US forces in Japan prepared for possible nuclear war during Cold War: Report

Troops carried out multiple mock hydrogen bomb drills in the early 1970s, potentially for use against the Soviet Union or China, Kyodo news agency reports, citing declassified diplomatic records

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) – US forces deployed in Japan prepared for the possibility of nuclear war during the Cold War, the Kyodo news agency reported, citing declassified diplomatic records.

The records show that troops conducted multiple simulated hydrogen bomb drills in Japan’s southernmost Okinawa prefecture in the early 1970s, according to the news agency. It analyzed the “Command Chronology” from the command center in Iwakuni, covering the years 1970 to 1974, together with researcher Takuma Nakashima.

The documents indicate that US Air Force personnel based in Iwakuni, in Yamaguchi prefecture, participated in drills in Okinawa between at least 1971 and 1975.

Okinawa remained under US occupation from 1945 until 1972, with some of the exercises continuing even after the islands were returned to Japanese administration in May 1972.

Japan, one of Washington’s oldest allies in the broader Asia-Pacific region, currently hosts more than 50,000 US troops, along with numerous military bases and weapons systems.

Kaynak:

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