Can Japan ditch ‘out-of-Asia’ notion?

2014-01-14 16:16

Can Japan ditch ‘out-of-Asia’ notion?

By Chung Min-uck
Can Japan overcome its “go-out-of-Asia” notion and be friendly with the neighbors?
“Once the wind of Western civilization blows toward the East every blade of grass and tree in the East follows what the Western wind brings. We do not have time to wait for the enlightenment of our neighbors (Korea and China)… I will deny those bad Asian friends from my heart.”This is an excerpt from a newspaper article written by Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835-1901), a Japanese political theorist, in 1885, which later came to be known as “Datsu-A Ron,” or the theory of escaping from Asia.
It served well as an intellectual foundation for Japan’s invasion of Asia during the early 20th century and, experts say, there are still a good number of Japanese politicians today, particularly among the hawkish right- wing, that are caught up with this idea.
“Historically, Japan, from time to time, was better off when it escaped from Asia,” said Ko Bunyu, a Taiwanese analyst resident in Japan, explaining why some Japanese people still stick to this notion. “Of course, there were also times when Japan engaged with Asian countries. I believe that Japan is again faced with a situation in which it has to choose whether to have a good relationship with China and Korea or not.”
Contrasting strikingly with its “bad” Asian neighbors, Japan successfully adopted advanced technologies and political systems from the West, during the so-called Meiji Restoration in 1868, and soon joined Western powers to become a colonial ruler.
But this came at great cost. Tokyo is currently suffering from its own legacy, specifically its colonial rule of Korea and China. Following World War II (1939-45), Seoul developed into a global industrial and political power and Beijing is now one half of the G2 group, along with the U.S., Tokyo’s main ally.
Despite the changes in the geopolitics of Northeast Asia, Tokyo’s ties with Seoul and Beijing remain strained because of its failure to properly address and recognize its past atrocities.
“Thanks to some historical developments, including the Korean War (1950-53), Japan’s defeat in World War II proved very fortuitous to Japan. It was also able to join and indeed thrive in the ‘American century,’” wrote Jean-Pierre Lehmann, a professor of International Political Economy at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland, in a recent email interview. “How Japan will fare in the ‘Asian century’ is the question.”
“It is my opinion that Japan is playing a dangerous game both by reviving domestic nationalism and by seeking to contain China geopolitically and economically,” he added.
Japan, under the leadership of ultra-rightist Shinzo Abe, is adopting nationalistic ideology to deny and sometimes even glorify its past imperialism by opting to revise history textbooks in ways to reflect and perpetuate these attitudes.
Last month Abe paid his respects at the contentious Yasukuni Shrine where Class-A war criminals are honored, despite warnings from neighboring nations that the consequences for doing so would be disastrous.
Moreover, there is the long-running territorial dispute with China surrounding the Senkaku Islands, or Diaoyu, in the East China Sea. Regarding this, Tokyo is stepping up its territorial claims to the Seoul-controlled islets of Dokdo by conducting various PR campaigns.
Militarily, it is aiming to exercise its U.N.-granted right to collective self-defense that it did not previously assert which allows defensive Japanese forces to intervene in third-country conflicts.

Japan’s call to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership (TPP) negotiations is also regarded as a geopolitical decision with the intention of joining hands with the U.S. to contain the rise of China.

“I fear Japan is playing a game that is reminiscent of the ones played by European powers in the early 20th century,” said Lehmann. “Peace and prosperity in Northeast Asia will become increasingly elusive so long as the past is not properly addressed and responsibilities recognized as was the case with Europe after World War II.”

The professor suggested that, as a gesture of “returning to Asia,” Japanese King Akihito must make some moves, although the chances of this occurring are slim.

“I argue that Akihito should visit Seoul and bow before the memorial monument for the comfort women and also travel to Nanjing (in China) in recognition of the massacre there,” the professor said. “Unfortunately I think there is very little chance of either occurring. However unless and until Japan has not made peace with its neighbors there can be no peace in the region.”