Japan Complains Over Port Call By U.S. Sub

Japan Complains Over Port Call By U.S. Sub (NSI News Source Info) TOKYO - November 10, 2008: Japan protested Nov. 10 after a U.S. nuclear submarine made an unannounced call at one of its ports, a sensitive issue for the only nation to have been attacked by atomic bombs. The submarine Providence called at the White Beach Naval Facility in southern Okinawa prefecture from around 10:00 am until just before noon without properly notifying Japan in advance, the foreign ministry said. "The United States must notify our government at least 24 hours before its nuclear submarines come to our ports," it said in a statement. "We regret the latest incident that an American submarine came to one of our ports without a proper notification." Senior foreign ministry officials conveyed their grievances to their U.S. counterparts here and asked for an explanation. US officials said the incident was due to an internal communications error. They expressed regret and promised to prevent future mistakes, the ministry said. Japan has campaigned against nuclear weapons since U.S. atomic bombs destroyed its cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, killing more than 210,000 people. Since its defeat, Japan has been officially pacifist and relied on a security alliance with the United States, which stations more than 40,000 troops in the country. The Pentagon said earlier this year that a small radioactive leak may have come from a nuclear-powered submarine during a cruise that included stops in Japan, prompting protests by atomic bomb survivors and peace activists.