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1999-2000
Standing Alone: Circumstances
Surrounding Japan and Suggestions for Japanese Foreign
PolicyHave you ever wondered whether Japan is a part of Asia or
not? When it comes to such a question, some people may say "Yes"
and others "No." But I'm sure that most Japanese people answer "I
don't know." Why does such a thing occur? Why can't we define
ourselves? To clarify the reason for this phenomenon and answer
the first question, I'm going to introduce you the history of
Japan. Then, using two examples I will prove that Japan is
standing alone in the world. But if it is true, what should we
do? For such a question, I have a strong opinion. In the last
part of this paper, I want to tell you about my suggestions for
Japanese foreign policy. Even if you don't agree with my
suggestions, you'll at least learn to think that we should
realize that Japan is isolated from the world. Please listen to
me for a little while.
From the beginning of Japanese history to 1853, Japan had a
much stronger connection with China than today. China had been
the biggest and strongest country in East Asia through 3,000
years, and our ancestors were afraid of its power and that it
might invade our country. That's why Japan had learned many
things from China including cultural things, political things and
so forth. Please don't misunderstand that we were willing to
accept them. It might have been so for some things, but not all.
Rather than that, there was much need to do so. Otherwise we
would be invaded and controlled like many other Asian countries.
We imitated China just to be strong enough to protect our
country. (In fact, we completely succeeded in achieving this aim:
Japan has never been conquered by China). However, Japan's peace
was broken by the arrival of Perry in 1853. After that, Japan was
at the mercy of Western powers. But we introduced many Western
things quickly and succeeded in avoiding being colonized, again.
In due course, Japan has been surviving by the effort of
imitating the country that was strongest at that time. This is
the reason why we can't understand ourselves.
Thus, it leads to the question: "what is the real Japan?" We
learned many things from China but we are clearly different from
China. We have been imitating America but are not American at
all. Japanese people are undecided which country is closer to
Japan. Even though Japan has a long relationship with East Asia,
and we look like Asian people, I can declare that Japan is not a
part of Asia.
This point is obvious when we look back at history. No other
Asian countries could change themselves into a Western-like mode
quickly enough to escape from being dominated. They couldn't get
out of being Asian countries. If so, why could Japan go away from
Asia? It is because Japan is not an Asian country. On the other
hand, Japan is now a democratic country and has a free market
economy the same as Western countries. Nevertheless, that Japan
is not a Western country is more clear than that Japan is not an
Asian country. No one says Japan is a part of the West. There is
no direct explanation for this fact, but we might be able to
refer to the difference of cultural roots. In any case, we can
say that Japan is not a Western country.
To reinforce my idea, I would like to mention two examples.
First, China never forgave Japan for World War II. To the
contrary, France has forgiven Germany long ago. You may say that
Germany had done its best. But however Japanese actions change,
the Chinese reactions are always the same. It must be related to
cultural difference. In short, France and Germany have the same
culture, and Japan and China haven't. Second, after the end of
the Cold War, American leaders began to say that Japan is of a
different kind. Nowadays, many of Clinton's advisers are the
possessors of The Theory of Japanese Disparateness. I
agree with their idea. Japan is totally different from the West.
To our bafflement, we have no close friends except America now.
But historically, we have had no close friends for so long in
contrast to almost all other countries like China and Korea,
America and Britain, France and Germany, Russia and Greece,
because of our closed topography. Consequently, Japan was
isolated from the world.
So, what can we do? Now, I'd like to offer my suggestions. First,
we should clearly realize that Japan has no friends in the world.
Second, we have to probe who is whose friend, and who is whose
enemy. To know this, it is useful to use the theory of Samuel P.
Huntington. Concerning his book called The Clash of
Civilizations and Remarking of World Order, even though his
division of the world is not so accurate, his basic thought of
dividing the world by civilizations is very helpful when Japanese
government decide a foreign policy. Third, we must estimate which
countries or groups are most valuable to be allied with. Today,
it is obviously America. But I'm not sure if this situation lasts
forever. In the future, if China becomes strong and starts to
quarrel with America, what should we do? I believe there are only
three ways.
- Remain allied with America
- Become allied with China
- Not be allied with either.
Cases 1 and 2 are pretty dangerous because Japan will be used as
a shield in each case. Therefore, to choose the third one is the
best way. For choosing this, we should be allied with Russia or
India. There may be little possibility that it will happen in the
near future. But since it will be likely to happen someday, it is
important to prepare before it's too late.
In short, what I'd like to call your attention to is that next
fifty years will be the most difficult age for Japan. Since that
age will be the transition point of world power, we will have to
face many changes and dilemmas that distress us. Therefore, we
must firmly comprehend the situation that surrounding Japan.
Without realizing our isolation from the world, we won't be able
to live through the next century. After all, we might have to
keep on imitating something or someone forever. But if that is
our destiny, let's accept it and take advantage of it. Japan has
been surviving by behaving in such a way throughout 2000
years.
by Koichi Kakazu
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