Governor permits U.S. naval ship, nuclear or not, to enter port in Hyogo

The governor of Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan, Toshizo Ido on August
22 announced that the U.S. Navy missile frigate ship Vincennes has been
permitted to enter the prefecture's Himeji Port on August 27.

He said that the decision was based on the U.S. consul general's answer
to his inquiry whether the ship will abide by the Three Non-nuclear
Principles (not to manufacture, possess, or bring in nuclear weapons).

The U.S. consul general's reply, without referring to the Three
Non-nuclear Principles, stated that U.S. policy is one of not equipping
U.S. ships with nuclear weapons and of not discussing whether each
individual U.S. vessel is nuclear-equipped or not.

The governor actually gave the Vincennes the green light after the prefecture received the Foreign Ministry's reply which was to the effect that
the missile frigate will not carry nuclear weapons because there has been
no prior consultation proposed from the U.S. side.

The Hyogo Prefectural Council against A and H Bombs (Hyogo Gensuikyo)
with four other organizations on August 22 sent a letter of protest to the
governor, calling on him to refuse the ship's entry into the port.

In the statement of protest, the five organizations pointed out that the
U.S. has maintained the policy of bringing nuclear weapons into Japan "at
need." There is also a secret Japan-U.S. agreement on allowing U.S. ships
carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japan's ports without prior consultation.
Therefore, it is nothing less than a deception to take the U.S. reply and
the absence of prior consultations as a "certificate" showing that the U.S.
ship does not carry nuclear weapons. (end)