Moderates Must Seek Coherent Natl Vision
Weston S. Konishi / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
February 1st, 2006
Two images of Japan are now competing furiously against each other
in the court of global opinion. According to one view, nationalism
is on the rise in Japan. The Japanese people have suppressed their
nationalistic sentiment for the past 50 years, but there are telltale
signs that their true nature is reemerging under the leadership
of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. It is only a matter of time
before the country "remilitarizes" and becomes a belligerent
threat to its neighbors.
A counter image is being argued with equal certainty. Defenders
say the rise of nationalism in Japan is an exaggeration. Yes, Japanese
want a more autonomous foreign policy, as exemplified by their
bold prime minister, but pacifism is deeply ingrained in the society
and the country's so-called remilitarization is beyond serious
contemplation. Japan is a peaceful nation grounded in its constitutional
pledge to be a responsible actor in the international community.
In all probability, the latter image is more accurate. Japan is
not the surging menace that critics charge. But moderates in the
country must do a better job of convincing the world that that
is the case. It is not enough to claim that outsiders misunderstand
the country's true political intentions. In fact, the signals emanating
from Japan are mixed at best--evidence can be drawn to support
both sides of the debate. Sending a more consistent message would
help keep overblown concerns from taking root around the world.
Those who defend against the nationalist image have the advantage
of the obvious on their side. Any objective observer can see that
Japan is no more nationalistic than any other country. Street demonstrations
in Beijing or Seoul are more vehemently nationalistic than anything
one might come across in Tokyo. The rightists who drive around
in black trucks spewing extremist slogans from loudspeakers are
a conspicuous exception, but they are a nuisance rather than an
inspiration for most Japanese. And it is hard to consider any
country with such inner turmoil over calling its Self-Defense Forces "armed
forces" an aspiring hegemon.
Still, there is plenty of evidence to support claims of rising
nationalism. Koizumi regularly visits Yasukuni Shrine, where Class-A
war criminals are enshrined together with the other war dead, although
he knows full well his visits are a litmus test for how the world
measures Japanese nationalism. Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara is
as nationalistic a leader as they get, yet an overwhelming number
of people support him. Revisionist manga that demonize Koreans
and whitewash the country's role in the Pacific War are selling
handsomely in bookstores across the country. Japan is no longer
the politically correct country it used to be.
Moderates are exasperated by the attention these developments
have received in the foreign media, and have responded with a campaign
to minimize the image of rising nationalism. In January, the public
affairs chief at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, Mitsuru Kitano,
vigorously challenged the "myth" of rising Japanese nationalism.
In an International Herald Tribune Op/Ed, Kitano argued that U.S.
media reports of rising anti-Korean sentiment, for instance, fail
to take into account that Japanese affinity toward South Korea
increased from 36 percent in 1996 to 57 percent in 2004.
Here, again, the signals are mixed. It is correct that there is
an overall trend of warmer feelings toward South Korea, no doubt
spurred on
by the Korean drama craze and other cultural exchanges.
However, according to the most recent Cabinet Office polls, affinity
toward South Korea dropped from 57 percent to 51 percent over the
past year--the largest decrease in almost a decade. The outlook
is even worse for Japanese affinity toward China, which has been
sliding for years and fell to a record low 32 percent in 2005,
according to the Cabinet Office.
The Yasukuni Shrine controversy elicits similar mixed signals.
Critics point out that public support for Koizumi's visits to the
shrine is proof of rising nationalist sentiment. A November 2005
Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) Shimbun survey, for instance, indicates that
47 percent of Japanese support Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine
as opposed to 37 percent who disapprove.
Defenders counter that mainstream Japanese do not endorse Yasukuni
Shrine itself, but rather support Koizumi's refusal to bow to foreign
criticism of his visits. Indeed, the same Nikkei polls show that
more Japanese support building an alternative secular memorial
for the war dead, 49 percent, than oppose it, 31 percent.
That has not stopped Yasukuni Shrine from becoming an increasingly
popular site for Koizumi's colleagues in the Diet. Last April,
over 100 Diet members paid homage at the shrine on the same day
that Koizumi expressed deep remorse for Japan's colonial past at
a summit meeting in Indonesia. The two events were not lost on
the foreign media, which widely reported the conflicting messages
sent about Japan's reconciliation of the past.
If moderates want to improve their country's image abroad, they
should focus on a more consistent message. The first step is to
stop denying that some form of nationalism exists in Japan--be
it a healthy new assertiveness or something more virulent. The
reality is that Gov. Ishihara is wildly popular. Minimizing his
influence is disingenuous at least and, at most, potentially dangerous
should his ideological base be underestimated.
Second, if moderates represent the silent majority, then lawmakers'
visits to Yasukuni Shrine should come at a political price. It
may be true that mainstream Japanese accept official visits to
Yasukuni Shrine as a prerogative of their leaders, not foreign
critics. But the shrine is too powerful a symbol to ignore its
darker political significance. Japanese must soon reach a consensus
on the meaning of Yasukuni Shrine and whether it is acceptable
for their leaders to be identified with it.
In the long-term, moderates must find an alternative vision for
the country that satisfies their country's yearning for a stronger
sense of national pride. Japan is still in many ways a passive
and reluctant actor on the world stage, often more willing to follow
others (primarily the United States) than take the lead--a pattern
that nationalists both resent and feed on. If Japan is such a force
for good in the world, as moderates claim, then why not take a
more prominent leadership role in regional and global affairs?
Greater respect in the international community would give Japanese
a legitimate national pride they no longer need to justify.
Weston Konishi is program director at the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.
The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation
1401 New York Ave. NW Suite 740
Washington, DC 20005
Telephone: (202) 347-1994
Fax: (202) 347-3941 matwater@mansfieldfdn.org
