The Nation: Of Mills, Textiles and Okinawa

Back in November 1969, President Nixon and Japan's Prime Minister Eisaku Sato agreed to move toward an agreement that would let Okinawa—occupied by the U.S. since 1945—revert to Japan in 1972. Nixon understood from Sato that in return the Japanese would formally consent to a limitation on the flow of synthetic textiles into the U.S. Nixon had promised in his presidential campaign to limit textile imports from Japan, so it seemed a good deal for the U.S. Moreover, Sato needed Okinawa to placate his anti-American opponents in the Diet, and the U.S. needed...