The author argues that relations within East Asia also shaped US foreign policy in maritime East Asia by taking fishing resources into account. The author details that the United States made expedient use of fishing resources in the western Pacific to consolidate Japan’s internal order immediately after the war lest it became yet another divided country, which would undermine America’s international security order in East Asia. Accordingly, the United States unilaterally took command of some of the bountiful fishery resources to help Japan along towards its post-war economic revival. The end of the occupation of Japan marked a watershed in America’s natural resource policy for the western Pacific. After 1952, the United States gradually took a backseat in natural resource management. When Japan turned to China to negotiate over fishing rights, it was a sign that the Cold War on the seas was not absolutely black and white. This also provides a way of understanding America’s multiplicity and flexibility in its East Asian policy.