I, as Deputy Prime Minister, will devote myself to create an environment in which Japan and China maintain calm communication in good spirits, thereby further deepening the “Mutually Beneficial Relationship Based on Common Strategic Interests” as the leaders of the two countries have agreed upon to date, and expanding exchanges between the two peoples. Question 1: Confrontation between Japan and China has intensified after China reacted sharply to Japan’s purchase and possession of the Senkaku Islands. What prompted the Japanese government to acquire the Senkaku Islands at this... [Read more]

I feel a bit disappointed each time I am asked that simple but important question, “Is trade liberalization actually a good thing?” Theories on international trade, my area of expertise, are here for explaining the need for trade liberalization. Such a question makes me wonder what we have been doing. There are two ways to approach theories on international trade: one is from the economics standpoint where government is well-distanced from the real world economy and is capable of always implementing optimal political measures; and the other is from the political economics standpoint where political measures are formed through interactions mainly involving the economy. Following... [Read more]

Eliminate clever schemes and rebuild Japan with the power of harmony The Great East Japan Earthquake struck Japan on March 11. This unprecedented disaster took from us a great many precious lives and irreplaceable hometowns. The Cabinet Office estimates the damage at 16.9 trillion yen; 1.8 times greater than that of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. This disaster inflicted deep wounds in everyone’s heart, which cannot be expressed in numerical data, and left depleted hope not only in the devastated areas but all of Japan. The damage caused by the nuclear power plant accident continues. Indeed, Japan faces a historic national crisis. For the five months... [Read more]

The earthquake’s position in history Humans often see natural disasters of their time as a “divide” or “crossroads” in history. And history at times changes because we take such a view. Examples are the Ansei Edo earthquake and the arrival of the American fleet (1853, ’54) and the Great Kanto Earthquake and termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance (decided in 1921, terminated in 1923). The recent Great East Japan Earthquake will likely become another crossroads in history. It should cause a major change in the Japanese people’s sense of history. I think Japan is currently in a state where the fear of falling into a bottomless pit mixes with an almost desperate hope for recovery. Each citizen has fed off this... [Read more]

Speaking to a Chinese diplomat at a symposium on Japan-China relations about six months ago, I remarked on the fact that 2011 was the centennial of the Xinhai Revolution that toppled the Qing dynasty. “Yes, that’s right,” he replied. “But I don’t suppose that has much to do with Japan.” Astonished, I spoke of the many Japanese who had cooperated and participated in the revolution, in some cases at the cost of their lives. I mentioned Kita Ikki, who traveled to China and ate, slept, and fought alongside Song Jiaoren, founder of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), as well as such figures as Miyazaki Tōten, Inukai Tsuyoshi, Tōyama Mitsuru, the brothers Yamada Yoshimasa and Junzaburō, and Umeya Shōkichi. Now it was the diplomat’s turn to be astonished. “I had no idea,” he confessed. Pulling out a memo pad, he asked me to write down the ... ... [Read more]

If the railroad industry were likened to a living organism, the perfect analogue would be plants. Tracks are firmly rooted to the ground, with train lines covering a fixed span of territory. When neighborhoods prosper, so does the industry, with more trains running through them; when they decline, the line also falls into disuse. Train service cannot move to new locales when the number of passengers declines; it continues to live and grow with the community it serves. Rootedness is a common trait of the industry in countries around the world. When the social environment changes, the industry must adapt to the changes or face extinction. Inasmuch as railroad lines cannot “migrate” to greener pastures like animals, they must develop thoroughgoing strategies for adapting to change. The single most outstanding feature of rail transport in Japan is its capacity to adjust the entire system ... ... [Read more]

In a January 2002 speech given in Singapore, Prime Minister Koizumi Jun’ichirō proposed an economic partnership between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the first step toward the creation of an East Asian community. Ever since then, this concept has remained at the core of Japan’s Asia policy. It was reconfirmed again in Prime Minister Kan Naoto’s policy speech delivered on June 11 this year, in which he stated that “Japan is a maritime nation bordering the Pacific Ocean and is at the same time an Asian nation.” Based on this duality, he went on, he intended to maintain Japan’s alliance with the United States as “the cornerstone of our diplomacy” even as he moved to “reinforce our partnerships with Asian countries.”... [Read more]