There were some radial tires made in Japan in the 80's. They weren't steel belted but look as if they were belted with nylon or other material that would been available then. There was a set on my 1989 Miyata 1000LT touring bike. The rear tire lasted nearly 20 years! I've since replaced the rear tire twice, and will be replacing it again this spring. The front tire is still the original radial tire made by National Tire Company, Ltd. in Japan. It has in excess of 25,000 miles at this point, but it was looking a bit ragged at the end of the riding season last year. Here's Sheldon Brown's commentary on the Miyata 1000LT bike.
Japanese Bicycles in the U.S. Market. You're absolutely right about carrying something like small needle nose pliers or a hemostat type tool for removing a wire from the tire.