Parade Magazine Articles
Is America Neglecting A Good Friend?
January 12, 2003
For nearly 60 years, Japan and the United States have been
close allies, to our mutual benefit. But with U.S. leadership now
focused on China and the war against global terrorism, a veteran
Asia expert warns of a cooling off with Tokyo and its consequences.
As our nation focuses on the threat of global terrorism and
the possibility of war in Iraq, are we forgetting about our most
important ally in Asia? PARADE recently sent Contributing Editor
James Webb, an Asia expert, to the Far East to take Japan’s pulse. A
former Secretary of the Navy, Webb is the author of “The Emperor’s
General,” a novel about America’s occupation of Japan after World
War II.
Unlike even 20 years ago, today’s Tokyo is a decidedly sophisticated
city. The shopping in the Ginza district rivals Manhattan’s.
Shinjuku’s bright lights and crowded pachinko halls hint at Las
Vegas. The ethnic mix in Roppongi’s clubs and along its sidewalks
seems as varied as San Francisco’s.
On the roads in upscale Hiroo, a steady stream of Mercedes and BMWs
pass by European coffee shops. Inside an apartment whose terrace
looks out across the skyscraper-filled landscape of Tokyo, a close
friend has cooked up a Western-style steak dinner, offering me
top-quality French wine.
I have visited Japan numerous times—as a Marine, a
journalist, a novelist doing research, a government official, a
guest of their government and a simple tourist. I have followed its
cycles as it rebuilt into an economic powerhouse after a devastating
war, only to hit the wall as its economy contracted and its
population began to age. I have seen its people move away from
xenophobic isolation and into a prominent place among the world’s
great nations. And I have watched over the past decade as America’s
leaders became distracted by an ever more influential China and
began to overlook the vital importance of our relationship with the
Japanese.
In the years since World War II, the United States and
Japan have become inseparable in many ways. “Japan’s ties with the
United States are almost a given,” says Masakazu Yamazaki, one of
Japan’s leading intellectuals, who has studied at Yale and taught at
Columbia. “We share similar political systems, freedom of speech and
cosmopolitan cultures. Much of our music has begun to blend, as have
our societal structures. I cannot imagine Japan getting as close to
any other Asian country as it is with the United States.”
Reading Japan’s moods
But now Japan’s leaders seem to be edging away from the strong
bilateral relationship that has guaranteed economic and military
security in East Asia for 50 years. Part of this is a reaction to
America’s economic and strategic courting of China and an obsession
with the Middle East. Part is a
consequence of the globalization of the world’s economy. And part is
their realization that American solutions are not always relevant to
Japan’s unique society.
Fukushiro Nukaga, a deputy secretary general of the ruling
Liberal Democratic Party, did not hesitate when I asked him to
describe the point of greatest friction in U.S.-Japan relations.
“America must stop forcing its issues on other countries,” said the
former defense minister and minister of the economy, who is known as
a strong friend of the U.S. “You must avoid the impression that
globalization equals Americanization.”
It is not a simple thing to read Japan’s moods. In its
makeup and its approach toward problem-solving, Japan is in many
ways the antithesis of the United States. We are a multicultural,
immigrant nation scarcely 200 years old. They are an ancient,
ethnically homogeneous people who can trace their imperial family’s
roots back more than 2000 years.
As Americans, we pride ourselves on our differences and
fiercely protect them. The Japanese tradition is that of a “nation
family,” with strong allegiance to the common good. We settle our
issues through loud
disagreement, believing that cultural abrasion is the grist of
political creativity. They believe in harmony, preferring internal
debate and policies designed to bring the nation together. We are
restless, inventive, quick to discard. They are patient, adaptive,
with a genius for perfection. Our successes and failures are largely
individual. Theirs belong to the group, and if an individual fails,
he quickly accepts responsibility to preserve the group’s integrity.
“America’s little brother”
Our relationship with Japan has been historically unique and vital
to both countries. Japan renounced war after World War II with a
constitution that limits its use of military force strictly to
self-defense. It has survived for half a century in one of the
world’s most unstable regions by exchanging vital bases for U.S.
military protection. Japan’s postwar growth was based largely
on exporting goods to the United States, almost inextricably
intertwining our economies in the process. And they backed us so
completely in international affairs that they were criticized as
being “America’s little brother.”
But times change and relationships evolve. How much does
Japan mean to us now? And, just as important, how much do we mean to
the Japanese?
Much has been written about Japan’s economic troubles, but
the greatest long-term issues facing the country are incidental to
its economy. East Asia has become ever more unstable due to Chinese
growth and North Korea’s acquisition of nuclear weapons. There have
been suggestions from some quarters that Japan break free of its
defense relationship with the United States and from others that it
develop its own nuclear capability.
Domestically, the country’s population is shrinking and
growing older. Japanese leaders will soon be struggling with the
dilemma of either following the U.S. model and dramatically
increasing immigration or of possibly reducing Japan’s standard of
living and international influence due to a dwindling workforce.
Defining “self-defense”
Yukio Okamoto, a special adviser to the Japanese cabinet who spent
several years at the Japanese embassy in Washington, is a supporter
of the U.S.-Japan defense alliance. “Our relations with the U.S. are
at a very mature state,” he says. “The trend is toward bolstering
the U.S. relationship rather than the other way around.” Mentioning
Japan’s strong support of the U.S.-led war against international
terrorism, he points out that Japanese naval ships regularly operate
with U.S. Navy ships in the Indian Ocean.
