Ideas, Not Technologies, Will Win : Japanese of the left and right who think they can keep bashing America are wrong. Relations must be repaired.

KYOTO, Japan —  The specter of growing animosity toward Japan in the United States and rising anti-Americanism here haunts the bilateral relationship. Few Japanese are entirely pro-American, but in the past only Marxists and ultranationalists stridently rejected the United States. Antipathy toward America is disquieting; most Japanese don’t know what a dangerous adversary Uncle Sam can be.

The precipitous end of the Cold War caught Japan unprepared. The left was bewildered by the sudden collapse of communist regimes in Eastern Europe and the abrupt thaw in East-West relations. But these cataclysmic changes have also divided conservatives, hitherto united by their fear of Marxism. With the communist menace removed, an increasing number now view the United States as the main threat to Japan. Surprisingly, some on the far right espouse an anti-Americanism as virulent as that of the discredited socialist intellectuals.

The far right and the left believe that Washington, determined to keep mutual relations on an even keel, will overlook their jibes and diatribes. They imagine Americans to be far more broad-minded and patient than they actually are. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party, the business elite and other advocates of good bilateral ties believe that as long as Tokyo humors Washington and makes piecemeal concessions when forced to, the partnership will survive. This view, too, is overly optimistic.

Both beliefs betray a startling ignorance of the American mentality. If you ask me, the United States is trying to call due an old debt. After struggling for years to achieve prosperity, Japanese tend to forget that their country lost the Pacific War. But Americans have long memories.

U.S. Largess

After the war, the U.S. Occupation (1945-1952) treated Japan leniently. Within a few years of Japan’s surrender, the United States was embroiled in the Cold War. It provided Japan with loans, technology transfers and access to the vast American market to speed economic recovery.

Thanks to this largess, we have attained a level of industrial development second only to the United States, even surpassing it in some areas. Many Americans would probably feel justified in demanding the “war reparations” they chose to forgo 45 years ago. They believe that they are entitled to get their way on trade and other bilateral issues.

For many Americans, our lukewarm response to the Gulf War increased our moral debt to the United States. Germany, like Japan a former Axis power whose basic law forbids the dispatch of its troops outside of NATO, performed far better, fulfilling its moral obligations as an ally.

What did Japan do? While Americans risked their lives to liberate Kuwait, we hid behind the constitution’s Article 9, which renounces war as a sovereign right of the state. Of course, the Liberal Democratic Party attempted to get a bill through the Diet (Parliament), establishing a U.N. peace cooperation corps. But broad popular opposition defeated the proposal. Instead of providing troops and logistics support, we wrote a $13-billion check.

U.S. resentment must be understood in historical context. American attitudes toward Japan were shaped as much by traditional Anglo-Saxon diplomacy as by the Pacific War.

In the 19th Century, British foreign policy was designed to prevent any state from dominating the European continent. London strove to maintain a balance of power by pitting would-be hegemonists against each other.

This century, America assumed that role and the balancing act became global. U.S. diplomacy aimed to isolate and weaken countries that menaced the regional order anywhere in the world. Following the defeat of communism in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union and the liberation of Kuwait, the United States focused its ire on Japan. According to American logic, the Japanese economy has grown to such proportions that it threatens world economic stability. Industrial hegemony, like military ascendancy, cannot be tolerated.

In the next two decades, the U.S.-Japan relationship will be the most urgent, contentious problem facing Japanese foreign policy. Are we ready to become a full-fledged participant in the Anglo-Saxon world order? Frankly, I’m pessimistic about relations between our countries. Judging from the tone of public debate since the Gulf War, too few Japanese are serious about maintaining good ties with Washington.

The United States will always try to impose its will. Can Japan take the long view, comply with what even appear to be unilateral demands and continue to make concessions for the sake of preserving Pax Americana? I doubt it.

If the mainstream labor movement is enticed into a left-right united front, a Japan hostile to the United States could emerge. When that day comes, probably few Japanese will realize what a fatal choice has been made.

Recently, pundits have used Japan’s superior technology and economic clout to denigrate the United States. But technology alone cannot build a new international system; it must be harnessed to a clearly articulated philosophy. Failure to realize this smacks of techno-nationalism.

A country wishing to challenge American power must first persuade the rest of the world that it has a more compelling global vision and the courage to implement it. Japan has neither.

Stronger Partnership

Japanese post-modernists are critical of U.S. society, and intellectuals generally hold Anglo-Saxon thought and philosophy in low esteem. Yet over several centuries, Anglo-Saxon culture has produced many of the ideas that now govern not only international relations but domestic politics everywhere, including the democratic principles of our own postwar constitution.

To remain a free society, Japan must strengthen the partnership with the United States. If Article 9 is an obstacle to mutual defense arrangements, it should be revised. Yet many politicians refuse to act, preferring to allow events to take their course, even if that means wrecking the relationship. We cannot afford to dismiss anti-Japanese sentiment in the United States or underestimate American determination to defend the world system.

Unless Japan soon comes to its senses and reaffirms its commitment to democracy we will find ourselves adrift and abandoned, befriended by none, distrusted by all.