Japan's Relation with the US - Essay Example

Your Japan’s Relation with the US The most common memories of Japan and US relation are the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How hard the US tries it can never retract from its doing, nor can Japanese ever forget those horrible sights and more so the world. Since 1945 a long time has passed, it is interesting to note the changing trends in Japan’s relation with the US. Here, through our readings of the main sources, we gain knowledge about the changing relationship, and about the influence Okinawa has on the relationship. Through our discussion here, we look at how the Okinawa is a ‘problem’ for Japan and US’s budding relationship and why the ‘problem’ has been created by Japan itself. Through our discussion, we will conclude about the implications of self-government on the relationship of Japan and US. Okinawa was never a part of Japan; it was annexed by Japan in 1879 during Japan’s infamous colonial era. Okinawa never had a peaceful story since then. Later during World WarII, it was captured by US forces and remained under US control from 1945 to 1972 before being returned to Japan. There are still significant US military activities going on in the island. When a piece of land with a past that is just as uncomforting as its present decides to lead a struggle for voicing its identity, then there are bound to be frictions between the sovereigns deciding its future. This has been seen time and again and the best example is Hong Kong which went through a similar period during transformation of power from Japan to China. The difference is that Hong Kong was a booming economy and Okinawa serves just as a military base. Okinawa is the centre of gravity for all the developing relations between Japan and USA. Japan is an archipelago and yet it is the second largest economy. There is a black past of Japan-its colonial rule, ‘comfort women’, and coldness is all a part of that black past. Japan and USA share a complex relationship, the simplest reason for that is that we are talking about the eastern most country and the western most country. There is a clash of civilization and so is a clash of history-the atomic bombings. The interesting part of the relationship is Japan’s own clashing of economic prosperity and civilization. Everybody wants to be a part of and in fact ‘be’ American in one way or the other. Japan is no different; the business class knows very well the importance of USA. In spite of being the second largest economy, it is not the second most powerful state and the reason for that is its being used as a weapon by the US. Now one would wonder that the relationship should be just as simple as with any other country, that is where Okinawa steps in. The problem is Japan never learnt its lessons; it could never shed its coldness. This coldness towards Okinawa has led to a struggle among Okinawans who demand self-government. In this demand lies the complexity of the relationship between Japan and USA. Japan serves the same purpose as Britain does; they are the tools that USA depends on for support for all its activities (legal or illegal). Japan’s reason for dependence on USA is that it wants a pie of American economy to support its own economy. If at anytime, Japan decides to provide the demanded self-government to Okinawa not just will this mutual relationship be strained but Japan’s dream of being America will be shattered altogether, or so does Japanese leaders think. Okinawa still serves the same purpose that it did when it was under the control of America. There are females that serve the purpose of ‘comforting’ American soldiers and the military bases still command the same dread that they did when they were the rulers. Okinawans don’t just feel insecure but they feel a great sense of anger and anxiety upon being treated like stepson by Japan, in fact worse than that. Japan has always had a way of being cold towards the issues of its colonies, similar behavior towards Okinawa, even when it is officially a part of it, raises deep concerns among Okinawans and hence their demand for the self-government. This demand for self-government will be a blow to America in its control over the world. It would no longer be able to maintain its army in Okinawa, as Okinawa will become an individual sovereignty, and in its role as the country upholding all the values, it shall no longer be able to control Okinawa. This lost control and hence power will be blamed on Japan, which shall subsequently bear the outcomes. Japanese leaders are all too well aware of it. Gavan McCormack in his book Client State gives an explicit picture of the situation. “Within the modernizing Japanese state, Okinawas status was ambiguous. It was peripheral not only geographically, but in relation to the emperor-centered polity.” (155-6). Okinawa’s situation is complex in that it is the main region that explicitly shows American influence on Japan and at the same time resists it more than any other region of Japan. Okinawans are raged by the fact that the Japanese government spends 266 million yen for the maintenance of US military bases when its own people are suffering (McCormack, 159). Okinawa has not just been a centre for activities by America in east but it has also provided a sufficient ground for Japanese to believe that America needs them just as much as they