Reconciliation between China and Japan: A Search for Solutions

Roos on the American POWs of Japan

2009-08-03T01:34:00.002+10:00

Questions for the Record Submitted to
Ambassador - Designate John Roos by
Senator John Kerry (#9)
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
July 23, 2009

Question #1:
In December 2008, the Government of Japan revealed in testimony to the Diet by an official of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry that there were still unexamined documents held in Japan’s ministries and private corporations containing detailed information on American POWs held by Japan during WWII that have not yet been released to the public.

What efforts will the U.S. Embassy make to ensure the release of these records so that appropriate American authorities and scholars can create a complete and accurate list of those interned by Imperial Japan?

Answer:
Over the past 60 plus years, our relationship with Japan has evolved from one of bitter enmity to a rock-solid friendship. The sacrifice of the men and women who served our nation in WWII made that possible. The Department of State believes that post-war Japan has made significant efforts to atone for the actions of the Imperial Government of the 1930s and 1940s. We hope Japan’s apologies expressed by Ambassador Fujisaki in San Antonio provide our brave men and women with a sense of peace and satisfaction at this late stage in their lives, but I am aware that such deep suffering may sometimes find no healing salve.

Japanese industrial conglomerates were heavily involved in prosecuting the Japanese war effort and supplemented their work force with Allied POWs. The position of the United States is, and has been, that subsequent claims against Japanese corporations were satisfied by the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco.

I believe, however, that an open accounting of the past will help to strengthen our Alliance even more in the future, and if confirmed, I will work for such an accounting.

Question #2:
On May 30th, the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S., Ichiro Fujisaki, delivered in person a long-sought formal and official apology to the former American POWs from the Japanese government. The Ambassador also noted during his apology that the Foreign Ministry was considering including American POWs in the 1995 Peace, Friendship and Exchange Program for Allied POWs or a better, more permanent fund for the joint U.S.-Japan fund for the study and exchange on the Pacific War.

How do you plan to encourage the Japanese government and Japanese companies to follow through with a program for understanding and reconciliation?

Answer:
The United States is actively encouraging Japan to include American POWs of Japan in the Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative. The State Department has engaged both the Japanese Embassy in Washington and Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tokyo on this issue, and we believe that the Japanese are considering our request in earnest. If confirmed, my staff and I at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo will continue to stress the importance of this overture to our Japanese counterparts and will encourage a quick decision so that our veterans are offered inclusion in this initiative of reconciliation.

Women's Rights

2009-07-26T18:18:00.004+10:00

The Japanese government sent a 20-person delegation to the 6th UN-sponsored periodic review of Tokyo's efforts to eradicate discrimination against women. Japan signed in 1980 (ratifying in 1985) the 1979 UN Convention establishing the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), popularly described as ''an international bill of rights for women."

On July 23, the delegation found itself disputing the CEDAW's criticisms that Japan, a G-7 country, had failed to advance the rank of women in society or to fully address the wartime "comfort women" issue. Thus far, the Committee found measures to address discrimination against women were insufficient.

Based on the comments issued at meeting, the Committee is expected to recommend in late August that the Japanese government take remedial measures on those issues affecting women where it believes Japan should do more. Some committee members accused Japan of making light of the fact that the Convention is binding.

Atsuko Okajima, who heads the Gender Equality Bureau of Japan's Cabinet Office, downplayed the latest assessment by the UN Committee. She told a news conference after the meeting that Japan has steadily implemented the measures it formulated under the basic gender equality plan devised in 2005. She cited the 2007 revision to the Equal Employment Opportunity Law among the government's efforts toward greater gender equality.

Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 44th session (20 July - 7 August 2009) that includes details on the meeting on the Japan Country Report, July 23, 2009, HERE.

CEDAW Press Release on Japan HERE.

More on CEDAW.

Advancing An Asia-Centric Foreign Policy

2009-07-26T11:28:00.004+10:00

The Shukan Shincho is not the most reliable of Japanese publications. It is all gossip and innuendo. Thus, it is fun reading.

Its June 18th edition ran an unattributed article titled: "DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama's 'Fraternity' Philosophy Turns Out To Be 'Weak-Kneed' During His Visit to South Korea." Whereas the author is dismissive of DPJ President Hatoyama's views on history and foreign policy, if the reporting is even partly true, this represents significant progress on the history issues for Japan.

Hatayama is willing to settle the apology issues for the war and accept Japan's responsibility. He has a "fraternal" view of Japan's place in Asia. It is in Japan's interest to cement ties to its neighbors through reconciliation and contrition.

Here is a translation of the article:

"There is a trend to glorify colonial occupations in Japan. No one in the Democratic Party of Japan [DPJ] supports the trend." DPJ President Yukio Hatoyama explained his historical perception during talks with President Lee Myung Bak on 5 June, when he visited South Korea.

According to a political reporter, "This visit to South Korea was practically the first task Hatoyama addressed after taking office as DPJ president. Eying the next general election, in which a change of government will very likely happen, he appealed to people both at home and abroad the DPJ's 'Asia-centered' diplomatic policy."

Hatoyama made the following remarks, in reply to President Lee's "demand for an apology"; he expressed "Japan could become a more advanced nation by willingly offering its apology about the past," and "it is necessary for Japanese political leaders to have courage." These remarks remind us of the "prostrate foreign policy" during the times of the Murayama and Hosokawa administrations.

"At the time of the Hosokawa cabinet, Hatoyama served as deputy chief cabinet secretary. He might have confused his fraternity doctrine, which he advocates, with an apologetic diplomacy" (according to the reporter).

There was a "prelude" to what he said in the talks. In an interview with South Korean papers immediately before assuming the DPJ presidency, Hatoyama clearly said, "I assure you that whoever becomes prime minister, no government officials, including myself, will visit the Yasukuni Shrine." Furthermore, when asked about the centenarian anniversary of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula, Hatoyama said, "(Japan) should regret it considering the tremendous damages we inflicted upon the South Koreans." In April, he said in a program on the Internet, "Local suffrage should be granted to permanent foreign residents"; "The islands of Japan do not belong to Japanese only"; and "Japan should be ashamed." Diplomatic analyst Tadae Takubo, being dumbfounded at these remarks, said, "In the world of diplomacy, we stand for our own argument. Where is Hatoyama's ground, Tokyo or South Korea? He did not mention anything about the Japanese government's official opinion. I want to ask him if he really is a Japanese politician." Indeed, he is a poor candidate for prime minister... [ellipsis as published].

California Apologies

2009-07-23T23:56:00.002+10:00

On Friday, July 17th, the California Legislature apologized for the state’s past persecution of the Chinese immigrants who built the state’s railroads, gold mines and agriculture industry.

The Senate earlier this month approved the resolution expressing regret for 19th century and early 20th century laws that “resulted in the persecution of Chinese living in California.” The Assembly had backed the measure in late June, and the California secretary of state put it on the state’s official record Friday. The legislation, ACR 42, was co-sponsored by Assemblymen Paul Fong (D-Cupertino) and Kevin De Leon (D-Los Angeles).

As Time Magazine wrote on July 22nd:

The apology is the latest in a wave of official acts of remorse around the globe. In 2006, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a similar apology, expressing regret to Chinese Canadians for unequal taxes imposed on them in the late 19th century. Last February, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologized to his country's Aborigines for racist laws of the past, including the forced separation of children from their parents. Five months later, the U.S. Congress formally apologized to black Americans for slavery and the later Jim Crow laws, which were not repealed until the 1960s. And most notably, in 1988 the U.S. government decided to pay $20,000 to each of the surviving 120,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned in camps during World War II. Says Donald Tamaki, a San Francisco–based attorney who helped overturn wrongful WWII-era convictions of Japanese Americans: "Part of what a humane society does is recognize past injustices and address them."

Yes, now where is Japan?

The LA Times writes about this legislation Here and the Wall Street Journal blogs Here.

No

2009-07-01T13:05:00.003+10:00

The Asahi Shimbun reports in its July 1 Online edition that

Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba has asked Toshio Tamogami, the controversial ex-chief of the Air Self-Defense Force, to change the date of a speech planned for Aug. 6, the day the city memorializes the atomic bombing of 1945, officials said.

The mayor sent a letter to Tamogami, pictured, and the organizer of the lecture, the Japan Conference Hiroshima, on Monday.

Akiba said the lecture, "Questioning the peace of Hiroshima," could upset hibakusha survivors and victims' relatives.

Failure to Launch

2009-06-27T04:18:00.002+10:00

On Thursday, June 25, Japanese Foreign Ministry Deputy Press Secretary Yasuhisa Kawamura called into question the official nature and sincerity of his government's recent apology to the POWs of Japan. It was simply stunning and inexplicable.

Over the past six months, the Government of Japan has made a number of dramatic and historic moves toward reconciliation for their abuse and misuse of Allied POWs. New documents were rediscovered that confirmed that Prime Minister Aso's family used POWs in their family-owned coal mine, the Prime Minister then followed with his own acknowledgment of this fact, the government issued a statement to Senator Yukihisa Fujita (DPJ) that was an apology for "damage and suffering" by many people inlcuding "former POWs," and on May 30th the Japanese Ambassador to the US delivered an apology for "damage and suffering" to those on Bataan and Corregidor and "other places."

In all, the Aso Administration was making substantial progress in recognizing some obligation toward the prisoners put in their care during the War. On the 25th, however, this dramatically evaporated as the MOFA spokesman downplayed the significance of apology to the American POWs and brushed off the visit of Australian former POW as insincere.

It is difficult to comprehend the Spokesman Kawamura's answers. Was he misinformed or did he want to misinform? Did he have some idea how his answers would look to the Western press? Did he hope that no one would notice? In the Internet Age, this will not happen.

IV. Questions concerning the POW issue

Q: If other people have any questions directly related to today's issue, I have some completely different questions.

Mr. Kawamura: Any questions, please.

Q: I would like to ask about the POW issues. One, about the official apology, so-called, by Ambassador Fujisaki in the US in the end of May; The apology was a so-called official apology from the Japanese Government, but is it projected only for Bataan and Corregidor? Because he came over to the convention and made the apology. Also, how serious is the Japanese government's thinking about their demand which is educating Japanese young people to know what happened about POWs and also the program exchange inviting them, because Americans were excluded. The program covering Dutch, Australian, British POWs, inviting them to Japan and let them visit camps they used to be in. Those are two questions about the Fujisaki apology.

The second question is about very recently a POW from Australia and the son of a POW from Scotland who were made use of in the Aso mines visited. Prime Minister Aso did not meet them, he refused to meet them. What is the real reason he did not meet them?

Mr. Kawamura: Before I forget, let me start with the last question.

Q: OK.

Mr. Kawamura: Those people visited Tokyo and requested a meeting with Prime Minister Aso. The meeting did not take place. You are asking me about the reasons, but I am not the right person to respond directly to that question, why the meeting did not take place.

Q: But the Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered to meet instead.

Mr. Kawamura: Right, exactly, but unfortunately, this proposed meeting did not take place.

I am going to touch upon the basic stance of the Japanese Government regarding the POWs. All the actions and the Japanese treatment of the POWs should be understood in the context of Japan's post-war announcements which clarify its official stance. As you recall, former Prime Minister Murayama expressed very clearly that we had a sense of remorse and apology for the conducts of what Japan did during World War II.

Regarding the government to government relations, we think that the issues related to World War II have been legally settled. This stance together with the feeling of the Government and the people of Japan has been expressed by our leaders in the past.

The first question about Ambassador Fujisaki's statement should also be seen from the Japanese Government's fundamental stance concerning the World War II and the apology and feeling of remorse that should be applied to the case of Japan-Philippines relations during World War II. I understand Ambassador Fujisaki expressed his feeling in line with the above mentioned official Japan-Philippines relations.

There are two more questions about Ambassador Fujisaki's case, education and Dutch and other countries' invitation programs, I will come back to you. I need to do some research on this.

Q: About the second question, if the Foreign Minister tried to meet them instead of the Prime Minister...

Mr. Kawamura: The Foreign Ministry, not the Foreign Minister, I think.

Q: The Foreign Ministry, yes. How were you planning to explain to them the reason that you did not prepare any explanation why the Prime Minister could not see them or did not want to see them or whatever? Or did you try to repeat what you have just explained?

Mr. Kawamura: Well, it is really hard for me to predict what exactly happened in the conversation particularly with visitors and our officials. But I want to stress that we like to see those people with sincere minds and that we would be prepared to listen carefully to what they would comment on. I think a sincere dialogue should help retain trust.

Q: May I ask which section is planning to meet them? Who is going to meet them?

Mr. Kawamura: I will come back to you because this issue is related to not one but more than two divisions or bureaus.

Q: It would be very nice if I could know who is going to see them.

Mr. Kawamura: Yes, I will come back to you.

Any other questions? Thank you very much.

Mainichi on War Memory Part II

2009-06-24T13:59:00.001+10:00

New argument in Japan on the United States (Part B): Warped conservatism

MAINICHI (Top play and page 3) (Abridged slightly)
June 22, 2009

The decision to suspend the publication of the conservative monthly magazine Shokun was made unanimously at a Bungeishunju special board meeting on February 26. The major reason was a drop in advertising revenues. The magazine's circulation peaked at 95,000 in the early 2000s when it turned excessively anti-China, anti-South Korea and anti-North Korea. But no one positively evaluated that period in the board meeting.

The magazine was established in May 1969 when the student movement was sweeping through Japan. The aim was to present an option different from the left wing based on Japan being a U.S. ally during the Cold War era.

Masao Asao, who served as the magazine's editor in chief in the mid-1990s, indicated that conservatism takes pride in being tolerant. Every time the magazine's star critic Ikutaro Shimizu's argument swayed, its regular critic Tsuneari Fukuda chided him. The magazine also carried articles by the Asahi Shimbun's popular reporters and left-wing opinion leaders, such as Akira Asada of the "modern thought boom" of in the 1980s. Anti-U.S. writers had a certain place in the magazine.

The Berlin Wall came down in the year that marked the 20th anniversary of Shokun. The history textbook row in the 1990s in the process of finding a "new enemy" replacing the left-wing sparked strong criticism of the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, and this led to the recent boom of conservative arguments.

The rejection of the Tokyo Tribunal could have resulted in the refusal of the United States, but assertions, including those of self-claimed pro-American writers, simply escalated. But as if to fill the gap with a head-on clash with the United States, criticism was directed at the question of visits to Yasukuni Shrine by the prime minister and East Asian countries in connection with the issue of abductions by North Korea.

The use of pejorative expressions against China and North Korea increased in the form of being influenced by the conservative magazine Seiron published by the Sankei Shimbun. That shift was well received by readers but the magazine became less tolerant. Historians, such as Ikuhiko Hata, were often criticized in connection with the argument by former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Toshio Tamogami, who claimed in his essay that Roosevelt tricked Japan to go to war with the United States.

Nonfiction writer Masayasu Hosaka takes this view: "The left wing's characteristic of prioritizing its interpretations of historical facts has emerged in the inner circle of the conservatives, who have lost their enemy."

Shokun's readership diminished due in part to the establishment in November 2004 of the third conservative magazine WiLL. Some writers, who disliked Shokun's radical policy course, reportedly refused to contribute their essays to the magazine in the last two years.

Many readers favored radical arguments over a wide range of arguments, and the magazine's circulation fell below 40,000 in the end.

Some think Bunshun's decision to discontinue the stigmatized Shokun was sensible, but the venue to express sensible views has now disappeared.

The suspension of the Shokun was preceded by a long road of limited arguments that caused stress for the conservative print media, which was unable to frontally discuss the United States, its true theme. Even in criticizing the historical view on the Tokyo Tribunal, the magazine could not go beyond the framework of the Japan-U.S. alliance. The magazine occasionally vented its stress as "anti-U.S. historical views."

Okazaki Institute Director Hisahiko Okazaki, a self-styled pro-American opinion leader, supervised the compilation of the new history textbook that passed the government's examination in 2005. He said: "The original text included the conspiracy theory that the United States had planned to wage a war against Japan since the Russo-Japanese War. We removed that part altogether." In 2006, Yasukuni Shrine's war museum, Yushukan, eliminated the part describing the U.S. government's strong reaction from its explanation. "We have corrected anti-U.S. thinking," Okazaki said proudly. But anti-U.S. thinking can be said to have been capped only temporarily.

The argument calling for correcting historical views that was directed at East Asia might cause a schism between the Japan-U.S. alliance if something goes wrong. The Foreign Ministry's decision to offer an apology to the former U.S. soldiers comes in part from the conservative media's inflection since the late 1990s.

Japan's Mainstream Press on War Apology Part A

2009-06-24T13:29:00.004+10:00

Mainichi Shimbun appears to be taking the lead in Japan's new mainstream discussion of the legacies of the war and issues of apology. Last month, it published an opinion piece by Amb. Kazuhiko Togo on his opinions on the Japanese government's apology to the American POWs of Japan and Japan's "moral" responsibility.

On Monday, June 22, the newspaper published a two part article linking the Comfort Women and POW apologies to Japan's greater accountability to the US-Japan Alliance.

Below is not Mainichi's translation, but one most likely to be read by analysts and scholars in the West. In the next post you will find the translation of Part B.

One interesting point for scholars, is that the Japanese apology word used for the Japanese government's apology to the POWs is shazai. This is the same word Amb. Togo used in his translation of the apology. To date, an official Japanese government Japanese written statement of the apology has yet to be issued. Thus there is no way to confirm this historic and significant use of an apology word that implies responsibility.

---------------------------------------

New argument in Japan on the United States (Part A): Japan offers apology 68 years after Bataan Death March that claimed lives of 800 American POWs; First step to discussions on historical views triggered by wartime sex slavery resolution

MAINICHI (Top play and page 3) (Abridged slightly)
June 22, 2009

On May 30, U.S. Ambassador to Japan Ichiro Fujisaki, attending the convention of an organization of former prisoners of war (POW), offered the Japanese government's apology for the first time for the Bataan Death March. The Bataan Death March is an incident that occurred in 1942 during WWII in which the Imperial Japanese Army forced over 10,000 people, including American POWs, walk for more than 100 km on the Philippines' Bataan Peninsula, and some 800 people died as a result.

Since the history textbook issue of late 1990s, discussions have been going on in Japan over the meaning of the last major war and the question of wartime responsibility. But the issue of historical views between Japan and the United States has effectively been sealed off. What does the apology 68 years after the incident signify?

The convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC), which sought Japan's apology, took place in San Antonio, Texas. The organization disbanded itself that day, citing the advanced ages of its members.

At the convention, Fujisaki said: "The government of Japan would like to extend a heartfelt apology for having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences on the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island (where the U.S. military command was located) and other places. An invitation to Japan is being worked on." Fujisaki's words elicited a standing ovation from about half of the 400 attendees.

At the convention hall, Fujisaki also said: "The basic view expressed [by me] today was within the framework of the statement issued in 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama. But I think Japan responded clearly to the interest of former POWs. I was glad that I was able to attend the ADBC's last convention."

ADBC National Commander Lester Tenney met with Fujisaki for the first time last November. Since receiving letters of apology last December and this February, Tenney had repeatedly called for Fujisaki's attendance at the convention to make a direct apology to the ADBC members. Listening to Fujisaki's candid statement, Tenney nodded his head in approval, thinking, "The chapter has now come to an end."

The question of historical views between Japan and United States had long been a taboo. The taboo was shattered in July 2007 when the U.S. House of Representatives adopted a resolution seeking Japan's apology for having forced foreign women to serve as sexual slaves for the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII. The Japanese government tried to block it and conservative opinion leaders and lawmakers fiercely objected to it. The event exposed gaps in view between the two countries.

It sent especially strong shockwaves through the Foreign Ministry. "Japan's postwar pacifism is not sufficiently understood by the American public. If there are calls in the United States for Japan's apology, the government should respond to them as much as possible," a senior Foreign Ministry official noted.

Chuo University law professor Yozo Yokota took this view: "The handling of POWs could be a violation of international law. But if the United States tries to pursue Japan, arguments would emerge from Japan that the dropping of atomic bombs and air raids were also illicit. I believe there has been a tacit understanding between Japan and the United States to avoid subjects that could harm the bilateral security alliance."

The question of wartime responsibility has been put on the backburner throughout the postwar period for the sake of strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance. But the question still haunts the two countries which will celebrate [next year] the 50th anniversary of the conclusion of the revised U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.

In the postwar period, the argument has gained ground in Japan that the country was forced to accept the masochistic historical view under the American Occupation. At the same time, Japan tends to direct its criticism to China, South Korea, and North Korea instead of frontally discussing the United States on which Japan heavily relies for its national security. With an increase in the use of sensational language in conservative magazines, the monthly magazine Shokun suspended its publication in May. Reportedly the reason was partly because even though its basic line was conservative the magazine's stance of carrying a wide range of arguments, including counterarguments, showed that it could no longer resist the trend.

DPJ Forms a Committee on POWs

2009-06-21T04:10:00.003+10:00

DPJ Announces New Party Subcommittee for Postwar Settlement
Issues Involving Allied POWs

On May 20, as part of its project team for postwar settlements, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) launched a new subcommittee for addressing Allied POW issues stemming from World War II. It is the first time that a political party in Japan has dealt with POW issues, even though the war ended 64 years ago.

Raymond Heimbuch, an 89-year-old American former POW, was invited to the Diet for the subcommittee’s first study session on May 20. Mr. Heimbuch described how he became a prisoner in the Philippines and was made to work at a factory in wartime Japan.

The subcommittee plans to investigate POW matters and visit related locations in Japan, including the Aso Mining site. To the extent possible, the subcommittee also intends to invite former POWs and their families to relate their wartime experiences and thoughts.

As part of the new administration that will result from the imminent general election, we believe that the task of confronting “inconvenient truths” from the past such as POW issues is something that cannot be avoided if Japan is to realize true peace and friendship and assume an honorable position within the international community.

Although such action is long overdue and many of those concerned have already passed away, the United Nations has declared 2009 to be the “International Year of Reconciliation.” This year also marks the 80^th and 60^th anniversaries of the Geneva Conventions of 1929 and 1949. Therefore, we believe there is great political and historical meaning in addressing the POW problem at such an opportune time.

We earnestly desire to receive much information and to hear frank opinions, and for this to be reflected in policy making. We especially request the active cooperation of former POWs and family members from various countries, researchers and journalists with relevant information, and concerned organizations.

Goals of DPJ Postwar Settlements Subcommittee on POW Issues

The prisoner of war (POW) issue is one of the major pillars of Japan’s postwar diplomacy. Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, which stipulated the handling of POW matters, and also signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, which required Japan to become a party to the Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.

The POW issue represented the official pledge of postwar Japan’s reentry into the international community, but sufficient reconciliation with elderly former POWs in other countries has not yet been achieved. The POW problem remains like a thorn caught in the throat.

This Subcommittee on POW Issues has been established in order to clarify the realities of wartime work and forced labor involving prisoners of war, and to formulate trust-building policies such as exchange and reconciliation programs for former POWs.

