Jiei-gun

This is a new development......any thoughts from the gropu on this???

am surprised that anyone in Japan knows anything about World War II because of their tendency to be ambiguous and avoid the truth when it concerns their actions during the war.

The economic cost alone might make people choose against a real military let along the possibility of being involved in the ever growing conflicts of the world.

Could it be that Japan wishes to have more power and become a world leader?

The US has long supported Japanese aspirations to re-militarize in a nice way as a counter to China's agressive stance in the region.. Japan's Defence force has a pretty sophisitcated arsenal for a purely reactionary organization [ course they need that level of firepower for those many occasions when Godzilla awoke and stomped parts of Tokyo and environs ]..

Japan also wants to get into the Wold Police/ peacekeeping game so it can enhance its image as well..

Generally a good move and supported by many, but one that requires caution so as not to stir up China as it moves along as acounter to their endeavours ...

IMHO I say let them built a military, we may need them in the future.

I've noticed several moves along this line...
The move of Ground Forces:

US to shift 7,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam

quote:

TOKYO (AFP) - The United States will move 7,000 US Marines from Japan's Okinawa prefecture to Guam, Japanese Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono said.

Ono, visiting Washington for so-called "two-plus-two" talks of foreign and defense ministers, told Japanese reporters there on Friday that the deal would be included in an interim report on the realignment of US troops in Japan.

The move would nearly halve the number of US Marines in Okinawa from 15,000 to 8,000, according to major Japanese media.

The agreement was reached on September 18 when Ono met with US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Richard Lawless in Tokyo after several rounds of talks, Jiji and Kyodo News said.

Ono's announcement came as the two countries aim to strengthen their defense alliance amid the global realignment of US forces.

On the eve of the talks, Japan said it had agreed to host a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in 2008 for the first time to help maintain security in the Far East, prompting strong protests here.

A spokesman for Japan's Defense Agency said the two sides had also already agreed at senior levels to share information and cooperation in some aspects of ballistic missile defense systems.

Japan and the United States are also expected to seal an agreement on the relocation of a controversial US air base on Okinawa at Saturday's security talks.

The deal is set to move the base to existing land at the US Marine Corps's Camp Schwab on Okinawa by building a new runway.

There had been suggestions the "two-plus-two" meeting might be called off if the two sides did not reach a deal on the air base after years of disagreement.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051029/wl_asia_afp/japanu...ZGZwam4yBHNlYwNmYw--


Retiring the Kittyhawk and moving a CVN into Japan's waters:

(first time the Japanese 'might' 'harbor a nuke')

Deployment of US nuclear carrier in Japan criticized

quote:

TOKYO, Oct. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- While Japanese government highly welcomed the first deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan, saying it will ensure better security in the country, the public voice conveys strong protest against the plan,regarding it a further integration between Japanese and US military forces.

The move came after Washington announced Thursday that Japan and the United States had agreed to have the carrier to replace the conventional carrier Kitty Hawk at the naval base in Yokosuka,east Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture, in 2008.

Washington and Tokyo reiterated that nuclear-powered carriers are safe and that the stationing of such a vessel does not contradict Japan's nonnuclear principles because the principles refer to nuclear weapons, not to nuclear power generation.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said at a press conference that the deployment will "strengthen the Japan-US alliance and maintain the (US military) deterrence."

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura underscored the importance of the continued presence of the US Navy in and around Japan for the country's security and international peace.

Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono echoed the foreign minister, saying that "from the viewpoint of Japan's national security and the security of the Asian region, I think itis extremely significant to have a carrier with such high capabilities using Japan as its home port."

But, no matter how much efforts the officials exerted in seeking for public support and understanding on the issue, local governments, military experts and residents across Japan strongly criticized the deployment plan immediately after the announcement.

Yokosuka Mayor Ryoichi Kabaya was quoted as saying in a NHK TV interview that, "I'm sorry and disappointed. I'm feeling betrayed."

Kanagawa Governor Shigefumi Matsuzawa also criticized the Japanese government for agreeing with the United States on the matter, saying that "the move is extremely deplorable as it ignores local wishes."