do. The reason Japan seems so dependant on America is because they have never really decided to flex their muscles post-WWII. What I mean by that is that instead of being a positive influence on Asia and the world, it never really took part in all the politics and followed America. Japan has always had a lesser influence in world issues; moreover, it has been struggling with internal issues as well. In spite of being a big economy, Japan faces the problem of contract labors who are not as happy as the business class people. Japanese leaders are all elderly, and the youth cannot connect with them. The problems of Japan hence start with its own country. Okinawa is just a part of that problem. Japan has unnecessarily depended a lot on the American identity without realizing that it has been losing its own identity. In that lose of identity also lies its another important loss, that of sovereignty. It is all too well known that America only should have left being hegemony after the cold war but instead its main foreign policy remained to maintain its status as hegemony. Japan on the other hand has always been laying low post its defeat in World WarII. This situation in turn leads to Japan accepting all the demands made by America. Japan is not as dependant on America for maintaining its economy as it is for a ‘support’. America’s status in world is that of a big brother, it has been doing what it wants to and shall continue to maintain its status; Japan would never want to be on bad terms with America because it lies far below America when it comes to power. The dependence is more of a reason to keep the leaders under the calm of never being on the wrong side. When Okinawa is still partially under USA control, can we call Japan a complete sovereign nation? Never, not just is Japan being partially ruled by people of another region but also the representatives themselves are under the crossfire of not being a part of real Japan. Japan is going through tough times, the people are dissatisfied with their leaders who bear aristocratic manners and indulge in luxuries when the people are suffering from problem of low wages and absence of necessities. With the kind of economy it is, people should have been satisfied but an increase in crimes that are related to depression and suicides express the real condition explicitly. There is a widening gap between people and its representatives. The above discussion might seem a total internal problem without any links to the Japan-US relationship. However, in fact it is intermingled to the problems of the relationship. Japanese leaders are well aware of the growing discomfort among people for the leaders; they seek to find the solution in America. Japanese leaders expect the USA to help them in settling the discomfort and seek a support in them. On the other hand America wants Japan to maintain its hegemony by controlling east through its military base in Okinawa. Okinawa is as essential to maintain the relationship, as are Japan’s commitments to American issues. Okinawa has the power to disrupt the relationship in spite of being a marginal state. Japanese leaders cannot allow the support they have had since long being taken away like that. Hence, they will never give in to the demands of the Okinawans. Okinawa has though been able to strike a universal chord with its issue of females being traumatized by the US soldiers. In spite of the continuing resistance, Japan continues to keep the issue from exploding. Thus, it has been able to preserve its relationship with America. From the above discussion, we can conclude that Japan is going through a period where due to a lack of understanding between the leaders and people there is a clash of their sense of identity. While people are clear about their identity as Japanese, the leaders are all too busy appeasing America to realize that they have their own identity. On the other hand, Okinawa is also a main factor that decides the nature of the relationship. The question here draws our attention to the fact that the relationship is not as much about the economic or strategic relationship as about Japan’s own struggle with its identity. Japan is not America and while maintaining its relationship with the US it needs to realize that. Okinawa shall not be ‘used’ by Japan to extend its relationship instead it should ‘use’ it to give a better picture of Japan. Japan needs to realize that accepting mistakes is the best way to expect forgiveness. It should not base its relationship with other countries on such weak reasons. Japan needs to find its soul and only then will it be able to maintain a healthy relationship with the US rather than being ruled by it. Works Cited Akami Tomoko. Internationalizing the Pacific.19-29, 87-123. Azuma, Eiichiro. Between Two Empires: Race, History, and Transnationalism in Japanese America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. Hay, John. Zwick, Zim. First Open Door Note. The American Revolution. 6 Sept.1899. . 5 Dec. 2008. Huntington, Samuel P. Americas Changing Strategic Interests. Survival, 33.1(Jan/Feb 1991):3-17 McCormack, Gavan. Client State: Japan in the American Embrace. London: Verso, 2007. Shintaro Ishihara. The Japan that can say no. Tanji, Miyume. “The Enduring Myth of Okinawan Struggle: The History and Trajectory of a Diverse Community of Protest”. . 5 Dec. 2008. Read More