Chair: Naoki Minezaki (Member of the House of Councillors)
Deputy Chairs: Issei Koga (Member of the House of Representatives),Tomiko Okazaki (Member of the House of Councillors
Secretary General: Yukihisa Fujita (Member of the House of Councillors)
Executive Secretary: Kusuo Oshima (Member of the House of Councillors)

Contact details:
Office of Yukihisa Fujita
Member of the House of Councillors
Room 205, House of Councillors Office Building
2-1-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8962
Tel:03-3508-8205
Fax: 03-5512-2205
yukihisa_fujita0 [AT] sangiin.go.jp

Office of Kusuo Oshima
Member of the House of Councillors
Room 320, House of Councillors
2-1-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-8962
Tel:03-3508-8320
Fax: 03-5512-2320
kusuo_ooshima01 [AT] sangiin.go.jp

Stonewalled Morally

2009-06-19T09:58:00.010+10:00

Visiting former Aso Mining slave laborer and Australian POW Joe Coombs found no contrition at Aso Lafarge Cement, the successor company of Aso Mining. He was also refused a meeting with the Prime Minister whose family owned the company.

Reports filtering back say that the Mr. Coombs party was met at Aso Lafarge by a public affairs representative who insisted that Aso Mining no longer exists, that the current company is not connectd to this company, and that the current company has no record of using slave labor.

"There is no good pleading ignorance of the fact when he knows perfectly well that it did exist," responded the spry 88-year old.

"The slave labour and the POWs were here and did exist and he [Prime Minister Aso] needs to morally apologise on behalf of the people of Japan."

An account of the visit in English and Mr. Coombs' disappointment can be found HERE.
A video account on Australian TV can be found HERE.

One can only wonder if France's Lafarge, the world's largest building materials coglomerate, know what it purchased when it bought into a joint venture with Aso Cement in 2001. Aso's younger brother, Yutaka, is president of the new company. In December 2005, the French Ambassador in Tokyo awarded Yutaka Aso the Legion d'Honneur at a champagne reception. Guest of honour was his brother, then-Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

In contrast, this year, Lafarge has taken the lead in restoring Camp des Milles. This former tile factory was the main French internment, transit and deportation camp in the South East of France, and is the only French camp that is still intact. Some 10,000 people transited there, among whom 2,500 Jewish men, women and children deported to Auschwitz.

The Lafarge press release notes: "Lafarge's involvement with the 'Remembering the Camp des Milles' Association, which is piloting the this operation, illustrates the Group's commitment to citizen education. Very attached to the promotion of local cultures and remembrance of the past Lafarge has taken part in a number of emblematic projects, at locations neighboring its operational sites."

For a good summary of Foreign Minister Aso's past denials of his family's use of POW slave labor see this 2006 New Matilda article by Chris Reed, Australian War Slaves. Mr. Aso, as noted previously, admitted to the use of POW labor only in January of this year.

Aso POWs to Japan

2009-06-16T12:17:00.003+10:00

If you happen to be in Tokyo this week, an Australian POW who was a slave laborer at the Aso family coal mine during the war will also be there. He and a son of a British POW will speak at the Foreign Correspondents Press Club on the 19th. See below for details.

PRESS CONFERENCE
Joe Coombs, Former POW Enslaved at Aso Mining Co. Ltd.
James McAnulty, Son of Former POW Enslaved at Aso Mining Co. Ltd.
Yukihisa Fujita, Executive Director, DPJ Subcommittee for POW Issues

3:00-4:00pm, Friday, June 19, 2009
(The speech and Q&A will be in English)

In December 2008, Prime Minister Taro Aso admitted that during WWII his family's company used a total of 300 British, Australian and Dutch Allied POWs in its Yoshikuma Coal Mine in Keisen-machi, Fukuoka Prefecture. Surviving Australian and British POWs and their families sent letters of inquiry concerning unpaid wages for their backbreaking work under dangerous conditions without sufficient food and clothing. Taro Aso, while serving as prime minister as well as foreign minister, never replied to those letters.

Democratic Party of Japan MP Yukihisa Fujita took the initiative to form the grassroots executive Committee for Inviting POW Slave Laborers of Aso Mining and their Family Members to Japan, which has invited Joe Coombs, of Australia, and James McAnulty, of Scotland, with family members, to Japan. The group will visit the Aso Yoshikuma Mine and Lafarge Cement HQ in Fukuoka. They will also visit Kawasaki Heavy Industries in Kobe and the Kouyagi Island Shipyard in Nagasaki, since the prisoners were forced to work there before being moved to the Aso mine (also known as Fukuoka POW Camp 26).

Come to the FCCJ and hear Joe Coombs, a former POW, and James McAnulty, the son of a former POW, talk about their desire to receive a sincere apology for brutal mistreatment and starvation endured while undergoing forced labor for the benefit of private Japanese companies.

Please reserve in advance, 3211-3161 or http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/4644
(still & TV cameras inclusive). Reservations and cancellations are not complete without confirmation.

Transcript of An Apology

2009-06-03T09:34:00.006+10:00

No where can I find a transcript of the Ambassador of Japan Ichiro Fujisaki's apology to the POWs of Japan given on May 30, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas to the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor.*

Below is my intern's transcription of his remarks taken off a video produced by the San Antonio Express,

Ladies and gentlemen, I thank you very much. I am very grateful, for the very kind invitation I have received. It is a great honor to participate in your final convention.

[Cut]

Today, I would like to convey to you the position of the government of Japan on this issue. As former Prime Ministers of Japan have repeatedly stated, the Japanese people should bear in mind that we must look into the past and to learn from the lessons of history. We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people, including prisoners of wars, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula, Corregidor Island, in the Philippines, and other places.

Ladies and gentlemen, taking this opportunity, I would like to express my deepest condolences to all those who have lost their lives in the war, and after the war, and their family members. As for the Peace Program, as such Dr. Tenney referred, I have told him that I cannot make a definite statement at this junction, if we can expand this program. However, I can convey to you that relevant bureau in the government of Japan is working seriously and sincerely on this matter.

[Cut]

Today, Japan and United States are the closest friends, best allies. But, we should always keep in our mind that this good relations is based on our past experiences and efforts. Ladies and gentlemen, we are committed to carry on the torch of our future gen-to our future generations of this excellent and irreplaceable friendship and relations. I thank you very much for this occasion.

*Later: Here is one of only two TV broadcasts in Japan that reported on the apology. It was produced by MBS and only broadcast to the Kansai region. The clip also only shows the Ambassador's personal condolences on the many deaths, and not the formal apology.

Paying Respects to the Dead

2009-06-01T13:16:00.004+10:00

On May 31st, after the 150th anniversary celebrations of the opening of Yokohama Port to the outside world, Upper House President Satsuki Eda visited Yokohama Commonwealth War Cemetery.

There he spent nearly an hour with members of POW Research Network Japan paying his respects to the Allied POWs interred there. He shed the suit coat and visited each section for each Allied nationality, and laid flowers at the main POW memorial. He also viewed the graves of the two Australians who died at Prime Minister Aso's family coal mine.

The Japanese press, however, does not seem to have reported on this visit. Nor has the press reported on Ambassador Fujisaki's apology to the American POWs of Japan the day before.

And Other Places

2009-05-31T14:54:00.006+10:00

Yes, on May 30th, Japan's ambassador to the U.S. did deliver his historic apologies to the former POWs of Japan, their families, and friends.

The Ambassador, speaking for the Government of Japan, expanded upon the apology he wrote to the last Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor Dr. Lester Tenney in December 2008:

Accepting with a spirit of humility the facts of history that Japan through its colonial rule and aggression caused tremendous damage and suffering including those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan Peninsula and Corregidor Island in the Philippines.

He altered the above to read to the ADBC Convention:

We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people including POWs , those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan peninsula the Corregidor Island, Philippines and other places.

Thus, this apology is inclusive of all POWs wherever captured or from any country. And it echoes the official, formal apology for the POWs given to Upper House member Yukihisa Fujita. In many respects it cements that significant apology. Again, I cannot emphasize enough that the apology given to Senator Fujita was a Cabinet Decision:

Accepting with a spirit of humility the facts of history that Japan through its colonial rule and aggression caused tremendous damage and suffering to the people of former Allied nations and other nations including former POWs.

Yes, the 1995 Murayama apology is quite fungible. And it is very careful about not mentioning the word "war."

What is unknown is how the Ambassador translated the English word "apology" in Japanese. In the Murayama Statement, the word used is merely owabi. Interestingly, Ambassador Togo in an op ed for the Mainichi translates it to the stronger shazai.

Here, it is important to note that Ambassador Fujisaki carefully used the personal pronoun "I" to signal a shift from his official statement to his personal feelings when he said,

I would like to express my deepest condolences to those who have lose their lives to the war and after the war and their family members.

ABC News, below, reports incorrectly that this was a Japanese government apology and expression of sympathy. It was not. It was the Ambassador's. Although these fine points are lost on the Americans, they are not to the Japanese, especially to Japan's very vocal conservative nationalists and Rightists.

In some respects, the American press has overstated what the Japanese ambassador has done. He has not apologized for the Bataan Death March or for the war. He is merely expressing regret for horrors inflicted upon the people who were put in their care.

Nevertheless, what the Ambassador has done is profoundly significant and opens the door for more words and acts of contrition. Each time the apologies will become easier and the discussion that surrounds them will become more searching. All this is a good thing.

Now, the US government needs to make clear to Japan that it is important to create a permanent Peace and Remembrance Fund for research and exchange to better understand the war. To put deed to words, it is necessary to not merely include the American POWs in the 1995 Peace Friendship and Exchange Initiative. A temporary, selective invitation program created long after any of the POWs could ever return to Japan is cynical, at best. It is indeed time for Japan to move forward.

This article gives a sense of what it was like to be in the Convention Room when the Ambassador spoke. Below is another article on the apology. The Nikkei reported the Ambassador's remarks here.

And here is a video clip of the Ambassador's short statement:

Japan Apologizes for Bataan Death March
Ambassador Speaks to Last 73 American Survivors of the March

By VIJA UDENANS
SAN ANTONIO, May 30, 2009—

The Japanese ambassador to the United States apologized in person today to the 73 surviving POWs of the Bataan Death March in the Philippines in April 1942 during World War II.

"We extend a heartfelt apology for our country having caused tremendous damage and suffering to many people including prisoners of war, those who have undergone tragic experiences in the Bataan peninsula the Corregidor Island, Philippines and other places," Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki said at the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor POWs of the Japanese during World War II.

Sixty-seven years after the Japanese captured and force-marched 12,000 Americans and 68,000 Philippines from the island of Corregidor to northern Luzon, denying them food and water, and killing the stragglers, the country apologized.

The ambassador said he was speaking for the government of Japan as he apologized.

"I would like to express my deepest condolences to those who have lose their lives to the war and after the war and their family members," he said.

It is estimated that the Japanese killed nearly 1,000 Americans and more than 10,000 Philippine soldiers on the march. When news of the march reached the United States, it enflamed the anger against the Japanese, which was already high because of the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the country into the war.

Lester Tenney, 88, former staff sergeant of the Army's 192nd Tank Division survived to write a book about the wartime injustice, called "My Hitch in Hell."

As president of the American Defenders of Bataan & Corregidor POWs of the Japanese during World War II, he made it his mission to pursue an apology from the Japanese government for the brutal treatment during that 12-day, 86-mile march in which stragglers were bayoneted and their bodies tossed by the roadside. Last November, while in Washington, D.C., to commemorate Veterans Day, he received a call from the Japanese ambassador, who asked him to visit his residence and relate his request.

Tenney described to him the tortuous experiences that he and his comrades had endured.

The ambassador took Tenney's request to his government and wrote a letter of apology. Upon receipt of the letter, he was invited to deliver it in person to annual gathering.

This will be the last time the POWS will host the gathering, the group has said. Their families, the Descendants Group will take on the memorial mission in the future.

Speaking to reporters after the ambassador's remarks to the POWs, Tenney said he "feels good" about his efforts.

He compared finally receiving the apology to "going 15 rounds in a fight and knocking out your opponent."

Whatever Tenney's feelings about his Japanese captors during the war, today he said he admired the ambassador.

"It takes an great amount of courage to come in the lion's den" and to express the Japanese point of view, Tenney said.

Fujisaki ended his remarks,

"Today Japan and U.S. are the closest friends, best allies. But we should always keep in our minds that this good relations, this status of past experience and efforts," Fujisaki said. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are committed to carry on the torch to our future generations of this excellent and irreplaceable friendship and relations."

Copyright © 2009 ABC News Internet Ventu

An Amazing Thing

2009-05-30T17:02:00.002+10:00

On Saturday, May 30th, the Japanese Ambassaor to the United States is expected to attend the last convention of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor to read an apology from the Government of Japan to the surviving POW of Japan and their families.

After rejecting the first invitation, the Ambassador surprised everyone and accepted the second invitation to address the Convention. Was it Congressional pressure, State Dept pressure, Veterans' groups pressure, Opposition Party pressure, New York Times pressure, or the good sense that if this public relations opportunity was missed it would be extremely damaging and damning to Tokyo?

How could Tokyo ignore the long-suffered pain and humiliation of 90-year old men who were forced to work for Japan's private companies and the military in subhuman, brutal conditions? How could Tokyo ignore the veterans of America's great generation in the middle of an international crisis where the missiles are pointed at it?

Don't bite the hand that defends you.

We do not know what the Ambassador has to say. There is much that he has to do. The apology needs to be followed by deeds, such as including the POWs and their families in a remembrance program, opening to the public all documents on the POWs, and compelling the Japanese companies that enslaved the POWs to apologize as well.

What we know, is that he is only planning to be in San Antonio for a few hours. His schedule had to be rearranged. Whatever he says, it will be historic for all concerned.

And much celebrated.

A New Blog

2009-05-29T07:41:00.002+10:00

There is a new blog on Asia.

It is funded by the MacArthur Foundation to support their Asia Security Initiative.

Supplied Note: The Asia Security Initiative blog hosts a discussion of current events and security challenges in the Asia-Pacific, drawing from the policy research of the Asia Security Initiative network. Anchored by six expert bloggers, the blog also includes contributions from leading Asia Security Initiative-supported experts.

As of yet, there is no Northeast Asia expert for the blog, but they are in the process of selecting him.

Road to an Apology

2009-05-28T11:51:00.010+10:00

Over the past few months, official Japan has been moving slowly toward a resolution of the issues caused by Imperial Japan's abuse and misuse of American Prisoners of War (POWs).

It has not been easy. Indeed, American POWs have been asking for justice from both Japan and the US government for 63 years. They have tried in the courts and the legislatures. Whereas public opinion in both Japan and the US favors the POWs, the national governments have felt the issue too incendiary to resolve. That is until Taro Aso, whose family used POW slave labor in one of their family mines, became prime minister.

This article,"The End of the Long March," in the Japan Times published on April 15th and then reprinted in the US Congressional Record as part of Congressman Brian Bilbray's (R-CA) Memorial Day statement on May 21st, recounts what efforts have been made to resolve the POW issue.

In sum, it has been the persistence of Japanese Senator Yukihisa Fujita (DPJ) seeking sincerity from the Prime Minister and the last Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) Lester Tenney seeking much-deserved justice that have made the Government of Japan to consider appropriate ways to achieve contrition.

For now, the Japanese government is considering its correspondence with Dr. Tenney private. More significant, the official, formal apology given to Senator Fujita for "all former POWs" is still buried in the records of the Diet as an answer to a question. No government official has dared translate it into any of the Allied POW languages and say it aloud. And no scholar or activist or foreign government official has realized the historic significance of the cabinet decision [kakugi kettei] that produced the apology. This is only the second time a war apology has been paired with a cabinet decision.

Dr. Tenney realizes its significance. And maybe that is all that matters.

As if giving the government's reply to the JT op ed, former Ambassador Kazuhiko Togo gives his own interpretation of the process. On May 18th, the Mainichi Shimbun published his essay, "Healing the scars of war: On the Japanese government's apology to American POWs," only in Japanese. [A translation is below.]

Sadly, he ignores the central issue, which is that the POWs were slave laborers for Japan's military and private companies. It is this issue of responsibility for maintaining a system of slavery, not the starvation and torture they endured, which is central to all POW requests for an apology. He also ignores that Prime Minister Aso has yet to apologize for his family's use of Allied POWs.

There are many things Amb Togo ignores, but I am sure Dr. Tenney will want to address them himself.

For now, let me just highlight a mistranslation by Amb Togo that was pointed out to me by a number of Japan scholars who were both surprised and annoyed by his elaboration on the original.

In English, Dr. Tenney wrote: "We POWs accept these long-sought apologies."
[This terse English sentence was written to convey 1) the two apologies given to the POWs are considered as creating one solid apology and 2) the POWs have long fought for the apology.]

Amb Togo, however, translates that sentence as:

私たち米国人戦争捕虜は、日本政府が長い時間をかけて探求してきたこの謝罪表明を受け入れる。
["We, the American POWs, accept the apology that the Japanese government has come up with after its long search."]

As you can see, Amb Togo's translation changes dramatically the intent of Dr. Tenney's words. Togo makes it seem like the Foreign Ministry had worked long and hard to come up with a solution. It had not.

I hope that this is not the view of the Foreign Ministry. Sadly, Japan's Ambassador to the US Fujisaki has turned down two invitations to attend the last ADBC Convention this week to read the apologies to the POWs. [Later: See next post, as it turns out the Ambassador accepted the second invitation at the very last moment.]

Dr. Tenney and many of the members of the ADBC are survivors of the Bataan Death March. Clearly, the end of their road to an apology is not yet at an end. It would be nothing less than callous and small hearted to allow the last survivor to die without him hearing an apology.

As an aside, on Memorial Day, the New York Times again featured an op ed on the Bataan Death March. The essay, The Memorial of the Mind, included three drawings of the ordeal by one of the survivors who eventually became an art professor [see above]. He only uses pen and blank ink, because, he said, “I want my work to get right to the point.”

Healing the scars of war: On the Japanese government's apology to American POWs

MAINICHI (Page 4) Evening, May 18, 2009

By Kazuhiko Togo, visiting professor at Kyoto Sangyo University, former ambassador to the Netherlands

One of the deep scars between Japan and the United States relating to the memories of the war is about to be healed.

I think this is one of the achievements of the Taro Aso cabinet that will go down in history. I would like to pay my sincere respect to the work done by my former colleagues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is unfortunate though that such a momentous event is taking place practically unnoticed by the Japanese people.

The question of mistreatment of soldiers and officers of the allied forces during the Pacific War was dealt with through the trial of Class B and C war criminals and payment of compensation to the countries of the prisoners-of-war under Article 16 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

However, since the 1990s, former POWs whose trauma had not been healed have filed cases at Japanese courts seeking redress. The Japanese government began a project to promote reconciliation by inviting the former POWs and their families to Japan to meet Japanese individuals involved with the events during the war by launching the "Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative" in 1995. By 2004, 784 former POWs were invited to Japan from Britain, 425 from the Netherlands, and 56 from Australia. Activities under the initiative were concluded in 2004, but reconciliation projects have continued through funding by the concerned ministries.

However, American POWs have been excluded from the initiative. As illustrated by accounts such as the Death March of Bataan (the Philippines), the treatment of American POWs was in no way any better than that of the Europeans. Then, why were they not part of the initiative? If this was not the result of bureaucratic apathy, then there could be only one reason.

There seemed to be popular sentiment about whether there was any need for further reconciliation with the American soldiers who were prisoners-of-war, for they had killed many Japanese citizens with their atomic bombings, carpet bombings, and other operations. Such seemed to have been taken into consideration. However, cruelty by one side does not justify cruelty by the other side. The fact that there is such a sentiment among the Japanese is probably incomprehensible to almost all Americans. Such culturally-based distrust will shake the very foundation of the alliance. There is a need for somebody to have the courage to break off this negative linkage.

Recently, a friend in the U.S. sent me a copy of the letter sent by Lester Tenney, president of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor (ADBC) to President Barack Obama and Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki. Tenney has worked patiently to convince the Japanese
government to treat American POWs in the same manner as the British, the Dutch, and the Australians. He also contributed an essay to the April 15 issue of the Japan Times detailing ADBC's recent activities.

1) In November, 2008, Ambassador and Mrs Fujisaki were the first senior Japanese officials to meet him and listen seriously to his account of his bitter experience.
2) Based on his request at this meeting, he received a letter in December from the Japanese government through the ambassador stating: "We express our sincere apologies for inflicting damage and pain on many people, including those who experienced the tragedy of Bataan and
Corregidor."
3) In February, 2009, a statement based on the cabinet decision that the apology applies to "all former POWs" was conveyed to Diet members.
4) We, the American POWs, accept the apology that the Japanese government has come up with after its long search.

The ADBC will be disbanded this month. Before the group is dissolved, Tenney expresses hope for the American POWs to be included in the "Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative" or a similar framework. He says that if this is realized, he would like to invite Ambassador Fujisaki to the last meeting of ADBC and present this as the final embodiment of the reconciliation. I truly hope that this will materialize.

In light of the above positive steps, have there been any changes in the moves on the American side with regard to the atomic bombings?

In this regard, Mainichi Shimbun has reported several times that with former Kyodo News correspondent in Washington Fumio Matsuo taking the lead, an idea for the U.S. president to offer flowers in Hiroshima and for the Japanese prime minister to offer flowers at Pearl Harbor is being considered.

Two years ago, this idea was discussed at a seminar on history issues at the University of California in Santa Barbara, where Matsuo was invited as a guest speaker. The reaction of the participants was that this was "premature."

However, I had an opportunity to hold discussions with some of the participants at that time this past January, and the reaction of the American scholar who had been most negative about the plan had changed. He said: "This idea may move forward under Obama."

History is moving in a positive direction, albeit slowly.

A Conference on the History Issues

2009-04-21T11:14:00.002+10:00

Current Debates in Holocaust and Genocide Studies

Thursday, 7 May 2009, 09.00-18.00
Danish Institute for International Studies
Main Auditorium
Strandgade 71, ground floor, 1401 Copenhagen K

Background

Have we lost faith in the power of history? What are the answers to denial? How effective is international law as a preventive instrument? How are past atrocities shaped and reshaped in the aftermath? The abovementioned are some of the key questions being addressed when researchers from the Dutch Nordic Network for Holocaust and Genocide Studies meet with colleagues during their 6th annual reunion. On this occasion, DIIS is hosting a public seminar with members of the Network and invited experts. The seminar consists of three sessions followed by discussions. Professor Mark Osiel, Director for International Humanitarian and Criminal Law at T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, will deliver the keynote lecture.

More information HERE

More on Comfort Women

2009-04-12T00:45:00.002+10:00

Last month, Fukuoka City Council in southern Japan passed a resolution asking the Japanese government to recognize and apologize for establishment and management of the Comfort Women system for the Japanese military during the Pacific War.

This is the fourth local council in Japan to pass such a resolution.

Takarazuka City (Hyogo Pref.) March 3, 2008
Kiyose City (Tokyo Metro Pref) June 2, 2008
Sapporo City (Hokkaido Pref.) November 11, 2008
Fukuoka City (Fukuoka Pref.) March 25, 2009

Other local councils in Japan are expected to follow soon. These local resolutions initiated by Japanese grassroots activists and NGOs are profoundly meaningful to those who care about the issue.

The pressure to pass a resolution of apology is coming directly from hearts of Japanese citizens. From the bottom up using the democratic process. This avenue of raising awareness on the Comfort Women and other issues of war history can go along way toward a permanent Japanese reconciliation with their past.