Shoji Shimizu, one of the leaders of a Yokosuka group opposing the deployment of a nuclear-powered carrier, told reporters that "the Japanese and US governments had said they would respect local opinions. But then this sudden agreement has appeared."

Shimizu's group has submitted to the city government of Yokosuka a petition signed by about 300,000 people opposing the deployment of this type of carrier.

The United States has deployed three aircraft carriers in Yokosuka, including the Kitty Hawk, since 1973, all of which were conventionally powered. The Kitty Hawk has been stationed there since 1998.

In Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where atomic bombs were dropped by the United States to force Japan to surrender during World War II,people voiced fear of possible accidents on a nuclear-powered carrier and concern that its deployment in Yokosuka could increasethe danger that Japan might be sucked into international disputes.

"If an accident ever occurs and causes damage to local people, it (Yokosuka) will be the third Japanese city exposed to nuclear radiation," said Hitoshi Hamasaki, a atomic bombing survivor.

The Hiroshima chapters of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs and the Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organizations said they sent a letter to the US Embassy in Tokyo to demand that US President George W. Bush withdraw the deployment plan.

Meanwhile, Japanese military experts also commented on the news.

Tetsuo Maeda, professor at Tokyo International University specializing in military research, said the deployment would make Yokosuka a leading US military base, giving the warship remarkablyhigh mobility, and symbolizing US power.

Maeda also noted that locals would have concerns about safety issues, and referred this type of vessel as "a mobile nuclear reactor".

Experts' opinion coincide with the public voice, regarding the deployment as a dangerous sign of the Japanese government's attempt to ignore the nonnuclear principles.

The nuclear-powered carrier in Japan is not allowed because it will bring danger to Japan and its people, according to the experts who urged the Japanese government to insist on nonnuclear principles, enacted in 1971, and to keep the country away from nuclear weapons.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/29/content_3700214.htm

Okinawa Air Base Deal Still Controversial
New Plan Does Not Guarantee Survival of Endangered Marine Mammal

quote:

OKINAWA, Japan/WASHINGTON - A coalition of hundreds of US and international conservation groups, representing over 12 million people, remain opposed to a new US air base in Okinawa. The coalition will deliver a letter on Thursday to President George Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi outlining the groups' concerns.

Last night, the United States and Japan announced a new plan that would involve building near, rather than directly on top of, the coral reef as originally planned. Under the new plan, the airbase would occupy part of a peninsula now hosting a US Marine base, as well as a portion of reclaimed marine habitat on either side of the peninsula.

Conservation groups say that any airbase at Henoko, Okinawa could potentially devastate a coral reef and sea grass field, which scientists say could have grave consequences for the imperiled Okinawa dugong (saltwater manatee). According to a study by leading dugong scientists and published by the United Nations Environment Programme, coastal construction, land reclamation and terrestrial runoff threaten the seagrass beds on which the dugong relies for survival. The UN also reports that dugong habitat could be damaged by other military activities associated with the construction and use of an airbase at Henoko. This damage includes pollution resulting from noise caused by ammunition drills and military practice, hazardous chemicals, soil erosion and the disposal of depleted uranium weapons.

"For Okinawans, the dugong has profound cultural and historical significance," said Takuma Higashionna from the Okinawa-based Save the Dugong Foundation. "The myth of the mermaid comes from sailors who saw the dugong. Okinawan tradition sees the dugong as a friendly messenger warning of sea disasters such as tsunamis."

This weekend, a security meeting is scheduled to discuss the new proposal and other issues. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld will meet Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura and Defense Agency Director-General Yoshinori Ono in Washington, DC. Both sides hope to resolve this dispute before a planned trip by President Bush to Okinawa in mid-November. Okinawa, which accounts for less than one percent of Japan's landmass, already hosts 75 percent of the US military presence in Japan.

Increasing International Opposition

The plan for an air base at Henoko has faced continual demonstrations by Okinawans for more than two years and is opposed by environmental groups from around the world. The latest plan would require landfilling portions of two saltwater bays on which the endangered dugong rely for their survival. Many remain concerned that destruction of this key marine habitat could doom the last remaining Okinawan dugong to extinction and destroy essential habitat for other threatened sea life, such as sea turtles.

