After completing training exercises with the United States Navy's F-35 Pax River Integrated Test Force (Pax ITF) last month, the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) JS Kaga departed San Diego and began the return trip back across the Pacific. The multipurpose aircraft destroyer was converted to operate with fixed-wing aircraft, notably the Lockheed Martin F-35B Lightning II, and as a result is a de facto aircraft carrier, the first to be operated by the Japanese military since World War II. 

That fact was noted as JS Kaga made a port of call visit to Pearl Harbor on Thursday, as it was eighty-three years ago that the INJ Kaga, one of six aircraft carriers that the Imperial Japanese Navy sent to attack Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  

The carriers launched around 400 aircraft in multiple waves to sink the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet in port. INJ Kaga was also one of the four carriers sunk six months later at the Battle of Midway. 

Both were named for the ancient Kaga Province on Honshu, the main island of Japan. 

Old Foe, Now Close Ally 

Images of the JS Kaga arriving at the U.S. Naval facility were shared on X. 

The timing of the visit has raised eyebrows, and there have been vocal critics who have questioned whether Japan should operate carriers again. That has included former Hawaiian Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who has been nominated to serve as President-elect Donald Trump's director of national intelligence (DNI). 

"As we remember Japan's aggression in the Pacific, we need to ask ourselves this question: is the remilitarization of Japan, which is presently underway, truly a good idea? We need to be careful that shortsighted, self-serving leaders do not end up bringing us again face-to-face with a remilitarized Japan," Gabbard wrote in a social media post on December 7, 2023. It is worth noting that the post was made on the “day which will live in infamy.” 

However, she quickly came under fire for her comments, with many noting that former World War II enemies Germany, Italy, Romania, Hungary, and Finland are now all members of NATO. It could be argued that it would be hard to find an ally if Washington were only to look at countries it hasn't fought a war with. 

More importantly, Japan's pacifist constitution still prohibits the country from waging wars of aggression, and the United States Navy maintains military bases in Japan. The country is a close trading partner and ties have been steady since the end of the war. 

"This visit builds upon the symbolic groundwork laid when President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor in 2016," Jeffrey J. Hall, lecturer at Kanda University of International Studies in Japan, told Newsweek. "Historically, this is not the first time a Japanese self-defense force warship has been to Pearl Harbor, and it was probably bound to happen eventually given the ever-growing security ties between the U.S. and Japan." 

Still the presence of a Japanese carrier at Pearl Harbor, and with the same name as one of the IJN warships that took part in the 1941 sneak attack was likely a noteworthy sight.  

Finally, it should be remembered that the U.S. Navy maintains a forward-deployed carrier at United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka. It was last month that the U.S. Navy's Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier USS George Washington (CVN-73) returned to Yokosuka replacing USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76). 

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

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