Can the US Still Take Control of Japan?

Abe Shinzo’s “ghost worshipping” has cost him, [leading to] global condemnation, for even the U.S., who usually turns a blind eye, has expressed “disappointment.” The Americans’ complex and yet subtle mental activity, however, is reflected beneath the supposedly calm and collected “disappointment.”

Americans are indeed a bit mad. The U.S. has treated Japan as her obedient little disciple ever since World War II drew to an end. She took advantage of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan to keep a tight rein on Japan, while during the Cold War she armed Japan for combat. When the Japanese economy peaked, she invented the Plaza Accord to suppress Japan. She launched external warfare, while Japan “willingly” paid the bills. In anticipation of “returning to the Asia Pacific,” she let Japan loose to play “vanguard.” Nonetheless, the U.S. is still upset over the class A war criminals whom Abe worshipped, for their hands were covered also in American blood. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel’s special visit to the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery during their Japan visit last October was to deliver a warning: Yasukuni Shrine is not the Arlington National Cemetery. Do not cross the line. Abe’s “disobedient” action would then of course anger the U.S.

The U.S. is also a bit flustered. In the past years, she has been giving Japan more of a free hand, hoping that when her power declines, this disciple will step up as a trustworthy, loyal ally. Faced with Japan’s rightist deviation, Americans comfort themselves that Japan is a democracy capable of self-correcting. However, all last year Abe has made continuous efforts to overturn history, antagonize neighboring countries and contribute to the tension within Northeast Asia, increasingly exposing the unpredictable troublemaker in his nature. This is highly unsettling for Americans as it occurs to them: What if the U.S. cannot depend on Japan and instead is brought down with Japan?

Americans need to put away their anger and anxiety, and come to their senses. Despite facing criticism and condemnation from the international society, Abe has recently gone ahead announcing his plan to visit South Pacific island countries to [express] “condole[nces] for the dead souls” of 500,000 Japanese troops. Among those to be “honored” include Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who was both the highest commander in the Battle of Iwo Jima and the grandfather of Shindou Yoshitaka, Japan’s minister of internal affairs who earlier had also visited the Yasukuni Shrine. Pearl Harbor, Coral Sea, Midway Islands, Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal … all not strangers to Americans.

Americans should understand by now: The spirits to which Abe is calling out are those of militarism; the verdicts he wants to overturn are those of the entire Pacific War.

Just as the commentaries within the Yasukuni Yushukan say: President Roosevelt “forced” Japan to launch warfare, while the war within Greater East Asia was one of “self-defense.” Abe’s grandfather was class A war criminal suspect Kishi Nobusuke. Therefore a twisted conception of history is deeply rooted in Abe’s mind. He feels not the least guilty for the invasive warfare that Japan launched, only hatred for the two nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and he is indignant at the “unfair treatment” Japan received after the war. Abe wants Japan to become a so-called “normal country” and to “restore the great Japan.” Conflicts with neighboring Asian countries are mere cover-ups, and overturning history is only groundwork, for the ultimate goal is to break free of the chains of the postwar international order and the U.S. America, can you really keep your cool? Hopefully America thinks thoroughly through a few questions:

What kind of country does the U.S. want Japan to become? One that reflects deeply on war crimes and lives in harmony with neighbor countries or a “troublemaker” that constantly challenges international order and human conscience and provokes its neighbors? A Japan that commits to peaceful development or a Japan that is not only endlessly dedicated to military expansion but also purports to tie the U.S. to its warships?

Can the U.S. still take control of Japan? Once the constitution of Japan becomes something of the past, what is left to constrain the Abe clique’s perverse actions? Once Japan’s nationalism is stirred up, do U.S. troops stationed in Japan pack up and leave? Japan already owns advanced launch vehicle technology, nuclear technology and abundant nuclear material reserves. If Japan decides to cross the nuclear threshold, how much impact will the words of America have?

In 1853 when Matthew Perry’s “black-hulled steam frigate” reached Japan, he probably never imagined that Japan, the isolated and backward country, would launch the First Sino-Japanese War 41 years later, let alone bomb Pearl Harbor in 1941. To the U.S. of today: Do you understand clearly in which direction Abe is steering Japan?