"The Okinawa dugong, which is an endangered species, should be protected domestically and internationally," said Sekine Takamichi an attorney with the Japan Environmental Lawyers Federation. "We call for the suspension of any relocation plans that involve Okinawa dugong habitat and Henoko Bay. We also request the governments to set up a dugong sanctuary and outline a dugong conservation plan based on the IUCN's (World Conservation Union) recommendation."

"Construction of the new airbase, even under the new plan, would cause severe ecological damage to one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth," said Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity. "For this reason, conservation groups around the world are asking President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi to cancel the base construction plan in its entirety and protect the Okinawa dugong, a creature recognized as a national monument in Japan."

The region at issue is one of the most biologically diverse areas in the Pacific. Okinawa is second only to the Great Barrier Reef in terms of marine biodiversity, and the sea grass beds in northern Okinawa are the feeding ground of the last remaining dugong in Japanese waters. The sea grass and reef also provide important habitat for numerous rare wildlife species, including three species of sea turtle.

Local residents voted overwhelmingly against the airbase project in a 1997 referendum, but Japanese and US authorities have repeatedly ignored their voices.

A coalition of US and Japanese conservation groups went to court in September 2003 to stop the original project. http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=684. The case is currently being heard in US Federal District Court in San Francisco. The lawsuit asks the US Department of Defense to comply with the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) by publicly assessing the impacts of the proposed project on the Okinawa dugong in consultation with Okinawan communities. The NHPA requires US agencies to assess the impacts of their activities on cultural icons of foreign nations. Because of their significance to Okinawan culture, dugongs are included on a Japanese government list of protected cultural properties.

"The Department of Defense has a legal duty to protect the cultural resources and national monuments of other nations," said Marcello Mollo of Earthjustice, who is representing the coalition in the United States. "Now that the most destructive airstrip plan over Henoko's reef is off the table, we see momentum toward an eventual cancellation of this entire air base. The courageous protesters in Okinawa have brought the world's attention to this issue. But the fight goes on."

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/1027-01.htm

I know Japs that know bout ww2, and pretty much too!!

so uhhh, yeah!

JAPAN STIRS

http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=1823

After almost 15 years in the doldrums, signs show that the land of the rising sun is rousing to action.

Following the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War ii, the Western press is not reading Japan’s future well at all. It seems the U.S. administration is likewise blind to Japan’s developing future.

This economic giant, having wallowed since 1991 in a financial bog largely of its own making, is finally showing signs of turning the corner into modest—at present, very modest—growth.

In addition, the nation appears to be more readily coming to terms with shedding its post-war pacifist cloak and preparing itself for a stronger defense posture.

Of themselves, these twin phenomena might appear well overdue. Japan certainly needed to show some sign of positive economic growth in order to regain its position as an effective contributor to the global economy. In terms of post-9/11 defense and security, the amendment of its constitution to permit a stronger military role, long encouraged by the U.S., would seem appropriate in these times of heightened terrorist activity and geopolitical change.

However, when we add a third worrisome ingredient to this equation, one must certainly consider history a valid guide as to where this may lead. Japan is also showing overt signs of increasing nationalism.

Economic Upswing

Concerning Japan’s economy, according to Oxford Analytica, “The Nikkei index and interest on 10-year government bonds have been rising, and business rebounding. Corporate confidence is up on improving capital returns. This can be expected to have a positive knock-on effect throughout the economy, reinforcing the gentle recovery underway this year and improving the outlook beyond” (August 17).

Think tank Stratfor, although more cautious in its assessment, concurs that things are beginning to brighten on Japan’s economic horizon. To the news that Japan’s economy expanded at an annualized rate of 1.1 percent in the second quarter of 2005, Stratfor wrote: “It might not sound like much—particularly to Americans, whose economy has been growing in excess of 3 percent a quarter for the past two years and who have not experienced a recession since 2001—but for Japan this marks the third consecutive quarter of growth after 15 years of economic malaise” (August 12).

