INTERVIEW/ Shinichi Kitaoka: Japan should look to future on 80th anniversary of end of WWII

Asahi Shimbun

22-05-2025

Rather than issue a formal statement, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is said to be planning to release a 'personal message' to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
On the landmark 50th anniversary, and again on the 60th and 70th anniversaries, Japan issued statements in the name of the prime ministers of the time.
A major point of contention in those statements, and in Japan's official position over its historical perception at large, has centered on the issue of apology.
Political scientist Shinichi Kitaoka, who helped work out the 70th anniversary statement a decade ago, says he believes that passing down history for posterity is one thing and continuing to apologize is another.
In a recent interview with The Asahi Shimbun, Kitaoka shared his thoughts on what Japan should be doing in this age, when the world order is so out of joint.
Excerpts of the interview follow:
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Kitaoka: Whether you deem the 'postwar period' as being over depends on how you define the postwar period.
But one thing I can say for sure: the period of stability that followed World War II is being shaken.
The years after World War II have few parallels in world history in that no major conflict erupted between the major powers over such a long period.
Japan has enjoyed peace, throughout that time, under security arrangements with the United States.
But the Constitution of Japan, which prohibits Japan from maintaining 'land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential,' is unreasonable by any world standards. Moreover, the United States, the architect of that setup, is no longer what it used to be.
U.S. President Donald Trump has begun complaining that the security arrangements with Japan are unfair. He says it is unreasonable that the pact obligates the United States to defend Japan but not vice versa.
The world order built by the United States following World War II is beginning to break down, which in my view, is showing itself symbolically in Japan-U.S. relations.
Japan and Germany, the losers in that war, were slapped with security restrictions after the fighting finished.
Germany, however, has gradually expanded its role in security. The country eased its constitutional rules on fiscal discipline earlier this year so it can spend more on defense.
I think similar moves have been weaker and slower in Japan.
If Russia's invasion of Ukraine and other developments are ending the postwar period of stability, which has been based on the peaceful settlement of international disputes and on free trade, and are ushering the world into a period of turmoil, that will pose a big risk for Japan, which, therefore, should make efforts on its own to prevent that from happening.
I, for one, have been proposing the creation of a 'Western Pacific Union,' a framework that would embrace Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asian nations, Australia and Pacific island countries.
That is not quite like an 'Asian version of NATO,' which Ishiba has been advocating.
Unlike that one, which is security-specific, the union I am envisaging would discuss a broader variety of matters to build consensus so it could hold out against China, Russia, India and the United States, which are big powers with national egocentrism.
I was on a team that worked out the statement issued by the Abe administration to mark 70 years from the war's end 10 years ago.
The statement used the wording 'aggression' and 'colonial rule' because those are historical facts.
Ishiba likely has plans to issue a message to the public, instead of a statement, on the occasion of the 80th anniversary. That would, in my view, no longer have to contain an element of apology.
Passing down history for posterity is one thing, and continuing to apologize forever is another.
If the 80th anniversary of the war's end carries any meaning, I think that's about how we could make it an opportunity for learning properly about history and thinking what Japan should be doing in the coming years.
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Born in 1948, Shinichi Kitaoka, a professor emeritus with the University of Tokyo, specializes in the history of Japanese politics and diplomacy. He is chairman of the board of directors with Nara Prefectural University.
Kitaoka is the author of 'Haken Naki Jidai no Sekai Chizu' (World map in an era with no hegemony), and other books.
(This article is based on an interview by Senior Editor Satoshi Ozawa.)