A full English translation of the WiLL January issue dialogue between journalist Takayama Masayuki and Professor Emeritus Hizumi Katsuo.
Topics include: Takaichi’s diplomatic strategy, the distorted 80-year history of Japan’s China policy, defects of Chinese EVs and solar panels, U.S.–China convergence, missionary networks in China, CCP historical indoctrination, Xi Jinping’s ideological background, Mao-era principles still shaping modern China, Taiwan tensions, and Yanagita Kunio’s critique of Japanese conformity.
The dialogue argues that Japan must abandon long-held illusions about China and re-examine its fundamental nature.

The Japanese Do Not Understand Who the Real Chinese Are —
A Dialogue Between Takayama Masayuki and Professor Emeritus Hizumi Katsuo

The following is from the January issue of the monthly magazine WiLL, from a featured dialogue titled “The Japanese Do Not Understand Who the Real Chinese Are.”
It is a conversation between Takayama Masayuki—whom I regard as the sole and unmatched journalist, scholar, and writer in the postwar world—and Hizumi Katsuo, Professor Emeritus at Aichi Prefectural University.

The Japanese do not understand who the real Chinese are.
The Japanese have continued to cling to illusions about China.
Now is the time to wake up.
Correcting the great misunderstanding about China.

Takayama:
Prime Minister Takaichi’s diplomacy has made a brilliant start.
Beginning with ASEAN, followed by summit meetings with the U.S., China, and South Korea, and then APEC.
Because she lacked diplomatic experience, many expressed worry or concern, but it turned out to be needless.

Hizumi:
I would say it was more than satisfactory.
Through the Takaichi administration, Japan has the opportunity to reassess 80 years of postwar diplomacy toward China.
If the administration exposes just how distorted Japan’s China policy has been, its significance will be enormous.
More than that, I hope it creates an opportunity to correct Japan’s great misunderstanding of China.

Takayama:
Chinese-made solar panels and electric vehicles are essentially well-crafted frauds.
Even in China, people are turning away from EVs.
They say you must park EVs at least fifteen meters away from buildings, or never in underground parking lots.
You never know when they will ignite, and once they catch fire, no one can stop it.
In China today, Toyota hybrids are selling.
No one wants to ride EVs anymore.

Hizumi:
There have also been numerous accidents in which Chinese-made mobile batteries suddenly caught fire.

Takayama:
Chinese products have long been synonymous with defects.
No sensible Japanese person buys them.
In the United States, Chinese dog food circulated because it was cheap, and many people bought it—only for their dogs to die after eating it.
It became a huge scandal, and Americans began to understand the true nature of the Chinese.
Michael Pillsbury, a political scientist fond of China, announced in 2015 that China is a swindler state which, if left unchecked, will surpass the U.S. by 2049.
Climate change and CO₂ regulations are also said to be global fraud schemes involving China, yet Japan still has not awakened.
Naoto Kan of the former Democratic Party flooded Japan with Chinese solar panels, destroying Japan’s natural environment.
Prime Minister Takaichi is moving to regulate mega-solar installations.
At last we can put an end to Kan’s act of betrayal.

Hizumi:
If I were to give Prime Minister Takaichi one piece of advice, it would be this:
Never display an overt attitude toward China.
If you openly criticize them, they will—because they are cunning—set traps with extreme sophistication.
It was reported that when Prime Minister Takaichi spoke at ASEAN about “upholding a free and open Indo-Pacific,” she received thunderous applause.
ASEAN countries will accept such principles on the surface, but they also demand returns.
Indeed, right after her visit, Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited ASEAN and signed the new ACFTA 3.0 free-trade agreement with them.
Without such tangible benefits, ASEAN countries will not act for Japan.

Takayama:
In 1977, when then–Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda visited Manila, he announced the Fukuda Doctrine, composed of three principles:
“We will not become a military power,”
“We will build mutual trust with heart-to-heart communication across social and cultural fields,”
and “We will cooperate with ASEAN solidarity on an equal footing.”
Prime Minister Takaichi’s speech has similarities.

Hizumi:
At that time, ASEAN accepted the Fukuda Doctrine because it was backed by the immense practical benefit of Japan’s booming economy.
Does Japan still have such power today?
Japanese diplomacy must reflect on this.

Takayama:
There was also the U.S.–China summit.
I wonder what the outcome actually was.

Hizumi:
I predicted the U.S. and China would compromise somewhere.
As expected, China effectively lifted export restrictions on rare earths and other critical minerals, while the U.S. agreed to lower tariffs from 20% to 10%.
China’s basic negotiating philosophy is that if they demand 100 and get 30, that is enough.
Trump’s negotiation style is similar.
Their interests happened to align this time.
Japanese tend to be overly earnest.
If China demands 100, the Japanese feel guilty unless they give all 100.
Thus Japan cannot negotiate with China.

Takayama:
When I first went to China, I saw a strange ear cleaner being sold.
I asked the price, and they said “20 yuan.”
So I paid 20 yuan, and they were shocked.
Later I learned it was a cheap item worth about 3 yuan.
Their instinct is to deceive first and profit.
That is the Chinese.