Referring to Japan’s structural deficits, its “crushing debt, the inflexible labor market and the inability of the Japanese to invest their money where they want,” Stratfor opined, “This is actually a humming little recovery, once you factor out all of Japan’s problems.”

If Japan’s economy is, indeed, turning the corner, what impending policy decision could really kick the economy back to life? Simply to implement the plan to remove the pacifist clauses from its basic constitution. This would legitimize a retooling of Japanese industry, allowing for an upswing in armaments manufacturing. No matter that Japan is, even in its “pacifist” mode, the second-largest spender on military hardware already (only the U.S. spends more on national defense).

The proposed amending of its constitution would also give to this Eastern nation, which boasts the second-largest navy in the world, something with which to greatly embellish even its existing arsenal of military hardware—prestige!

Remilitarizing

Asia Times recently reported, “Given a rapidly changing Asian security scenario wherein China and India loom large as future military powers, Japan has seen fit to take the first steps to carve out a more active role in international defense, according to experts. ‘Japan has preferred to play a low profile in post-war security, but this is changing steadily,’ Japanese military analyst Toshiyuki Shikata said. ‘Today, Japan is paving the way to becoming a respected power in Asia.’ Japan unveiled its new defense white paper this week. In it, the government defines the future role of its Self Defense Forces (sdf) as one that is better able to deal with new threats to national security such as ballistic missile attacks and terrorism” (August 5).

The defense white paper is predicated on Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party deleting from Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution a sentence stating that military “forces as well as other war potential will never be maintained” and another sentence stating that “the right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”

Such an ability as the white paper proposes would place Japan, for the first time in 60 years, on an equal footing with the world’s greatest military powers. The nation could then look Russia, China, the European Union, even the United States in the eye—finally—as an equal on the international political scene.

Observers might consider such a scenario as providing a more balanced equation geopolitically in the Far East. If so, they would either be ignorant of, or willingly avoiding, the reality of Japan’s history. For the grave danger of such a set of circumstances is posed by that third phenomenon becoming increasingly extant in the nation of Japan—nationalism.

Old or New Nationalism?

Consider Junichiro Koizumi’s landslide re-election as the nation’s prime minister on September 11. The victory gave his Liberal Democratic Party (ldp) and its coalition partner—the New Komei Party—the two-thirds majority needed to override any votes in the less cooperative upper house.

Koizumi’s popularity and the longevity of his political career are significantly attributable to the fact that he fans the flames of Japanese nationalism. On multiple occasions during his administration, he has visited the controversial Yasukuni war shrine, a memorial honoring Japan’s war dead. Other Asian nations consider the shrine a symbol of Japanese right-wing militarism.

“It is true that Japan’s nationalism is becoming more evident and obvious to the world,” wrote one commentator in 2003. “What is not clear, however, is if Japan’s nationalism is a new phenomenon, or if the rest of the world is only now awakening to a Japanese nationalism that has been brewing for decades, if not longer” (Daily Yomiuri, Dec. 9, 2003). That opinion was expressed by Steven Clemons, executive vice president of the New America Foundation, a centrist policy institution in Washington.

Clemons went on to answer the conundrum he had posed: “Japan’s nationalism, brewing for decades beneath a cosmetic veil of pacifism, seems to be going with the flow of the return of the nation-state. It would be incorrect to argue that Japan’s recent nationalistic flirtations have anything to do with 9/11. If there has been any impact at all, 9/11 has only helped to slightly accelerate a trend that was already well under way” (ibid.).

The view that Japanese nationalism is not a recent phenomenon was supported by Rokuro Hidaka, an 88-year-old Japanese sociologist, himself a witness to the horrors of Japan’s treatment of the Chinese in World War ii. Concerning Hidaka’s views on Japan’s rising nationalism, the Japan Times reported, “History is a combination of continuity and discontinuity, Hidaka says, but in Japan a thread of continuity is inordinately strong because … this country has never really tried to break with its past” (August 15).

