An Appeal for a Reconciliation with Our Asian Neighbors and for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
ONUMA Yasukaki / Distinguished Professor, Meiji University
September 30, 2010
Prime Minister Kan Naoto won the vote for the Democratic Party leadership and thus maintained his post as prime minister. He faces a mountain of issues ranging from counteracting the rising yen and implementing an economic stimulus to creating jobs and reconstructing government finances. However, apart from these economic, industrial and social policies, there is another task that must be tackled by a Democratic Party-led government - the task of seeking reconciliation with Asian countries that suffered at the hands of Japan during World War II and under its colonial rule.
Past governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were unable to take on this weighty task. It is symbolic that the only international recognition Japan gained on this issue were for comments admitting that Japan's wartime behavior was an act of aggression made by former Prime Minister Hosokawa Morihiro, who headed a non-LDP coalition government at the time, and by former Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi of the Socialist Party.
U.S. President Barack Obama is advocating nuclear disarmament, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima this year. Hopes are high for President Obama to visit Hiroshima and issue an appeal for nuclear disarmament. The South Korean government has been seeking a visit by the Emperor during 2010, which marks the centenary of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula. And 2011 marks the 80th anniversary of the Manchurian Incident, as well as the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Japan should seize this opportunity to finish its long overdue task of seeking genuine reconciliation with Asian countries and together create a new era. This is a major mission that the Democratic Party government must, and can, fulfill. These issues are laden with various emotions and the loose ends have become intricately intertwined. It would take utmost care and proper procedures to straighten out the loose ends.
First, I propose that the Emperor and Empress visit China and South Korea to express their deep feelings of condolences for all the victims of Japan's colonial rule and wartime aggressions since the Manchurian Incident. They should then pay a visit to Pearl Harbor to mourn all who lost their lives in the Pacific War.
Subsequent to these visits, Prime Minister Kan should invite U.S. President Obama, Chinese General Secretary Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myun-bak – and other leaders from Southeast Asia and Australia, if possible – to Hiroshima for a joint ceremony in memory of the victims of the atomic bomb. Inviting leaders of countries that suffered from Japan's wartime actions and colonial rule to Hiroshima and asking them to join the Japanese Prime Minister in mourning atomic bomb victims would symbolize a reconciliation for events that took place during World War II and Japan's colonial rule. This joint mourning would tacitly send out Hiroshima's universal message: "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil," and would thus serve as an ultimate gesture in appealing for the elimination of nuclear weapons to all mankind.
Drastic policies such as these will come under various criticism, opposition and calls for caution. These may include opinions against using the emperor for political ends and conducting a "diplomacy of apologies," or criticism that it would be a foolish gesture that would only serve to "wake up a sleeping child."
However, I feel it was rather the past governments that had used the emperor for political purposes by not allowing him to express his condolences, not only for the Japanese war dead but also for foreign victims of war, as he was likely to have wanted to. My proposal of having the Emperor express his condolences is intended to right that wrong. Such an expression would be significant as an act of mourning the dead, rather than seeking expressing apologies. And the Emperor and Empress, not the Prime Minister – are the only figures in Japan who can bring deep integrity to such an act. They should visit Pearl Harbor before President Obama visits Hiroshima, and should express their condolences in China before visiting Pearl Harbor. That should be the proper order of things.
I expect the proposed acts as described above will come under much fire from the Japanese and foreign media, war victims, surviving families and Non-Governmental Organizations and others. I hope that anyone who agrees with this proposal – from victims and surviving families to NGOs, the media and citizens – would stand up in support to persuade the opposition, together with the governments of each country. Such an action would be a valuable effort in itself, which would unite governments and citizens in carrying out a public responsibility.
The writer is Distinguished Professor of International Law at Meiji University.
Past governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) were unable to take on this weighty task. It is symbolic that the only international recognition Japan gained on this issue were for comments admitting that Japan's wartime behavior was an act of aggression made by former Prime Minister Hosokawa Morihiro, who headed a non-LDP coalition government at the time, and by former Prime Minister Murayama Tomiichi of the Socialist Party.
