Using recently released archival material from the US and Japan, this book critically re-examines US-Japanese relations during the tenure of Sato Eisaku, Japan's longest serving prime minister.

Using recently released archival material from the US and Japan, this book critically re-examines U.S.-Japanese relations during the tenure of Satō Eisaku, Japan's longest serving prime minister. During these critical years in the Cold War in Asia, with the Vietnam War raging and the acquisition by China of a nuclear capability, Satō closely aligned with the U.S. This directly contributed to his success in securing the reversion of Okinawa and other Japanese territories which had remained under U.S. control since Japan's surrender at the end of World War II. To accomplish this he...