The Times continued, “Hidaka expresses concern over the Liberal Democratic Party’s push for constitutional revision. Looking closely at the ldp’s proposal released earlier this month, he warns: ‘If this is adopted, Japan will enter a dangerous time’” (ibid.).

Astute analysts of Japan’s history would agree with Rokuro Hidaka’s warning. They would also note an amazing paradox: The very nation that has pushed hardest for Japan to take on a more aggressive military role is the same nation that saw the cream of its naval fleet largely blown to bits by Japan at Pearl Harbor just 64 years ago.

If these three components mesh into a common equation in Japan—a reviving economy, driven by a resurgent militancy, spurred by a reviving nationalism—not only will Japan, as Hidaka puts it, “enter a dangerous time,” but also the U.S. itself will have contributed to that very danger.

Japan is not a threat to America -- just a source for its goods.

then what if those goods stop coming? wont that be a threat?

Um...Bulgie... do you have an original thought/opinion or do you just like to post articles from the press? I mean, c'mon! 4 posts all lifted without comment from you.. you support/reject any of what you've tossed on here or just like to show us how good you at grabbing stuff off the internet?

Rocket -- my thought exactly. I expected him to respond but doubted that it would happen.

who are u talking bout?

Nappy?..
Do you ever stop to read the threads or do you just jump in and type hoping a coherent thought might come out of your fingers?
'Cause if its the latter, I can suggest some other part of your anatomy that stuff might be coming out of...

I do read sir

Excellent! Glad to hear that you crack a book once in a while, Young Nappy..

puts you in the minority in America if my sources are correct.. too many of your contemporaries are apparently busy gaming on their X-box/Playstations, surfing the weeb for downloads or glued to their i-Pods ' dancing to the beat ' as they move about the streets looking so much like escaped mental patients hearing voices from beyond...

If you truly wish to make an 'informed' comment on some of these threads you might want to read a bit more on the subject and make less fatuous comments in txt spk/bad English..

I appreciate inquisitive minds and a youth perspective on topics of relevance as old buggers like me tend to get set in their ways and need a cogent comment from the diaper brigade from time to time to point out possible flaws in our reasoning - flawed reasoning comes from too many beers quaffed bemoaning the crappy world the younguns have made of things and the dependence on technology that has grown up since test tubes were discovered...

So, before my atrified mind wanders off on another tangent.. You want to make a comment on a posting that is more than dumb, let me know and I'll suggest more than a few books to occupy your mind...besides, girls seem to like guys with brains these days and it might help your ' batting average '...

Now go update your library card, that's a good lad...

quote:

Originally posted by Rocketeer:
Um...Bulgie... do you have an original thought/opinion or do you just like to post articles from the press? I mean, c'mon! 4 posts all lifted without comment from you.. you support/reject any of what you've tossed on here or just like to show us how good you at grabbing stuff off the internet?

Well perhaps I am concern about Japan because my grandfather, a Filipino soldier, died in the Bataan Death March. Many Filipinos brutaly died in their hands. If Japan is truly repentant of its past, then why is Japan rewriting its history.Why is Japan insensitive to the feelings of its neighbors? "It has often been said that those who fail to learn from history are destined to repeat it."


Angering Asia


http://www.thetrumpet.com/index.php?page=article&id=996


Japan’s brutal imperialist history still burns in the memories of its Asian neighbors.

On August 13 Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi worshiped at Tokyo’s Yasukuni Shrine—what many in Asia consider the “symbolic heart of right-wing militarism” (International Herald Tribune, Aug. 14).

“The visit, in the eyes of millions living in the countries that Japan conquered in the heyday of Japanese imperialism, reflected a nationalist and rightist spirit among Japanese” (ibid.).

Though Yasukuni means “peaceful country,” the Shinto shrine is where Japanese war dead are honored—including World War ii Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other “Class A” war criminals hanged for their atrocities.

In Japan’s postwar era, Yasukuni has been visited only once by a prime minister in official capacity: in 1985, when Nakasone

Yasuhiro worshiped there. Public protest was so strong, however, that it remained his only official visit.