Hizumi:
When I first visited Taiwan in 1968 and walked around Taipei’s streets looking for souvenirs, I saw fans being sold.
One fan cost 3 yuan.
I said I wanted three, and the vendor said “10 yuan.”
I said, “No, it should be 9 yuan.”
He replied, “No—anyone who can buy three can pay 10.”

Takayama:
Japanese have a naïve honesty.
Even if you tell them to change, it is too late.
Until the 1890s, the U.S. sent over 1,500 missionaries to China.
Among them were the father of Pearl S. Buck, the Nobel laureate, and the father of Leighton Stuart, later president of Yenching University.
Their children became “agents” like ninja plants (“kusa”) and engaged in anti-Japanese operations.
By the 1930s, the number of American missionaries, journalists, diplomats, reporters, and businessmen reached 13,000.
If American “plants” joined with crafty Chinese, Japanese could be deceived easily—and Japan was dragged into a quagmire of war.
In that sense, the U.S. and China resemble each other.
The U.S. is ill-natured; China is even worse.
Prime Minister Takaichi must avoid being deceived by these two great powers.

Hizumi:
In 1972, Nixon and Kissinger visited China and met Zhou Enlai.
Newly revealed secret records show both countries thoroughly ridiculed Japan.
Kissinger criticized Japan, saying, “The Japanese cannot keep secrets. If you give confidential information to the Japanese ambassador in Washington, it spreads by the afternoon.”
Zhou Enlai roared with laughter.
In that sense, the U.S. and China share the same stance toward Japan.
As proof, Trump’s August 14 message marking 80 years after the victory of World War II and Xi Jinping’s September 3 speech at the 80th anniversary of the Anti-Japanese War had exactly the same content—
Japan is responsible for the war; Japan was at fault.

Takayama:
They are like half-brothers in a family of swindlers.

Hizumi:
Even if the U.S. and China go to war, they will not destroy each other completely.
They will find a settlement.
The recent U.S.–China summit shows exactly that.
Japan does not need to involve itself deeply with such countries.
But Japanese politicians and mass media do not understand the true nature of the U.S. and China.
It is truly troublesome.

Takayama:
In a public consultation about perceptions of China, over 80% responded “dislike.”
This number is very encouraging.

Hizumi:
In that sense, the Japanese must reconsider the true nature of the Chinese.
The CCP’s 1955 history textbook “How to Study History” (by Cui Wei) is extremely instructive.
At the beginning, a 4,000-year-old man named “History” appears and teaches children:
“Think about it, children. China has vast lands, and everywhere our ancestors’ hot blood has been spilled. Everywhere the martyrs of revolution have shed their hot blood. Everywhere the heroes who defended the motherland have shed their hot blood.”
Then he continues:
“Communism is a wonderful system. You like it, don’t you? Then I will teach you how to realize communism—whom to fight and how to win. Listen carefully.”
The text proceeds as a story.

Takayama:
It is written in narrative form.

Hizumi:
Yes, and then it shifts to a Q&A format about history.
“What happened in 1921?”
“Yes! The First National Congress of the Communist Party was held.”
“What happened in 1922?”
“The Second Congress was held.”
“What happened in 1923?”
“It is the year Sun Yat-sen sought cooperation with the Communist Party.”

Because it was published in 1955, it must have greatly influenced the current Chinese leadership centered on Xi Jinping.
Their heads are filled with this historical narrative.

Takayama:
Terrifying.

Hizumi:
Another important document is the booklet “To All Party, All Army, and All the People of All Nationalities”, issued immediately after Mao Zedong’s death in 1976 by the four authorities:
the CCP Central Committee,
the NPC Standing Committee,
the State Council,
and the Central Military Commission.
This booklet also deeply influenced Xi Jinping’s generation.
It declared:
“We will resolutely accomplish what Mao Zedong left unfinished,”
and listed six principles:

1. The proletarian revolutionary struggle must be advanced resolutely.
2. Strengthen the Party’s unified leadership; all must rally around the Central Committee.
3. The people’s unity must be led by workers; criticize Deng Xiaoping.
4. Uphold Mao’s military line; build the army; strengthen the militia; prepare for war; defeat all invading enemies; liberate Taiwan.
5. Strengthen unity among Third World nations and oppose imperialism.
6. We will never pursue hegemony or become a superpower.

Takayama:
But they have always pursued hegemony!
And Deng Xiaoping was already considered the enemy of all the people?

Hizumi:
Exactly.
That is why Xi Jinping is intensifying criticism of Deng Xiaoping.
He is also strengthening the unity of the so-called “Global South” and constantly watching for an opportunity to invade Taiwan.
After the war, folklorist Kunio Yanagita wrote an essay titled “What Is a Japanese?”
He pointed out that in the East, when a new trend emerges, people rush to follow it without verifying its value.
This tendency persists today.
Thus, Japanese should seriously reflect on Yanagita’s words and return to first principles—studying what Xi Jinping’s regime thinks and what it intends to do.