After complete training exercises with the US Navy F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) last month, Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) JS Kaga left San Diego and began the return journey across the Pacific. The multi-purpose destroyer has been converted to operate with fixed-wing aircraft, including the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, and is therefore a de facto aircraft carrier, the first to be operated by the Japanese army since the Second World War.

This fact was noted as JS Kaga made a stopover to Pearl Harbor Thursday, as it has been eighty-three years since the INJ Kagaone of six aircraft carriers sent by the Imperial Japanese Navy to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

The carriers launched about 400 planes in several waves to sink the U.S. Navy’s Pacific Fleet in port. INJ Kaga was also one of four carriers sunk six months later during the Battle of Midway.

Both are named after the ancient province of Kaga, on Honshu, the main island of Japan.

Former enemy, now close ally

JS images Kaga arriving at the US naval installation were shared on.

The timing of the visit raised eyebrows, and there was strong criticism over whether Japan should operate carriers again. This includes ancient Hawaiians Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbardwho was named President-elect Donald Trump’s Director of National Intelligence (DNI).

“As we remember Japan’s aggression in the Pacific, we must ask ourselves this question: Is the remilitarization of Japan, now underway, really a good idea? We must pay attention to what leaders short-sighted and selfish do not end up bringing us face to face again with a remilitarized Japan”, Gabbard wrote in a social media post on December 7, 2023. It should be noted that the post was made on the “day that will live in infamy.”

However, she was quickly criticized for her comments, with many pointing out that former World War II enemies Germany, Italy, Romania, Hungary and Finland are now all members of NATO. One could argue that it would be difficult to find an ally if Washington limited itself to countries with which it has not fought a war.

Most importantly, Japan’s pacifist constitution still prohibits the country from waging wars of aggression, and the U.S. Navy maintains military bases in Japan. The country is a close trading partner and ties have been strong since the end of the war.

“This visit builds on the symbolic ground laid during President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor in 2016,” said Jeffrey J. Hall, senior lecturer at the University of Kanda’s international studies in Japan. said News week. “Historically, this is not the first time that a Japanese Self-Defense Force warship has visited Pearl Harbor, and it was likely inevitable given the ever-growing security ties between the United States and Japan .”

Nonetheless, the presence of a Japanese aircraft carrier at Pearl Harbor, bearing the same name as one of the IJN warships that participated in the 1941 sneak attack, was probably a remarkable sight.

Finally, it should be remembered that the US Navy has an aircraft carrier deployed in front of the American Yokosuka fleet. It was last month that the US Navy’s Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier, the USS George Washington (CVN-73) return to Yokosuka replace the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76).

Peter Suciu is a writer based in Michigan. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites with more than 3,200 articles published during a twenty-year career in journalism. He writes regularly on military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing writer for Forbes and Liquidation Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: at (email protected).

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