Though Koizumi, in a statement about this visit, said that “Japan should never again walk on the path to war,” expressing his “deepest regret and remorse toward all the victims of war,” his controversial visit caused an outcry across Asia.

China’s Foreign Ministry said, “The Chinese government and people lodge their fierce anger and dissatisfaction.” Protesters in Hong Kong burned Japan’s wartime rising-sun flag and a photo of Koizumi. “We are expressing the strongest fury of Asians,”one protester said.

North Korea said Koizumi had “insulted Asian people,”(International Herald Tribune, Aug. 15). In South Korea, 20 men cut off the tips of their little fingers in public to protest Koizumi’s visit. The Koreans still remember the 35-year-long Japanese occupation of their peninsula, which ended at Japan’s defeat in 1945.

In Japan, however, the smooth-talking Koizumi is by far the most popular prime minister since the war ended—his approval ratings still hover at an amazing 70 percent. He has rallied renewed vigor for the Liberal Democratic Party—and for Japanese politics in general.

His opponents warn that the popularity of the charismatic and even eccentric Koizumi is a sign that Japan’s painful war history is repeating itself. They compare the new prime minister with Hitler and Mussolini. They describe his well-attended speeches as latter-day Nuremberg rallies.

Koizumi’s shrine visit has opened a wound in Japan’s relations with South Korea—one that is likely to force the United States to side with Seoul. The communist countries of north Asia (Russia, North Korea, China) will gladly exploit this tension in “an attempt to undermine Washington’s military dominance of East Asia” (http://www.stratfor.com, Aug. 20).

This could cause Tokyo to reassert itself as an independent and militarily strong nation, “leaving Washington with a weakened alliance structure just as hostilities intensify”(ibid.).

Watch for a rise of right-wing militarism in Japan as it becomes a stronger and more independent nation—and the U.S. fades from the picture.

Interesting... do we chalk this animosity against Japan as holding a grudge far too long or justified anger..What was done in the name of Japanese imperialism was under another form of government and another regime.. Japan has been ' remade' and is about as close to a proper democracy as imperfect humans can make it..so, why should we worry about a change in its stance toward protecting its interests in the region? Japan is far less agressive and imperial than the United States at the meoment and is under threateconomically, politically and, I dare sare, militarily, from a rising superpower, China, and needs new tools to protecvt against that potential threat..As well, Japan as a responsible member of the region and a world economic power has an obligation to assist other nation states in ways beyond economics.. Throwing money around to help the tsunami victims etc. doesn't help much in the scheme of things, but feet on the ground counts more..

So, rewriting their contitution to allow for their defence force to have a broader mandate seems reasdonable since we [ that is the rest of the wrold ] allow that in every other nation..
There is no way that the present or foreseeable government of Japan is going to revert to stomping over the other nations as it did in WWII..

personally I like the concept of a Japanese buffer against the more agressive tendancies of a neuveau China...

Besides, its what the US wants for that region.. and we're talking US vs. China as the next inevitable confrontation after America conquers the terrorist...

I think the sticking point is the refusal/reluctance of the present Japanese lreadership to completely and forthrightly apologize or reject the actions of its predecessor rejime during WWII and condemn some of the gross violations of human rights which took place [ as your relatives experienced ]

This would entail denying and revoking a significant parto f Japanese history something difficult for a proud people to face..ion my opinion, the sincs of the past can't be visited on any of the present generation of Japan and we should all just get on with it and accept that it was a dark period in history.. Canada, too has a great deal of animosity toward Japan of the past for atrociti3es against its soldiers and civilians in Hong Kong and elsewhere but, we've moved beyond that..Other nations will have too, too, if they want to see their region of the world grow in peace...

Damn Rocketeer...I'd swear that you are getting more cerebral everyday! Ain't no moss growin about yer brain cells. Did you switch from single malt to sippin brandy?

You make some excellent points about the need to have Japan stand up a viable military force in the region. We cannot continue dwell too much on the past, and as you pointed out, it was another era altogether. As for expecting the government of Japan to publicaly apologize for events that transpired decades ago, ain't going to happen and even if it did, what good would it do? Certainly won't right the wrongs.