A Hero to Meet

2009-04-07T06:06:00.002+10:00

Korean Comfort Women: The Pros and Cons of Using
International Human Rights Law as an Advocacy Platform

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Time:

7:15 p.m. Light Dinner
8:00 p.m. Presentation
9:00 p.m. Q&A
9:30 p.m. End

Venue:

Temple University, Japan Campus, School of Law, Mita Hall (Map)
4-1-27 Mita, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0073

Fees:

Members ¥3,000
¥1,500 for full-time student members
¥5,000 for non-members and guests
¥2,000 for student non-members and guests (please present student ID)

RSVP: fwla.events@gmail.com

Dr. Etsuro Totsuka is a Professor of International Human Rights Law at Ryukoku University's School of Law. Dr. Totsuka has dedicated his legal career to defending human rights and has won several awards recognizing his commitment to justice in this area.

He advocates for mentally ill patients in Japan and successfully effected the 1997 amendment to the Mental Health Act. He frequently appears before United Nations bodies in defense of victims of human rights abuses, including the Comfort Women, and represents United Nations NGOs, such as the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) and the Japan Fellowship of Reconciliation (JFOR). He currently serves as the main Geneva representative for the JFOR developing overseas educational programs at the United Nations for students of Ryukoku University. He also serves as the General Secretary of the Research Institute of International Human Rights Law Policies.

On February 17, 1992, Totsuka Etsuro through the UN-recognized NGO International Educational Development (IED), made the first oral intervention before the UN Commission on Human Rights (now Council) in which Japan was condemned for its crimes against humanity onto the Korean and other Asian "sex slaves" (UN doc. E/CN.4/1992/SR.30/Add.1.).

Dr. Totsuka graduated from Rikkyo University with a B.Sc. in 1964 and a B.A. in 1970. In 1973, he graduated from the National Institute for Legal Training and Research and was licensed as an attorney. He received an LL.M., LSE from the University of London in 1990 and a Doctorate of International Relations Studies from Ritsumeikan University in 2007.

Hiding History

2009-04-04T10:27:00.003+11:00

On December 18, 2008, there was extraordinary testimony on the Diet floor, if you are a historian--or tasked with accounting for POWs/MIAs or a POW family member or a former POW.

Prime Minister Taro Aso had discounted the veracity of documents found in the US National Archives that showed that his family's mining business used POW forced labor. Upon the request of Upper House member Yukihisa Fujita (DPJ), the government investigated if there was other information on labor in the Aso mines.

As Katura Oikawa, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, testified in the Diet, the answer was not only yes, but that these documents have never been released to the public, or historians, or to POW families. And there is even a possibility that they were never released to the Occupation.

A translated transcript of the exchange between Oikawa and Fujita is below. You can find the full description of the Fujita's questioning of Aso and others on the use of POW labor HERE. The full transcripts are after the article.

RECORD 2 (December 18, 2008):

(Q) FUJITA:

Hello, everyone. On November 13, when I questioned Prime Minister Aso, I submitted to the members of the committee two documents concerning Aso Mining Company. A part of these is on the last page of the hand-outs you were given. I questioned PM Aso regarding these Aso Mining documents found in the U.S. National Archives and elsewhere, to which he answered that he would reply, were the materials to be found relevant. As the Japanese Government has done some investigation on their relevancy, I’d like the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) to comment on that matter.

(A) OIKAWA:

I will report on the results of our careful research on the documents we preserve in the MHLW, which we performed following the discussion held the other day.

As for the results, we could not find among the materials the same documents as the honorable committee submitted. However, we did find documents regarding the POW camp that was opened in the Yoshikuma Coal Mine of Aso Mining Company, the content of which has much in common with the honorable committee’s material. Therefore, we believe that the material submitted by the honorable committee, which had been submitted by the Aso Mining Company to the POW Information Bureau (PIB), can be appropriately regarded as genuine documentation.

(Q) FUJITA:

The material distributed today is titled on the cover page as “Summary of Documents Regarding Aso Mining Company.” These are the valuable documents dug out of the dust- covered archives kept in the basement of the MHLW, after long hours of hard work and careful examination by Mr. Deputy Director-General Oikawa and others. The Table of Contents of this 43-page document, along with several other pages, have been copied and handed out today. Would you explain briefly the details of this camp, such as the number of POWs from each country, the duration of the work period, type of work, and so on?

(A) OIKAWA:

As we examined the archives preserved at the MHLW, we found documents which were handed down from the PIB, such as a “Summary of POW Camps and Branches.” According to these documents, a POW camp was opened at the Yoshikuma Coal Mine of Aso Mining Company at Katsuragawa-machi, Kaho-gun, Fukuoka Prefecture, as the 26^th Branch of the Fukuoka POW Camp Group. It was opened on May 10, 1945, and was closed on August 15 of the same year. As of August 15, 1945, 300 POWs were held there, which consisted of 101 British, two Dutch, and 197 Australian POWs. They were made to work digging coal, etc., at the coal mine, and two Australian POWs died in captivity.

(Q) FUJITA:

Looking at the end of these documents, which were recognized as genuinely having been submitted originally by Aso Mining Company, on the second page from the last of the hand-out, it shows that, on February 22, 1945, a request was submitted by Aso Mining Company to Army Minister Sugiyama for permission to utilize 300 POWs for one year. It also says that around 150 able-bodied men were used for labor in the coal mine or for digging air-raid shelters and so on. This report was then submitted to the PIB on January 24 of the following year, 1946. It’s quite a detailed report, including data on food nutrition and other things.

Looking at these phrases such as ‘except officers,’ and also according to the official of the MHLW, it appears they treated POWs adequately, being conscious of the Geneva Conventions although Japan was not a member of it, which makes me glad they did. But anyway, I’d like to make further research of the document.

However, I’d like to ask the official of the MHLW why such archives were preserved by the Japanese government and have never been examined?

(A) OIKAWA:

Allow me to begin with the particulars of how these POW-related documents came to be under the MHLW’s care. In 1941, the PIB was established in the former Japanese Army as an organization which dealt with matters regarding foreign POWs, and after the war became the 1^st Demobilization Ministry, successor to the former Army. When this was abolished in 1957 through the Prime Minister’s Office, the archives were then taken over by the MHLW.

Regarding archival investigations, not only is it somewhat difficult now to understand the old period right after the end of the war, but there has been no occasion in recent times which has urged a thorough examination of these materials, and I think that has led to the current situation.

Official

2009-03-17T02:20:00.003+11:00

Several weeks ago, there was a hint that the Emperor and Empress of Japan might make an "unofficial" historic visit to Pearl Harbor. Many had hopes that an Imperial moment of reflection at the opening of World War II's Pacific theater would symbolize Japan's acceptance of its wartime responsibilities and officially end the war of apologies. After all, the Emperor remains Japan's head of state.

Unfortunately, the Imperial Household announced on March 13th that this visit would not happen. In an abrupt and overly harsh statement, to Western ears, a palace official said "The purpose of the visits is not for the repose of people's souls."

Well, I guess the Emperor wants these souls to haunt Japan for another generation.

A Day in History

2009-03-11T08:02:00.002+11:00

MARCH 9, 2009

TBS TV runs a 4-minute news segment on the POWs who worked in the mine owned by Prime Minister Aso's family. Includes interviews Australian POW Joe Coombs who disputes that the POWs were well-treated.

Asahi Shimbun runs a short news article based on the day's Diet exchange between PM Aso and Senator Fujita of the DPJ. Aso concedes that the “entire government's response” to the November 2006, New York Time’s piece on POWs in the Aso Mines by Nori Onishi was "not sufficient." But he says it was standard operating procedure for the Foreign Minister to have telephoned the NY Consulate and instruct it to make the online rebuttal.

Mainichi Shimbun reports that Minoru Shibuya, Japan’s ambassador to the Netherlands visited Kyushu on February 26th and laid flowers at a POW memorial in Mizumaki. Here is new memorial website to the 871 Dutch POWs who died in Japan as slave laborers. Amb. Shibuya is Catholic.

International Labor Organization once again urges Japan to address its wartime violations of the Forced Labor Convention (1930) with respect to comfort women and industrial slavery.

Relevant portions of the 2009 report are on pp.222-224 (pp.252-254 of PDF version).
LINK to ILO webpage describing the report
LINK to 800-page report in PDF

Fukuoka High Court dismisses a damages suit against the government and two companies by 45 Chinese who were forced to work as laborers in Japan during World War II. The court acknowledged that forcibly taking the Chinese to coal mines in Fukuoka Prefecture was an illegal act committed jointly by the government and the companies. However, it noted that individual Chinese have no right to demand war reparations from Japan due to a postwar agreement.

Last April, the high court's presiding judge, Koji Ishii, effectively recommended the two sides settle out of court, issuing a paper that said forcibly taking Chinese people to Japan was "a state policy" and that "the pain the victims have suffered was big." But negotiations were broken off, partly because the government rejected the suggestion.

Tamogami Update

2009-03-11T01:33:00.004+11:00

For more information on General Toshio Tamogami's website, please see this post at Armchair Asia.

And if you are near Stanford University, you might want to attend,

THE TAMOGAMI AFFAIR: HISTORY AND SECURITY IN NORTHEAST ASIA. 3/12, 5:15–6:30pm, Stanford, CA. Sponsor: APARC, Stanford U. Speaker: Daniel C. Sneider, Stanford University. Location: Okimoto Conference Room, Encina Hall, 3rd Floor, East Wing. Contact: RSVP required, Ms. Debbie Warren, (650) 723-838

Tamogami Live

2009-03-04T09:06:00.002+11:00

General Toshio Tamogami, the former Japan Air Self-Defense Forces Chief of Staff who believes that Japan pursued a just and honorable war against Western aggression, has just established his own web presence: http://www.tamogami.org

He apparently has a large following. Nearly every day of the week he has a speaking engagement. On Sunday, he gave a speech in California, near Los Angeles, on his views and how his rights for free speech are being denied. The Sankei reports that nearly 300 members of the local Japanese community attended.

The General has hinted that he is interested in running for office in the upcoming Lower House elections.

A Historic Visit?

2009-03-02T15:47:00.002+11:00

This morning, Kyodo News reported that the Japanese Emperor and Empress may make an unofficial visit to Hawaii. On this visit it is possible that they will visit the USS Arizona Memorial and lay a wreath.

Anything is possible.

Upper House Speaker Yohei Kono visited Pearl Harbor in December. I still am not clear if he only visited the Punchbowl cemetery or actually the USS Arizona Memorial. Neither the press nor his own website clarifies that. In fact, his website says nothing at all about the visit.

The Truth is Winning

2009-03-02T09:28:00.005+11:00

On Monday, February 23, Jan Ruff O'Herne who at 21 was forced to become a Comfort Women to the Japanese on Java gave another interview to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Long an Australian citizen, she is speaking out again to encourage the Australian Parliament to pass a motion calling upon Japan to unequivocally apologize to the Comfort Women, to offer honest compensation for their trauma, and to reprimand publicly any who denied that the Comfort Women system existed.

Her words are moving and inspiring as she recounts what happened to her and how she has lived with the memories. She is in the process of writing a new memoir and was energized by her 2007 testimony to a subcommittee of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee. It was the first time a government acknowledged what had happened to her and the other Comfort Women.

As she said, "the truth is [now] winning."

The Laugh

2009-02-20T02:48:00.004+11:00

On Wednesday, February 18th, an assistant to the Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ichiro Fujisaki called Lester Tenney. He said that the Ambassador would not be traveling next week to San Diego. The Japanese Prime Minister was coming to Washington. Thus, it would not be possible for the Ambassador to meet with him to continue the quiet dialogue they started on Japan's reconciliation with the American POWs of Japan.

Dr. Tenney,88, Commander of the American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, has tried for 65 years to get recognition and an apology for his and other POWs of Japan's forced labor for Imperial Japan's military and private Japanese companies. Strangely, the Japanese have offered apologies to and created a Peace, Friendship, and Reconciliation Initiative for all the other Allied POWs. Only the Americans were excluded. No answer why has ever been given.

Dr. Tenney then asked about the possibility of meeting with the visiting Prime Minister to discuss resolving this sore on US-Japan relations. After all, Mr. Aso had just admitted that his family company used POWs in his mines during the war.

The Japanese diplomat laughed at him.

The young man's blunt response resurrected a bitter memory in Dr. Tenney. He flashed back to end of the Bataan Death March. Starving, exhausted, and sick the surviving POWS stood at attention in Camp O’Donnell while the Japanese Commandant told them [the POWs] that they were “lower than dogs” and “they [the Japanese] would treat them that way for the rest of their lives.” Then the Commandant said, “We will never be friends with the piggish Americans.”

Dr. Tenney is only asking for fairness for the American POWs. He wants the American POWs and their descendants to be included in a new Japanese government initiative to fund visits and research on the POW experience, and to help former POWs to overcome and cope with their negative wartime experiences and to promote a spirit of reconciliation with Japan and the Japanese people.

After all these years of goodwill and friendship between the US and Japan, is this too much to ask?

Saving Her Aso

2009-02-19T08:21:00.003+11:00

Prime Minister Taro Aso who has less than a 10 percent approval rating is coming to Washington February 24^th. What!? Conventional wisdom, “mature reflection,” in Washington calmly notes that “that of course the Prime Minister of Japan (regardless of who or his poll numbers) WILL be invited...invited early...to meet the new President of the United States. The primacy of the alliance...political, economic, strategic at ALL levels... mandates nothing less.”

What nonsense. With a cautious Asia team in place and second string Armitage players soon to arrive, the Obama Administration is bending over backwards to assure official Japan that nothing will change. And nothing has. Americans still cave in to incessant Japanese whining. Japan remain the “cornerstone” of our Asia policy.

Although Administration officials say (privately) that they could no longer stall on a meeting with Aso, the invitation to the White House is read as a transparent effort to rescue the Aso Administration and the LDP. That probably means that the Obama Administration prefers Aso over opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa. There is too much fear among Washington’s Japan managers of an untested opposition party DPJ led government in Tokyo. They see Ozawa as a bigger threat to US-Japan relations than an ineffectual LDP government.

I think that the invitation will ultimately be a mistake. This show of support for a failing regime undermines the goodwill that Obama has regenerated with the Japanese people. In some ways, Obama’s election represents a repudiation of the corrupt and jingoistic politics as practiced by the LDP. The Japanese dismiss Aso and the LDP for a good reason. Now they have a new reason to dismiss the US.

Ozawa was right to avoid meeting with Secretary Clinton. His election strategy is to distance himself from anything LDP and that includes clearly the United States. Before the Aso invitation, there was some ambiguity as to how the Obama Administration felt. Now there is none. Clinton’s meeting with him was mere show to assuage Washington that they “reached out.” Ozawa correctly judged that the new White House was no more imaginative with the US-Japan relationship than that of the old one. Clinton’s too-long stay in Tokyo pandering to the usual mystic Japanese cultural icons—the Meiji Shrine, the Empress, the Abductees families—simply reinforced that conclusion.

One can make the argument that Japan is not in a situation favorable to changing the prime minister or to having an election. But that is an admission that Japan is not a stable democracy. And it is never a good idea to alienate an increasingly popular opposition party. However, the whole effort may backfire. The February 24^th fly-in might accentuate the contrast between the world's most vigorous president and the unpopular empty-headed and empty-handed prime minister. Mr Obama may end up meeting the “dissed” Prime Minister Ozawa sooner than expected.

Over Taken

2009-02-16T15:38:00.002+11:00

A few days ago, I wrote a piece for CSIS's Pacific Forum PacNet Newsletter, Affirming Japan's Better Angels, with some observations about the Clinton visit to Japan. I used economic and polling numbers from the previous weekend. Although, they seemed optimistic to me, I was tied to the facts as published. I had wanted to refer to the political and economic difficulties more broadly, but knew any editor would come back to me asking for specific examples.

Monday (Tokyo time), the essay was published and my unease about the statistics and the political atmosphere proved correct. Prime Minister Taro Aso's approval rating plunged from 17% to merely 9%. New GDP calculations for the last quarter found the economy contracting not 3 % but closer to 13 %. And as if to dramaticize the problem, Japan's Finance Minister showed up three sheets to the wind (as they say) at the G-7 meeting in Rome and dozes off.

My PacNet essay was intended to show that Secretary Clinton was unlikely to get too much from Japan and that she better be prepared to rethink how Japan can define its power. I now think I was too subtle. Japan has neither the leadership nor finances to sustain itself as an American ally, let alone a world power. The US-Japan Alliance is in trouble not because of American passing by Japan or of the constraints from Article 9, but because Japan is simply passed out.

As in many things, the classic movie Animal House sums up the situation:

Doubt

2009-02-16T09:01:00.006+11:00

After some back and forth, Ichiro Ozawa, leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), agreed to an audience with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. It is tough to see who will gain more from the Tuesday meeting. Neither seems good at listening and it is listening that will matter most.

Ozawa is dedicated to winning the next parliamentary election and ending for the second time the LDP’s hold on contemporary Japanese politics. To do this, he tries to be all things to all people. He needs to manipulate a peculiar parliamentary electoral system that favors rural over urban voters, the content over the discontent. Most important, he needs to be sensitive to public opinion and what energizes it.

In Japan, a friendly view of the Japan-U.S. relationship has been declining. According to a recent government survey, the percentage of Japanese people who think that the condition of Japan-U.S. relations is good has dropped to 68.9 percent, the lowest since the survey was started in 1998. The number of Japanese people who have warm feelings toward the U.S. also has fallen.

Thus, during the Bush years, being anti-American, a bit obstructionist to American demands, or just showing some independence from Washington were all good for a Japanese politician, right or left, hoping to win votes from Japan's restive citizens. The Obama Administration, however, is something different; so it seems to the Japanese people. They believe that the new American president might have something fresh to say and offer.

Ozawa appears to think differently and questions this assumption of “change.” Maybe, Obama’s Asia team less impresses him than MOFA, which is relieved that that there are no new people to work with. He detects that Clinton, thus far, sounds a lot like Rice in her demands on Japan. His hesitancy to meet with the Secretary unfortunately betrayed this conclusion and deepened the distrust America's Japan managers have of him.

His insight that “change” would not be forthcoming and that Obama will ultimately disappoint the Japanese people, however, is too prescient. He is ahead of the Japanese people's current perceptions about the “new” Washington. Thus, by being "too busy" to meet Secretary Clinton he looked more petty than savvy, more indifferent than in command.

Ozawa may be excused for his harsh view of this untested Obama Administration. He certainly observed that the men--Mike Green and Kurt Campbell--who advised Clinton for her trip to Japan were the same who had advised Bush and Rice. Mr. Green, a former NSC Asia director, is considered one of the senior Japan managers in Washington. His close friend and mentor Kurt Campbell has been selected for assistant secretary of State for Asia and Pacific Affairs (nomination yet to be sent up to the Hill). Green and Richard Armitage are both on the board of Mr. Campbell’s Center for a New American Security.

The two also have been ardent critics of Ozawa. Publicly and privately in Washington they question Ozawa’s commitment to the US-Japan Alliance and hint at darker associations. In August 2007 they wrote a blunt op ed for Asahi Shimbun, “Ozawa’s Bravado May Damage Japan for Years” [the piece appears to have been removed from the CNAS website over the weekend, however the miracle of “cache” returns the evidence.]

Would a Minshuto prime minister be able to say that Japan stands firmly with those countries in the war on terror? Would they be able to make the claim that Japan is ready to play a larger role in the international community? And how does Japan's ambassador to the United Nations explain that Japan is ready to take the leadership responsibilities of a permanent U.N. Security Council member the day after the counterterrorism law is killed and Japanese ships pull out of the coalition effort?

North Korea's view of a Minshuto decision to block the counterterrorism law is easier to predict. Alliances are not judged in one region alone, but globally. And North Korea saw a clear signal in Japan's decision to dispatch the MSDF to the Indian Ocean that the U.S.-Japan alliance is stronger than it realized precisely because it is a global alliance.

But if that alliance deflates or drifts because of a withdrawal from the coalition, Pyongyang will be delighted. Pity the diplomats who have to try to negotiate with Pyongyang about the abductee issue after that.

Thus, it is with doubt that Ozawa and Clinton meet. Each will have to overcome his or her prejudices before they can listen to each other. And if the pundits are right and Ozawa is soon to be prime minister, it is an effort worth doing.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T04:35:00.001+11:00

Coming to America

2009-02-12T07:12:00.002+11:00

For those of us who are not in Japan and who have not had the benefit to hear former General Toshio Tamogami talk about how Japan was tricked into World War II and a victim of American aggression, an opportunity appears on March 1. According to a blog and the Sankei Shimbun, the General will speak near Los Angeles on “Talking My Thoughts”.

March 1, 2009, 2:00-5:00 pm (Registration starts at 1:00 pm). 5:00 pm-Reception
Fee: $30 for the event, $35 for the reception
Location: Holiday Inn, Torrance, 9800 S.Vermont Ave., Torrance, CA 90502, (310) 781-9100

Contact: tamogami@checkmateking.com, 800-479-0667／FAX：310-464-3406
For Application Form, Contact: anti_anti_jp@kardia.biz

Update on the Bishop

2009-02-12T06:47:00.003+11:00

Denying the Holocaust has its consequences. This past weekend excommunicated Bishop Richard Williamson was removed as head of the seminary he led in Argentina since 2003. He was told that he had no business discussing the Holocaust. The Vatican has said Williamson will not be allowed to perform priestly functions until he recants his Holocaust denial.

On Monday, February 9th, Williamson’s request to a German court asking it to order Swedish Public Television to restrict broadcast of an interview in which he doubts the existence of Nazi gas chambers and a systematic Nazi plan to annihilate European Jewry was denied. Williamson had sought the help of the court because Holocaust denial is punishable in Germany only if it is publicized there. He gave the interview in Germany.

A German district attorney announced February 4 that he had launched a criminal investigation against Williamson on January 23. Denying the Holocaust in Germany is punishable by up to five years in prison. The same hate speech law exists in Sweden.

SPIEGEL INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP RICHARD WILLIAMSON, 'I Will Not Travel to Auschwitz' here.

Further Study Needed

2009-02-09T02:37:00.003+11:00

This weekend, excommunicated, disgraced, heretic (what do you call him?) Bishop Richard Williamson gave an interview with Der Speigel, a German magazine. He said that he would have to "examine historic evidence" before considering rejecting his long-held beliefs denying the Holocaust.

"It is not about emotions but about historic evidence," he said. "If I find this evidence, I will correct myself. But that will take time."

"I was convinced that my views were right on the basis of my own research from the 1980s. But now I see that there are many honest and intelligent people who think differently and I therefore must look again at the historical evidence."

Williamson made clear he does not plan to comply immediately, and rejected a suggestion that he might visit the Auschwitz death camp, the weekly Der Spiegel reported.

So, the Bishop remains excommunicated and he apparently rather burn in Hell before he acknowledges the Holocaust.

Der Spiegel has not yet posted an English-language version of its interview with Bishop Williamson. However, they have an interesting discussion of the issue and it is likely that this link will eventually have the interview.

The Daily Telegraph has a review of the interview here.

Recycling Through

2009-02-08T17:34:00.005+11:00

Although most are interested in when Aso will step down, I am intrigued by all the efforts Aso is making to stay on. He is not acting like anyone feeling pressured to leave. His daily schedule still includes late nights out and his staff is busy arranging overseas trips for him. US Secretary of State Clinton is even making Tokyo her first stop of her first overseas trip.

Recently, he decided to appoint foreign policy advisers. In January, he brought in two close advisers from his tenure as Foreign Minister. Both played prominent roles in formulating his “Arc of Freedom and Prosperity,” highlighting the abduction issue, breaking away from the “postwar regime,” and mishandling the Comfort Women issue. Both men are self-assured (ok, arrogant) and consider themselves American experts (ok, overbearing).

