This essay revisits Japan’s diplomatic decline under the Democratic Party administration, when the country was openly ridiculed and marginalized on the world stage. Through concrete episodes and Angela Merkel’s blunt remark, it exposes how instability and amateur governance eroded Japan’s international standing.

March 11, 2017

As I turned the pages of today’s Sankei Shimbun, a large headline caught my eye: “Japan’s ‘Dark History’ Is No Laughing Matter Compared with South Korea.”
At first, I thought this was an odd phrase for Abiru Rui to use—what did “dark history” mean?—but as I read on, I found several facts that made me nod in agreement.
Those who choose to become journalists have a duty to convey facts and events that those who choose business cannot know.
Lecturing the government or the public, or preaching distorted ideologies such as false moralism or false communism, is utterly out of the question.
All emphasis in the text except for the headline is mine.

Even with Park Impeached, Japan Was No Better Four Years Ago

With President Park Geun-hye impeached and removed from office, South Korean society has descended into extreme confusion, and its diplomacy, having lost its command center, is in a state of dysfunction.
At a time when the possibility of a U.S. preemptive strike against North Korea is becoming increasingly real and tensions on the Korean Peninsula are higher than ever, South Korea’s obsession with domestic political infighting is laughable, but Japan has no right to mock another country.

The “Nightmare” Democratic Administration

It is worth recalling that just a little over four years ago, Japan was under the Democratic Party administration.
At that time, Japan’s diplomacy was treated lightly and even ridiculed around the world.
“Japan claims to be an ally of the United States, but is that really true?”
In February 2012, during the Noda Yoshihiko administration, a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was confronted with this humiliating question by Al Kamen, a prominent columnist for the Washington Post.
Kamen is the journalist who coined the nickname “loopy” for former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
While in office, Hatoyama proposed an incomprehensible East Asian Community concept, completely withdrew the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, and abandoned the fight against terrorism.
He also boasted to then U.S. President Obama, saying “Trust me,” over the Futenma air base relocation issue, only to wander aimlessly and further entangle the problem.
Around the same time, Democratic Party Secretary-General Ichiro Ozawa advocated the “Japan–U.S.–China equilateral triangle theory,” treating relations with the United States and China as equals.
He forcibly arranged a meeting between His Majesty the Emperor and then Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, and led a massive delegation of 600 people to China, leaving the United States astonished.

Retreat in Territorial Diplomacy

“The base issue is already hopeless. I don’t want to touch it. Okinawa would be better off becoming independent.”
These were the irresponsible remarks made by the next prime minister, Naoto Kan, while he was deputy prime minister, as recorded in Okinawa’s Right to Self-Determination by former Upper House member Shokichi Kina.
When a Chinese fishing vessel rammed a Japan Coast Guard patrol ship near the Senkaku Islands, the government raised a white flag in the face of China’s hardline stance.
The Chinese captain was released extrajudicially before the detention period expired, and all responsibility was shifted onto the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office.
“During the three years of the Democratic Party administration, Japan’s territorial diplomacy truly retreated.”
“Unlike before, the United States began treating Japan as a country on the same level as South Korea.”
I heard such bitter complaints from another senior Foreign Ministry official at the time.
Russian President Medvedev’s visit to the Northern Territories and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak’s landing on Takeshima both occurred between the Kan and Noda administrations.
When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Japan in March 2015, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asked her why she had visited China many times but had not come to Japan for so long.
Merkel replied bluntly,
“I thought there was no point in meeting, because Japan’s prime minister changes every year.”
If Japan lets its guard down, it could once again return to being a country that carries no presence and is ignored by the world.
(Editorial Writer and Political Desk Editor)