The U.S.-Japan Project:

Featured Posting

Revelations in Newly Released Documents About U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Okinawa Fuel NHK Documentary

This is an updated and reformatted version of an
Electronic Briefing Book …

Aug 20, 2026

Previous Postings

The U.S.-Japan Military Alliance: A Documents Primer
Jun 28, 2019

Okinawa: Perennial Flashpoint in the U.S.-Japan Alliance
Oct 16, 2018

Nuclear Weapons on Okinawa Declassified December 2015, Photos Available Since 1990
Feb 19, 2016

Japan and the United States from Kennedy to Clinton
Jun 20, 2012

Nuclear Noh Drama
Oct 13, 2009

U.S.-Japan Relations Declassified
Dec 14, 2005

U.S. Nuclear Weapons on Chichi Jima and Iwo Jima
Dec 13, 1999

Revelations in Newly Released Documents about U.S. Nuclear Weapons and Okinawa Fuel NHK Documentary
May 14, 1997

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Project Document Sets

The three sets produced by the Japan Project are:

Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations,

Part I, 1960-1976

Part II, 1977-1992

Part III, 1961-2000

About this Project

The Archive’s project on U.S.-Japan relations began in 1993 and worked to secure declassification of key documents that shed light on U.S. policies toward and relations with Japan between the Kennedy and Clinton administrations. The project focused on diplomatic, security and economic relations between the two countries and produced three document sets, with the last set published in 2012.

Project Director

Dr. Robert A. Wampler has been with the Archive since 1993. In addition to the Japan Project, he directed the project on U.S.-Korean relations and currently also directs projects on climate change diplomacy, the United States and the Tibet issue since the 1970s, and the history of the Pentagon’s Office of Net Assessment. He has also contributed to Archive projects on NATO and Henry Kissinger. Dr. Wampler received his doctorate in History at Harvard University, where he worked with the late Ernest R. May, who was a member of the Archive’s Advisory Board.

Blog Posts

Gina Haspel Torture Cable Newly Released in NSArchive FOIA Suit Shows Mistaken Belief Detainee Had Imminent Attack Information: FRINFORMSUM 10/18/2018
Oct 18, 2018

Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security, and Economic Relations, Part III, 1961-2000
Jun 29, 2012

More >>

Research Fellows

In addition to the document collections, the Japan Project also supported the work of American and Japanese project research fellows, whose working papers can be found here.

In the Media

Japan to disclose U.S. nuke deal
Associated Press
Jan 11, 2010

More In the Media >>

Advisory Panel

The Japan Project drew upon the expertise of a panel of American and Japanese scholars who advised the project director on the declassification effort and related project activities. Information about the Advisory Panel can be found here.

Oral History Program

The Japan Project also oversaw the preparation of oral history interviews with key U.S. and Japanese political and military figures from the 1960s and later. These interviews were conducted by the project director and research fellows. Links to the available oral history transcripts may be found here.

Conferences

The Project’s Research Fellows papers were discussed at a series of conferences held between 1996 and 2000 in Washington, D.C., San Diego, Honolulu and Tokyo. Information about project conferences and other activities can be found here.

Books

Partnership: The United States and Japan, 1951-2001
by Akira Irie and Robert A Wampler

This collection of 15 essays - written to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the San Francisco Peace Treaty - examines the course of US-Japanese relations since Word War II.