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Koizumi follows his
heart
By J Sean Curtin
TOKYO - The current low in Japan-China
relations has set off a fierce public debate in
Japan about how to deal with the Middle Kingdom
and the restless ghosts of Tokyo's wartime past.
An ever-widening rift is opening up between those
who believe Japan must respect Chinese
sensitivities over Tokyo's brutal wartime actions,
and neo-nationalists who claim that Japan has
nothing for which to apologize. Serious divisions
are now emerging within the governing coalition,
and Japanese society is polarizing. The outcome of
this bitter struggle is likely to profoundly shape
Japan's dealings with China, as well as determine
how ties between Asia's two largest economies will
develop.
The focal point of national
debate is Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's
annual pilgrimage to the war-tainted Yasukuni
Shrine and the status of 14 class-A war criminals
enshrined within the Shinto establishment, which
honors Japan's 2.5 million war-dead. To the
nationalist camp, such visits are patriotic and
the men classified as war criminals, including
wartime premier General Hideki Tojo, are heroes.
Moderates feel it is inappropriate for a prime
minister to pay homage at an institution that
deifies leaders who were directly responsible for
immense suffering in China.
The intensity
of exchanges between the two sides over the issue
is itself harming Sino-Japanese relations, as
neo-nationalists use increasingly inflammatory and
extremist rhetoric.
In recent weeks,
right-wing members of the ruling Liberal
Democratic Party (LDP) have vigorously aired their
revisionist interpretation of history, which seems
specifically designed to enrage Beijing. The
discourse has become so incendiary that eight
former prime ministers have publicly demanded
better relations with China and asked Koizumi not
to visit Yasukuni. However, these pleas have
failed to pacify LDP diehards.
Masahiro
Morioka, an LDP lawmaker who passionately supports
Koizumi's Yasukuni visits, said on national
television, "Class-A war criminals are treated as
bad people because of fear of China."
Taro
Aso, the nationalist Internal Affairs and
Communications minister and a potential successor
to Koizumi, told Asia Times Online, "The
designation of who was a class-A war criminal was
something that was determined while Japan was
under US occupation, and was not determined under
Japanese law."
The increasingly
ultra-nationalist tone of the debate is forcing
moderates to hit back as already battered
relations with China deteriorate even further.
The New Komeito Party, the dovish junior
partner in the governing coalition, has denounced
the LDP revisionists, criticized Koizumi's
Yasukuni excursions and created tensions in the
coalition. One New Komeito lawmaker, Junichi
Fukumoto, told Koizumi in parliament, "I want you
to think about how Jewish people would feel if the
German chancellor visited the grave of Adolf
Hitler."
Beijing has also been venting its
anger, reminding Japan that many Chinese still
live with the emotional scars of the war. Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan explained,
"It left huge traumas to innumerous Chinese
families."
The business community, deeply
worried about the impact the debate is having on
bilateral economic ties, has also been speaking
out. "The issue isn't visiting Yasukuni, but to
recognize that the war criminals are there," said
Hiroshi Okuda, chairman of Japan's biggest
business lobby, the Japan Business Federation. The
overwhelming majority of Japanese firms operating
in China now believe that political tensions are
seriously impeding the expansion of economic
links.
In 2004, bilateral trade flows
totaled US$170 billion, making China Japan's
biggest trading partner. Strong Chinese growth
created huge demand for imported goods, which has
fueled export growth for Japanese companies. The
Yasukuni issue has the potential to disrupt
booming commerce, something that would obviously
damage both economies.
Despite criticisms
from all quarters and the huge economic risk,
Koizumi has strongly hinted he intends to visit
Yasukuni this year, an action that would almost
certainly bring Sino-Japanese relations to a
dangerous low.
Former premiers hit
out
Relations have now deteriorated to
such a dangerous level that former Japanese
leaders feel compelled to try to avert a crisis.
In an unprecedented move, House of Representatives
Speaker Yohei Kono convened a summit of five of
Koizumi's predecessors, all of whom advised him
against visiting Yasukuni.
Speaking on
behalf of Kiichi Miyazawa, Tomiichi Murayama,
Ryutaro Hashimoto, Yoshiro Mori and Toshiki Kaifu,
Kono said, "We cannot overlook the rapid
deterioration in Japan's relations with China. It
cannot be denied that one of the reasons behind
this is Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni." The
statement also got the backing of three other
former prime ministers, Yasuhiro Nakasone,
Morihiro Hosokawa and Tsutomu Hata.
Kono,
a former foreign minister, also publicly reminded
Koizumi that only Nakasone had visited the shrine
while prime minister in 1985, and that none of his
other living predecessors had do so. Due to
Chinese protests, Nakasone visited the shrine just
once, while Koizumi has been four times since
taking office.
A confident-sounding
Koizumi casually dismissed the collective advice
of every single one of his predecessors, telling
reporters, "This is nothing new." He added in a
cheerful tone, "I have heard these opinions
individually."
His seeming indifference to
the grave concerns of Japan's former helmsmen
prompted Nakasone to publicly advise Koizumi not
to visit the shrine. He said, "I understand the
prime minister visits the shrine out of his
personal beliefs. However, a prime minister should
also think how his conduct will affect the
national interest ... a separate enshrinement of
class-A war criminals will take time, I think it
would be an admirable political decision to stop
visiting the shrine."