Former Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi was formally endorsed at a Cabinet meeting on January 20th as its representative to engage in negotiations with other nations on important diplomatic issues. He reportedly has a wide network of contacts in the United States and in October 2008 joined with former US ambassador to Japan Howard Baker to form a consulting venture, Japan-US Strategic Advisory.

In addition to teaching at seminars at the graduate school of Waseda University, he is a consultant to Tokyo Electric Power Company and Kajima Corporation. His private office is in a building owned by Kajima that is next to Kajima's head office in Akasaka, Tokyo. I do not know what happened to all these positions since he “rejoined” the government.

Aso reportedly has again found former MOFA Deputy Press Secretary Tomohiko Taniguchi, currently an adviser to MOFA, useful, and relies on him as a speechwriter. Taniguchi is a former Nikkei journalist who spent a number of years in Washington bouncing around town on fellowships, one of which included Brookings. His English is quite good and his views conservative and extremely anti-Chinese. Aso, apparently appreciates not only Taniguchi's English capability, but also his ability to gather information.

Taniguchi engineered Aso's disastrous July 2006 visit to the Juganji Temple that was intended to “honor” the spirits of the POW dead from WWII. The trip was arranged soon after scholars and journalists exposed the fact that Allied POWs had slaved under brutal conditions in an Aso family owned mine.

Westerners quickly surmised the proposed visit was a cheap publicity stunt by the then-Foreign Minister to soften his rightist image and boycotted the event. In the end, Aso paid only a 20-second tribute to the 1,086 POWs of Australia, Britain, Canada, India, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States whose remains were kept at the temple (picture at left).

Both men had a heavy hand in crafting Aso’s tenure as foreign minister and Abe’s as prime minister. I am not sure you could call either regime particularly successful or innovative. In both regimes, there was a clear effort to recapture a happier time of Japanese leadership. Maybe better luck this time.

NB: Interesting reading is an article by Takao Toshikawa, chief editor of Insideline magazine: "Losing a Foreign Policy Battle: A Study of Vice Foreign Minister Yachi -- Why Did the 'Big-Shot' Vice Minister, on Whom Former Prime Minister Abe Had Entrusted His Fate, Suffer a Setback?" Bungei Shunju, 01 Jan 08 - 31 Jan 08, pp 260-269.

Unequivocal

2009-02-05T16:08:00.002+11:00

Today, the Vatican responded to overwhelming public condemnation of its acceptance of a vocal Holocaust denier among its priests. They could not separate his non-secular duties from his public views that diminished a minority and contorted facts. There is simply no gray area among the basic facts and assumptions about the Holocaust.

On Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel roundly condemned the Pope's weak response to the controversy. This should not be allowed to pass without consequences," Mrs Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin. She emphasized that "This is not just a matter, in my opinion, for the Christian, Catholic and Jewish communities in Germany but the Pope and the Vatican should clarify unambiguously that there can be no denial."

On Thursday, the Vatican issued statement firmly admonishing the denier: "Bishop Williamson, in order to be admitted to the Episcopal functions of the Church, must in an absolutely unequivocal and public way distance himself from his positions regarding the Shoah [Holocaust]."

The Pope essentially admitted to a rare misjudgment. More important, he set an international standard for an apology from those who deny historical fact. He said it should be "unequivocal" and "public." These words are the very same that were written in 2007 by Congressman Mike Honda in his resolution outlining an appropriate official Japanese apology to the Comfort Women.

"Unequivocal" has become the universal value associated with apology. It will be, hopefully, more difficult for Japan to ignore.

N.B.: I am quite sick and am likely to come back to this post to correct it when I am better.

When Will There be an Election in Japan?

2009-02-04T03:31:00.002+11:00

Whereas I was always skeptical of the newly-minted Prime Minster Taro Aso calling an election within his first month of office, I was equally skeptical of a snap election in early spring. But I kept my silence. Smarter people than me thought otherwise. I still think we are going to have to wait.

Yes, the prime minister is unpopular, arrogant, and out of touch. Yes, the Japanese economy is tanking and society is unraveling. But, Mr. Aso loves his job. He likes being “king” as Mel Brooks would say. And there are no expectations that he has to be good at it. No one would be good at it in these times. His job is simply to hold out until the DPJ does something so foolish that the LDP actually looks good. Or until he can hold on no longer.

The reality is that neither the LDP nor the DPJ can present a coherent governing plan for Japan. Both parties are a jumble of competing and conflicting interests bound together by a lack of imagination and election financing. Both parties simply want to win elections. For now, the LDP has been good at that. Maybe that will change, but why hurry to find out. Mr. Aso seems to think so.

Internationally, Aso is not much of a charmer either. No one remembers he came bearing a plan at the G-20 last fall, and no one much listened at Davos when he said that Japan would pledge $17 billion in aid to developing countries in Asia. However, this figure is more linguistic than new: it does not mean that Japan is expanding its ODA to Asia as the is merely the accumulation of three years of Asia-bound aid that usually comes to around $6 billion per year.

The highlight of Davos, however, was Aso confusing Howard Brown for Tony Blair. President Obama only last week got around to calling him and pledged an “early” meeting. But I would caution foreigners from brushing off Aso, because that would just give him some sort of political bounce. Yes, he is an idiot, the Japanese people would reason, but he is “our” idiot.

On Saturday one of Aso aides, Shunichi Yamaguchi, told a news conference that Aso had told him that he would like to see a fiscal 2009 supplementary budget compiled in around May. That’s interesting. Another supplemental budget? No one mentioned that before. Yamaguichi continued that Aso also said that he would break up the House of Representatives for a snap election only after that.

Of course, on Monday, Aso flatly denied such a plan. The Diet has not even started full debate on the regular budget for the year starting in April, he said. But the cat was out of the bag. Talking about throwing money at an economic crisis is an excellent delaying tactic. Discussions can go on through May and June and then there are the preparations for the G-8 Summit in July.

So, if I were to guess, don’t expect any election movement until after the G-8, which will be held in Italy from July 8-10. Sardinia in the summer, something Aso would not want to miss.

Press Conference on Aso Mines

2009-02-03T08:45:00.005+11:00

On February 6, 2009, Senator Yukihisa Fujita (House of Councilors, DPJ) will hold a press conference to discuss the Government of Japan’s responses to his questions regarding the use of Prisoner of War (POW) forced labor in the Aso Mining Company’s Yoshikuma Mine (Fukuoka POW Camp #26).

Senator Fujita has long sought a clear response from both Prime Minister Taro Aso and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On January 6, 2009, Prime Minister Aso officially admitted that his family mining company used POWs from May through August 1945. Previously, Mr. Aso denied this fact.

Senator Fujita and other DPJ Diet members from both the Upper and Lower Houses have questioned the Prime Minister on his family’s use of POW forced labor.The Government of Japan is expected to release on February 6^th a new, written response to Senator Fujita’s questions.

Senator Fujita and two historians will discuss the government’s response. He will also introduce the voices of the survivors in Australia and a photo of Australian POWs just liberated in August 1945.

Time: Friday, February 6, 2009, 13:30-15:30
Location: Shuugiin Daiichi Giin Kaikan (Lower House First Office Building)
2-1 Nagata-cho 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Entrance passes will be issued at the lobby of the building starting 1:00 pm
Speakers: Senator Yukihisa Fujita(Member of House of Councilors, DPJ)
Mr. Toru Fukubayashi (Researcher of POW Issues, Osaka Keizai Hoka University, Asia-Pacific Study Center)
Professor Aiko Utsumi (Guest Professor, Waseda University)
Contact: 03-3508-8205 or info@y-fujita.com

For me, all that matters is the Truth Incarnate

2009-02-03T05:49:00.006+11:00

The journey toward understanding the emotional and psychological affects of the Pacific War upon Japan crosses often into Germany’s postwar history. Too many prominent Japanese continue freely to deny fundamental facts about the War. Their Sophist reasoning resembles that of Holocaust deniers. They rewrite history for present personal and political purposes. The critical difference between Japan and Germany, as I have mentioned before, is the scrutiny given Nazi deniers and not Japan’s.

This was highlighted this past week with the international uproar over the Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the 20-year excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williamson, an unrepentant Holocaust-denier, days before UN Holocaust Remembrance Day. The wayward bishop apparently believes that the Holocaust is overstated. Last month, Williamson denied during an interview broadcast on Swedish state television that six million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust.

Objections to the reinstatement were loud and numerous. It was front-page news in the West and Jewish organizations such as the Simon Wiesenthal Center organized petitions. Williamson’s beliefs were condemned by Jewish and Catholic groups, Israeli leaders, and politicians across Europe, and prompted Israel's chief rabbinate, the country's highest Jewish body, to cut its ties with the Vatican. Fifty Catholic members of Congress have written Pope Benedict XVI, asking him to directly reject the views of Bishop Williamson.

People defending the Pope, simply noted that he was focused more on Church unity than on side discussions of history. Moreover, the Pope did not know about the Bishop’s views and he has a tendency to be politically tone deaf. None of these reasons, however, seemed to make sense.
This view was reinforced by Pope’s indifference to Bishop Williamson’s letter to him apologizing for the controversy, but not the pseudo-history. Posted on the Bishop’s blog:

Amidst this tremendous media storm stirred up by imprudent remarks of mine on Swedish television, I beg of you to accept, only as is properly respectful, my sincere regrets for having caused to yourself and to the Holy Father so much unnecessary distress and problems.

For me, all that matters is the Truth Incarnate, and the interests of His one true Church, through which alone we can save our souls and give eternal glory, in our little way, to Almighty God. So I have only one comment, from the prophet Jonas, I, 12:

"Take me up and throw me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you; for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you."

Please also accept, and convey to the Holy Father, my sincere personal thanks for the document signed last Wednesday and made public on Saturday. Most humbly I will offer a Mass for both of you.

No Japanese denier could be more eloquent in avoiding responsibility. The objective of deniers is to sow doubt. And if the Holocaust did not happen or if Imperial Japan did not rampage across Asia, then maybe, just maybe Fascism or Emperor worship was not so bad. Maybe these governments are better alternatives to democracy. Or as Pierre Vidal-Naquet wrote in his 1992 book, Assassins of Memory: “One revives the dead in order to better strike the living.”

[On a lighter note, sometimes history can be cruel, even to Hitler. So far and lucky for you, I have not figured out how to post videos, but if I could I would demonstrate my point with this clip from an ever popular series, especially among the British: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4s7dXMuAPo or this one, but not as good, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rn1U2wfO5QM

Who is Smiling Now?

2009-01-31T08:44:00.006+11:00

Japan hates to be compared to Nazi Germany. The Japanese argue, after all, they did not have a madman who intoxicated a civilization. Instead, they were defending their homeland and ridding Asia of the White colonialists. Beyond being allies, the similarities end.

Genocide scholar Michael J. Bazyler, however, disagrees, especially in regard to the forced labor issue.In a recent JapanFocus article he contrasts German and Japanese responses to their wartime history of forced labor. And Japan comes up short. He concludes that “As far as WWII forced labor was concerned, they are quite similar. What was different was that Germany and Japan took different approaches after being legally exonerated.”

The article reviews Prime Minister Taro Aso’s January 6^th surprising admission that his family used Allied POW slave labor (Dutch, British, and Australian). Aso is quick to note that the labor was in compliance with the Geneva Conventions and benign. Neither is true.

The Geneva Conventions prohibit the use POWs for war-related industries and the Aso mine was clearly for the war effort. Mr. Aso’s father (Takakichi pictured above left with his son Aso on the right) boasted in the Aso Company history that the mine showed ‘kamikaze spirit.” No surviving POW of the Aso mine has fond memories of their treatment. Shortly, surviving Australian POWs will provide testimony of the horrific conditions they were exposed to in the Aso mines. Mr. Aso and company documents say they were treated well. This was not true. If you are interested, there remains a diary of one of the two Australians who died of brutality and disease in the Aso mine. Edgar Wilkie’s diary can be found HERE.

The author commends Germany for taking responsibility for its past use of slave labor by providing compensation and an apology. He notes how Germany acknowledged and complied with contemporary human rights norms. Here is an area where Japan is clearly falling behind. Although Japan participates on all sorts of UN women's rights, peacemaking, and humanitarian committees and programs, there seems to be an inability in Tokyo to see how these apply to itself.

It is hard to imagine a Japan as a permanent member of the UN Security Council without the country fully involved with today's forward-looking and progressive humanitarian ideals. Most would say, however, that the critical problem for Japan in the UN is that it cannot project military power to defend against violations of basic human rights abroad. The issue is more basic: "how can Japan seek a permanent UNSC seat while shirking its responsibilities to carry out all the activities endorsed by the Council."

The military dimension of UNSC membership is the least significant when compared with the example of what Japan can be. Saying it is a democracy, is not enough for Japan to distinguish itself from China. As the article below notes, Japan's original 2006 Foreign Ministry denial of Aso Mining's use of POWs was shameful and disingenuous for a country that aspires to better things.

I feel that the author understates the degree and importance of outside pressure exerted on Germany from NGOs, other governments, and especially the US from the highest levels. Indeed, it was the US that appointed a special ambassador to resolve the issue of slave labor compensation and insurance claims. The lesson, thus, is not that Japan needs to follow Germany's example, but that the US and others need to lay out affirmatively to Japan's elites a unified, specific goal of historical accountability as a critical element for modern national responsibility. It is not that Japan is Germany; it is that Japan is an important G-7 country.

The article includes transcripts of Dietmembers questioning Aso and other officials on Aso Mining.

Most significant for the scholarly community and the families of POWs of Japan is the "discovery" of new documents in the basement of the Health, Welfare, and Labor Ministry. At the very least, archivists, historians, and Allied defense ministries should be demanding the public release of these records.

With President Obama asking Americans and our allies to look to our “better history” (or as Lincoln said "better angels"), what a good opportunity this opens for Prime Minister Aso, who is expected to visit Washington soon, to come bearing in the spirit of reconciliation the newly found documents, an apology for American POWs, and a new Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative for the America’s POWs of Japan. Americans, unlike other Allied POWs, were never given apologies nor included in the original 1995 Peace, Friendship, and Exchange Initiative.

See: Japan Should Follow the International Trend and Face Its History of World War II Forced Labor [with translated Japan Diet proceedings concerning Aso Mining] by Michael J. Bazyler, Professor of Law and The "1939" Club Law Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies at Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California. Bazyler is a leading authority on the use of American and European courts to redress genocide and other historical wrongs.

Why is the Guy Still News?

2009-01-29T14:11:00.004+11:00

The Japan Times just ran an interview with former JASDF General Tamogami. Why? What more do we need to know? He clearly has nothing new to say. And he clearly has no ability for self-reflection.

In "Tamogami out of ASDF, not out of range: Sacked air chief of staff still making the rounds to espouse his rightwing beliefs and denounce his detractors" the General boasted about his publicity tour and words of encouragement he received from many prominent albeit unnamed politicians. Most important, he stuck to his guns about history:

His essay suggests Imperial troops were in China and the Korean Peninsula under treaty, but in reality the army launched its war in China in 1937 without any accord.

Tamogami, also a former head of the Joint Staff College, said he is aware of the criticism but added, "I am not a historian, and my opinions were formed from my own research."

He claimed most data that would mitigate Japan's wartime role were either burned or hidden from the public after the war. But some documents, including those held by former U.S. Gen. Albert Wedemeyer, he feels suggest the U.S. was in fact eager to "trap" Japan into attacking Pearl Harbor.

Wars are never cleanly fought, but to call Japan the only aggressor is wrong, Tamogami said.

One regrettable consequence of the essay is the Defense Ministry's overmanagement of the SDF, Tamogami admitted, claiming many in the ministry have misinterpreted the notion of "civilian control" and are going too far in trying to weaken the military."

He ended the interview by dismissing the idea that he had planned a coup or a coup by essay:

A coup? Give me a break. Planning such a thing would take away my free time. I'd rather go for a round of golf than plan a coup.

And I think he means it. Afterall, he is the only Japanese guy I have ever seen who has a notion of how to dress in a proper Western style and look good at it. He does not seem like the kind of guy willing to mess up the suit.

Happy Year of the Ox

2009-01-28T08:42:00.002+11:00

Commemoration

2009-01-28T04:35:00.003+11:00

International Day of Commemoration in memory of the victims of the Holocaust

January 27, 2009

Denying historical facts, especially on such an important subject as the Holocaust, is just not acceptable. Nor is it acceptable to call for the elimination of any State or people. I would like to see this fundamental principle respected both in rhetoric and in practice by all the members of the international community.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Press Conference SG/2120, 14 December 2006

Maybe

2009-01-28T04:18:00.004+11:00

How does individual grief and collective sorrow differ? Both reflect loss. I know individual grief and what it is to stand among the dead. Last week I did it again. Among the graves of my parents, grandparents and family friends, I buried the man who tried these past 25 years to fill in for all those that I lost. Montrepose Cemetery in upstate New York is a beautiful 19th Century memorial for personal grief.

In December, nearly unnoticed, Lower House Speaker Yohei Kono traveled to Hawaii to respect America¹s collective grief. On December 28, 2008, he became the highest-ranking Japanese sitting-official to visit the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl). Dedicated on September 2, 1949, 776 casualties from the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor were among the first to be buried here.

In part, his visit was a reciprocal one. In September, he had persuaded U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to visit a monument in Hiroshima dedicated to the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing. Although careful not to say anything during her visit, she did appear to “bow” by bending at the waist when she presented flowers. This gesture likely made an important impression of sincerity in Japan and Asia.

Kono also visited the memorial for the nine people who perished in the 2001 sinking of the high school fishing ship Ehime Maru by a U.S. submarine off the Hawaiian island of Oahu.. The only picture of Mr. Kono published in the Japanese press of the historic visit was of Kono praying at the Ehime Maru site. Kono was Foreign Minister at the time of the accident.

In a statement, Kono said he strongly hopes that the visits by the speakers of the two countries will contribute to "the true development" of Japan-U.S. relations, and that such accidents do not happen again. I cannot confirm this statement. I can only find quotes from the statement in Japanese press reports. The statement itself does not appear anywhere on the Internet in any language.

A Kyodo newswire story was essentially the only article on the visit. Nowhere in the US press, not even the Hawaiian newspapers, could I find a reference to the visit. This, I think, was unfortunate. Yes, the holiday season in Japan and elsewhere had editors avoiding serious issues, especially ones of war and remembrance.

And yes, American editors used to equivocal Japanese expressions of apology are skeptical of any Japanese act of contrition. Thus, even the sincere gestures are ignored. To be sure, the reluctance of both Speaker Kono’s office and Japan’s Foreign Ministry to publicize the visit to Hawaii suggests a hollow act.

I do not know what Mr. Kono wanted to accomplish by his trip to the American cemetery. The message was not just ambiguous, it was ignored. Maybe he was simply returning a favor, albeit reluctantly. Maybe he was setting a precedent other Japanese to acknowledge American’s collective grief. Whatever, I hope the visit gave him pause. Maybe he reflected upon his personal version of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:

But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

Waterboarding: The Meaning for Japan

2009-01-26T00:22:00.002+11:00

Today, the electronic journal Japan Focus published an interesting article by By Ms. Kinue Tokudome, "Waterboarding: The Meaning for Japan" (1/24/09). It is but another example of how unresolved and unexamined history issues continue to haunt. Or as one of my Yale professors said, "history does not repeat itself, just new people make the same old mistakes."

The article begins:

"If you look at the history of the use of that technique used by the Khmer Rouge, used in the inquisition, used by the Japanese and prosecuted by us as war crimes, we prosecuted our own soldiers in Vietnam, I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture."

The above statement made by Eric Holder during his confirmation hearing for Attorney General marked a clean break from the policy of the Bush administration on “waterboarding,” the interrogation technique used by the CIA on at least three Al-Qaida suspects, and on the general issue of the use of torture in US interrogation.

If the Japanese people were surprised to see their country grouped together with the Khmer Rouge, medieval torturers who brutally persecuted heretics, and US soldiers during the Vietnam War, some of whom were court-martialed, they should not have been.

....The article ends:

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the last revision of the Geneva Convention Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War. It is also the United Nation’s Year of International Reconciliation. It is hoped that it will be a year for Japan to find a moral voice. Japan can do so by facing the past squarely, achieving reconciliation with former victims, and winning the trust of the International community.

Looking to Better Angels

2009-01-24T18:46:00.002+11:00

Tokyo is trying to figure out the Obama presidency. Prime Minister Aso is begging for a meeting. As they have heard, an understanding of the Lincoln presidency provides a good perspective. These quotes may be helpful.

We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.
-Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, 1861

We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history…
-Barak Obama, Inaugural Address, 2009

Deus Ex Machina

2009-01-21T14:32:00.003+11:00

I admit, I was not satisfied until Executive 1 lifted off with former President Bush on board. There was something operatic about watching the helicopter hover above the Capitol.

Yes, the day was historic. But more important is was a day about respecting history. Americans had strayed from the ideals that created America. We forgot to aspire to something higher than the material and mistook mechanisms for values.

The day highlighted and celebrated the character of Americans that has been lost. President Obama asked Americans to draw upon their values, their history to move forward and to build upon, not to imagine an easier past or fabricate better memories. Democracy is more complex than mere elections. It is a cold acceptance of the past, good and bad.

And for Japan that wonders what a nation can do without an offensive military, he defined its parameters without resorting to meaningless, flaccid terms. He said:

Recall that earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions. They understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please. Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.

Americans, he continued, “are the keepers of this legacy. Guided by these principles once more, we can meet those new threats that demand even greater effort -- even greater cooperation and understanding between nations.”

Japan worries that it does not have enough contacts within the new Administration and it will be ignored. Japan’s elites would do better to fret less and listen more. There is a message for them when Obama says “On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn out dogmas, that for far too long have strangled our politics.”

Obama wants to bring out and ask the best from us. He urges us "to choose our better history."

Yes, America is ready to lead once more.

See the new White House website.

When the Past is Present

2009-01-20T07:31:00.002+11:00

These intense four days of celebration in Washington for the inauguration of President Barak Obama prompts me to look back on the appointment of Taro Aso to LDP president and Japanese PM. As the third unelected leader of Japan in two years, Aso’s ascension to power is a startling contrast to the transition on this side of the Pacific. The Japanese, unlike Americans, had and still have no expectation of “change.”

The New York Times anticipated this stagnation by emphasizing how PM Aso is mired in a contorted notion of Japan’s past. Back on September 25, 2008, the Times welcomed the new Japanese prime minister with the editorial “The Return of Taro Aso.” The editors warned that his “rebranding” as a pragmatist needed to be sincere. For Americans, “What the United States most needs from Japan is a responsible strategic partner, not a government whose imperial reveries and symbolic muscle-flexing will provoke angry reactions across Asia.”

The Times further noted that Japan’s economy was also in danger of being captive to an illusory past. The editors wrote that Japan’s future,

doesn’t lie in the nostalgic fantasies about Japan’s ugly past for which Aso has become so well known.” Instead, Japan needs to modernize its economy by completing the market reforms begun by Junichiro Koizumi, the former prime minister. And it needs to modernize its foreign policy by treating its neighbors as equals.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry, naturally, took issue with the editorial. Kazuo Kodama, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Oct. 1, 2008) wrote in emphasizing PM Aso’s efforts to build a “constructive future-oriented relationship” with Japan’s neighbors:

As Japanese foreign minister, Mr. Aso strengthened Japan's equal partnerships with China and South Korea. Returning to the diplomatic forefront as prime minister, Mr. Aso articulated his pragmatic approach in his United Nations speech, with his core message of peace and happiness through economic prosperity and democracy.

