Japan that can say no by Akio Morita the Chairman of Sony. The book can be read online: http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/japan_no.html
A historic event has taken place in Japan. The Conservative pro-US LDJ has been defeated after a reign of 45 years and the Left leaning DPJ has taken over the reigns of the government. For much of its existence after WW2, the US has ruled Japan first as a colony, and then as a client state.
In a historic change in Japan’s parliamentary political history, the Democratic Party of Japan defeated the Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito ruling coalition in Sunday’s Lower House election. The DPJ has captured 308 seats out of the 480 seats in the all-important chamber.
The DPJ’s victory ends almost 55 years of uninterrupted rule by the LDP, which was formed and first took power in late 1954. The election also represents the first Lower House election in the postwar universal suffrage era in which one opposition party has won a majority in the chamber by defeating a ruling party that enjoyed a majority. Japan’s democracy has matured to a stage in which the people will readily vote for a change in government when they are dissatisfied with the status quo. Japan Times. Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. EDITORIAL. Historic day for Japanese politics
Japan has not been allowed to keep an, an army, Air Force and Navy, and the Tokyo has been scared into believing that the biggest threat to its existence is China. Traditionally most of Japanese trade was with Europe and the Americas. Japan buys most of its oil from the Middle East. Its relations with Pakistan are totally dependent American whims, sanctions and largess.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan plans to review aspects of the Japan-U.S. security arrangement. There have been some potent indications that the DPJ will seek to forge closer relations with East Asia, and temper the Tokyo’s one sided alliance with the United States.
Afghanistan is one of several areas in which some political analysts believe Japan may cool its cooperation with the United States. Meiji University Professor Tomohiko Taniguchi says Mr. Hatoyama’s party, the DPJ, views the U.S. relationship as less central to Japanese foreign policy than the outgoing conservatives.
“It’s evinced by the conviction that many DPJ politicians seem to have of the necessity to reduce the footprint of the U.S. military still further,” Taniguchi said. “They’re talking about reducing the amount of host-nation support budget to the United States.” Washington stations about 50,000 U.S. forces in Japan. The United States says it will not renegotiate a recently completed deal on U.S. military bases here. VOA
President Clinton after his trip to Delhi had been pushing for a Australia-Japan-India-US alliance against the bad boys of Beijing. President Clinton actively encouraged the BJP to activate its fledgling Nuclear Program and explode a Nuclear device. Delhi was not ready to explode a device, but the pressure from the White House was intense. President Clinton wanted to leverage Delhi to get a better deal with Beijing. The plan was to force Pakistan, a Chinese ally into a subservient position.
Pakistan did not accept US pressure. President Bush actively pursued the policy of engagement with India. However that policy had risks. The economic meltdown and the ensuing financial crisis forced Washington’s hand. The fact that Beijing not New York was America’s new banker was not lost to the Obama Administration. Ms. Hillary Clinton weighed the options–India or China.
He first visit was to China–not India. This gave the world an indication of which way the winds of change were turning. In China Ms. Hillary Clinton got an earful. Beijing did not exact its pound of flesh, but the Peoples Daily clearly published articles informing Ms. Clinton that if they wanted China to continue to purchase America’s debt, things must change in American Foreign policy. Washington continues to pay lip service to Delhi, but its actions say different things.
Aid to Pakistan has tripled, and an exit strategy has been prepared for Afghanistan which includes Islamabad. Japan has also seen the writing on the wall. The current election is a move in the right direction. Japan will be looking towards Beijing and mending its fences with China.
Japan's New Shadow Shogun: The stark shift in political tides is perhaps best described as the LDP's loss, more so than the DPJ's gain. But the opposition party has transformed itself from an inchoate also-ran to a disciplined and united political movement. That change is mostly due to one man: Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ's recently disgraced and highly powerful former leader.
The stark shift in political tides is perhaps best described as the LDP’s loss, more so than the DPJ’s gain. But the opposition party has transformed itself from an inchoate also-ran to a disciplined and united political movement. That change is mostly due to one man: Ichiro Ozawa, the DPJ’s recently disgraced and highly powerful former leader…
He supported the fragile coalition from behind the scenes, helping to broker the most important political deals. Additionally, he published Blueprint for a New Japan, a highly influential manifesto, calling for electoral reform and more assertive foreign-affairs and defense policies.Japan’s New Shadow Shogun. A mercurial longtime powerbroker, now disgraced, is behind the rise of Japan’s opposition party. BY TOBIAS HARRIS | AUGUST 27, 2009
It is interesting to read the editorial of the Japan Times on the new victory. The editorial says nothing about the tsunami of change that is brewing in Japanese foreign policy. Time will tell if Japan has made the move to the left and changed its foreign policy, or its more of the same.
