Japan and the United Nations

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Japan was admitted into the United Nations on December 18, 1956, and that times Japan’s has signed its surrender of the second World War aboard the U.S battleship Missouri in1945. On the speech from the Japanese Prime Minister, Mamoru Shigemistu, at the United Nations General Assembly, he expressed Japan’s determination to fulfil its duties under the U.N Charter. Since that, Japan’s commitment to the United Nations has been an important platform to the Japanese foreign policy in the world after the war. [2]

When Japan joined the U.N, its financial contribution was only 1.97 percent. Today its contributions have increase dramatically to around 10.83 percent, making in this way Japan the second biggest sponsor following the United States with 22 percent and larger contributor than the four other security council permanent members combined – Great Britain, China, France and Russia. [3]

Assessnents for Peacekeeping Operations Financial by Major Contributors (200)

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However, despite of its peaceful image, in the year of 1992, Japan’s government passed a law that allowed the country to cooperate with United Nations peacekeeping operations, and in the first Iraq war, Japan’s sent Japanese peacekeeping to participated in the U.N peacekeeping operation under highly restrictive conditions. Also, in that year the country had an important role as a chair of the Security Council, which it was adopted a resolution on incorporating sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear program. [5]

JAPAN’S QUEST FOR A PERMANENT SEAT ON THE U.N SECURITY COUNCIL

In the year of 2004, Japan joined Brazil, Germany and India, with the initiative to create a group, the G4, with the proposal to expand the Security Council in both the permanent and non-permanent member categories. [6]

When the first World War was ended and the League of Nations was created, Japan was admitted as a permanent member of the Council of the League of Nations, alongside with other victors of the war, Great Britain, France and Italy. Although, after the second World War, Japan, Germany and Italy were excluded from the United Nations membership in 1945 and joined only in 1956 as mentioned in this post before. [7]

The aspiration of the Japanese government to be part as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is known within the U.N community. Despite of the Japan strong efforts negotiations among governments in the General Assembly on the Security Council reform, nothing significant has been achieved.

The Tokyo government believes that is a possible candidate for a permanent member of the Security Council due the fact that they are the second largest contributor to the United Nations budget behind the United States. And also because of its actively contributions to international peace and security alongside the United Nations peacekeeping operations and peacebuilding missions. For that reason, the U.S are the biggest supporters of Japan’s permanent seat at the Security Council. [8]

With the desire to become a major player in international relations, Japan since 1992 has dispatched about 600 peacekeeping troops to the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia, also 50 military transportation logistics specialists to join a United Nations peacekeeping operation in Mozambique. And contributed over $100 million to the U.N Fund for Somalia and helped the United States to craft the resolution, which authorized the U.N operations in Somalia. [9], [10]