While hostile intelligence agencies operate freely, Japan’s media indulges in hollow sensationalism. Drawing on former Air Self-Defense Force General Kunio Oda’s essay, this piece criticizes the submissive media reaction to U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis’s Senkaku remarks and reasserts the fundamental principle that Japan must defend itself.

March 12, 2017

The following is taken from a genuine and substantial essay by former Air Self-Defense Force General Kunio Oda, published in the latest issue of the monthly magazine Hanada (840 yen).
If the people of a normal country were truly rational, they would, instead of foolishly making a commotion while allowing hostile foreign intelligence agencies to trample them, immediately address the issues raised by Oda.
All emphasis in the text except for the headline is mine.

Media Exposes Its Subservient Mentality in Response to Defense Secretary Mattis’s “Senkaku Remark”

The preceding text is omitted.

Those Who Must Defend Are the Japanese

Secretary Mattis’s remarks were made voluntarily by the secretary himself at the opening of his meeting with Prime Minister Abe.
During its 7 p.m. broadcast, NHK deliberately issued a “breaking news” alert.
It announced that U.S. Defense Secretary Mattis had clearly stated that Article 5 of the Japan–U.S. Security Treaty “applies to the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.”
But was this truly something that warranted a breaking news alert.
One commentator mocked it as the exuberance of “a vassal whose fief has been reaffirmed.”
I fully agree.
After endlessly pleading, “America, please say you will protect the Senkakus,” the media reacted with a tone of “America said it. Hooray,” exposing an almost embarrassing level of subservient mentality.
Many must have blushed at this display.
The same pattern appeared during the security legislation debates and the Iraq dispatch.
Media outlets that once criticized Japan as “subordinate to the United States” or “America’s lapdog” now report in this manner, which only deepens the sense of contradiction.
As stated earlier, these remarks will undoubtedly serve as a strong deterrent against China’s attempts to change the status quo by force.
However, it must not be forgotten that it is the Japanese who defend Japan’s territory, territorial waters, and airspace, including the Senkaku Islands.
In 1969, the United States announced the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the primary responsibility for national defense rests with the nation concerned.
This has since become the foundation of U.S. alliance policy.
Japan is, of course, no exception.
This is the fundamental premise of the Japan–U.S. alliance.
Secretary Mattis stated at a U.S. congressional hearing that “nations with strong allies prosper, while those without them decline.”
In this meeting as well, he expressed expectations for strengthening Japan’s defense capabilities and called for a “strong ally Japan.”
The frenzy over the “breaking news” made me question whether the Japanese truly understand the basic principles of U.S. alliance policy.
Was this reporting done with the understanding that Article 5 would never be invoked without Japanese blood, sweat, and effort.
Frankly, this left me concerned.
This concern was only reinforced, not dispelled, after reviewing the joint statement following the summit.
Domestically, it risked making people forget the fundamental truth that “the Japanese defend Japan,” and internationally, it may have conveyed the impression that “Japan still lacks the will to defend itself.”

To be continued.