POLITICS: Japan Hankers After Bigger Role in World Affairs

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Sep 11 2001 (IPS) - Yotaro Miyamoto, 61, a retired company employee, recalls how hopeless he felt when Japan was defeated at the end of World War II.

“I was always cold and hungry. The children would plead for candy from the American soldiers and young women would give anything to be able to go out with the foreign occupiers in a bid to escape poverty,” he says.

Today, however, the former employee of a large automobile company, leads a life that is the exact opposite of what he experienced as a child. He owns a large house in the suburbs of Tokyo, and takes overseas vacations with his wife. He has also sent his children to colleges abroad.

“Japan is the world’s second richest economy. This is because of the hard work of the ordinary public and help from the Americans,” he explains.

Half a century after Japan and the United States signed a peace treaty that officially ended World War II, observers say that the Miyamoto’s experience is not the only thing that has changed in Japan.

Indeed the past week has heard a vociferous call in Tokyo for a change in US-Japan bilateral relationship that is often described as the “most crucial diplomatic treaty in the world”.

“The past 50 years has been the first chapter of Japan’s post- war history and Japan should now proclaim its own will by developing its own national identity and displaying its capabilities fearlessly,” wrote Shintaro Ishihara, governor of Tokyo in the Yomuiri Newspaper last week.

Japan and the United States celebrated last Sep. 8 the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Treaty, a pact the Japanese media describes as “the moment when Japan returned to the international community”.

The war in the Pacific ended in 1945 but it was not until Sep. 8, 1951 that the treaty was signed in San Francisco. The two countries later signed the US-Japan Security Pact in 1960, paving the way for the establishment of U.S. bases in Japan in return for providing a security umbrella its ally and other special concessions that included giving Japanese exports access to the U.S. market.

While many view the pact as being instrumental in fostering economic growth in Japan and providing stability in Asia, they also want to see changes in the dynamics of the ties between Tokyo and Washington.

Such sentiment was expressed by former prime minister Kiichi Miyazawa in a forum on Sep. 8 in San Francisco to mark the 50th anniversary of the treaty.

Japan’s right to deploy its self-defense forces to UN peacekeeping missions as well as defend the country along with US troops, “is extremely important for the nation’s future”, he told the prestigious audience gathered for the celebration.

The Japanese Constitution, introduced by the American victors, contains a peace clause that does not permit Japan to have a military force or send military missions overseas.

In 1992, the Diet passed a bitterly-contested bill allowing Japan’s self-defense forces to join UN peacekeeping operations.

Japan, aware of the rising economic and political clout of China is also working hard to gain seat in the UN Security Council in the 21st century. As the top donor to the United Nations and the leader among international aid donors, the Japanese see the powerful position as a natural privilege.

Japan is ready, says Yoshio Okawara, former ambassador to the United States, to play a more active role in global affairs. “Japan’s contribution can no longer be curtailed to financial aspects.”

A nagging issue in Japan’s path to global leadership is its contentious policy on war reparations. Japan maintains it has successfully atoned for the past when it paid the governments of its former colonies under terms of the San Francisco Treaty.

But tens of thousands of former prisoners of war, including American and British soldiers, Asian labourers, comfort women, and relatives of Chinese and Koreans killed by the Japanese Imperial Army, have brought lawsuits against the Japanese government.

This contentious issue was tackled successfully in San Francisco by visiting Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka who signed a joint statement with US Secretary of State, Colin Powell on Saturday, reaffirming the two nations’ commitment to strengthening bilateral ties to contribute to global peace and security.

In his statement, Powell, while emphasising that many Americans feel they were not adequately compensated for wartime suffering, said at the same time, “it was judged here in San Francisco that it was time to bring this period to an end”.

This, analysts say, has put Japan in a good light.

American expert on Japan, Ezra Vogel, explains that the Cold War lent stability to Japan-US ties. The Bush administration, he says, recognises the need to maintain close ties with its ally and help maintain stability in Asia.

POLITICS: Japan Hankers After Bigger Role in World Affairs

By Suvendrini Kakuchi Reprint | | Print |

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Sep 11 2001 (IPS) - Yotaro Miyamoto, 61, a retired company employee, recalls how hopeless he felt when Japan was defeated at the end of World War II.
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