But, the Foreign Ministry as did Mr. Aso, missed the Times’ underlying message to Japan. Japan needed to look to the future itself; it needed to align its views, values, and policies with the rest of the modern, industrialized world. Japan was having a tough time seeing itself as “modern,” sometimes thinking it unJapanese. [more on this in later posts]

As if to drive this message home, Times editor Nicholas Kristoff used the op-ed page on the same day as his colleagues’ editorial to focus on human trafficking and sexual slavery. Although he did not mention its historical antecedent, Comfort Women, an issue that tripped up Aso’s predecessor, it was implied. In "A Heroine from the Brothels," Kristoff blasted the simpleness of leaders like Aso:

World leaders are parading through New York this week for a United Nations General Assembly reviewing their (lack of) progress in fighting global poverty. That’s urgent and necessary, but what they aren’t talking enough about is one of the grimmest of all manifestations of poverty — sex trafficking.

He urged legislation and awareness in the US and abroad. He made clear how trafficking preys upon societies weakest members for the benefit of a few. Most important he cited sex slavery as a contemporary scourge that can be eradicated. He did not mention Japan; he did not have to.

Change

2009-01-19T14:59:00.003+11:00

It is bitter cold on this historic weekend in Washington. Snow flurries expected tonight. So different from the steamy August days nearly 46 years ago that I came to Washington with my parents both to hear Martin Luther King and attend the American Book Sellers convention. Yes, my parents were old-fashioned Jewish liberals and my father ran the bookstore and taught calculus at a small community college.

I was very young and now am embarrassed to admit that all I really remember are crowds of strangers and it being incredibly hot and humid. I hope I will remember more about the inauguration of Barak Obama. However, I will stay home while my family bundles up and walks to the mall to participate in the greatest happening Washington has had in a very long time. My equally arthritic, multicultural, and artistic neighbor and I will watch the event on TV.

However, I do think I would brave the elements and tolerate the pain if there was a massive shoe throw at the White House Monday night. But there is something very artsy about that, and Washington is not a creative town. It is also likely that the very jumpy Secret Service would not appreciate this "shoe art."

With all the excitement and change in Washington, I pause when I think about the stagnation and apprehension in Tokyo. During this long holiday weekend—Washington is pretty much shut down until Wednesday—I have had the opportunity to review various articles and newspapers I had collected on US-Japan relations. Thus, a little warning to the very few poor souls that are assigned to track this blog: I have a number of posts to catch up on and my arm has been given some time to heal making it less painful to type.

But before I delve into the past, may I indulge in a bit of verbal shoe art? For now, I will only toss a sandal (good thing I have no idea how to post a photo). Tokyo should be delighted with Obama picks for Asia policy positions. They are Team Armitage the Lesser or as I told a bemused State INR official, Team Armitage’s Fifth Column. The hard-working nice guys on Obama's Asia team generally could not play the nasty rollerball post-election and lost out. Tokyo’s friends are back and the career folks who are less enamored with Nippon’s glitterati will be again pushed aside. The hustle on common values, symbolic security, and sympathy over Japan’s failing economy will return. There remains the chance that Tokyo’s biggest win will be Senator Inouye as ambassador. For the readers of this blog, the history issues will continue to be ignored and separated from security. It is even likely that the issues so dear to Bush and the human rights community such as child porn, human trafficking, and child abduction will fade among American interests.

Interestingly, PM Aso's response to all this is to shorten the Indian Ocean Mission to six months instead of a year, appoint foreign policy advisers who failed while he was foreign minister, annouce an economic policy that blames the excesses of American capitalism for Japan's downturn, and beg for a meeting with Obama. Yes, there is a lot to write about.

I ordered two pairs of sandals today.

Gored by the Bull

2009-01-06T14:49:00.009+11:00

Americans like lists. We like to rank things and like to know who is number whatever. So at the beginning of every year, you see all sorts of In/Out lists published in the States. Not to be left behind (though we are generally out of it), my past and current interns and I compose an annual list of what is In/Out for U.S. Asia policy hands. If you are wondering if history is on the list, don't. Americans are not good with history. So onward with the Year of the Bull...

2009 In and Out for U.S. Asia Policymakers

In 2009	Out 2008
Taro Aso	Taro Aso
Kim Jong-il	Kim Jong-il
Stalin	Putin
White men in charge of US Asia Policy	White men in charge of US Asia Policy
Team Armitage's Fifth Column	Team Armitage
No Land Fill	Futenma
Somali Pirates	Software pirates
Fiscal stimulus	Export-led growth
Urban poor	Rural poor
Economic bailouts	Preemptive invasions
Layoffs	Outsourcing
Food riots	Beef riots
Detroit	Baghdad
Bankruptcy lawyers	Defense contractors
Takeshima controlled by ROK	Dokdo controlled by ROK
Fodder for a new military dictatorship in Pakistan	Military dictatorship in Pakistan
Iraqi shoe industry	American auto industry
Thai Rural Voters	Thai Muslims
Sea Shepherd	Greenpeace
R2P	Genocide
Korean and Chinese Forced Labor	POW Forced Labor
Apologies	Excuses
Twilight	Dark or White Knights
De-friending	Networking

Who Are They?

2009-01-04T15:11:00.002+11:00

What do we call the people who inflicted the Pacific War upon Asia and the West? Who invaded China, bombed Pearl Harbor, experimented in biological warfare, tortured prisoners, raped women, and killed millions? Who felt they were liberating Asia from the White Race?

In briefing members of Congress, I am always careful to note that they should distinguish Imperial Japan from contemporary Japan. The former was our enemy and the later our ally. Although both are elements of modern Japanese history, they are distinct eras. Or are they?

Mr Robert Maguire of Ettrickbridge, Selkirk, Scotland commenting in the Financial Times on December 27, 2008 is not yet willing to distinguish today’s Germans from those of the Third Reich. He takes an author to task for using “Nazi” to describe what he says were “ordinary German airmen.”

He says:

Fairly evidently its purpose is, mistakenly, to reassure Germans now that they are our friends, fellow-members of the European Union, that we have come to believe it was not actually them we were fighting. I write “mistakenly” because, knowing quite a few Germans I am aware that individually and as a nation they are still painfully seeking to come to terms with just how it was that they were led to collude in enterprises that I consider were fundamentally evil. In this they see honesty as the first necessity, and we do not help them in persisting with the political correctness myth.

There is a great deal of truth in this letter. Ordinary Germans allowed Nazism to flourish. Not everyone was a member of the party. But annual surveys since the end of the War consistently show that one-third of Germans remain anti-Semitic.

Japanese, too, colluded in enterprises that were fundamentally evil. In fact, wartime Japan had fewer dissenters than Germany and was led by a hereditary monarch not a charismatic dictator. The wartime emperor was also the peacetime emperor. He only died in 1989.

So maybe the West’s penchant to separate the “good” Japan from its “bad” past has been a disservice to the Japanese people. The West is stuck with an ally with fewer answers as to why it was our foe than Germany. And Japan is stuck with denying a part of itself. It is no surprise then that so many of Japan’s elites, such as Prime Minister Aso and former Air Force General Tamogami, believe the afactual history that they do.

New Year's Note: To those of you who stumble upon this blog, this is a bit unlike other blogs on Japanese politics and foreign affairs. It is not just that it is the only one written primarily by a women (or a "chick" as I noted on one blog), but it is a notebook of thoughts on the serious issues affecting Japan's relationship with the world. I am not talking about history as much as I am discussing and exploring a pervasive way of thought that colors Japan's perceptions of itself and others. This blog is also not as clever, witty or self-assured as the male blogs. It will not have photos, video clips, songs, other blogs, tags, clever puns, jokes or feigned surprise. It is what it is. It has been a very difficult year for me full of change, limitations, abandonment, and loss. All of which I have had to keep in as no one wants to hear it or even believe that I am not so tough. This is all to say, I will try to be cheerier this year even though I write about war, torture, rape, genocide, and general mayhem. And what are you doing reading this far on into this blog? No one reads this and we would not want that young man who feigned searching for blogs on Japan by the "fairer sex" to find out that there is one, kindof. Any way you should not be wasting time here and should be reading Observing Japan!

The Emperor's New Year's Waka

2009-01-01T11:52:00.002+11:00

The Repair Room
in the Office of
the Shosoin Treasure House

　Seeking to restore
　The treasures from the past
　What painstaking work
　To study the fabrics with care
　Each minute piece and speck.

The above is one of 5 Waka poems presented by the Japanese Emperor at year's end.

Unlike in past years, the Emperor avoided reference to those outside Japan or history. He focused his remarks and poems inward. The Japanese people today need his attention.

Yet, there are many treasures from the past, personal and public, domestic and foreign, that need restoration this year. And, it will be painstaking work. Like the Emperor, I hope you will take the care to try.

Happy New Year

"God Bless Us, Every One"

2008-12-25T12:58:00.004+11:00

It is Christmas eve in the United States and the smell of gingerbread has made its way to my study. My children and husband are making gingerbread cookies. This is a tradition he follows from his parents. Only now Star of David cookies cutters are used along side the Santas and camels. Tomorrow I will make a big rib roast and we will wear paper Christmas crowns with our dinner guests who will come from the four corners of the earth.

Earlier this week, I was asked by an American former POW of the Japanese to rewrite his op ed draft. I found it difficult. His story is not a "Christmas" one. It is an ugly, brutal tale of inhumanity. I asked if he maybe had a Christmas or Hanukkah memory. He responded how on one Christmas eve he conspired with his fellow prisoners to break a machine in the coal mine where they were forced to work. They knew they would get a few hours rest while the machine was being repaired. They signaled to each other the beginning of their sabotage with a Hanukkah song.

Interestingly, there is a 1983 Japanese movie with a slight Christmas theme that takes place in Japanese POW camp. Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence stars David Bowie and Beat Kitano. It is a movie about men and male society devoid of women and civilization. It is about men's inability to resolve their personal and societal conflicts. The movie memorializes the POW experience through depictions of savagery, desire, and forgiveness.

There are quite a number of videos to see about the movie. I may try to figure out how to up/down load one or two later. The movie's music is famous and the composer was Ryūichi Sakamoto. Until then, here is the video to the movie's music.

Here is the movie trailer.

The Colorist

2008-12-24T10:08:00.003+11:00

At the end of every year, The New York Times Magazine (12/28/08 ) reviews the lives of people who made a difference in the world who had died during the year. It is always fascinating to read, and makes you wonder if you will ever make a difference. Everyone, in their small way does.

One person not mentioned, was a Washington attorney who died earlier this month. I met him in the early 1990s while doing some research on Japan.

When I walked into his office, I was struck by the large abstracts on its walls. Not something typical of bigtime corporate lawyer. The colors were translucent and exuberant. The colorist school or abstract expressionism, I thought. But never having taken a formal art history class, I was not sure. So I complimented the Washington attorney on his wonderful collection. I asked if they were works by Paul Jenkins or Hans Hoffman. “No,” he said, but his eyes lit up. They were his. He was the artist.

He was also one of Washington’s most prominent trade attorneys. He had fought hard on the side of American industry to keep out Japanese products that were unfairly dumped and subsidized. He tried to save the American television and the machine tool industries. He went to Tokyo and discovered the Bicycle Racing Association (Keirin) and all the industry associations they had under their umbrella. He learned how the Japanese government took the profits from “competitive” bicycle racing and funneled them through this association to support its industries. MITI approved all the Keirin hand-outs to Japan’s electronics and machinery industries.

He "discovered" Japan’s tv and machine tool cartels. He exposed how the Japanese government funded, protected, nurtured, and guided these cartels. He even walked into the Keirin archives and insisted upon the relevant documents, which he dutifully filmed, much to the surprise of the librarian.

Did all the facts matter? Did having an energetic Harvard-trained lawyer matter? No. He won some of his cases and lost many more. Either way his clients were put out of business. They were not a legal cases, he observed. They were political ones wrapped around Japanese government industrial policy, espionage, and lobbying. It was about maintaining a fragile US-Japan alliance by keeping Japanese accountability to a minimum. What are a few out-dated American jobs and patents in face of keeping the peace in Asia? You can only fight for justice for so long.

More important, facts just did not matter. The Japanese knew how to turn the American legal system on its head by delaying and fabricating information. Japan was a far away and mysterious country, which the lawyer noted no Western could understand all the half-truths. The Japanese have a way of wearing you down and of making it not worth anyone's time to keep fighting.

Americans like to cut their losses and move on. They do not dwell on history or what could have been. By the time I met him, he had given up fighting the Japanese. He felt that they had won. No one would believe the fantastical stories he had of Japanese government-industry collusion and how Japan Inc. subverted the American system. It was not a popular story and most of his peers now worked for Japan. Instead, he was working on American public interest projects and film. Ancient history was his work on trade with Japan.

On December 8th, Richard D. Copaken, the lawyer described above, died of cancer at 67. He was a partner in Covington and Burling and member of the Washington Color School. One of his paintings hangs in the US Embassy in Tokyo.

Keeping the World Safe for Santa

2008-12-23T09:43:00.002+11:00

This Christmas marks the 50th anniversary of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) tracking Santa Claus as he goes around the world delivering presents. NORAD is a bi-national United States and Canadian organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. America does not just keep the world safe, but also keeps Santa safe and on track. “Don’t mess with Santa, we got’em covered” as we say here in the States.

Since 1998, you could follow Santa’s travels online along with all sorts of information about Santa and his friends. All of this is available in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and new this year, Chinese. Maybe next year it will include Korean, Russian, Urdu, and Hindi.

NORAD is likely to again show live video of Santa visiting Tokyo, Beijing, and Sydney, among other famous world cities. So, starting at 11 am GMT on the 24^th, keep track of Santa HERE.

Now, some of you (ok I do know no one reads this but it sure helps organize my thoughts) are hoping that Santa will tell PM Aso to resign. Sorry, but I don't think that is going to happen. There is no one fool enough to replace him and he likes the job. Moreover, no one knows what the Obama Administration wants from or thinks about Japan. The little show last week in Tokyo with the entire Team Armitage crowd telling anyone who would listen that they were still in the driver's seat is not to be believed. So things are quiet but uncertain. It makes more sense when Tokyo knows what it needs to do to go forward with a real prime minister. Even if Aso does not rearrange his cabinet as is rumored, he is likely to smile his way to Seoul in mid-January as he is planning.

Three Weird Sisters

2008-12-22T08:41:00.002+11:00

It must not have escaped the Japanese Ambassador’s notice that the three Asian American women sat in the audience like an arrow pointed at his heart. The Korean was seated directly in front of him in the first row. Off to his far right four rows back sat the Japanese, and two more rows back and off to his left was the Russian. Otherwise, the small room on a late Thursday was full only of friendly faces from State and the Japanese community. The press certainly did not find his appearance of interest.

He had spent the last few weeks like a new bishop, giving his blessings to acceptable places for Japanese to speak in Washington: AEI, CSIS, Carnegie, Library of Congress, Brookings, and now the Stimson Center. I forget where he went in New York and California.

Each time he gave pretty much the same speech and overheads. Yes, Japan is a poor island nation devoid of natural resources dependent on the outside world for food and oil. He outlines how perceptions of Japan have evolved and now Japan is considered a partner of the US, but one that is not listened to enough nor recognized for its contribution.

He gives his list of Japan’s international achievement; but the knowledgeable room knows all the qualifiers he does not mention. Then he talks about his philosophy for being an ambassador 1) no politics, 2) no surprises, and 3) no being taken for granted. His three nos.

The questions were pretty light and unmemorable. Finally, the Japanese woman, the journalist, asked her question, she said she did not agree that the new Administration might favor China over Japan and that Japan would remain an important partner to Washington. However, she asked, what did the ambassador think Japan could do to strengthen the relationship. As if he never heard the question, he warned that “responsible journalists” do not focus on the negative.

Soon, the Korean woman, a security analyst, told the ambassador about her experience with an international group of terrorism experts in Tokyo who insisted that she take them to the Yusukan at Yasukuni. She related how astonished all were by the distorted history and how they all wondered what kind of country was Japan. And she asked how could a Tamogami been promoted so far. The Amb closed his eyes and answered that Yasukuni is just the views of a few, it is a private organization and not the government’s view. The “general” had been quickly “decommissioned”; he too did not represent the government’s view. And in all, Japan is a country that respects free speech.

Other questions followed, but the Russian woman, the researcher, the one who he was told to blame for being behind every Japanese history discussion in Washington, never raised her hand. When he looked toward her, she simply smiled. What was she not asking?

He knew it was an easy session, but he also knew that no one still had high expectations of him or of Japan. He must have worried about the questions not asked. He knew what he said signified nothing.

Yet, what about these three witches? Were they like the three prophetesses from Macbeth? Did he imagine it or did they whisper to each other as they left, “When shall we three meet again, In thunder, lightning, or in rain? When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won.”?

Or maybe he thought of all the ambitions Japan has won and lost and said to himself, “To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow…”

Comfort Women Again

2008-12-20T10:11:00.004+11:00

Talking about the Comfort Women (see previous post), Amnesty International released a call for the Japanese government to face up to its responsibilities regarding this outstanding historical issue. Interestingly, it was issued on the 71st anniversary of Japanese troops entering Nanking and the beginning of the six weeks of terror and horror. [See Below]

The Chinese government released for the anniversary a new book documenting the ordeal of Chinese and Korean Comfort Women through the words of these women and of Japanese soldiers who gave testimony.

New report on 'comfort women' published, China Daily, 12/19/08

China finds new "proof" of Japan's WW2 sex slaves, Reuters, 12/19/08

Calls for Government of Japan to respond to resolutions calling for justice

© Amnesty International, 13 December 2008

December 13 is one year since the European Union (EU) passed a resolution calling "on the Japanese Government formally to acknowledge, apologise, and accept historical and legal responsibility, in a clear and unequivocal manner, for its Imperial Armed Forces' coercion of young women into sexual slavery."

Resolutions have now been adopted in six non-EU countries in addition to the EU, which represents all 27 EU member states. However, the government of Japan has yet to respond to these calls for action. From 23 to 25 November 2008, activists and survivors of Japan’s military sexual slavery system came together for the 9th Asian Solidarity Conference in Tokyo, Japan.

Members of Parliaments and activists from the EU, Canada, Netherlands, the Philippines and Australia sent video messages giving their support and solidarity.

Julia Ozorio Gamecho sent a message of solidarity to the women who, like her, had been forced into sexual slavery and are now calling for justice. Julia was the first woman to come forward and talk to the Truth and Justice Commission in Paraguay about how she was subjected to sexual slavery by the military during the Stoessner dictatorship there (1954-1989).

The conference issued a resolution in which "All the participants of the 9th Solidarity Conference express their deep respect to the survivors for their unrelenting struggle of many years. We also reconfirm our solidarity in our demand to the Government of Japan and the Diet of Japan."

In July of 2007 the US Congress passed a resolution, which describes Japan’s military sexual slavery system as "one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century." The US resolution was followed by resolutions being passed in the Parliaments of the Netherlands, UK and Canada in November and the EU in December.

In 2008, Taiwan and South Korea joined their calls by passing resolutions in October and November respectively. In Japan, Takarazuka City Council, Osaka, Kiyose City Council, Tokyo and Sapporo City Council all passed resolutions in 2008. Amnesty International calls on the Government of Japan to:

* accept full responsibility for the abuses of "comfort women"
* officially apologize for the crimes committed against the women
* provide adequate and effective compensation

Support for Japan's Aso Cabinet Dives to 16.7%

2008-12-20T09:22:00.002+11:00

Prime Minister Taro Aso's popularity plunged in December. The support rate for his cabinet fell 22.1 % points from the previous month to 16.7 %, a Jiji Press survey said that was released on Friday, December 19th.

And the month is not yet over. Aso has only been in office less than three months.

The public disapproval rating for the Aso cabinet soared 28.2 points to 64.7 %, according to the survey. Asked to name the most suitable politician to be Japan's prime minister, only 23.9 % of the respondents picked Aso, much lower than 34.8 % for Ichiro Ozawa, president of the biggest opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan. Regarding the timing to call a snap Lower House election, 46.0 % said the election should be held quickly in order to create a government that reflects the people. They outpaced 42.0 % who said there is no need to rush to call an election as the government should first implement policy measures stimulate the economy.

This survey was taken before Thursday’s revelations that Aso’s family did, despite the PM’s initial denials; use POW forced labor in one of its mines. Whereas the significance of the history issue may pass by most Japanese, they will understand that the PM was as insensitive, clueless, and disingenuous here as he as been on other issues ranging from the elderly to doctors.

It may be saying too much that the Comfort Women issue brought down the Abe Administration, however; it did not help sustain it. The very foundations of Abe’s beliefs were shaken by his inability to control the history issues both at home and abroad. Now, it is Aso’s turn for a taste of what it is like to be humiliated by an ignorance of history and excess of hubris.

POWs at Prime Minister’s family coalmine

2008-12-19T15:53:00.003+11:00

On December 18th, at an Upper House Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee meeting, DPJ member Yukihisa Fujtia asked again Foreign Minister Hirohumi Nakasone questions regarding Allied POWs being forced to work at Aso Mining Co.

For the first time, the Foreign Minister acknowledged that there were 300 British, Dutch and Australian POWs at the coalmine owned by Prime Minister Aso’s family during WWII.

Documents found in the basement of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry confirmed information in translated reports, held in the US National Archives, which Japanese companies had prepared for Occupation authorities . It is a rare occurrence for the Japanese government to release wartime records. These records, if they are not now destroyed, should also document the extensive use of POW, Chinese, and Korean forced labor in Japan’s industries. Personal testimonies from survivors and documents found the US National Archives so far have not been convincing enough to official Japan.

A Health Ministry official apparently noted that the documents say that the POWs were treated well. However, there remain POW survivors of the Aso mines. Their memories are quite the opposite.

Mr. Fujita further asked if the Foreign Ministry would respond positively to the request made by Dr. Lester Tenney, National Commander of American Defenders of Bataan and Corregidor, during his November 11th meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to the US Ichiro Fujisaki. Tenney wants an apology and to know why American ex-POWs and their families were from the 1995 Japanese government’s invitation program for ex-POWs. Foreign Minister Nakasone answered, “We will look into the matter carefully.”

Mr. Fujita said that it would be good diplomacy for Japan to work on the POW issue in order to win the trust in the international community. "

I want him [Aso] to make at least a gesture of apology and accept the responsibility of what happened," Mr Fujita said. "Voluntary financial contributions to the survivors would also be positive. But he has to stop denying."

The Asahi Shimbun reported:

Presence of 300 POWs at former Aso Kogyo mentioned in MHLW wartime documents
ASAHI (Page 37) (Abridges slightly), December 19, 2008

During the war, there were some 300 foreign POWs at a coal mine of the former Aso Kogyo (Fukuoka Prefecture) run by a relative of Prime Minister Taro Aso, it became clear yesterday through documents kept at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry. In response to foreign media reports on the existence of POWs at the coal mine, the prime minister has said: "The facts have not been confirmed." But now that the government documents have been found, his accountability will be called into question once again.

