Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Policy

Japan signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 14 July 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

Japan’s national implementation legislation is Law No. 85, enacted on 17 July 2009, which bans production and possession of cluster munitions and affirms Japan’s obligation to dispose of its stockpiled cluster munitions.[1] According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the use of cluster munitions is prohibited under the Explosive Control Act and other laws, while transfer is regulated under laws governing Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade.[2]

Japan submitted its second Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report on 14 May 2012, covering calendar year 2011.[3]

Japan participated in the Oslo Process that created the convention and its position evolved significantly over time to allow it to join in the consensus adoption of the convention in Dublin in May 2008.[4] 

Japan has continued to actively engage in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. It attended the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011, where it made several statements, including on stockpile destruction and cooperation and assistance. At both the First and Second Meetings of States Parties, Japan chaired sessions on universalization of the convention in its capacity as Friend of the President. In September 2011, Japan was made co-coordinator on universalization together with Portugal.

At the convention’s intersessional meeting in Geneva in April 2012, Japan again co-chaired the session on universalization and made several interventions.

Promotion of the convention

In April 2012, a government representative informed the Monitor that Japan has sent demarches to all states not party and has received responses from almost every country contacted. Japan has provided information to States Parties on the responses received, including challenges and obstacles expressed by states not party, and Japan intends to prepare tailored responses to address the particular issues raised. Japan continued to work cooperatively with a team of states on universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions in 2011 and the first half of 2012, including with Lao PDR for Asia and the Pacific, Lebanon for the Middle East, Canada for North America, Chile for Latin America, Belgium mainly for Western Europe, Bulgaria for Eastern Europe, and Zambia for Africa. [5]

The Japan Campaign to Ban Landmines (JCBL) works in support of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[6]

Interpretive issues

Japan has stated its views on certain important issues related to interpretation and implementation of the convention. The government maintains that United States (US) military bases in Japan are under US jurisdiction and control, thus not on Japanese territory, so the possession of cluster munitions by US forces does not violate the national law or the convention (see US cluster munitions in Japan section below). Also, according to the government, Clause 4.4 of Law no. 85 allows Japanese nationals, both civilians and members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), to transport cluster munitions that are owned by the US.[7]

During the Dublin negotiations in May 2008, Japan was one of the strongest backers of a provision on “interoperability” or joint military operations with states not party that may use cluster munitions (Article 21). Japan has been reluctant to publicly discuss its views on the convention’s prohibition on assistance during joint military operations.[8]

In a June 2008 US State Department cable made public by Wikileaks in June 2011, a senior Japanese official apparently told the US that Japan interprets the convention as enabling the US and Japan to continue to engage in military cooperation and conduct operations that involve US-owned cluster munitions, including but not limited to: “Transportation and storage of US-owned CM [cluster munitions] by Japan Self-Defense Forces or Japanese civilian personnel; Movement of additional CM into US military facilities and JSDF bases; and Stockpiling and handling of CM at civilian ports during contingencies.”[9] The Japanese official reportedly confirmed that “Japanese civilian and Self Defense Forces personnel can transport CM [cluster munitions] in Japan as long as they do not take legal ownership of the CM,” and “the United States can move CM into and out of Japan, and within Japan, as long as Japanese entities and personnel are not taking title to the CM.”[10]

A December 2008 US cable made public by Wikileaks in September 2011 states that Japan “recognizes U.S. forces in Japan are not under Japan's control and hence the GOJ [Government of Japan] cannot compel them to take action or to penalize them.”[11] According to the cable, a senior Japanese official reportedly “explained that the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) allows the United States to stockpile and store CM on JSDF bases, while Article 21.3 of the CCM allows JSDF personnel to handle U.S. CM and U.S. forces and JSDF to engage in bilateral operations and activities involving CM. The critical overlap of U.S. forces activities with the CCM implementing legislation that METI [Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry] is drafting is the contracting of Japanese companies and nationals by U.S. forces to transport and handle CM in Japan,” according to the Japanese official.” The cable notes that Japan “is interpreting Article 21.4(a) to mean Japan is obligated to not allow U.S. forces to develop, produce or acquire CM in Japan.”

In the meeting documented by the December 2008 cable, Japanese officials reportedly proposed drafting “a new Joint Committee agreement that would say the United States will: 1) provide, and continually update, a list of transport companies and contractors to the GOJ; 2) agree to only use those entities to transport or handle CM outside U.S. bases; and 3) ensure the contractors carry documentation from U.S. forces indicating they are contracted to handle munitions.” According to the cable, the US responded, “Developing procedures specific to cluster munitions will greatly reduce the flexibility and could lead to security and operational compromises.”