How Japan defines self-defense in today’s complicated world
has become a political hot potato. Shinzo Abe, a congressman who
serves as the prime minister’s deputy chief cabinet secretary,
caused a stir several months ago when he claimed that developing
nuclear weapons might be justifiable. Abe, son of a foreign minister
and grandson of a prime minister, studied at the University of
Southern California. He is one of several prominent Japanese, along
with chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda, himself the son of a
prime minister, who are pushing for a more independent defense
relationship. “The U.S.-Japan alliance is necessary for our
security,” Abe says. “But the defense relationship between our
countries should be complementary and not dependent.” The upshot of
this would be a Japan unhinged from U.S. protection, creating yet
another power center in East Asia.
Japan’s demographic challenges
Perhaps Japan’s greatest challenge is a future in which its
population will be both older and smaller. With Japanese couples
marrying later and a fertility rate of 1.33 children per family, the
Japanese are not sustaining their current population of 127 million.
Within the next decade, the country is expected to begin
shrinking—to about 100 million people by mid-century.
At the same time, Japan enjoys the longest life expectancy in the
world. “There is no historical model for where we are heading,” says
the philosopher Masakazu Yamazaki. “We are facing a situation where
one child may be supporting two parents and four grandparents.”
Their history of ethnic homogeneity aside, the Japanese
have strongly resisted the idea of addressing the problem through
the U.S. model of large-scale immigration. Few countries can match
Japan’s fair treatment of its own citizens. The standard of living
is high, and the disparity between top and bottom is far less than
in Western nations. Crime has been marginalized—by comparison, an
American is six times more likely to be murdered, 22 times more
likely to be raped, 44 times more likely to be robbed and 16 times
more likely to be in jail than a Japanese.
The population of foreign nationals has increased by 15%
since 1995, to 1.8 million people, not counting an estimated 300,000
who are in the country illegally. Koreans dominate these numbers,
and Asia’s ever-present “Chinatowns” have prospered in Kobe,
Yokohama and Nagasaki since the 1860s. But the latest wave of
immigration is different, Japanese leaders say. As Yukio Okamoto
points out, “70% of the robberies in Tokyo are [committed by]
illegals, of whom 90% are Chinese.”
Nobuko Fukuhara, deputy director of the Ministry of
Justice’s Immigration Bureau, summarizes the current Japanese view
toward wider immigration. “Bringing in unskilled labor would create
unnecessary problems for our society,” she says. “It would also
negate our move toward national innovation. We can best address
future labor shortages with a greater emphasis on the efficiencies
brought about by industrial robotics and advanced technology.”
Still a potent force for democracy
What kind of future is in store for Japan? The best prediction is
that Japan will become smaller, more independent, still ethnically
homogeneous and still one of the most important democratic forces in
the world. “Change is the key to Japan,” says Yamazaki—a rather
surprising perspective when one considers Japan’s obsession with its
traditions and, indeed, with its past. “We respect our history, but
we know that the future must be addressed on logical grounds.”
Will the United States still be Japan’s most important
friend in such a future? One hopes so—for our sake, for theirs and
for the stability of Asia. Toward that end, it is crucial that our
relationship with Japan not be diminished as we sort out our future
with China, and we should be careful when suggesting “American”
solutions to intrinsically Japanese problems.
On my last night in Tokyo, I am, as ever, walking the
streets, absorbing the emotional forces of this energetic and
historic people. What will Japan look like? I wonder as I stare at
the high walls that rise from the moat surrounding the emperor’s
palace grounds. How will it change? As I walk, a young boy bumps
into me with his bicycle. I turn to him. He bows deeply from the
bicycle seat as he passes, a gesture of apology and respect. And I
know that no matter how much Japan changes, at its core, the culture
will remain the same.
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Where Japan Stands In The War Against International Terrorism
Japan has strongly supported the U.S.-led war against international
terrorism. Despite the restrictive “self-defense” clause in its
constitution, for the first time since World War II Japanese naval
ships have been sent outside Japanese waters on operational
missions. Japanese refueling vessels have operated alongside U.S.
Navy ships in the Indian Ocean for more than a year, and in December
a powerful Japanese Aegis warship was dispatched to join them.
Support for a war against Iraq is more tentative. The Japanese
government has raised only the possibility of participating in
peacekeeping efforts after a war. And a recent survey by the
Asahi Shimbun newspaper showed that 57% of Japanese are opposed to
backing any U.S. military action against Baghdad.
—J.W.
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A MacArthurian Regency In Baghdad?
Advocates of a war to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein often
predict a post-war military occupation similar to the U.S.
occupation of Japan following World War II. But there are major
differences. U.S. military forces never set foot in Japan until its
emperor had formally surrendered and prepared its citizens for our
arrival. Nor did Gen. Douglas MacArthur change the Japanese
regime when he took over as proconsul after World War II. Instead,
he was careful to work his changes through the existing government
and took pains to preserve the integrity of Japan’s imperial family.
Moreover, the Japanese culture is in no way similar to Iraq’s. The
Japanese are a homogeneous people who place a high premium on
respect, and they fully cooperated with MacArthur’s forces after
having been ordered to do so by their emperor. The Iraqis, by
contrast, are a multi-ethnic people driven by competing factions,
many of whom would view U.S. occupation forces as infidels invading
the cradle of Islam. Finally, Japan is an island nation whose
borders could be defended against outside interference, while Iraq
lies in the midst of the world's most violent center of
anti-American terrorism.
—J.W.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS