January 30
1902 Japan and Britain formed an alliance to oppose Russian expansionism and to protect Japanese and British privileges in China. The alliance agreement was signed. The agreement provided that Japan and Britain would support the other if either was engaged in a conflict with two or more powers in East Asia. Japan's ambassador to London, Hayashi Tadasu, negotiated the agreement.
1926 Wakatsuki Reijiro took over as Japanese prime minister.
1968 Japanese Prime Minister Sato Eisaku (1964-72) put forward the governments three anti-nuclear principles (hikaku sangensoku). Japan would not possess, produce, or permit into the country any nuclear weapons. Sato explained that Japan would remain under the nuclear umbrella provided by the U.S. A diplomatic stir erupted when it was revealed in the 1980s that the U.S. had regularly brought nuclear weapons into the country aboard its ships.
1982 Under pressure from the United States and other nations to rein in its expanding trade surplus, Japan removed 67 non-tariff barriers to imports.
1998 Japan's Management and Coordination Agency announced that Japan's unemployment rate for the year was 3.4%, a record high for the fourth year in a row.
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© 2001 UCLA Center for East Asian Studies