Japan's view of the impending presidency

November 16, 2008

I found AYAKO DOI's Washington Post article, "In Japan, the Picture Isn't Quite So Bright", interesting for the simple fact that a country exists that doesn't believe obama is the messiah. Refreshing. Ms Doi lays out the reasons why Japan is not particularly happy with barry: his associations (such as Wright, Ayers, Alisnsky, Marshall); the belief that Japan will be overlooked in favor of other countries (in particular, China); the impact on Japanese automakers should there be a bail out to save the auto industry; involvement in Afghanistan; barry's lack of knowledge concerning Japan; a change in trade policies; difficulty with unions in US based Japanese manufacturers; regular old anti-Americanism (What would Japan's economy be like without the US buying their products?); negotiations with North Korea (they are holding kidnapped Japanese citizens) and general questioning of why they have to "coddle up to Washington".

Ayako Doi
pix courtesy of PBS
Selected quotes from Ms Doi's article:

"The most astounding article appeared in Sentaku, a monthly magazine with a reputation for objectivity and solid analysis. "the most dubious character in history to occupy the White House." Criticizing Obama's foreign policy statements as "abstract" and "strings of empty words such as 'consultation' and 'cooperation,' " the article concluded that under Obama, the United States would lose its position of global leadership and drag the world into "enormous chaos."

I have to agree. barry is an unknown quantity. He had to learn about the issues - national and international - during the primaries and general election. He was running on the rhetoric of Change! - which worked - but it has left The American People expecting and wanting great things from him that he cannot accomplish in four years...if at all. His job is to stop the bleeding. Hence the need for a stellar cabinet. He is also going to have to act. How and to what is still the mystery.

"The first public opinion poll, released last week by the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun newspaper, showed that 79 percent of Japanese had favorable feelings about Obama himself. But even so, only 41 percent thought that his election would lead to an improvement in U.S.-Japanese relations."

"...Two days before the U.S. elections, Japan's public television network, NHK, aired a documentary on Japanese diplomats in Washington. It showed them cultivating connections with Asia policy advisers to the Obama and McCain campaigns, trying to find out what the next U.S. president would expect from Japan and to preempt anticipated demands for fresh military and financial contributions from Tokyo. It showed them suggesting what Japan could offer instead as an essential partner in global affairs, such as economic assistance in reducing poverty and help in cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Only by making these efforts, the diplomats believed, could Japan avoid becoming irrelevant to U.S. foreign policy in an Asia increasingly dominated by China."

And a fitting end:

"But [Japanese leaders will] be facing an increasingly introverted public at home, whose opinions of America are about as high as George W. Bush's approval ratings."