108TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. CON. RES. 418
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Whereas over the past 150 years, the United States and
Japan have developed a strong, multifaceted relationship
based on shared democratic values and mutual interest in
Asian and global stability and development;
Whereas the bilateral relationship between the United States
and Japan was opened by a visit by Commodore Matthew
Perry to Japan in 1853, the goal of which was to con-
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vince Japan to establish commercial and diplomatic rela-
tions;
Whereas the first bilateral treaty between the 2 nations, the
Treaty of Peace and Amity between Japan and the
United States, was signed by Commodore Perry and Jap-
anese representatives on March 31, 1854, in Yokohama,
Japan;
Whereas the Treaty of Peace and Amity signaled the end of
Japan’s long isolation as a feudal society and set the
stage for the Meiji Restoration and for Japan’s trans-
formation into a modern industrial nation;
Whereas with the direct assistance of President Theodore
Roosevelt, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was signed in
1905, ending the Russo-Japanese War and earning Presi-
dent Roosevelt the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize;
Whereas as a symbol of friendship, Japan presented the
United States with 3,020 cherry trees in 1912, which
continue to blossom each year on the National Mall in
Washington, District of Columbia;
Whereas the people of the United States and Japan worked
together after World War II to reconstruct Japan and to
ensure the post war emergence of Japan as a beacon of
democracy and economic liberalization in the Asia-Pacific
region;
Whereas the allied security relationship between the United
States and Japan was launched with the signing of the
Security Treaty of 1951 and further solidified with the
signing of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security
in 1960;
Whereas the United States and Japan, despite ongoing bilat-
eral trade disputes, have long sought to promote eco-
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nomic cooperation and an open global trading system,
and both nations serve as important and powerful mar-
kets for each other with over $170,000,000,000 in bilat-
eral trade in 2003;
Whereas the Government of Japan strongly condemned the
terrorist attacks against the United States that occurred
on September 11, 2001, provided logistical support to
United States military operations against Al Qaeda and
the Taliban in Afghanistan, and has been a leading donor
for the relief and reconstruction of Afghanistan;
Whereas the Government of Japan enacted special legislation
to allow the deployment to Iraq of Japanese Self Defense
Force personnel to carry out humanitarian aid and recon-
struction 
activities, 
and 
committed 
to 
providing
$5,000,000,000 in assistance to Iraq;
Whereas increased tourism and educational and business ex-
changes between the people of Japan and the United
States have dramatically increased mutual appreciation
of Japanese and American culture;
Whereas Japanese-American relations are further cemented
by the enormous contributions to American economic, po-
litical, and cultural life by nearly 1,000,000 Japanese-
Americans;
Whereas Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi stated
at the ceremony commemorating the 150th anniversary
of the Japan-United States relationship that the bilateral
friendship ‘‘is as solid as it is because our countries share
fundamental values like freedom, democracy, and free
market economy . . . [w]e are a prime example to the
world that people of different races and beliefs can share
the same values and be true friends’’; and
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Whereas generations of American and Japanese leaders have
steered the bilateral relationship between the two nations
from the humble beginnings of the visit to Japan by
Commodore Matthew Perry to the current status of
Japan as the strongest ally of the United States in the
Asia-Pacific region: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate
concurring), That Congress—
(1) recognizes the importance in history of the
150th anniversary of diplomatic relations between
the United States and Japan; and
(2) calls for expanded political, economic, stra-
tegic, and cultural ties between the Japanese and
American people and their respective governments.
Passed the House of Representatives July 22, 2004.
Attest:
Clerk.