What on Earth is Japan trying to protect?
The recent train of events and developments make me wonder what this nation is trying to protect and what the nation might lose in the process.
Investigations into the so-called Shenyang Five incident at the Japanese Consulate General in Shenyang, China, revealed that Japanese Ambassador Koreshige Anami had reportedly ordered his staff to ``stop suspicious characters from entering Japanese mission compounds, never mind if there are video cameras rolling.''
I wonder what the ambassador was trying to protect. Was it the safety of his staff? The extraterritoriality of Japanese diplomatic facilities? Or was he simply trying to keep out of trouble? And what about the Shenyang consulate people? Were they merely following Anami's orders and thought nothing of Chinese armed police trespassing on Japanese property?
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he was dealing with this incident ``carefully, calmly and firmly.'' What was he protecting? Japan's amity with China? Japan's honor? The asylum seekers' human rights? I should hope Koizumi implied all these things, but who knows.
And what about the military emergency bills under Diet deliberation? What is this legislation meant to protect? Surely, its aim must be to protect the Japanese people, not something abstract like the state or the government system.
During World War II, the government forced people to sacrifice themselves, and the military often protected their own rather than the civilian population. Having experienced these things, people are naturally suspicious of the proposed legislation and know they must tread very carefully.
Since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last year, what the Americans have been trying to protect is pretty clear-``American values.'' Many Americans said they were determined not to lose their ``free and open society.'' This is simple enough to understand.
What, then, are the ``Japanese values'' that must be protected? The government's recent attitude makes me want to answer, ``A closed society and contempt for human rights.'' I am sorry this is probably how it looks to the rest of the world.
The Asahi Shimbun, May 23(IHT/Asahi: May 24,2002)