The MacMillan Center, with support from the Japan Foundation’s Center for Global Partnership, kicked off its five-year project, “Japan at the Crossroads: Yale Project on Japan’s Politics and Diplomacy,” with an event titled “The Arc of Post-World War II Japanese Diplomacy: A Conversation” on September 21.
Ryozo Kato, Former Japanese ambassador to the United States, and former Commissioner of Nippon Profession Baseball; Naoyuki Agawa, Professor of Law at Keio University; Koichi Hamada, Tuntex Emeritus Professor of Economics at Yale; and Paul Kennedy, J. Richardson Dilworth Professor of History at Yale, convened to discuss the current state of Japan’s international diplomacy.
The event could not have been more fortuitously timed. On September 19, the Japanese parliament pushed through legislation allowing the military to provide assistance to its allies overseas, even if mainland Japan is not under attack. The bill’s passage is the first time Japan has authorized military combat since World War II.
Debate around the legislation racked Japan. Over 100,000 protesters surrounded parliament after the Japanese House of Representatives approved the bill in July, and Yukio Edano, a politician opposed to the expansion of the military, attempted to delay its final passage by giving a 104-minute speech. Actions from politicians and protesters implied that Japan was changing its military worldview from timid to aggressive.
Ambassador Kato was quick to quell these notions. “Japan’s policy will not change much after the legislation. It will carry a pretty short stick,” he reassured the audience.
Kato likened Japan to a second baseman. He explained that a good second baseman communicates with his teammates and facilitates big plays, but does not make them himself.
“Japan is not keen to hit with power. That we will leave in the hands of the United States,” he said.
Professor Kennedy, however, took an opposing view. He pointed out that Japan often “moves cautiously” in international affairs due to its proximity to China, Russia, and South Korea, so the importance of the new military legislation allowing overseas combat should not be devalued.
“Japan hopes to think of itself as a British type player in world affairs. [The bill] was a significant move and a significant change,” he declared.
Ambassador Kato disagreed but conceded that he cannot accurately outline the future of Japanese diplomacy. He made yet another baseball reference: this time to the acclaimed New York Yankees Yogi Berra who confessed, “it’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”
While the panel split over the long-term impact of the military bill, all four experts agreed on the importance and popularity of favorable United States-Japanese relations. The speakers repeatedly mentioned that an overwhelming population of Japanese residents – about 70% – support the alliance between the two countries.
“The U.S.-Japan relationship in the past seven decades has been a huge success story. For Japan, relationships with neighbors are important. If necessary, Japan will not hesitate to sacrifice bunts for them,” the ambassador chuckled, happy to end the conversation with one last allusion to baseball.