Public shift
Recent polls indicate that the public has
shifted firmly against Koizumi going to Yasukuni
this year. A new Kyodo News poll found 57.7%
thought Koizumi should not visit Yasukuni, up 16.9
percentage points from December 2004, while those
who support the visits stood at 34.3%, down by
16.7 points. According to an earlier NHK news
survey, 48% of Japanese oppose Koizumi's continued
visits to Yasukuni, while 40% support them.
Takenori Kanzaki, leader of coalition
partner New Komeito, reiterated his party's call
for Koizumi to refrain from visiting Yasukuni.
Kanzaki warned that further Yasukuni visits "would
have a negative impact to the foundation of the
ruling coalition". However, he hedged his comments
by adding, "A decision on whether to maintain the
coalition will not be made on the Yasukuni issue
alone, but on a more comprehensive judgment."
Even the ultra-conservative Japan
War-Bereaved Association, which has supported and
encouraged Koizumi's visits, has begun to sound
cautious. "It is necessary to give consideration
to neighboring countries and obtain their
understanding," it urged Koizumi in an unusually
conciliatory statement. Koizumi responded, "I'm
always giving consideration," but did not rule out
paying homage at the shrine this year.
Rising public concern over the Yasukuni
issue is exposing bitter divisions within the LDP.
Former chief cabinet secretary Yasuo Fukuda, who
has long demanded better relations with China,
recently embarrassed Koizumi by pointing out the
sheer absurdity of the current situation in which
Chinese and Japanese leaders are barely on
speaking terms and rarely meet. He told
parliament, "It is abnormal not to be able to hold
a normal summit with China. If we can talk
frankly, we could hold a sufficient conversation
on important issues."
Foreign Minister
Nobutaka Machimura publicly denounced Fukuda and
other LDP lawmakers who take a "soft line" on
China. He said, "It's odd that Mr Fukuda has made
such remarks," and attacked Takeshi Noda, the LDP
head of the Japan-China Society, saying,
"Japan-China relations are heading in the wrong
direction because of the presence of such a person
[as Noda] flattering Chinese officials."
Rhetoric angers China
Masahiro
Morioka, an LDP lawmaker and an aide to the health
minister, took the neo-nationalist argument to new
heights when he claimed the postwar prosecution of
Japanese war criminals was illegal and there was
nothing wrong with them being honored at Yasukuni.
"There are no grounds to say winners are
right and losers are wrong. There is no need to
apologize [for the war]," Morioka said in comments
broadcast on national television. "That is the
truth of the class-A war criminals, and Japan
needs to tell this to not just China and South
Korea, but to the world," he declared. "Koizumi
has paid his respects at Yasukuni shrine every
year. I think that is a very good thing," Morioka
added.
Explaining his ideas about the
wartime leaders, he claimed, "Class-A war
criminals are treated as bad people because of
fear of China. They were categorized by a
one-sided tribunal led by the occupation forces.
Saying it's bad to enshrine class-A criminals at
Yasukuni Shrine is to turn a blind eye to future
troubles."
China angrily denounced
Morioka's comments, Chinese Foreign Ministry
spokesman Kong Quan said Chinese people "express
righteous indignation and severely condemn" the
remarks. However, Koizumi brushed aside Morioka's
comments and China's criticisms, saying, "The
lawmaker was making personal comments and it's
best not to make too much of it."
Prominent cabinet minister Taro Aso told
Asia Times Online that he felt China was
deliberately exploiting the Yasukuni issue. He
said, "I think what China is saying about the
shrine raises the question why they bring this
issue up. Are they just saying it to make things
difficult for Japan?" He added, "In many respects,
this shrine is like Arlington Cemetery in the
United States. So I think it is a very natural
thing for someone like me to go there to pay their
respects."
Breaking a long silence, the
granddaughter of General Tojo entered the debate.
Yuko Tojo stated on TV that she opposed the
removal of her father, who was executed as a
class-A war criminal, from the list of those
enshrined at Yasukuni. She said, "It's an issue of
state and not a problem of a private individual.
It's also not an issue of whether to withdraw
enshrinement after a foreign country made a claim.
It will be tantamount to admitting that the last
war was a war of aggression. Japan didn't fight
wars of aggression. Only China now says so."
Appearing with Tojo on the same television
show, former Yasukuni priest Tadashi Yuzawa
defiantly said removing the class-A war criminal
"will never happen, no matter how times change".
Hisahiko Okazaki, a former
Japanese ambassador to Saudi Arabia and Thailand,
recently wrote a lengthy and highly influential
article in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper
articulating the views of neo-nationalists such as
Tojo, Morioka and other LDP revisionists. He
concluded, "Concerning the Yasukuni problem, Japan
should not budge an inch. Any concession would be
calamitous, endangering the security and
prosperity of Japanese in the future."
If Koizumi
follows Okazaki's advice and ignores the calls for
restraint from his predecessors, the business
community and the public, then Japan and China
will find themselves on an extremely dangerous
collision course.
J Sean Curtin
is a GLOCOM fellow at the Tokyo-based Japanese
Institute of Global Communications.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
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