bunks in the hangar deck and arriving in Portland, Oregon. As the Independence was being prepared for the Bikini Atoll atomic tests, Heigel got off becuase he had the requisite amount of points allowing him to be discharged. He then entered the lumber business, married and raised family.

Transcript of an oral interview with Al Heigel. When Heigel finished high school in June, 1944, he joined the Navy at Little Rock, Arkansas and went for boot training at San Diego. He was assigned as a radar operator and reported aboard the USS Independence (CVL-22) at Pearl Harbor. Heigel describes the light carrier and its construction and features. He also speaks of the time the Independence was hit by a torpedo off Tarawa in 1943. Heigel then describes events off Okinawa: watching the USS Franklin (CV-13) being bombed off Okinawa; locating and shooting down kamikazes; describing battle stations; aircraft water landings; being in a typhoon, etc. After the war ended, the Independence served as a troop transport taking GIs back home to the US. He describes bunks in the hangar deck and arriving in Portland, Oregon. As the Independence was being prepared for the Bikini Atoll atomic tests, Heigel got off becuase he had the requisite amount of points allowing him to be discharged. He then entered the lumber business, married and raised family.

Interview with Gilberto S. Trevino, a U. S. Marine during World War II. He attended Texas A&M before serving in the Marine Corps. He was in the 28th Replacement Battalion when he was assigned to the 3d Marine Division and deployed to Iwo Jima. He discusses his first impressions of landing on the island. He describes the constructed Japanese defenses on the island and the use of Japanese Nisei interpreters to convince defenders to surrender. He returned to Texas A&M where he was in the Corps of Cadets (ROTC) and accepted his commission in the Army in time to serve in Korea. He eventually earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Texas A&M and a doctorate degree in pathology from Michigan State University. He retired from service in 1976 with the rank of colonel.

Interview with Navy veteran Melvin R. "Pancho" Baird. It includes a combination of interviewing and reading from Baird's personal correspondence about his pre-World War II experiences with the U.S. Asiatic Fleet and his later experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Baird talks about his stationing aboard the destroyer USS Alden as a radioman, the grounding of the SS President Hoover off of Hoishito Island, the Sino-Japanese War, liberty ashore various Asian port cities, events on the South China Patrol, civilian activities after his discharge, activities as a radio technician on Blue Beach during the Okinawan Campaign, kamikaze actions on Okinawa, and typical shipboard routine.

Interview with Bunichi Ohtsuka, a veteran of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, concerning his experiences while training to become a kamikaze pilot in 1945.

Interview with George McColm, a Navy veteran and an agricultural expert, concerning his experiences in the Pacific Theater during World War II. McColm discusses his education at Kansas State College, his experiences in agricultural marketing research, his employment with the Production Marketing Administration of the Agricultural Adjustment Administration, his employment at Topaz Relocation Center for Japanese Americans (1942-1944), his induction into the U.S. Navy (1944), his role in planning for the invasion of the Japanese home islands (1945), and his role in writing Japanese land reform laws during postwar American occupation. Appendix includes photocopies of various biographical documents concerning George McComb and his career in the U.S. Navy and in agriculture.

Transcript of an interview with John R. Bumgarner, physician, U.S. Army WWII veteran, and prisoner-of-war of the Japanese following the fall of the Philippines in World War II. He discusses the fall of Bataan and capture; Bilibid Prison, Manila, 1942; Cabanatuan, 1942-44; hell ship to Japan, 1944; Hakodate, Hokkaido, 1944-45; and his liberation.

Interview with Cecil T. Minshew regarding his experiences in the military and as a prisoner of war of the Japanese during World War II. He was part of the Texas National Guard, 36th Division, 131st Field Artillery, 2nd Battalion, also known as the "Lost Battalion." He was captured on the island of Java in March of 1942 and spent the duration of the war thereafter as a prison of war in camps in South East Asia and in Japan.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about fire officials at Galveston who say that one un- attended smoldering cotton bale may have caused the 5 to 10 million dollar fire at a two square block pier at the Galveston Wharves overnight.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about firemen in Galveston who continue to keep a close watch on a smoldering warehouse complex.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story about the agriculture secretary who said in Tokyo that he has politely warned Japanese leaders saying that the United States will not backstop the world's food supply.

Script from the WBAP-TV/NBC station in Fort Worth, Texas, relating a news story of Southland Corporation of Dallas has agreed with Japan that they will see the construction of 7-11 convenience store in the country.

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.

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.

Interview with George Burlage, a Marine WWII veteran and POW from Visalia, California. Burlage was stationed in the Philippines before the war and fought at Corregidor in 1942 before his capture by the Japanese, after which he was interned at Camp Cabanatuan #3 in Central Luzon, Las Pinas airfield near Manila, and Moji, Japan.

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