Some Thoughts on the Kyosei Relationship between the United States and Japan

Abstract

On September 1, 2009, for the time in 56 years Japan's Democratic Party (the DPJ henceforth) took the helm of state. The LDP's crushing defeat brought to an end its relationship with the bureaucracy. While at the Lower House election on August 30, 2009, the DPJ announced that it would: 1) build a close and equal alliance and relationship with the United States+ 2) develop an autonomous foreign policy and security issue are unlikely to emerge as flash points, one big concern was Mr. Hatoyama's flip-flops on the prospects for Japan's refueling mission in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afganistan. Prime Minister Hatoyama in particular and the DPJ itself remained vague in its stance when it comes to the question of the relocation of the Futenma Air Station issue in spite of the fact that Prime Minister Hatoyama reportedly saido to President Obama, “Trust me.”b In the final analysis, a series of talks between the Obama administration and the Hatoyama administration produced one of the worst agreements and resulted in least dramatic consequences in December, 2009 leaving strained relations between Tokyo and Washington. The purpose of this short article is twofold. The author (1) gives a brief chronological overview of U.S-Japan relations right after the end of the second world war to the present on the basis of his presentation done in Ohiso campus on September 13, 2009; (2) reviews the recent 2009 U.S-Japan relations in the light of foreign perspectives and U.S Smart Power, and (3) then offers a few suggestions for the future U.S.-Japan relations.