Koizumi Pledges to Prevent Lessons of War From Being Eroded

John de Boer (Japan Fellow, Stanford University; Research Associate, GLOCOM)

On June 19, Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi took an unprecedented step by becoming the first Japanese head of state to attend a ceremony commemorating the 28,000 Japanese and Americans who died in the battle over Iwo Jima, which took place sixty years ago. Koizumi joined American representatives by paying tribute to the war dead. At the ceremony, Koizumi pledged to "actively contribute to eternal world peace by preventing the lessons of the cruel war from being eroded." This statement and his presence at the ceremony were interpreted by the Western media (see Colin Joyce, London Daily Telegraph, June 20, 2005) as part of Koizumi's effort to "counter his image as a nationalist and revisionist."

More accurately put, the trip was likely aimed at countering Koizumi's characterization as a nationalist and a revisionist in the United States. Prime minister Koizumi's visit to one of the most symbolic battlefields in the Pacific War, immortalized by the portrait of US soldiers hoisting their flag over the island in 1945, sent a powerful message to the United States indicating that Japan apologizes for the cruelty it inflicted on US and Japanese soldiers and vows never to go to war with the US again. This message was echoed by Emperor Akihito, who participated in a similar ceremony in the US Pacific territory of Saipan.

Koizumi's promise to "actively contribute to eternal world peace by preventing the lessons of the cruel war from being eroded" had no impact on China and South Korea. He has made no comparable gesture to China and South Korea this year and his refusal to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates Japanese war dead including fourteen Class A war criminals, has consolidated his image in East Asia as a leader in the campaign to "whitewash" Japan's wartime atrocities and its colonization of Korea, Taiwan and large parts of China.

According to a recent Kyodo News survey, more than eighty percent of Chinese and South Koreans oppose Koizumi's visit to the Yasukuni shrine and regard it as offensive. This perspective is backed up by figures that point to a deterioration of Japan's image in Northeast Asia: eighty-three percent of Chinese and seventy-five percent of South Koreans do not have a favorable opinion of Japan. Most also oppose Japan's bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council. (See Xinhua General News Service, "Over 80 percent of Chinese, South Korean's oppose Koizumi's Yasukuni visits," June 19, 2005)

How Japanese leaders render history remains as a central factor impeding relations between Japan and its neighbors in Northeast Asia. As far as Chinese and Koreans are concerned, Koizumi and his administration are engaged in an enterprise that serves to erode Japan's war responsibility during its fifteen-year war with China (1931-1945) and its colonization of Korea between 1910-1945.

What Koizumi and his supporters need to recognize is the fact that Japan's future is tied to relations with China and South Korea. Two-way trade between China and Japan has surpassed that of the US and Japan. China and Japan are also two of the most resource dependent countries in the world and for this reason continue to be embroiled in territorial issues. Furthermore, in an increasingly tense strategic-military environment, cooperation between China, South Korea and Japan is essential to resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis in a peaceful manner. Peace and prosperity in Japan, China and South Korea are inter-related and indivisible. For this reason, the sooner Japanese leaders reconciles with their country's past, the more quickly they will be able to guarantee a secure future for the people of Japan and the region as a whole.