| Colorcode: |
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| Country: | United States |
| Founded: | January 3, 2014 |
| Legalized: | March 24, 2014 |
| Founders: | Joaquin Castro (TX-20) Devin Nunes (CA-22) |
| Lang1: | US-Japansese Caucus |
| Leader1 Title: | Democratic Co-Chair |
| Leader1 Name: | Joaquin Castro (TX-20) |
| Leader2 Name: | Adrian Smith (NE-3) |
| Leader2 Title: | Republican Co-Chair |
| Seats1 Title: | Seats in the United States Senate |
| Seats2 Title: | Seats in the House |
| Colors: | Red |
The U.S.–Japan Caucus is a bipartisan congressional member organization within the United States Congress made up of over 100 members of the United States House of Representatives who work to strengthen and maintain U.S.–Japanese relations.
According to the caucus's website, its goal is to "...facilitate bilateral collaboration on matters of common interest between our two countries, including trade, foreign direct investment, regional stability, military cooperation, energy, technological development, and the environment. The caucus collaborates with other entities and stakeholders that share this same objective."[1]
In January 2014, Congressmen Joaquin Castro (D-TX) and Devin Nunes (R-CA) began inviting members of Congress from both parties to join a Congressional Member Organization based on the improvement of U.S.–Japanese relations. [2]
The formation of the caucus was officially announced on March 24, 2014, during a live press conference. During the conference, Rep. Castro gave the following statement on behalf of the caucus:
In January 2015, after Rep. Devin Nunes became the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, he stepped down from his role within the caucus as its Republican Co-Chair. Nunes was replaced by then Rep. Charles Boustany (LA-3). On March 23, 2016, Boustany stepped down as co-chair of the caucus. He was replaced by Rep. David Reichart (WA-8). Reichart, to date, is the current Republican Co-Chair.[3]
As of the 117th Congress, the U.S.–Japan Caucus has 75 members.[4] Below the leadership, caucus members are listed alphabetically.
Since the founding of the caucus, it and its members have repeatedly voiced their opinions on various issues surrounding Japanese foreign relations, as well as worked to pass legislation that would benefit U.S.–Japanese relations.
From August 23 to August 28, 2015, Rep. Joaquin Castro, then Co-Chair of the U.S.–Japan Caucus, visited Japan for five days as an official representative of the United States and the U.S.–Japan Caucus. While there, he met with various officials within the Japanese Government, including, Shinzo Abe (The Prime Minister of Japan), Caroline Kennedy (the then-U.S. Ambassador to Japan), Yoichi Miyazawa (Then Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry), as well as the members of the Japanese-US Parliamentary Friendship League (the Japanese counterpart of the U.S.–Japan Caucus).[11]
On January 12, 2016, the U.S.–Japan Caucus came out in support of a historic agreement between Japan and South Korea surrounding the controversial issue of Japanese comfort women. The caucus released the following statement:
On November 28, 2017, North Korea launched a Hwasong-15 ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, which landed near Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone.[12] In response, the U.S.–Japan Caucus, consisting of members from both political parties, issued the following statement: