Japan has confirmed the existence of a secret agreement on nuclear arms with Washington that was reached between the two countries during the Cold War.
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada announced the results of a government investigation that looked into the alleged secret pacts on Tuesday saying there had been an unspoken agreement allowing nuclear-armed US ships to make port calls in Japan.
The latest discovery showed that despite repeated denial of its existence by former administrations the Japan-US security treaty revisal in 1960 had included an agreement allowing US nuclear warships to make stopovers and pass through Japanese territory without prior consultation.
What's even more alarming is that the contentious pact also violates Japan's three non-nuclear principles that state that Japan shall neither possess, manufacture or permit the entry of nuclear weapons.
And while the secret pact had been exposed through US declassified documents in the past the current administration's acknowledgement of its existence goes to show that previous governments under the Liberal Democratic Party had lied about it for decades.
According to Japanese reports there was also a misunderstanding between the two countries on the issue of prior consultation.
The US thought that temporary port calls and passages were not subject to consultation while Japan believed they were included.
Therefore as long as the US kept quiet about its actions previous administrations continued to say that no nuclear materials were being brought into the country and even after becoming aware of the gap in interpretation Japan kept mum on the matter.
Meanwhile Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama released a statement on Tuesday saying that Tokyo will continue to uphold the country's three non-nuclear policies despite the finding of a secret US-Japan pact on nuclear arms.
Hatoyama also assured that the revelation will not affect future relations between the US and Japan.
Jang Ji-yun, Arirang News.
MAR 10, 2010
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Friday, SEP 03, 2010, (KST) 
