Japan Firms Likely to Get OK for ‘Star Wars’

The Japanese government announced Tuesday that it will probably allow Japanese companies and scientists to take part in President Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. But strong political opposition and a lukewarm response from industry and academic circles could mean that Japan’s participation will be limited.

The research program for SDI--known as “Star Wars”--calls for the development of lasers and other devices to knock out nuclear-armed missiles in space and prevent them from reaching the United States.

Unlike Britain, West Germany and Israel, which have flatly said their industries can take part in the program, the Japanese Cabinet said only that the government will confer with the United States to work out an agreement on participation. A Foreign Ministry official said no date has been set for such talks.

Japan is a leader in the field of computers, which will play an important part in the program, but “Star Wars” has won few adherents among the Japanese, many of whom see their nation as having a unique role in promoting peace. Nuclear-related programs are especially controversial in Japan, the only country to have experienced an atomic attack.

Assailed by Opposition

Tuesday’s statement by Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaharu Gotoda said that SDI calls for a “non-nuclear defensive system” and might eventually lead to the elimination of all nuclear arms, but the move drew immediate fire from opposition political groups, two of which demanded a full retraction.

Political opponents of the program argued that Japanese participation would contravene official Japanese commitments to the promotion of peace. Among these commitments are a decision not to make, possess or deploy nuclear weapons, and a 1969 parliamentary resolution not to deploy weapons in outer space.

The Socialist and Communist parties accused the government of planning to take Japan into a program that “will lead to a further spreading of nuclear weapons.” All four major opposition groups, including Komeito and the Democratic Socialists, see the announcement as contravening the 1969 resolution banning space weapons.

A Foreign Ministry official said that Japanese participation would not run counter to the 1969 resolution so long as Japan does not initiate the deployment of weapons in space.

Commercial Use an Issue

The official, who said he expects that Japan will eventually take part in the “Star Wars” program, said the main stumbling block is the lack of assurances by the United States that foreign companies involved in SDI research will be able to make commercial use of what they develop.

“If their research results cannot be applied to make products for the civilian market, then many managers will be tempted to devote their entire research assets to conventional commercial activities,” the official said.

Takeshi Abe, deputy head of Mitsubishi Electric’s electronic systems division, said he believes Japan should be involved in SDI research because of the size and technological breadth of the program. “But if the United States places restrictions on the use of the technology, Japanese companies are likely to consider not participating,” he predicted.

U.S. insistence on secrecy has turned a number of Japanese academicians against SDI. For example, Hiroshi Takuma, head of the Laser Research Center at Tokyo’s University of Electronics and Communications, sees SDI work as unsuited to Japan’s open university system.

“You can’t get anyone here to keep a secret,” he said. “And that is especially true of the students. Next to Japan, I like the United States the most, but SDI is not a practical proposition here.”

Security Label Feared

“Much of the SDI research is in basic sciences, and participation will mean that Japanese basic research will fall into the U.S. security classification system,” said Kodi Husimi, a Komeito (Clean Government Party) member of the Parliament. “The result will be that other scientists and private companies won’t have access to the research.”

Manabu Hattori, professor of nuclear physics at Rikkyo University, said, “It is meaningless to engage in research the result of which cannot be applied to some peaceful purpose.”

A number of academicians here see the secrecy aspect of the plan as a reversion to pre-World War II days when there were police spies on Japanese university campuses.

Still, the plan has its supporters. A spokesman for the Keidanren, an association of most of Japan’s leading corporations, said, “SDI is the wave of the future, and Japan ought to be participating in the future.”

Hideaki Kase, a writer on foreign affairs who is close to conservative elements of Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone’s Liberal Democratic Party, said he sees strong support for the SDI in Japan’s military.

Lack Missile Experience

“They have seen the role of tactical missiles in the Iran-Iraq War,” Kase said. “In Japan, we have the means of intercepting bombers but we lack know-how in dealing with missiles. SDI would be useful for us.”

Nonetheless, more than 40 years after World War II many companies are reluctant to be known as weapons manufacturers.

Some Japanese firms the United States might approach as participants in the project are expected to say no because of political sensitivity in Japan caused by a longstanding ban on the export of weapons.

One such company is Kyocera, a ceramics firm that has become involved in a wide range of high-tech products, according to Asa Jonishi, a board member and adviser to the Kyoto-based firm.

“Kyocera will not be able to participate, although I think the United States would definitely like us to help,” Jonishi told foreign correspondents.

He cited political problems the company has faced in the past in connection with alleged sales of weaponry--allegations he said were untrue. Jonishi added, though, that other firms may find SDI work to be useful as a means of avoiding the weaponry export ban.

“Indirectly, it (the SDI) will do Japan good,” he said. “Japanese companies are not supposed to be delivering military equipment but, indirectly, they are. So I think there will be some advantage.”

With the exception of an agreement with the United States to exchange weapons technology, Japan bans all arms sales.