U.S. President Barack Obama is advocating nuclear disarmament, and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos attended the Peace Memorial Ceremony in Hiroshima this year. Hopes are high for President Obama to visit Hiroshima and issue an appeal for nuclear disarmament. The South Korean government has been seeking a visit by the Emperor during 2010, which marks the centenary of Japan's annexation of the Korean Peninsula. And 2011 marks the 80th anniversary of the Manchurian Incident, as well as the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Japan should seize this opportunity to finish its long overdue task of seeking genuine reconciliation with Asian countries and together create a new era. This is a major mission that the Democratic Party government must, and can, fulfill. These issues are laden with various emotions and the loose ends have become intricately intertwined. It would take utmost care and proper procedures to straighten out the loose ends.
First, I propose that the Emperor and Empress visit China and South Korea to express their deep feelings of condolences for all the victims of Japan's colonial rule and wartime aggressions since the Manchurian Incident. They should then pay a visit to Pearl Harbor to mourn all who lost their lives in the Pacific War.
Subsequent to these visits, Prime Minister Kan should invite U.S. President Obama, Chinese General Secretary Hu Jintao and South Korean President Lee Myun-bak – and other leaders from Southeast Asia and Australia, if possible – to Hiroshima for a joint ceremony in memory of the victims of the atomic bomb. Inviting leaders of countries that suffered from Japan's wartime actions and colonial rule to Hiroshima and asking them to join the Japanese Prime Minister in mourning atomic bomb victims would symbolize a reconciliation for events that took place during World War II and Japan's colonial rule. This joint mourning would tacitly send out Hiroshima's universal message: "Let all the souls here rest in peace, for we shall not repeat the evil," and would thus serve as an ultimate gesture in appealing for the elimination of nuclear weapons to all mankind.
Drastic policies such as these will come under various criticism, opposition and calls for caution. These may include opinions against using the emperor for political ends and conducting a "diplomacy of apologies," or criticism that it would be a foolish gesture that would only serve to "wake up a sleeping child."
However, I feel it was rather the past governments that had used the emperor for political purposes by not allowing him to express his condolences, not only for the Japanese war dead but also for foreign victims of war, as he was likely to have wanted to. My proposal of having the Emperor express his condolences is intended to right that wrong. Such an expression would be significant as an act of mourning the dead, rather than seeking expressing apologies. And the Emperor and Empress, not the Prime Minister – are the only figures in Japan who can bring deep integrity to such an act. They should visit Pearl Harbor before President Obama visits Hiroshima, and should express their condolences in China before visiting Pearl Harbor. That should be the proper order of things.