The documents, dated August 15, 1945, note that at Aso Kogyo's Yoshikuma mine prison camp, there were 197 Australian, 101 British, and two Dutch soldiers, and that two of the Australians died in July 1945. The documents have been kept at the MHLW. The ministry offered the reply in response to an inquiry from Yukihisa Fujita of the Democratic Party of Japan.

The question of POWs at Aso Kogyo was taken up by the New York Times in November 2006. Using the website of its Consulate General in New York, the Foreign Ministry has rebutted the report, but the rebuttal was deleted on Dec. 17, saying that the situation has now changed. Aso Kogyo eventually became Aso Cement, where Prime Minister Aso served as president.

Unlike past efforts to describe the Aso family use of forced labor, this report has appeared in the Japanese-language press.

Other press reports:

 Japan says WWII prisoners worked for premier's company , Agence Press France

 PoWs used by Japanese Prime Minister's family business, The London Times

Japanese PM Taro Aso's family business used British PoWs, The Telegraph

It's official: Aso family mine used POW labor, The Japan Times

An Apology Standing In Place

2008-12-18T10:43:00.000+11:00

The only official war apology in Japan, the 1995 Murayama Statement, was hard fought. PM Murayama threatened to resign if he did not get a Cabinet Decision and a Diet vote. And he ended up presenting the statement from his home. Among Japan's conservative nationalists, it has been a symbol of Japan's "masochistic" history. Thus, the Statement has long been under attack and as the op ed below shows this campaign is getting more exposure and possible legitimacy. The author is correct that PM Koizumi modified the Statement in his 2005 War Anniversary rendition. Then again, the President Bush left out "Japan" in his statement.

This is a bit reminiscent of the campaign at the beginning of the Abe administration (2006) to refute the 1993 Kono Statement. The ensuing battle was so bitter and difficult, saved only by the attention US Congressman Mike Honda gave to the Comfort Women, that "victory" was that this imperfect Statement remained as is. It simply remained standing in place and incomplete.

Meaninglessness of Murayama Statement must be driven home

SANKEI (Page 13) (Abridged slightly) December 16, 2008

By Yasuo Ohara, professor at Kokugakuin University

Other main player in Tamogami scandal

It has been nearly two months since Toshio Tamogami was dismissed as Air Self-Defense Force chief of staff due to his controversial essay. Fierce debates over his essay show no signs of abating. Points at issue cover a wide range of areas, including the assessments of Tamogami's historical view, appropriateness of the government's step, significance of civilian control, freedom of speech for SDF personnel, propriety of entering the essay contest, timing of submitting the essay, and media reactions. Views are split even among conservatives. Albeit belatedly, I would like to add my view, as well. However, it is on the so-called Murayama Statement, which can be called the other main player in the Tamogami incident.

In response to a set of questions from House of Representative member Kiyomi Tsujimoto, the government presented a written reply on November 14. The reply reportedly explains why Tamogami was dismissed from the post this way: "It was inappropriate for him to express a view that was at variance with the government's standpoint on the last major war." The reply reportedly also notes, "He presented his view in an inappropriate manner on an important matter pertaining to the Constitution."

The latter is probably in response to the criticism that the SDF is not allowed to exercise the right to collective self-defense in territorial defense. Prime Minister Taro Aso has already suggested a review of the government's view on the collective self-defense right, so this part is merely an addition. Needless to day, problems lie in the former. There is no doubt that the government's view on the last major war points to the Murayama Statement.

Undefined keywords

As is widely known, the Murayama Statement was delivered before the House of Representatives on June 9, 1995. It was later released as the statement by Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama on the August 15 end-of-the-war anniversary on the back of discontent with the Diet resolution commemorating the 50th anniversary of the end of the war. The statement is rife with masochistic expressions, such as, "during a certain period in the not too distant past, Japan, following a mistaken national policy," "through its colonial rule and aggression, caused tremendous damage and suffering," and "my feelings of deep remorse and my heartfelt apology."

There is no room here to discuss this historical view that is one-sided and crude. The question is if the Murayama Statement, which has been treated like a gospel by successive cabinets, has any substance.

I believe "following a mistaken national policy" are the keywords here. About 11 years after the release of the Murayama Statement, Lower House member Akira Nagatsuma presented a set of questions. This elicited a reply from the government on June 13, 2006 that read: "Regarding your question about the phrase 'following a mistaken national policy,' the government, given a variety of discussions on assessments of individual acts, cannot determine anything, including its cause." This was consistent with the release in the previous year, the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, of the so-called Koizumi Statement that did not include the phrase "following a mistaken national policy."

The word "aggression" carries greater significance. Lower House member Muneo Suzuki also asked the definition of "aggression." In response, the government honestly admitted on October 6, 2006 its inability to offer a clear-cut idea in its written reply that read: "There have been all kinds of discussions on the definition of aggression under international law. We are not aware of any clear definition of the word and that makes it difficult to answer your question."

"Aggression" and "colonial rule" expunged

[Back in 1995] I clashed with then LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Koichi Kato, who enthusiastically promoted the 50th anniversary Diet resolution, over what should go into the resolution. I said to him: "If you want to incorporate in it such words as 'acts of aggression' and 'colonial rule,' they must be defined clearly." In response, Kato said matter-of-factly: "We are not scholars, so we don't need to offer any clear definitions." This made me realize that the vagueness of the Murayama Statement originated from there.

There is no need to discuss any further the insubstantiality of the Murayama Statement that includes those undefined keywords. Based on such ambiguous criteria, the government cannot pass judgment on Tamogami's essay titled "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?"

Interesting enough, such expressions as "acts of aggression" and "colonial rule" did not make the Diet resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the war, adopted on August 2, 2005, days before the release of the Koizumi Statement that left out the words "following a mistaken national policy." The series of these events seem to indicate that some sort of changes occurred over the ten-year period and that the Murayama Statement does not necessarily coincide with the government's view.

It is vital to drive home the foolishness of upholding such a statement and to stir up a discussion to reexamine the Murayama Statement from all aspects, including the historical view.

Turkey's Step Toward An Apology

2008-12-18T03:29:00.002+11:00

On December 16, 2008:

Turkey: Apology for Armenian Killings

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

A group of about 200 prominent Turkish intellectuals issued an apology on the Internet on Monday for the World War I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey. The group of academics, journalists, writers and artists avoided using the contentious term “genocide,” referring to the killings of more than a million Armenians by the Ottoman Turk government from 1915 to 1918 as a “great catastrophe.” While Turkey does not deny that many died, it has rejected the term genocide and has prosecuted people who have publicly acknowledged Turkish culpability for it. The statement said in part, “I reject this injustice, share in the feelings and pain of my Armenian brothers, and apologize to them.” There were no threats of legal action from the government on Monday.

Another Christmas Wish

2008-12-17T07:38:00.004+11:00

Today, my friend sent me our horoscope from the Washington Post (we are both Leos). She even thoughtfully typed it out as the print edition is different from the online. It seemed not only fitting for the two of us, but also the women who I have devoted my last two years studying, the Comfort Women.

Horoscopes are supposed to be predictions, but this one just seemed like another Kono Statement, a wish:

You have been accepting scraps of attention from someone when the truth is you deserve all kinds of love--passionate, platonic, respectful, desiring, reverent, and above all, unconditional.

If you want to do something to help fulfill this wish, I suggest a donation to:

The Active Museum, Women's Museum on War and Peace (WAM) Created to form the basis of memory to convey to the next generation how cruelly Asian women suffered from Japan's military sexual slavery, demonstrating the responsibility Japan has to take. Membership

In January, over 20 Rightists (all men) turned up in this small museum and library located in a Christian church compound and acted in very threatening ways toward the young women staffers. Despite repeated calls to the police, the police did not come. Eventually, the Rightists departed, albeit with the observation how flammable everything was.

So I encourage you to "show the love" and respect these men could not.

Later: If the above is not enough in the holiday spirit, then I suggest a bit of cheer with Barney, America's First Dog, http://www.whitehouse.gov/barney/barneycam2008.wm.v.html

The First China, Japan, and South Korean Summit

2008-12-16T16:16:00.000+11:00

The leaders of Japan, South Korea, and China have convened a summit meeting for the first time and agreed to coordinate policies in response to the global financial crisis. Prime Minister Aso Taro, President Lee Myung Bak, and Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to expedite the Chiang Mai Initiative and increase currency swaps, and discussed the possibility of a trilateral free-trade agreement. The three leaders had met before on the sidelines of other international conferences, but this was the first of a series of planned, annual trilateral summits. Jun Hongo, writing for the Japan Times, reports that "Japan, China and South Korea account for 75 percent of East Asia's gross domestic product and about 17 percent of the global GDP." Agreements among the three can have a substantial impact on the world economy, and help to build a solid base for an East Asian community built on an ASEAN plus 3 foundation. The three leaders signed a Joint Statement for Tripartite Partnership, agreed to cooperate in the event of natural disasters, and discussed the possibility of collaboration in providing aid to Africa.

Christmas Presents

2008-12-16T15:50:00.000+11:00

Although I am not doing well, I always try to do good.

So in this holiday season, besides praying for peace, I thought I might share with you some of places from which I bought gifts:

Captive Daughters. a non-profit organization committed to ending the exploitative practice of sex trafficking, with a particular focus on girls and women, Captive Daughters Signature Jewelry

Defenders of Wildlife, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of all native animals and plants in their natural communities, Adoptions of endangered wildlife for any budget

Save Japan and Dolphins, campaign to end the Japanese drive fishery slaughter of dolphins in Taiji, donate

Polaris Project, one of the largest anti-trafficking organizations in the United States and Japan, with programs operating at international, national and local levels, donate

Amnesty International, a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights for all, Shop Amnesty

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization, now conducting its 5th Antarctic Whale Defense Campaign to the Southern Oceans, Pirate gear and stickers

More From General Tamogami

2008-12-16T03:45:00.001+11:00

More from General Toshio Tamogami's interview with Shukan Gendai:

There is only one way that can prevent the United States from acting arbitrarily in talks with Japan. That is for Japan to actively disclose what was discussed with the United States. That would prompt the public to raise objections, saying, "That's absurd." Public protests would not allow the government to be at America's beck and call.

...

Going nuclear would be the most effective way for Japan to become an independent country. In international politics, non-nuclear weapon states have to be subservient to the wishes of nuclear powers in the end. Opting to arming itself with nuclear weapons is the fastest way for a country to break away from a position of subordination.

I'm talking here about an introduction of the nuclear-sharing arrangements that exist already among Germany, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey, all members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Routinely conducting training using America's nuclear weapons (nuclear-powered submarines, etc.), the five countries are allowed to have the wartime use of some of American-owned nuclear weapons. Tokyo should ask Washington to let Japan have the same arrangement. The system could bring about the same effect as possessing nuclear weapons without Japan having to build it own nuclear arsenal.

...

Japan must consider having an independent deterrence capability, while considering a variety of means, including such a system. I will reiterate that we cannot ensure the security of Japan by leaving everything to the United States.

What America's Wingman Believes

2008-12-14T13:27:00.000+11:00

The problem lies in Japan. Japanese people are too good-natured. They are good-natured and masochistic. I believe such a country is rare in the world.

A good country cannot be a victor in the international political scene. The world is filled with black-hearted people. Good people are destined to be used by black-hearted people.
….
Japan has become such a good-natured country in the postwar period solely because of America's Japan policy. Japan has been transformed into a country convenient for the United States.

As was just discussed, Japan is now under the protection of America's great military power, but we must keep in mind that the United States takes action based on its own national interests. For instance, if the United States finds it more beneficial to team up with China, it would abandon Japan overnight.
…
The alliance with the United States allows Japan to be under America's umbrella and to be on America's coattails in the international political scene, so I think the alliance with that country is useful to Japan. Even so, I believe a country should be defended by its own people. In other words, we need to strengthen the SDF and U.S. force in Japan must leave the country gradually. I believe that's the way Japan should be. Without the withdrawal of the U.S. military, Japan cannot be called a truly independent country.

From an Interview with former Air Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff General Toshio Tamogami in the SHUKAN GENDAI December 20, 2008, Pages 16-21.

Translating The New York Times

2008-12-13T13:59:00.002+11:00

In the United States, The New York Times is generally considered the newspaper of “record.” It is where you are supposed to find the facts on the world’s most crucial stories. And it is one of the newspapers that the world looks to for authoritative information. At least that is what I teach my students here in DC.

Thus, translations become important. They are serious business for the readers of the Times and students of history.

So in the midst of researching and writing this evening [yeah, I have no life] a paper on the frame changes in the Comfort Women saga, I took note that in 1991 The New York Times correspondent in Tokyo David Sanger had the wrong name for the professor who found the first documents linking the Japanese government to the Comfort Women system. The scholar’s name is Yoshimi Yoshiaki . Mr. Sanger said it was Yoshida Yoshiaki. This possibly large typo made me a bit more cautious with the rest of Sanger’s CW reporting.

On January 18, 1992, he reported on the visit of PM Miyazawa to South Korea and the PM’s speech to the National Assembly. The first line of his story “Japan Apologizes On Korea Sex Issue” [I am not making that up, I swear] was:

“Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa of Japan made a formal public apology here today for Japan's actions in forcing tens of thousands of Korean women to have sex with Japanese soldiers during World War II.”

“Formal” makes it sound like that deed was done: the Government of Japan apologized to the Korean Comfort Women. But as we now know, that really was not true. In fact, it was not a formal or official apology. It was simply a statement delivered by someone who happened to be PM. Without a Cabinet Decision, the “apology” was nice, but not sufficient. [Elsewhere on this blog I wrote about this, but I am not sure where.]

More interesting, he quoted the PM as saying: “Recently, the issue of 'comfort women' in the service of the Imperial Japanese Army has come into light. I cannot help feeling acutely distressed over this, and I express my sincerest apology.”

Professor Jane Yamazaki who wrote a whole book on Japanese apologies translated the same passage as: “Recently the issue of the so-called military comfort women has been raised, this is truly painful to the heart and there is no excuse.”

The Wikipedia entry of Apologies by Japan translates this same passage as “Recently the issue of the so-called 'wartime comfort women' is being brought up. I think that incidents like this are seriously heartbreaking, and I am truly sorry.”

In American English there are nuances among these three. And I think it matters on how this story was reported in the West and how this reporting might have contributed to confusion on the issue. I do not know which translation is correct. My Japanese is not good enough to tell and a weekend is not a good time to ask my few friends who can (they have a life). I believe you can find the text of the January 17, 1992 Miyazawa speech here.

Even Later: A friend has written in. She says this is the passage:

最近，いわゆる従軍慰安婦の問題が取り上げられていますが，私は，このような

ことは実に心の痛むことであり，誠に申し訳なく思っております.

saikin iwayuru jugun ianfu no mondai ga toriagerarete imasu ga, watashi wa, konoyouna koto wa jitsuni kokoro no itamu koto de ari, makoto ni moushiwake naku omotte orimasu.

“Recently, the issue of so-called military comfort women, I find such a thing is really hurting to the heart, and feel-think very sorry about it.”

Later: It should be noted in regard to Mr. Sanger's misspelling of Prof Yoshimi's name, that prior to Yoshimi's discovery of the critical documents on Comfort Women, the best known name in Japan regarding the Comfort Women was "Yoshida" Seiji a former Japanese military policeman who had written a book in 1983 entitled My War Crimes: The Forced Draft of Koreans in which he described his participation in the roundup of hundreds of Korean women for the military. There is some controversy over Mr. Yoshida's account as he has apparently recanted it and no one seems to remember him in the Korean region he said he served.

Supporting Tamogami

2008-12-13T03:49:00.003+11:00

Last month the Japanese media reported the Upper House’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense meeting on November 11 where Tamogami said that as of 9:00 that morning, a Yahoo! Japan public opinion poll conducted November 4-11 showed that 58% of respondents said that they think there’s no problem with his stance (http://www.iza.ne.jp/news/newsarticle/politics/194661/, in Japanese).

In the Shukan Gendai interview, he repeated that statement and clarified that the figure includes poll respondents who said selected “there is no problem at all,” and those who selected “there are hardly any problems.” The actual poll appears to have been deleted from the Yahoo! Japan website, but a blogger on Yahoo has it copied and pasted on his blog (http://blogs.yahoo.co.jp/pachinko_pride/37032735.html, in Japanese).

In fact, according to the presumably final poll numbers, 59% of the total, 97,084 respondents, either said that there’s no problem at all (46%) or that there are hardly any problems (13%).

General Tamogami also cites an Asahi poll that is also supportive of his views in his Shukan Gendai interview. As a friend in Tokyo translated: “on TV-Asahi's Let's Discuss until Morning program on Nov. 28, a fierce discussion took place under the theme of the Tamogami issue and the SDF. The program also solicited viewers' opinions and 497 sent in their views. Of them, 303, or 61%, said, "I can relate to the Tamogami statement." The Asahi Shimbun has relentlessly attacked me, but over 60% of the people support me.”

I wish I could see other polls on this issue. And I wonder how they relate to Prime Minister Aso’s dramatically low approval ratings. But I am bereft of friends interested in this subject. Maybe better that way, as to know more might make my stomach churn more than the loss of my friends.

The Enemy

2008-12-09T10:44:00.001+11:00

As you can see, President Bush is even more ambiguous than the President-elect.

National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 2008
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America

On National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we mourn the more than 2,400 Americans whose lives were lost in the surprise attack on our homeland that changed the course of history. Their service and sacrifice and the service and sacrifice of all our World War II veterans will be forever honored on this day by the citizens of a free and grateful Nation.

On December 7, 1941, the enemy nearly destroyed our Pacific Fleet, and the United States was forced into a long and terrible war. A generation of Americans stepped forward to fight for our country. Their message to America's enemies was clear: If you attack this country and harm our people, there is no corner of the Earth remote enough to protect you from the reach of our Nation's Armed Forces.

Following the war the United States worked to make our most bitter enemies into our closest friends through the transformative power of freedom. The joys of liberty are often secured by the sacrifices of those who serve a cause greater than self. To honor and recognize the sacrifice of our Armed Forces, I have designated nine sites as the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. This monument will preserve our history and help share this heritage with future generations. On this anniversary, we honor the heroes who risked and lost their lives for our security and freedom. Their selfless dedication exemplifies the great character of America and continues to inspire our Nation.

The Congress, by Public Law 103-308, as amended, has designated December 7 of each year as "National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day."

NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim December 7, 2008, as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. I encourage all Americans to observe this solemn occasion with appropriate ceremonies and activities. I urge all Federal agencies and interested organizations, groups, and individuals to fly the flag of the United States at half-staff this December 7 in honor of those who died as a result of their service at Pearl Harbor.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this fifth day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eight, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

GEORGE W. BUSH

Raising Arizona

2008-12-08T23:54:00.002+11:00

Nearly seventy years ago today, "a date which will live in infamy," our harbor was bombed in Hawaii, and our troops went off to war. And after that war was over, after we reclaimed a continent from a madman and beat back danger in the Pacific, those troops came home to a grateful nation – a nation that welcomed them with a GI Bill and a chance to live out in peace the dreams they had fought for, and so many died for, on the battlefield. We owe it to all our veterans to honor them as we honored our Greatest Generation – not just with words, but with deeds.

7 December 2008, from President-Elect Obama’s announcement of Gen. Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veterans Affairs

The Japanese definitely noted that this Obama statement resembled so many of Bush’s on “the War.” It is remembered that there was never a Congressional concurrent resolution commemorating the 60th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War because the Bush White House insisted on taking out references to Japan and the Tokyo War Crimes trial. American Senators who did not want to face the wrath of their veterans, let the legislation die. The Obama statement above also does not mention Japan (or Germany) by name.

Note also that Obama uses the terms “danger” for Japan and “madman” for Germany. One is a faceless menace; the other is an individual, unmistakably Hitler. No one is responsible in Japan, and most certainly not the Emperor. A most positive message for the Japanese political and business establishment worried about any change in US Japan policy.

On December 5th, two national American papers presented their own views of the memory of Pearl Harbor Day. Both referenced former Japanese Air Self-Defense Force General Tamogami. The Wall Street Journal ran an op-ed, "A Japanese General Rewrites the Past." The author notes "Until Sept. 11, 2001, this [Pearl Harbor] was the highest number of casualties in an attack on the United States. But 67 years and three generations later, memory fades. And some Japanese are actively trying to rewrite their country's history."

USA Today's editorial, Japan's historical revisionists, expressed exasperation with Tamogami's views. The editor wrote it is "like those nightmare scenes where ghosts from the past threaten to pop up with the words "we're baaaack," Japan is showing a disturbing ambivalence about its past."

Neither opinion piece mentioned America's "greatest generation" or the sacrifice for peace and democracy. Instead, the focus was on history, the rewriting of history and the lessons not learned. History no longer could be left to the historians as so many in the Bush Administration have defended Japan. Yes, as the WSJ author observes, "Japan is hardly alone in rewriting history. Practically every country involved in World War II has developed its own version of the story." Nevertheless, Japan was engaging in an aggressive war that could be seen as "genocide" and the end of this horrific war "did not come about because of a change of heart: The war ended only because the Axis powers were soundly and utterly defeated."

The Day That Will Live in Infamy

2008-12-08T07:18:00.000+11:00

The New York Times reports today that the mystery of who knew what and when before Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 has been solved.

Historians at the National Security Agency’s Center for Cryptologic History concluded in a paper relased last week, West Wind Clear: Cryptology adn the Winds Message Controversy--A Documentary History, that “whatever other warnings reached Washington about the attack, the “winds execute” [which signaled an attack to the US] was not one of them.” The coded warning was actually broadcast after, and not before the attack. Moreover, the intelligence system was so “bureaucratized” that the picture coming in was fragmented and inconsistent. “It is possible that they viewed the Japanese actions as ominous, but also contradictory and perhaps even confusing.”

Where have we heard that before?

There is a big gap between knowing and understanding; and an even bigger gap between common sense and intelligence.

Yet the report does not change the outcome. Dec. 7th will remain a day that live in infamy. Cordell Hull's disgust was well-founded that Tokyo was late in telling him that Japan was at war with the US.

On a personal note, it is also my mother-in-law’s birthday. So yesterday, much of the greater family came to Washington to celebrate her 80th.

Leadership For Whom

2008-12-08T04:48:00.000+11:00

On December 1st, JiJi Press and Kyodo News reported that Japan’s Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone gave a speech in Tokyo vowing that Japan will take a leading role on global security issues once it assumes nonpermanent membership on the UN Security Council in January. The articles suggests that Nakasone emphasized that Japan would be Asia’s representative and play a leading role in tackling global security issues, especially North Korea, Afghanistan and East Timor

Now, I have searched for more information about the symposium on peace and security that he addressed. And have looked for a copy of the speech. So far, I have had no luck. Thus, my information is only as good as Kyodo wants it to be.

Kyodo quotes Nakasone as saying: "As a Security Council member elected from Asia, we would like to take initiative in dealing with issues in this region." "We also hope to be more proactively involved beyond Asia, such as the Middle East peace process, conflicts in Africa, terrorism, nonproliferation, and peacebuilding."

So far, however, Japan’s recent record on leadership on issue of North Korea, Afghanistan and East Timor is not stellar. Japan is perceived as obstructionist on North Korea. On December 6th, a DPRK Foreign Ministry spokesman stated that the DPRK "will neither treat Japan as a party to the talks nor deal with it," due to Japan's "refusing to fulfill its commitment." He continued:

It is the assertion of Japan that it will not fulfill any commitment related to its economic compensation under the agreement reached at the six-party talks unless there is progress in the solution of the "abduction issue" between the DPRK and Japan.
It is the ulterior intention of Japan to bar the denuclearization of the peninsula from coming true and put spurs to its moves to turn itself into a military power under the pretext of the nuclear issue.
Such country has neither justification nor qualification to participate in the talks. On the contrary, it only lays a hurdle in the way of achieving the common goal.