In the field of foreign policy, the DPJ government must ensure relations remain on a positive footing with other nations — especially the United States. The Japan-U.S. security alliance is indispensable for Japan’s defense and for regional stability. The new government must also deal with China’s growing economic and military power. Given the monumental tasks that await the DPJ government, Mr. Hatoyama will need to exhibit leadership that is both farsighted and decisive. Japan Times. Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. EDITORIAL. Historic day for Japanese politics
The wish list of Japan Times is more of the same. That is not the platform on which the DPJ won the elections. Already the DJP is showing the first signs of change. Japan the only victim of the Atomic bomb is very Anti-Nuclear and current Japanese law does not allow any nuclear material on Japanese soil. A so called secret Nuclear deal exists between the US and Japan. The secret deal allowed U.S. warships or aircraft carrying nuclear weapons to stop over in Japan or pass through Japanese air space or territorial waters without the required prior consultation with Tokyo. Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will end the refueling of naval vessels in the Indian Ocean that supports the occupation of Afghanistan.
In Asia, one thing Mr. Hatoyama may do is seek tighter economic ties with China, Japan’s largest trading partner. He can also put some distance between himself and Japan’s militaristic history. He vows he will not visit Tokyo’s Yasukuni shrine, where war criminals are enshrined, alongside other war dead. VOA
An assertive Japan has huge implications for Bharat, China, the USA, Australia, and the world at large. In a fascinating policy paper on Japan titled “Electing a New Japanese Security Policy? Examining Foreign Policy Visions within the Democratic Party of Japan” Leif-Eric Easley, Tetsuo Kotani and Aki Mori describe the new assertive Japan as a Japan different then what we have seen in the past 5 decades. There are five main tenets of the DPJ’s envisioned “independent diplomacy”:
- pursuing a more “mature” alliance in which Japan is less dependent on and deferential to the U.S.
- re-establishing Japan as a “member of Asia” through economic and trade initiatives, historical reconciliation, and multilateral institution-building
- contributing to international security through the UN, with Japan providing financing, peacekeepers, and impetus for reform
- working for nuclear disarmament via international, regional, and bilateral diplomatic efforts
- modernizing Japan’s national security apparatus to prioritize citizen rights and taxpayer savings
Leif-Eric Easley, Tetsuo Kotani and Aki Mori describe the Policy Implications of a Japan that perhaps does not want to play second fiddle anymore.
Drastic changes to Japanese foreign policy are unlikely as the DPJ faces the practical realities of governing and looks to prove itself before Upper House elections in 2010.
Despite the challenges of stabilizing Afghanistan and Iraq, combating piracy, and searching North Korean vessels, the political bar for international operations by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) will likely rise.
A DPJ government will maintain the U.S. alliance, but may scale back the LDP goal of a global security partnership by limiting the scope of the alliance to Japan’s defense and regional stability.
In the process of differentiating the DPJ from the LDP and taking political advantage of the unpopularity of Bush administration foreign policies, the DPJ made promises to the Japanese public. A DPJ government would likely address at least some of those promises so as not to lose credibility.
In particular, the DPJ may seek to modify plans for alliance transformation, thereby opening up contentious debates about roles and missions, financial support, basing, and the relocation of U.S. marines from Okinawa to Guam.
There is nothing new in the DPJ thinking. In the 80s the Chairman of Sony, Akio Morita wrote a book called ” A Japan that can say no”. The book caused a huge furor in the US, and it was republished in English but with huge modification. As far back as 2002, there were clear signs that Japan had a mind of its own.
- Americans believe that the Caucasian race is superior since the modern era is dominated by the western world, and this prejudice will hurt them in the end.
- Americans and Christian missionaries try to erase local cultures and replace them with Western culture. (See Cultural imperialism)
- Former American colonies are rife with problems, while former Japanese colonies are thriving.
- America’s dropping of the atomic bomb on Japan and not Germany in World War II arose from racism because Germans are white and Japanese are not. (Though at the time of the German defeat in April 1945, the atomic bomb was as yet incomplete and untested until July 16, 1945.)
Today’s DJP is saying the same thing–only in polite diplomatic language
It is not unusual that the policy priorities of Japan and the U.S. should be different at times. It is impossible that the Japan-U.S. relationship will become like the one between the UK and the U.S. Japan, while upholding objectives common with the U.S, must have its own axis of coordinates and engage in diplomacy that is complementary to that of the U.S. Basic Strategies for Japan’s Foreign Policy in the 21st Century New Era, New Vision, New Diplomacy, November 28, 2002. Task Force on Foreign Relations for the Prime Minister
Pakistan has enjoyed good relations with Japan but the relationship has always been chaperoned by the USA. When Pakistan has good relations with America, Tokyo is there to help. When Pakistan has bad relations with Washington, the relationship with Japan is also on the doldrums. An assertive Japan would like a moderate Pakistan. An assertive Japan may mend its fences with China and build on its “Look towards Asia policy”. Pakistan may be able to leverage this independence and build a bi-lateral relationship with Tokyo.
="" />
Andrea Elliot’s picture of Naum Kazhdan/The New York Times
![[states in play]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-AQ988_MUSLIM_20080622210419.gif)
Sen. Joe Lieberman’s decision to campaign for Sen. John McCain angered Democrats.Payback, the saying goes, can be, well, tough. And it could be Joe Lieberman’s turn to be on the receiving end. Throughout the campaign, the Connecticut Senator prided himself on being a “Democrat for McCain,” desperately trying to win over support from the left and the middle for the GOP candidate.