I expect the proposed acts as described above will come under much fire from the Japanese and foreign media, war victims, surviving families and Non-Governmental Organizations and others. I hope that anyone who agrees with this proposal – from victims and surviving families to NGOs, the media and citizens – would stand up in support to persuade the opposition, together with the governments of each country. Such an action would be a valuable effort in itself, which would unite governments and citizens in carrying out a public responsibility.
The writer is Distinguished Professor of International Law at Meiji University.
The English-Speaking Union of Japan
アジア諸国との和解と核廃絶の発信を
大沼 保昭 / 明治大学特任教授
2010年 9月 30日
民主党代表選で菅直人首相が勝ち、同首相の続投が決まった。円高対策、経済対策、雇用創出、財政再建と、課題が山積している。ただそうした経済・産業・社会政策とは別に、民主党政権がなすべきことがまだある。それは戦争と植民地支配で被害を与えたアジア諸国との和解である。自民党政権はこの大事をなし得なかった。この問題で諸国からかろうじて評価されたのが、日本の戦争を侵略と認めた非自民党連立政権の細川総理の発言と社会党の村山総理の談話だったことは象徴的である。
今、オバマ政権は核軍縮を主唱し、今年の広島の平和記念式典にはルース駐日米大使が出席した。大統領の広島訪問とヒロシマからの核軍縮の発信が期待されている。韓国政府は日韓併合１００年の２０１０年に天皇の訪韓を望み、１１年は「満州事変」８０年、真珠湾攻撃７０年の年である。この機会にアジア諸国との真の和解という長年の宿題に一つの区切りを付けることは、民主党政権が果たすべき、また果たし得る、大きな任務である。ただ、この問題にはさまざまな感情が絡み、ほつれた糸は複雑に絡み合っている。解きほぐして解決に辿り着くには細心の心遣いと手順が求められる。
まず、天皇皇后両陛下に中国と韓国を訪問し、日本の植民地支配と「満州事変」以来の戦争の犠牲者を深く悼んでいただきたい。次いで真珠湾を訪れ、太平洋戦争の全犠牲者を悼んでいただきたい。
この訪問の後で、菅首相はオバマ大統領、中国の胡錦濤主席、韓国の李明博大統領（できれば東南アジアや豪州の首脳なども）を広島に招き、共に原爆の犠牲者を悼んで欲しい。日本の戦争と植民地支配の犠牲になった人々を代表する国の首脳を広島に招き、日本の首相と共に被爆者の霊を慰めることは、戦争と植民地支配にかかわる和解を象徴し、「過ちは繰り返しません」というヒロシマの普遍的な呼びかけを通して核廃絶を全人類に呼びかけるこの上ない行動となるだろう。
こうした思い切った政策にはさまざまな批判、反対、慎重論があるだろう。天皇の政治利用。謝罪外交。「寝た子を起こす」愚かな行為。等々。
しかし、おそらく日本だけでなく外国の戦争犠牲者へも弔意を示したかっただろう昭和天皇にそれを許さなかった過去の政権こそ、天皇を政治的に利用したのではないか。私が提案する天皇による弔意表明はそれを正すものであり、その意義は謝罪というより犠牲者を悼むことにある。日本でそれを最も深くなし得るのは首相でなく、天皇皇后である。そして、オバマ大統領が広島に来る前に天皇陛下は真珠湾を訪れるべきであり、真珠湾の前に中国と韓国で弔意を表すべきではないか。それが物事の順序というものだろう。
生ずるだろう内外のメディア、被害者、遺族、ＮＧＯの批判に対しては、こうした行動を評価する被害者や遺族、そしてＮＧＯ、メディア、市民が各国の政府と共に説得の労をとって欲しい。それは政府と市民が共に公共を担う貴重な営みとなるだろう。
（筆者は明治大学特任教授（国際法））
今、オバマ政権は核軍縮を主唱し、今年の広島の平和記念式典にはルース駐日米大使が出席した。大統領の広島訪問とヒロシマからの核軍縮の発信が期待されている。韓国政府は日韓併合１００年の２０１０年に天皇の訪韓を望み、１１年は「満州事変」８０年、真珠湾攻撃７０年の年である。この機会にアジア諸国との真の和解という長年の宿題に一つの区切りを付けることは、民主党政権が果たすべき、また果たし得る、大きな任務である。ただ、この問題にはさまざまな感情が絡み、ほつれた糸は複雑に絡み合っている。解きほぐして解決に辿り着くには細心の心遣いと手順が求められる。
まず、天皇皇后両陛下に中国と韓国を訪問し、日本の植民地支配と「満州事変」以来の戦争の犠牲者を深く悼んでいただきたい。次いで真珠湾を訪れ、太平洋戦争の全犠牲者を悼んでいただきたい。
この訪問の後で、菅首相はオバマ大統領、中国の胡錦濤主席、韓国の李明博大統領（できれば東南アジアや豪州の首脳なども）を広島に招き、共に原爆の犠牲者を悼んで欲しい。日本の戦争と植民地支配の犠牲になった人々を代表する国の首脳を広島に招き、日本の首相と共に被爆者の霊を慰めることは、戦争と植民地支配にかかわる和解を象徴し、「過ちは繰り返しません」というヒロシマの普遍的な呼びかけを通して核廃絶を全人類に呼びかけるこの上ない行動となるだろう。
こうした思い切った政策にはさまざまな批判、反対、慎重論があるだろう。天皇の政治利用。謝罪外交。「寝た子を起こす」愚かな行為。等々。
しかし、おそらく日本だけでなく外国の戦争犠牲者へも弔意を示したかっただろう昭和天皇にそれを許さなかった過去の政権こそ、天皇を政治的に利用したのではないか。私が提案する天皇による弔意表明はそれを正すものであり、その意義は謝罪というより犠牲者を悼むことにある。日本でそれを最も深くなし得るのは首相でなく、天皇皇后である。そして、オバマ大統領が広島に来る前に天皇陛下は真珠湾を訪れるべきであり、真珠湾の前に中国と韓国で弔意を表すべきではないか。それが物事の順序というものだろう。
生ずるだろう内外のメディア、被害者、遺族、ＮＧＯの批判に対しては、こうした行動を評価する被害者や遺族、そしてＮＧＯ、メディア、市民が各国の政府と共に説得の労をとって欲しい。それは政府と市民が共に公共を担う貴重な営みとなるだろう。
（筆者は明治大学特任教授（国際法））
一般社団法人 日本英語交流連盟