No Guarantee of Respect

Chief Cabinet Secretary, Yoshihide Suga, released the names of sixteen members in consultative committee for the Prime Minister’s statement on seventieth anniversary from the end of World War II. Presided by Taizo Nishimuro, former president of Toshiba Co., the committee is expected to be politically neutral while there are some members who have been close to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Wait a second, will Abe abide by the conclusion of the committee, anyway?

Abe once revealed his intention to replace Murayama Statement, which admitted Japan’s aggression and apologized to Asian nations. Later, China and South Korea showed frustration of changing the statement. United States also hoped Abe to follow Murayama Statement in order to avoid unnecessary friction in East Asia. Abe promised that he would establish a committee for his seventieth anniversary statement in January.

One focal point has been who will be the member. Abe seems to have thought Nishimuro would be a moderate figure to demonstrate neutrality of the committee. As a co-chair of the Twenty-first Century Committee for New Friendship between Japan and China, adoption of Nishimuro could be recognized as a sign of appeasement toward China.

Rather, keystone for Abe must be the vice-president, Shin-ichi Kitaoka. Kitaoka, President of International University of Japan, has been leading Abe’s political agenda, including exercise of collective self-defense right, as an expert of security policy and reinterpretation of history. Terumasa Nakanishi, Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University, and Tadashi Nishihara, President of Research Institute for Peace and Security, are regarded as close allies of Abe in terms of conservative ideology.

Pick of two journalists showed Abe’s intention to control media. From conservative side, Bureau Chief of America of Yomiuri Shimbun, Keiko Iizuka, joined the committee. Special Senior Writer of Mainichi Shimbun, Takao Yamada, was chosen from liberal media. Some leaders in business sector and non-profit organization were for appealing broad selection.

However, Suga explained that the mission of the committee would not be writing draft of the statement, but advising the government in considering substance of the statement. Final writer will be the bureaucratic staffs around Abe. China and South Korea are closely looking at whether Abe include some expressions in Murayama Statement, “following a mistaken national policy” or “express here once again my feelings of deep remorse and state my heartfelt apology.” Protesting those phrases, it is possible for Abe to ignore coming report of the committee, when it includes negative expression on Japan’s history.