So much for playing a leading role with North Korea. The record on Afghanistan is not much better.

Japan is being nudged, with no success, by the U.S. and others to send peacekeepers and aid workers to Afghanistan. Various Japanese study missions have deemed the area too dangerous and aid workers have been killed. The Indian Ocean refueling mission is up in the air, and frankly viewed by the allies as more symbolic than helpful. There is no political consensus in Japan as to how to participate, if at all, in Afghanistan. Worse, Japan’s uncertain domestic political situation is unlikely to allow a coherent response.

Although in September, a Japanese was appointed Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General (DSRSG) for Timor-Leste (first in any UN peacekeeping mission), there are currently no other Japanese involved in the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). During 2007, Japan did send twice two police officers to particapte. From 2002-2004, a JSDF engineering group of roughly 600 was sent to East Timor. This was met with considerable protest by the local population who did not harbor fond memories of Japan’s wartime occupation. Those pesky unresolved history issues just kept popping up. [See here for more on Japanese participation in peacekeeping]

Recently, there has been some talk of Japan working with East Timor on maritime security and sending the Japanese Coast Guard to help patrol the area. There has also been funding for the education of Timorese bureaucrats and such. Beyond that, it is unclear just what Japan has in mind.

But most important, it is a bit presumptuous even premature of Japan to believe it can have a leadership role to play in Asia. Japan is going through an increasingly inward-looking period where its outside interests are merely shoring up domestic political fears. Japan is in its own leadership crisis. The current Prime Minister and Foreign Minister are unlikely to be around much longer, and their successors may also be short term. Leadership is in short supply at home, let alone to be projected upon others.

After History

2008-12-08T04:19:00.003+11:00

The third Thursday of every November is Thanksgiving in the United States. It is a day in which Americans try to bring their families together and count the ways they are grateful. Most, whether they realize it or not, are simply grateful that they no longer live in the country of their ancestors.

For example, elements of the Comfort Women saga had personal resonance to both my Korean-American activist friend and myself. We both came from countries where our grandmothers and great grandmothers had suffered horribly. Now as great granddaughters, the two of us were Americans—no longer Korean or Russian—with similar lvy League experiences, goals, and values. And in some ways our similar history and our goal to right the wrong that brought our families to the US drew us together. The inability of Japan to see the universality of the CW experience has limited its policy response. The CW are not merely a bi-lateral annoyance between Japan and Korea.

My daughter does not yet appreciate her place in history. Her generation is less conscious of personal or national boundaries and histories. She is like a young teenager nearly anywhere in the industrialized world. I do not know whether to be alarmed or encouraged by the sameness among them. So, this past Thanksgiving morning, I thought it would be interesting to find out what she thought about this.

So, I IM-ed my daughter to come see me—this has become the best way to communicate with her as she is always on some sort of communications device, often multiple ones. With her friends scattered around the world from Hilton Head to Darussalam, she was very busy and did not appreciate the interuption. “Wat?” she said as she sulked into my room.

I had the newspaper by my side, which had a picture of the President-elect’s older daughter. On my lap, was my computer. After she sat by me, I told her I wanted to show her a photo of the daughter of my friend in Tokyo. The picture had startled and amused me.

This young Tokyo teen looked exactly like my daughter. Besides the surprising physical resemblance, the scowl, the hair in her face, and the turned up nose all spoke of my daughter and her friends. The photo also showed the typical state of mortification of these girls at being seen anywhere in the vicinity of their parent, especially the one that does not look anything like them. I do not look like my daughter nor do the mothers of many of her friends. In fact, she considers any physical resemblance to me, no matter how slight such as a tiny wave to her hair, as a negative.

Mr. Obama’s daughter, who is only a bit younger than the two was also developing “the look.” All three were dressed in nearly the same way with baby-doll tops and tight-fitting jeans. The Tokyo photo was quite clever as it summed up the 2008 universal teenage girl. And the young lady was clearly horrified at being photographed by her embarrassing parent.

I was not sure if I was going to teach my daughter the power of globalization or that a little uniqueness might be a good thing. However, when I clicked to my friend’s Flickr page I found that overnight I had been blocked. I could not access that “comparative” photo for my daughter to see. As she fidgeted besides me, I discovered that I had been “de-friended” without warning, cause, or explanation by someone I had trusted and cared about.

My daughter became increasingly impatient as I became silent realizing what had just happened. She was ready to see some pictures, she was ready to share some experience with her mother, even if she thought it was silly. But instead she saw tears well up in my eyes.

Confused, hurt, and humiliated I turned to her and asked, “have you ever had a friend abandon you, not want to be your friend”? “No” she replied, “that would not happen to me.” “No?” I said. “I am awesome, everyone wants to be my friend” was her answer. It is nice to be 12, I thought.

Then I asked, “What would you do if that ever did happen, someone suddenly did not want to be your friend?” Without taking a breath or pausing for a thought, she tilted her head, flipped her hair to the side, and exclaimed, “I would not care, that is THEIR loss.”

How right she is. It will be their loss. She will not waste any time or energy waiting for an apology.

And it is the world’s gain. These awesome young women will have the confidence and self-awareness to speak out against the callous attitudes and deeds that created the sort of history we write about on this blog. Even after they grow out of their teenage bravado they will not tolerate being taken for granted as so many women have before them. For this, I was very grateful.

And the lesson learned that day was that this new generation of girls will not put up with what their mothers, grandmothers or great grandmothers did. They will not let a man abuse them, strike them, or humiliate them. They will not flee their country in shame nor let their country leave them in shame. Yes, these girls are a lot alike as they share a new strength and confidence that few women before them have. Their history will be certainly different from their mothers'.

The Christmas Present

2008-12-03T15:59:00.000+11:00

Inspired by the great success of the bonding experience brought about by 2009 Lost Memories, my son believes he now has an opening to tell me his Christmas present wish. He really wants the new video game Call of Duty: World at War.

He believes its selling point, to his mother, is that it is the first good game that portrays the Pacific front of WWII. He has no illusions that I will play it with him. He gave that idea up a few years back when he got a game that featured a road race through Tokyo. Not only did I keep crashing my racing car, but I kept exclaiming “Dewey, why is there no traffic in Tokyo!?”. I was no fun.

But he did notice that I had been no fun since our Thanksgiving movie. He did not know why I was so sad, but in his teenage mind the best way to cheer things up would be some good, old American violence. He had had success with it in the past. So this evening he insisted that I stop working on my paper and hand him my latptop as he needed to show me something.

He had found, just for me, the YouTube clip of one of the POW rescues in the video game he wanted. The Marines saved one of their buddies and fought their way across the isle in question. Depending upon your video skills the mission was a success or a great success.

In reality, this did not happen very often. Few POWs were ever liberated. The most famous one was in the Philippines near the end of the war and the Army Rangers were the rescuers. The book Ghost Soldiers and movie The Great Raid tell the tale. And the “game” simply did not fully show the horror of being a POW of Japan or of the battles in the Pacific.

Thus, I, gasp, recommended that he read what it was like to be a Marine in the Pacific. The two best memoirs that are both well written and express the intensity of the experience were in my library: With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge or Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester . Manchester, to become one of America’s greatest historians, found himself at some of the Pacific’s worst battles. He watched helplessly as the Japanese of Saipan flung themselves off Banzai Cliff.

But again, I am not being fun. Yet, we did watch the clip together, right through to the end. And he will get the game for Christmas.

Keeping Memories Alive

2008-12-01T05:42:00.000+11:00

On Sunday, November 30th, the British House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee released its report on Japan and Korea. Although there was not much remarkable in the report, it is of interest to the few readers here that the report made a specific reference to a number of the history issues between Korea and Japan.

Most significant was the reference to the Comfort Women. The Report mildly rebuked Japan for not ameliorating the friction caused by the failure to resolve the CW issue.

" We further conclude that the issue of the Second World War "comfort women"—Korean and other Asian women obliged to provide sexual services for the Japanese army—remains a painful and emotive issue for the South Korean public and Government, and that its importance should be recognised internationally, including by Japan. (Paragraph 54)"

Global Security: Japan and Korea, November 30, 2008, HC449
Foreign Affairs Committee, UK House of Commons

It is not that the specific reprimand is meaningful--it is not--but it is noteworthy that the report mentions the CW issue. British lawmakers believe that CW remains a friction between Japan and Korea. Failure to settle this issue satisfactorily is seen as destabilizing regional relations.

The UK House of Commons now joins a number of other OECD parliaments over the past year or so to point out the greater significance of the CW issue. As when the US House of Representatives set out to consider a CW resolution, the perspective was on Asian regional security and global human rights.

Lost Memories

2008-11-29T06:11:00.000+11:00

The heroine got killed! I was shocked as I watched the slow motion take of her gracefully falling from a barrage of gunfire issued by the evil SWAT team. I could feel every bullet (it felt like my week, but that’s another story). The three bullets the team leader shot into her forehead were quite the touch—as if she was not dead enough. But she saved our hero, showed uncommon courage, sacrificed herself for her country, and was damn beautiful dying.

My 15-year son felt we needed something to bond over during Thanksgiving. So he brought home from the video store where he works after school, 2009 LOST MEMORIES. To him, this 2002 Korean cult film promised to be a nicely violent movie that he would enjoy while trying to connect to his mother’s interest in Asia and history. He was right. He had my full attention for nearly three hours as we watched and commented on the film together. I explained the history that movie director assumed the viewers knew, while he told me about the weapons used.

The movie is set in the year 2009 and Korea belongs to Japan. In fact, Korea hasn't been a free country for more than a century. This alteration of history has been caused by the failed assassination of the Ito Bumihiro the Japanese governor of the country in 1909 in Harbin, China by Ahn Chung-gun, a hero of Korean independence. Ahn Chung-gun has been stopped by a Japanese agent coming from the future.

Just why this changes history, I am still not sure, but the result was the complete takeover and assimilation of Korea into Japan; the US joining Japan in 1936 in a World War and defeat of Germany by dropping an atomic bomb on Berlin. It turns out, somehow, that when Japan was looting Korea they strayed upon a mystical stele in which you place a mystical quarter moon carving, a “lunar soul,” and bingo you are back in history. Why you only land in 1909 Harbin, I don’t know.

Korea in 2009 is not really Korea, it is merely an extension of Japan. There is no Korean identity. Our hero is a special agent fighting the terrorists who are trying to get the stele and the lunar soul to change history back to what it should be: Japan losing the war and Korea becoming free. Only he has a Japanese name, believes in the Empire, and does not like, gasp! Kimchi.

It, of course, takes the courage and beauty of our tough, assault weapon-carrying heroine to convince him that he has to reclaim his Korean roots. There is no real relationship between them, romantic or otherwise, as this is a guy movie. Her role is to protect him a few times, scold him with her eyes, and take a few hundred bullets for him. She is Mother Korea, in fatigues. She is there simply to nurture him to ensure that he can return to the past and set history right.

All the automatic weaponry and enchanting cinematography aside, the movie’s message brought home to me how difficult it will be for Korea to accept any apology from Japan. The film’s art depends upon the viewers’ understanding the imagery and myth of Korean national identity. Koreans are proud, brave, and pure of heart. They never forget their history.

The Japanese are portrayed as cold, ruthless killers who will do what it takes to make history turn their way. They will betray their friends and lord their superiority over others. Korean culture is trampled upon to build up and to expand the Japanese empire—and the Americans are simply complicit with Tokyo.

Decades after Korea’s liberation from Japan, there remains no agreement between the two as to what kind of history they share. This is a profound divide. Those familiar with Korea know that the image of a historically defiant Korea is important to national identity. Reconciliation is for sissies and collaborators. Japan has spent its modern history building a superpower. Its identity depends on denying or ignoring the mistakes or distractions.

This post is already too long. It is merely for the one or two people who read this to reflect upon how the arts reflect the greater culture and politics. High politics cannot ignore popular culture. Personally, I would settle for the heroine not getting shot to bits.

Corporate Japan's War Stories

2008-11-26T16:16:00.001+11:00

Today, the website of the Far Eastern Economic Review posted as its lead story a bit of research by Dr. William Underwood and myself. We discuss the implications of the similarities of prose between Air Force General Tamogami’s now infamous essay on the true history of the Greater East Asian War and many Japanese corporate histories. They do not reflect well on contemporary Japan's efforts for good corporate citizenship.

The published history of Prime Minister Taro Aso’s family mining company is used as an example. During the war, Aso Mining used forced labor from Korea as well as Allied POWs.

Corporate Japan's War Stories
by William Underwood and Mindy Kotler
Posted www.feer.com November 26, 2008

Since the end of World War II, businesses in Japan have seemed intent on fighting a rear-guard action to rewrite the wartime history of their country. This recurring tendency has a pernicious effect on Japan’s postwar relationships and undermines its corporate citizenship efforts.

History As Proxy

2008-11-24T02:07:00.000+11:00

A recent Nikkei (Nov 18) article suggests that Japan’s relations with China may stagnate or take a turn for the worse. This slowdown is attributed to a calculated reluctance by the Chinese to pursue a stronger relationship with Japan at this time. They might be right.

Beijing, says the article, “may think it too risky to make deals, including concessions with the Aso government, given the possibility that the government might be replaced through a lower house election to be held next year. Japan’s diplomacy with China is now in a difficult phase.”

Earlier in November (Nov 9), China’s CCTV aired a long, relatively favorable interview with Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso. The show characterized him as pragmatic and avoided any sensitive or controversial issues such as Taiwan or Yasukuni or even wartime apology. Aso was praised for his policy of mutual benefits. The interviewer concluded that Aso was popular in Japan because of his “unconventional behavior,” “irregular features,” and a “radical yet adorable” image that is attractive to his supporters. The interview, however, was taped on October 25th at the ASEM summit.

As far as I know, Beijing has not outwardly expressed any discontent with Tokyo. But Japan is no closer to a general election than it was in October. And a number of subtle criticisms of Japan by those close to China have begun to appear, especially on the history issues.

On November 11, after over a decade of trying, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed a resolution asking Japan to accept its historical responsibility and to give the remaining Comfort Women an unequivocal apology and government compensation. Shortly before, on November 9, the Taiwan’s central government approved registration of the Chinese Association for the Protection of the Tiaoyutai. This organization dedicated to reclaiming disputed maritime territories administered by Japan, had long been refused official status.

In case anyone was not sure where the new KMT government stood, Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou endorsed the group by sending them a personal calligraphy scroll. It should be noted that the President’s 1980 Harvard dissertation “Trouble Over Oily Waters” discussed Japan’s claims to these islands. You can find a version of the dissertation here.

The English-language Chinese newspapers have also begun to point out some of Japan’s history problems. On November 11, the Taipei Times ran an extensive interview with a Canadian long-time resident of Taiwan who organizes activities to remember the thousands of Allied POWs who were slave laborers for Japan on Taiwan.

The Singapore Straits Times on November 17, ran a commentary by senior writer William Choong on the implications of former Air Force General Tamogami’s essay denying that Japan was an aggressor. Choong, noted that the “intriguing thing about the general’s essay is not the ludicrousness of its argument, but the metronomic regularity at which such instances of historical amnesia occur.” This, he added, makes Japan appear as a “two-faced Janus”, on the one hand “constructive” and on the other “obscurantist.” This is not how a leader in Asia should be.

Not to be left behind, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post on November 18 republished William Underwood’s Japan Times op ed on Prime Minister Aso’s family involvement in using Allied POW and Asia slave laborers in its mines. The article outlined how Aso refused to admit or confront this ugly fact.

I am not sure if there have been Chinese-language articles like those above, but I doubt if it matters. The audience is not Chinese and the history discussion is merely a proxy for another. Beijing appears as impatient with Aso’s refusal to call an election as the opposition DPJ. Whether Aso’s reluctance to hold an election is vanity or political calculation, the result is the same: domestic and international stagnation.

NB: Where I do not have links, the articles are not easily accessible. If you can find links to them, please send them along. I would also be interested in any Chinese-language sources.

Trying Their Best

2008-11-22T08:44:00.001+11:00

There is much concern in Japan about the upcoming Obama Administration. Officials and politicians are worried that they do not know what Obama wants and who his advisers on Asia are.

What Washington expects of Tokyo in the security arena is unknown as well as how the administration will approach trade and history issues. Toyko remembers Democrats as protectionists willing to erect trade barriers. Further, the 2007 House resolution on Comfort Women exposed Tokyo's lack of knowledge about the US Congress.

The reality is that the Obama people are generally well-known to Tokyo, that they are playing their cards close to their vest, and that a lot depends on how Tokyo treats the new Administration, especially in light of the global economic crisis.

For now, the thinking in Japan remains mired on winning the understanding, if not affection of the Obama people for Japan's point of view. The passage of the Comfort Women resolution in the US House of Representatives (which is repeated mentioned in the Japanese press) is still viewed as a failure of mutual understanding, and not the failure of an internationally indefensible, outdated position.

Thus, Japan's movers and shakers are grasping for ways to appeal to the perceived sensibilities of the young African American president. Sometimes, it seems, that they are trying too hard. At a recent roundtable sponsored by the Nikkei and reported on November 7, 2oo8, former Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi observed:

Obama is more familiar with Asia than many of his predecessors. But his Asian policy has yet to become clear. As Obama's father was from Kenya, Japan might benefit from putting more stress on its Africa diplomacy. This might help improve the Japan-U.S. relationship.

More on General Tamogami and his Revisionist Views

2008-11-13T17:08:00.000+11:00

Washington Post of November 12 carries the story "Japanese General Defends Revised Version of WWII," by Blaine Harden, which describes General Tamogami Toshio's comments to the Japanese parliament that he did not see "anything wrong with what I wrote" about denying that Japan was an aggressor in World War II. Questions were also raised about officer training at the Japanese Joint Staff College, where Tamogami was commandant and revised teaching curriculum. "Members of parliament said Tuesday that Tamogami may have taught trainee officers to deny Japan's aggression in the war." General Tamogami is quoted as saying: "I was fired after saying Japan is a good country." "It seems a bit strange."

End of History

2008-11-08T13:20:00.002+11:00

I had an odd experience today that said a lot about how some aspects of war history have ended in the West while others may never.

After a program on Japan's defense establishment, I struck up a conversation with the British diplomat charged with following US Asia policy. Diminutive and pale, the career official defended the fact that Prince Charles did not visit any memorials to Britain's war dead while he was in Japan last week.

As we spoke, the German diplomat with the same portfolio came by. Tall and handsome, he cajoled the Englishman to become a member of my organization. He explained how wonderful the newsletter was. The response was barely lukewarm accompanied by a mumble that they could not afford it. The German was astonished the British Embassy could not afford a $100 subscription.

I should point out that I am only slightly taller than the Englishman and very much look like the American of Russian Jewish ancestry.

As the grandson of Nazis proceeded to explain to this grandson of survivors of the Battle of Britain how the Embassy could pay for a subscription of a publication by the granddaughter of survivors of Russia's pogroms, I stood there in silence, and awe. I did not hear their conversation as I was preoccupied with trying to decide if history was ending or beginning. Or was it repeating?

I excused by myself gracefully from their conversation and headed for the elevator.

Was Japan an Aggressor Nation

2008-11-03T10:23:00.001+11:00

Here is full English translation of the now-infamous Air Force Chief of Staff General Toshio Tamogami's essay on "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation."

According to the APA Group’s website, the prize is for the first “True View of Modern History” competition, which brought forth 230 papers for consideration. Ultra-nationalist professor Watanabe Shoichi chaired the awards committee. The Apa Group have, sans sarcasm, wrote about the selection process:

「懸賞論文ですが、230通を超える応募があり、審査委員長・渡部昇一氏をはじめと
する審査委員会の厳正なる審査の結果、受賞作が決定いたしました。」

”Then again, determining fairly which author most effectively denied the nastier bits of modern Japanese history may have been quite a challenge.”

Apparently one of the five main supporters of the Washington Post, July 14^th advocacy advertisement against the Comfort Women, Sankei Shimbun commentary Nobuaki Hanaoka, was on the selection board. He had warned in 2007 in the Sankei, that the US Comfort Woman resolution would be “an immeasurable shock to the US-Japan relationship.”

The APA Group that published this prize winning essay is best known for cutting expenses in building its hotels and apartments by ignoring building codes. It is also known for its pursuit of "making Japan a proud and confident nation through the teaching of historical truth." The head of APA, however, is very concerned about Japan's "moral and historical education." For more of the company's thought's on these issues see this.

BBC Report; AP Report: New York Times

Here is the excerpt from General Tamogami's essay, as translated:

The Tokyo Trials tried to push all the responsibility for the war onto Japan. And that mind control is still misleading the Japanese people sixty-three years after the war. The belief is that if the Japanese army becomes stronger, it will certainly go on a rampage and invade other countries, so we need to make it as difficult as possible for the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) to act. The SDF cannot even defend its own territory, it cannot practice collective self-defense, there are many limitations on its use of weapons, and the possession of offensive weaponry is forbidden.

Compared to the militaries of other countries, the SDF is bound hand and foot and immobilized. Unless our country is released from this mind control, it will never have a system for protecting itself through its own power. We have no choice but to be protected by America. If we are protected by America, then the Americanization of Japan will be accelerated. Japan’s economy, its finances, its business practices, its employment system, its judicial system will all converge with the American system. Our country’s traditional culture will be destroyed by the parade of reforms. Japan is undergoing a cultural revolution, is it not? But are the citizens of Japan living in greater ease now or twenty years ago? Is Japan becoming a better country?

I am not repudiating the US-Japan alliance. Good relations between Japan and the United States are essential to the stability of the Asian region. However, what is most desirable in the US-Japan relationship is something like a good relationship between parent and child, where they come to each other’s aid when needed, as opposed to the kind of relationship where the child remains permanently dependant on the parent.

Unique Japan

2008-10-30T14:02:00.001+11:00

At a program today in Washington, DC, a tiny admonishment to the American audience highlighted the distance between the Japan and U.S. The program was a presentation on what elements of “soft power” that the US and Japan may be able to share to enhance the security alliance. It is an essay by itself on how simple, parochial, and outdated the speaker’s notion of areas soft power cooperation were.

That aside, the speaker noted that in a cooperative alliance the US should be open to learn from Japan. One quality that the speaker noted that Americans would benefit from knowing is “mottainai.” He suggested that this value was lacking in the US.

If you do not know what this Japanese expression means, it is in one sense just old-fashioned frugality. In another it is conservation with a spiritual dimension, or a sense of gratitude mixed with shame or regret for wasting of any material object, time, or other resource.

The example the speaker gave, however, startled the American audience. He said that the word calls to mind his mother telling him to finish all the rice on his plate, as he had to have consideration for the farmers who worked so hard to grow the rice.

The Americans were surprised. First, they did not expect that the speaker would not know that they too had a similar experience with their mothers on finishing their food as a lesson in gratitude and thrift. More important, the ending of the story is different in the U.S. You are told to finish your food in consideration of those less fortunate than you, for those who live in poverty in India or Africa or Asia.

Mottainai is becoming an internationally recognized word that describes respect for the environment and conservation and the interdependence of man with his environment. It is not, as the speaker would suggest, a value unique to Japan. And like the importance of finishing your vegetables in the U.S., its meaning has widened to include not just the consideration of others, but a responsibility beyond one’s shores.