Investment

On the prohibition on investment in the production of cluster munitions, Japan stated in June 2011 that “there is no clear agreement on financing of cluster munition production” and noted “it is up to each state party to determine with their private sector” concerning the question of disinvestment.[12] Previously, in 2009, the government said that it has not studied investment and loans by Japanese financial institutions to private firms producing cluster munitions, but said it would try to keep financial institutions informed of the convention and request that they carry out banking services in keeping with it.[13] 

In July 2010, Japan’s three largest banks said they would refrain from financing the manufacture of cluster munitions: Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Mizuho Bank.[14] According to the 2012 NGO report “Worldwide Investments in Cluster Munitions: a shared responsibility,” all three of these financial institutions remain involved in investments in manufacturers of cluster munitions.[15]

Previously, in October 2010, the Japanese Bankers Association said that it had instructed its members to stop financing the production of cluster munitions.[16] In January 2011, JCBL sent a questionnaire to 17 financial institutions reported to invest in cluster munition production. Two companies, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd. and Nippon Life Insurance Company, responded that they had halted investment in cluster munition producers. Nine companies said they maintained investments, and six did not confirm or deny investing in cluster munition producers.[17] The JCBL organized a symposium in November 2011 to raise awareness about the role of financial investments in companies manufacturing cluster munitions.[18]

Convention on Conventional Weapons

Japan is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and it supported a US-led attempt to create a new CCW protocol on cluster munitions despite weaknesses in the chair’s draft text.[19]

At the outset of the CCW’s Fourth Review Conference in November 2011, Japan expressed its support for “an effective and meaningful protocol on cluster munitions that includes major producers and possessors of this weapon,” but noted “it is regrettable that there is still a difference of opinion over some important points.”[20]

On the final day of the conference, Japan did not join a group of 50 states that issued a joint declaration declaring that there was no consensus on the protocol, which would have allowed for the continued use of cluster munitions.[21]

The Review Conference ended without reaching agreement on the draft protocol, thus concluding the CCW’s work on cluster munitions.

Use, production, and transfer

Japan has not used cluster munitions, but it produced and imported them in the past. In its Article 7 report, Japan listed three private companies in two prefectures that produced cluster munitions and now have been decommissioned: IHI Aerospace Co. Ltd. in Gunma prefecture, and Ishikawa Seisakusho Ltd. and Komatsu Ltd. in Ishikawa prefecture.[22]

Stockpiling

Japan has declared a stockpile of 14,011 cluster munitions of four different types containing 2,029,469 explosive submunitions.

Cluster munitions stockpiled by Japan (as of 31 December 2011)[23]

In addition, Japan stated in June 2011 that 76 individual submunitions held by former cluster munition producer Hokkaido NOF Corporation Ltd in Bibai, Hokkaido have been destroyed.[24] The destruction took place in February 2011.[25]

Stockpile destruction

Under Article 3 of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, Japan is required to declare and destroy or ensure the destruction of all stockpiled cluster munitions under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 August 2018.

In September 2011, a government official informed States Parties that “Japan is happy to announce that the tender for the contract on destruction possessed by its Self-Defence Force was successfully done in August this year, and a certain private company, which is the winner, concluded the contract.”[26] In May 2012, Japan reported that it has made a contract with a “private company” to complete destruction of all its cluster munitions in 2015 and said that the destruction “will be conducted outside of Japan” in Germany and Norway.[27]

In August 2011, Nammo Demil Division confirmed the conclusion of a contract with Japan’s Ministry of Defense to destroy the M26 rockets, the CBU-87 bombs, and Type-3 ICM projectiles at demilitarization facilities in Norway (Nammo NAD) and Germany (Nammo Buck). According to Nammo, the destruction process is due to be completed by February 2015.[28]

In January 2011, Japan reported spending about JPY ¥2.8 billion (approximately $32 million) in its 2011 fiscal year for destruction of the stockpile.[29]

Retention

Japan has reported that it has no cluster munitions retained for training, development, or countermeasure purposes.[30]

US cluster munitions in Japan

The US stockpiles cluster munitions on its bases in Japan. In 2009, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the US had not disclosed information to the Japanese government about the type, number, function, and locations of the stockpiles.[31] Local media in Okinawa have reported that US forces in Japan have dropped cluster munitions on bombing ranges during training exercises.[32] In 2010, media reports published photographs of cluster bombs that appeared to be mounted on US fighter aircraft.[33] In the Diet (parliament), Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs stated that the government had sent an inquiry to the US military and the US responded that it does not disclose information on the details of its training program.[34] In June 2010, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated in media reports that it is not prohibited for the US to use or retain cluster munitions at US bases in Japan as the bases are not under Japan’s jurisdiction.[35]