Comfort Women Resolution in South Korea

2008-10-29T05:29:00.000+11:00

The South Korean National Assembly at its plenary meeting on Oct. 27 adopted by an overwhelming majority vote a resolution seeking an official apology from the Japanese government for their Comfort Women system during WWII, compensation to the victims, and descriptions in Japanese history textbooks.

The resolution reads "the Imperial Japanese Army forcibly mobilized and abducted women of various Asian counties, including Korean women, during World War II and forced them into sexual slavery (comfort women)." Further, the resolution expresses "deep concern" that the Japanese government has not accepted the international community's repeated admonitions.

>The Korea Times Report here.

Dutch FM Visits Yokohama Memorial Cemetery

2008-10-28T02:55:00.005+11:00

Verhagen: Japan’s war victims must never be forgotten

Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 27 Oct 2008 | ‘The hunger, disease, violence, sexual abuse and brutal treatment of Dutch civilian internees and prisoners-of-war during the Second World War must never be forgotten,’ said Maxime Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking at a remembrance ceremony at the Hodogaya war cemetery in the Japanese city of Yokohama.

The minister went on to say that although the Netherlands and Japan were reconciled after the war, and that the traditional ties of friendship had been restored, ‘the war and the past are important elements of our bilateral relations. We cannot allow the pain of the victims to be forgotten.’

Twenty-one Dutch prisoners-of-war are buried at the Hodogaya cemetery. They were killed when the ship transporting them to Japan was hit by a torpedo. A total of 20,000 Dutch prisoners-of-war were held in Japanese camps, and large numbers of civilians – men, women and children – were interned.

For the first time during such visits by the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, Japan also laid a wreath. Mr Verhagen, the representative of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all those who attended the ceremony observed a one-minute silence to remember the victims of the war in Asia.

>The above is from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

>The text of the Foreign Minister's speech is here.

Austria and Japan Agree to Cooperate at the UN

2008-10-26T13:16:00.001+11:00

Jiji Press, reported on Oct. 25 that Japan and Austria had agreed to enhance their cooperation at the United Nations as both countries are set to serve as nonpermanent members of the U.N. Security Council starting next year.

Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Austria's Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer made the agreement in short talks held on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Europe Meeting forum here.

The two leaders also agreed to strengthen bilateral ties, particularly in the fields of economy and culture.

What an irony. As I have pointed out below, the two countries have similar dilemmas. Both have rightist politicians at the highest levels of their government. What seperates the two is how other democracies scrutinize them.

Apologetic Aso

2008-10-24T16:31:00.000+11:00

On October 2nd, Prime Minister Aso spent the day getting his language in order. He gave personal apologizes and affirmations of historical apologizes. He dealt with the past, and moved on. So he hopes.

First he “apologized” to a full session of the Lower House of the Diet “for causing unpleasant feelings among people concerned by making indiscreet remarks in the past." Mr. Aso said in reply a question from a socialist lawmaker, “"As prime minister, I would like to make remarks by bearing in mind the weight of words hereafter."

In the same session, he confirmed that his government would abide by the apology for Japan’s wartime aggression and colonial rule in other Asian countries set out by former PM Murayama in 1995. About the Murayama statement, Aso said: "It represented a government's understanding of the past world war and my government too will carry it on."

Well, he thought he had moved on. On October 15th, Democratic Socialist Party head Ms. Fukushima asked the Prime Minister in the Upper House Budget Committee on about the Kono Statement of 1993 that recognizes and apologizes for the former Japanese army's involvement creating the Comfort Women system. He replied, "The basic position of the government today, as well, [genzai mo "now, as it was before"] follows the [Kono] Statement."

Unlike the Murayama Statement, the Kono Statement was never made official Japanese government policy. The Kono Statement neither received Cabinet approval nor a Diet vote. The Murayama Statement got both, and thus is difficult to change or refute. What Mr. Aso meant by saying that the Kono Statement was and has always been a government policy, no one is sure. If the Prime Minister had said this in front of a full session of the Diet, the Kono Statement would have become policy.

Some things are just not brushed aside that easily.

War Criminals All

2008-10-23T15:01:00.001+11:00

Tokyo’s Shukan Shincho (23 Oct 08 p 36) has a curious article on why Japan was “betrayed” by the US when it rescinded earlier this month the terrorist state designation of North Korea. The headline screams “Delisting from Terrorism-Supporting States -- 'Japanese Diplomacy' -- Who Are 'Class-A War Criminals' for Defeat". The article names names that include MOFA officials and former Prime Minister Fukuda as “Class A War Criminals.”

The crimes of the MOFA men appear to be that they did not sufficiently understand the American political system and did not receive better guidance from above. Mr. Fukuda seems to be simply a lying quitter. For those familiar with the 1946-48 Tokyo War Crimes Trials and the Nuremberg Principles, calling these men Class A War Criminals is odd indeed.

A Class A War Crime is a crime against peace—it is the planning, preparation, initiation, or waging of wars of aggression or in violation of treaty agreements. Men convicted of this sort of crime usually are responsible for the brutal subjugation and slaughter of countless civilians and soldiers as well as the complete annihilation of a way of life.

It appears that the average Japanese, if the Shukan Shincho can be any guide, believes that any common indiscretion or failure of judgment or diplomatic effort can be deemed an egregious war crime. If true, then those trying to secure the peace in Asia by resolving history’s injustices have a difficult task ahead. The very definition of what constitutes a war crime is skewed and simply going against common wisdom is treason.

The Accountability of Democracies

2008-10-23T12:15:00.003+11:00

In a previous post, I noted the recent electoral success of Austria’s ultra-nationalist, conservative parties. There is a lesson here for those who study historical contrition and contemporary reconciliation in Asia. It would be unfair to single out any one democracy in East Asia to compare with Austria. The practice of democracy in Asia diverges greatly from that in Europe. The critical difference between democracies West and East, to me, seems to be the mechanisms of accountability.

As background, you need to know that both far right winning parties in Austria were founded by the same man, Joerg Haider. A son of a shoemaker, he benefited from his uncle’s purchase in the 1930s of a fleeing Jewish merchant’s estate in southern Austria. With an inherited fortune and natural charisma, he changed the course of contemporary Austrian politics. On October 1, Haider, 58, was killed in a drunk driving accident.

On October 19th, tens of thousands of Austrians attended his funeral including Austria's president and chancellor. Barely two weeks before, Haider's party along with another far-right group, won 29% of Austria’s parliamentary vote. This was the second time that Mr. Haider was able to engineer such a startling victory. And it is the third time that other European countries took issue with Austria’s democratically elected government.

The vote in Austria shows that democracy is merely another political instrument to achieve political goals. Democracy, by itself, is not a value. Austria’s democracy, on a number of occasions, has retreated on the issue of contemporary values such as equality, tolerance, and charity. In the postwar era, the European community has held the Austrians to the contemporary interpretations of these values. They sanctioned, ostracized, and condemned the ultra-nationalist governments or leaders of Austria. The Europeans appear to believe that accountability both to the national and international community is important in protecting today’s values and in preserving democracy.

Haider hated the European community and fought to keep Austria out of the European Union. He railed against the universality of values and praised the work ethic of the Nazi era. He dismissed the judgment of the Nuremberg trials as merely victor’s justice. Just before Haider died, he told the British newspaper, The Independent: “We are not going to let the outside world dictate to Austria how it should deal with the past.” Democracy, he implied, was not there to constrain his fatherland. This view is shared by many of Asia's nationalist leaders heading democratically elected governments.

It is popular in Washington to note “democracy” as a “universal value” shared by the US and a number of its Asian allies. Unfortunately, as Mr. Haider demonstrated, the politics of democracy can fail to nurture some values, and in the end threaten democracy. His legacy is not the intolerance he fostered, but that men like him can continue to prey upon democracy.

Americans and Europeans keep Austria accountable to its democracy. The same is not true of their attitude toward Asia. This blind eye and gentle hand have not served the democratic process in Asia well. And it has encouraged unnecessary nationalism and delayed the resolution of historic grievances. Many Haiders exist among Asia’s democracies. Too many.

Prime Minister Aso to visit China

2008-10-13T17:33:00.000+11:00

China Daily of October 6 reports that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso is scheduled to visit China to attend the Asia-Europe Meeting in Beijing October 24 and 25 and to hold talks with China's leaders. Analysts point to the visit as a continuation of former Prime Minister Fukuda's commitment to improve relations with China and to continue cooperation regarding important issues in the region like the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Democratic Values

2008-10-08T14:11:00.000+11:00

Fundamental to reconciliation is responsibility and accountability. Nation states accept responsibility for their misdeeds, and their allies keep them accountable. Democratic Japan, however, does not find it politically necessary or feasible to take responsibility on the history issues. Equally significantly, its allies do not find it important to hold Japan accountable for its history or to its democracy.

For example, a September Japanese government directive to monitor opposition party document requests has not garnered attention outside Japan. On October 3rd, JiJi English-language press reported that the LDP has urged all Japanese ministries and agencies to consult with the ruling party when opposition parties ask for government documents. Naoto Kan, acting president of the biggest opposition party, the DPJ, criticized the LDP for trying to take direct control of government documents, calling the practice an “attempt to destroy democracy.” European and American leaders have been utterly silent.

There always has been reluctance among the Western democracies to criticize Japan’s version of democracy. Maybe it is because Japan is Asian and different. Maybe it is because Japan is the supposed bulwark against Communism in Asia. Maybe it is that the monitoring systems so vigilant in the West are nearly non-existent in Japan. Whatever the reason, Japan is rarely made accountable for its democracy or held to the same standards of responsibility as other G-7 countries.

Only recently has Japan been scrutinized for its lack of laws prohibiting human trafficking, child pornography, and child abduction. The unwillingness to regulate these actions reflects a certain social perspective on the roles of women and children in Japanese society. These are issues about morality and values. They are not necessarily political, or even elements of a democracy. Every society has attitudes on how to treat its weakest members that shape its values. In the West, these social values have become part of our politics, and now are inseparable from our notion of democracy.

The LDP’s effort to manage access to the government exposes the flaws in the structure and practice of Japan’s democracy. Many of the basic instruments that construct a democratic political system are weak or non-existent in Japan. It is troubling that the bureaucracy can allow, and no laws seem to exist to prevent, the ruling party from monitoring the requests of an opposition party. Japan’s public interest groups are limited and underdeveloped, physical intimidation is used by all parties as persuasion, and the press self-censors its investigations. Civil society, which is considered by the UN a pillar of democracy and a critical mechanism to protest heavy handed government moves, is ancillary and fragile in Japanese politics.*

Until recently, a political regime or form of government was merely an instrument to enforce and enhance values. Today, many now see democracy as a value in itself. In 2005, the UN declared democracy “a universal value.” This reflects some sort of international consensus that the political construction of democracy is of social worth. By implication, the UN declaration signals that democracy is something worth preserving, defending, and monitoring. An attack on a democracy is seen akin to an attack on a child by a predator. This UN-initiated view suggests that existing democracies now need to be held accountable for maintaining their democratic governments.

Europeans have embraced this responsibility. At the end of September, two rightist parties -- the Freedom Party and the Alliance for the Future of Austria -- won a combined 29 percent in Austria’s parliamentary elections. Both parties advocate an end to immigration and the expulsion of foreigners and asylum seekers who commit crimes. There is alarm that this voting strength will turn Austria’s government to the right with extreme rightist parliamentary leaders. In 1999 elections, the ultra-rightist Freedom Party won 27 percent of the vote and was included in the government, leading to months of European Union sanctions over statements seen as anti-Semitic or sympathetic to the labor policies of Adolf Hitler's. Elected government or not, Austria’s fellow Europeans did not feel that the extreme rightist views of some of Austria’s parliamentarians were appropriate for a democracy.

The Western democracies made it clear (and will again) to the Austrians that they were accountable to more than themselves for their democracy. A turn to the far right in Austria threatened the prevailing values that had developed among Europe’s other democracies. In postwar Europe, some attitudes are unacceptable for a stable society.

With this in mind, we must look at Japan’s democracy and ask aloud what expectations other democracies hold of Japan. It is a concern that there are not louder protests in Japan to the LDP’s interference with the democratic process, but it is of equal concern that the protests are not also coming from its international, democratic partners. The bar for Japan seems to be held too low.

* The Democracy Fund
Advancing Democracy through the UN: The Challenges on the Ground by Erica Barks-Ruggles, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, Speech at University of California Washington Center’s UNDP Roundtable, Washington, DC, October 2, 2008
Summary of Advancing Democracy through the UN Program 10/2/08

Fourth Beijing-Tokyo Forum Meets in Tokyo

2008-09-22T14:35:00.000+10:00

The Beijing-Tokyo Forum, an annual meeting sponsored by the China Daily and the Japanese non-profit organization Genron NPO, opened September 16 in Tokyo, and both Chinese State Councillor Dai Bingguo and outgoing Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda sent messages of support. Speakers at the Forum, which included Japanese Foreign Minister Komura Masahiko and Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cui Tiankai, spoke of the 30th anniversary of the China-Japan Peace and Friendship Treaty and promoting a strategic relationship of mutual benefit. The first meeting of the Forum took place in Beijing in August 2005.

Japan's Slaveholders

2008-09-22T00:29:00.000+10:00

The next prime minister of Japan will be Taro Aso. He is reportedly popular and respected in Japan. He is a Catholic who holds conservative nationalist views of his Emperor and Japan’s place in the world. In Washington, he is appreciated for his support of Japan’s participation in the “war on terrorism” and his desire to revise Article 9. But significant to many of the readers of this blog from Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands, he is the son of slave owners.

As reported in The Guardian, Aso deflected a reporter’s question about his family’s use of Allied POW slave labor in their mines during the war by saying he was too young to be aware of such things. Anyway, he said, he was head of Aso Cement the successor to Aso Mining, which he characterized as “a separate company, so I have never regarded this as an issue.”

Use of slave labor in Japanese private companies during the Pacific War was nothing unusual. The Imperial government routinely sold its POWs to Japanese companies to keep the country’s factories, mines, and docks operating. The work was relentless, the guards merciless, and food, sleep, and medical care scarce. It was also not unusual for each company to maintain detailed records on each prisoner/laborer for the government.

In fact, there was nothing unusual about what Mr. Aso said or did not say. Not one of the nearly 60 Japanese companies that used Allied slave labor have ever acknowledged, thanked, apologized, or compensated any of their POWs from any country. The wages each company claimed to pay these forced laborers was deposited in Japan’s postal saving system, and not one company has yet to make the effort to claim these funds from the government for its former slaves.

And not one Japanese political leader has ever apologized for this sordid history of brutal servitude. Aso brushed off the issue by saying that “My responsibility as a politician has been to help rebuild postwar Japan and turn it into a responsible member of the international community." One can only wonder how this new prime minister of Japan defines “responsible.”

Japan Elects a New Prime Minister

2008-09-16T17:44:00.000+10:00

Following the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Fukuda, on September 22, the Liberal Democratic Party will elect a new president who will then become Prime Minister. The current Party Secretary General Taro Aso is expected to win. Also competing are: former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, Nobuteru Ishihara, and Kaoru Yosano. A poll take by Yomiuri Shimbun found that Aso is expected to win more than 300 votes of the total 527 votes allocated to LDP Diet members and party prefectural chapters, assuring him of a majority.

Does Ozawa Like Puppies?

2008-08-25T07:37:00.000+10:00

Many in the Japan reconciliation “business” believe that a DPJ government would be good for procuring final apologies for Imperial Japan’s atrocities. Groups advocating for Korean POW guards to Comfort Women are encouraged that their issues are mentioned in the party platform or in DPJ member’s speeches.

Whether this is true or not, I cannot guess. Recently, the Shisaku Blog had a rather rambling but observant analysis of why the head of the DPJ, Ichiro Ozawa, will not be challenged next month in his bid for reelection as party head. Simply put, any contest would provide very uncomfortable exposure to the DPJ’s inconsistent and opportunistic policies. What can and will be delivered to the Japanese citizen by the DPJ is open for question.

This month, a new vanity book on Ozawa was published: “50 Questions to (An Assumed) Prime Minister Ichiro Ozawa” [Ozawa Ichiro (kari) e no goju no shitsumon, 小沢一郎総理（仮）への50の質問], an interview between Masato Ochi, Producer, Entertainment and Ichiro Ozawa, DPJ. The book blurb says that Masato Ochi asked Ozawa 50 informal questions to reveal his personality and lifestyle. Ochi asked questions such as: “Do you like yourself?” “What would you want to destroy the most now?” “When do you eat the strawberry on your strawberry shortcake?”

As I do not yet have a copy, I do not know how enlightening this book is. For now. what is interesting is that Fusosha published it. This publisher is owned by the conservative Fuji Sankei Group and generally only publishes books of like-minded conservatives. It is also the publisher of the controversial conservative textbook compiled by Japan's right-wing Society for History Textbook Reform. I may be reading too much into this publishing deal, but if Shisaku is right, then the rural voters might not be the only group that will be sold down the river.

More on J-V Day

2008-08-18T08:49:00.000+10:00

Although not much was said in the US about V-J day, officially or otherwise, the surrender and the peace appear to have been a popular topic in Tokyo. The NIKKEI on August 15, 2008 printed the following statements issued by the ruling and opposition parties, commemorating the 63rd anniversary of the end of the war.

Liberal Democratic Party: We are determined to positively advance discussion on the issue of extending the new Antiterrorism Special Measures Law. In order also to reward the feelings of the war dead, we aim at building peace in the international community.

Democratic Party of Japan: Squarely facing past history, we will continue to make steady efforts to make use of the lessons of history for peace in the future.

New Komeito: Japan as the victim of atomic bombing should demonstrate strong leadership in the drive to eradicate nuclear weapons. We aim at abolishing nuclear weapons, based on the idea that their use is an absolute evil.

Japanese Communist Party: We will make efforts to turn Japan into a nation that contributes to the world, based on the principles of peace and democracy in the Constitution.

Social Democratic Party: There are still a lot of problems left even though the war is over. We will continue to oppose the introduction of a permanent law pertaining to the dispatch of Self-Defense Force troops overseas.

People's New Party: We are now resolved that we should never opt for the path to war again.

New Party Nippon: We will fulfill a mission to bring about a world without nuclear weapons.

On Tuesday, the 12th, a higher authority in Japan weighed in on the significance of the anniversary. I can't quite say that this was the doing of the Imperial Household or not, but they appear to have been the source of similar, timely displays of historical realism. Japan's National Archives released pages from Hideki Tojo's diary. In the last days of the war, the former prime minister and Army minister penned his contempt for the wartime Cabinet that he thought frightened too easily.

Tojo remained committed to fighting the war, 120%, which he believed would liberate and stabilize Asia. Yet, he understood enough of the nature of the tragedy he helped create that he took "moral responsibility for causing useless deaths, even though they were meant to be a sacrifice for a great cause."

In the end, he deferred to the Emperor's judgment to end the war. After all he had followed the Emperor's orders before. These newly "found" pages were clearly meant to separate today's Japanese leaders from those who could not understand the consequences of war or of a "great cause." Yet, the diary pages do note that Tojo did wish to apologize.

In reading the peculiar LDP August 15 message, you can't help but wonder what, if anything, the LDP leadership will take away from Tojo's words. The LDP statement suggests that the return of a strong, active military will "reward the feelings of the war dead" with peace. It is also a minority opinion. Odd for a party that will soon face a major parliamentary election.

v-J Day This Side of the Pacific

2008-08-17T21:10:00.000+10:00

Admittedly, I did not read every newspaper nor listen to every broadcast. And my world is very small. But as far as I could see, the 63rd anniversary of the surrender of Japan and the end of World War II received no mention in the U.S.

The New York Times featured an op ed about a tree. The LA Times pondered bio-fuels. The Washington Post ran an op ed defending the humanity of apes. The conservative, Moonie-owned Washington Times had an op ed praising Alexander Hamilton who publicly admited, in his own newspaper, that he had an affair with another man's wife. (Truth be told here, it was my husband's many great's grandfather who put an end to this nonsense. The family has since redeemed itself by marrying into a long line of Protestant clergy harking back to Jonathan Edwards.) And the broadcast media seemed transfixed by Michael Phelps or woman's beach volleyball (girls can you hug each other and roll in the sand one more time).

Earlier in the week, I was on the Hill escorting a widow of a survivor of the Bataan Death March and a Japanese POW Camp to visit a young staffer in Senator Warner's office. I admit to being shocked when he neither opened the door nor pulled the chair out for this 80-old woman. Well, he was a bit more pulled together than the very young staffer for Senator Webb who chewed gum throughout the entire meeting.

She remembered V-J Day. She was in Washington performing at a club and after her act, she said, she and her dance partner tried to go to their hotel. But the streets will filled with people, screaming, crying, laughing, and just filled with joy that the war was finally over. On the drive back to my office, she pointed to the streets that were then packed with celebrants overwhelmed that night that things would finally return to normal.

I guess, normal has returned.

V-J Day

2008-08-16T12:07:00.002+10:00

Although a member of the Parliamentary league to encourage official visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, Prime Minister Fukuda did not go to the Shrine on August 15th. He, like current LDP General Secretary Taro Aso, says he has visited there privately. Instead, Fukuda joined in an official memorial ceremony down the road at Nippon Budokan.

The Prime Minister also paid his respects with flowers and a prayer at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery, which is a beautiful garden surrounding a very large box (there is also another large box off to the side of the main santuary) of the ashes of the unknown who fell fighting for Imperial Japan. Chidorigafuchi is maintained, in part, by a volunteer group of retired JDF officers. These veterans have little patience for the goings-on up at Yasukuni.

On this 63rd anniversary of Japan's surrender and the end of WWII, it is reported that nearly 60 Diet members visited Yasukuni. Among them were three Cabinet members: Farm Minister Seiichi Ota, Justice Minister Okiharu Yasuoka, and Consumer Affairs Minister Seiko Noda. Former prime ministers Koizumi and Abe also went.

I admit that I am a bit baffled by Koizumi's visit. There no longer seems to be a need for him to attend any annual ceremonies there. He never visited the Shrine before he was PM, so is it odd that he continues to do so. Can he be running for PM again?

It is also never reported, so I assume it does not happen, if any of these government representatives walk around to the side of the Yasukuni Hoden (main shrine) and through the tall iron gates to the Chinreisha shrines, where the souls of those who fought against Japan are enshrined. It would be a more thoughtful gesture than merely walking up the few steps to the Hoden.

Whatever the reasons for going to Yasukuni, I personally am not convinced it is a healthy form of political expression. With or without the souls of the 14 convicted war criminals, the Shrine still represents a manufactured form of Shinto to legitimize a form of government that near destroyed Japan. This cannot be good.

Japanese Leaders

2008-08-16T05:02:00.000+10:00

Leadership seems to be something wanting in Japan. Nevertheless, many people aspire to it. Recently, the NBR Forum had an English-language review of a number of books on upcoming Japanese leaders. To be sure, the books cited are all vanity books. Yet, the style of self-promotion can tell you something about the person. Thus, I recommend the review and the books in Japanese on Aso, Koike, Hiranuma, Hamada, Yasano and Ishiba. One surprising observation is that three of these gentlemen and one woman are Christian. I will not venture an observation if this is good or bad for reconciliation.

The link to this post is http://www.nbr.org/foraui/message.aspx?LID=5&MID=32661