It’s taken a while but finally the US got a president who seemed to offer a whole new look on foreign policy. Being able to post that was an incredibly exciting and refreshing feeling; for the first time in at least eight years, a lot of people felt the US had a president to be proud of, rather than one that should be sent back to primary school, but made to sit away from the other children so as not to distract them.
Obama’s not let us down, either. So far, so good. But what plenty of people are wondering will be ‘What are Obama’s plans for Japan?’ Historically, Japan and the US have had a very close economic and military link, one that has caused tension particularly on the Japanese side, especially with issues like the military bases, Okinawa and Article 9.
I’ve written up a few goals for Japan that I think we can realistically hope for. Please post your thoughts / other goals we might hope to see.
1. Less American forces in Japan
I’m jumping right in and tackling a hot-topic issue here. There are roughly 50,000 US troops in Japan, stationed all over the country with lots in Yokohama (near Tokyo) and Okinawa in particular. The bases in Okinawa are a big issue, because they simply take up so much space and as a result Okinawan culture has sort of been pushed aside by the Japanese government who were and still are desperate to catch up and mimic with the US, and the Americans who sadly only speak English in general.
- Ok, this isn’t *entirely* accurate… click for bigger.
So Obama how about we have less troops in Japan?! I know there’s a security reason, especially with North Korea being all aggressive and so on, but the continuous expansion of US military presence is simply too aggressive – people see it as a threat rather than a protector. My theory is Obama have up to half of the soldiers in Japan retrain as builders and bricklayers, and build a huuuuge bridge between Japan and Okinawa. Before September 2009, please. I want to go during my year but it’s too expensive.
2. Better Cultural Understanding
Too many times in Japan did I hear ‘You’re from England? Isn’t that in America?” or the like. I’d like to see a closer cultural link between the US and Japan, which would inevitably lead to closer links with Europe, Australia and so on. Making it easier for people to go on holiday to Japan, do exchanges there and vice versa would help everyone and stop the immigration madness we currently go through. Here in the UK universities offering Chinese are getting extra funding as it’s seen as a key subject, why not Japanese too?
Click for bigger! It's authenti...ok, it's not...
I think of these goals this is one of the more realistic ones, so come on! Reform that education system and get Japan, the US and everyone else all working together to help me learn these Kanji!
3. An Obama-Koizumi Dance Off
With Obama being as freaking cool as he is, and ex-PM Koizumi being a great dancer, how awesome would this be?! I reckon one round of ballroom, one round of Latin and a freestyle round. Who would your money be on?
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Obama & Japan – Where Are We Heading…
I wrote a few goals I think we can hope for during an Obama White House. Have a read and comment your thoughts!…
Obama (well, technically it was Clinton) already DID sign an agreement to take a bunch of troops out of Okinawa and put them in Guam or something.
I think Japan should open up their immigration policies; in fact, they’re pretty much going to have to, the way their population is decreasing. As to whether or not they WILL is a different question; but they really do need to.
Also, the dance-off needs to happen.. however, I’m not sure how good Obama would do in ballroom and Latin. I think they should do a breakdance-off.
Obama’s failure is a foregone conclusion. Socialism never has worked and never will work, that is not a wish for his failure, it is just a fact; however, you have enough leftists like him and in the universities who have never really worked at a real job so they do not know reality until it comes up and smacks them up side of the head.
As far as your opinion of removing American troops, I wholeheartedly agree. However, I would not limit it to Japan. It is time for America to stop being an imperial power and return home from all their foreign bases and return to strict constitutionalism and Washington’s admonition for foreign affairs.
America and Europe have seen the result of open door policy on immigration and the devastating effects of the nightmare of multiculturalism. I would say to Japan keep your strict policies on immigration, it is your country and increase your population the tried and true way. Strengthen marriage, the family, encourage women to stay home and be wives and men to be good husbands instead of being out till 10 at night and have children within the bonds of marriage. Reject the materialsim ever present and gradually the population will increase. This is not a problem that will reverse itself in a few years but in decades.
While your ideas are interesting, I will have to disagree with you about the force reduction. Although having 50,000 troops in Japan seems a bit excessive, the bases and what-not are necessary as it provides a foothold for the asian region. It is a strategic thing. And thinking that someone in the armed forces should speak Japanese if they are stationed in Japan is pretty asinine. If they moved to Japan to live here permanently or at the very least on a long term basis, thats one thing, but they are essentially toursits. Can you tell me that anytime you have travelled abroad you have learned the language of the country you are visiting fluently before going? (That’s a rhetorical question…)
How about requests for Japan? Why not have Japan stop making a GD mockery of Obama? I can think of numerous articles and things I have seen here, Obama sushi, the Japanese Obama impersonator, etc. Its like they have no concept of just how much better a leader he is already shaping up to be when compared to George Bush. Do you see Americans making fun of Aso all the time? No. So first, Japan needs to cut that $4!# out.
Japanese people are so naïve when it comes to the world outside of Japan. This, of course, can partially be explained by taking a look at their utter failure of an education system and their super slanted way of reporting the news. Why do you think nearly every Japanese person thinks America is “dangerous” because “everybody has a gun.” Or how “American” food is hamburgers and hot dogs, both of which originated from Europe. Sometimes I feel like I am talking to someone with some kind of mental handicap or something. So how about Japan fixes its xenophobia and its POS school system? You can’t make a country better from the outside in, it would start from the inside out.
Next up is what someone else already mentioned, immigration laws. Outside of North Korea, Japan has some really pedantic immigration laws. They don’t seem to want any foreigener in the country. Japan, this is your wake-up call. This is not the 1800s anymore, its time to get over your superiority complex of being an “island nation” and stop with all the national isolation BS. Being a country that relies on exports, you should try to get to know your consumers to better provide for their needs rather than alienating the hell out of them. For example, why do foreigeners have to pay taxes in Japan but do not get to reap any of the benefits that a Japanese citizen does? Why has Japan made it almost impossible for nearly any westerner to get permanent residence here? If they want to strengthen their ties with other countries, they need to really work on their immigration laws. The funny thing is, Japanese people think (well, so the surveys say), that its foreigeners in Japan that commit all the crimes. Yet, when you look at the hard numbers from the Japanese justice ministry (or whatever they call it here), its clear that the exact opposite is true. It’s like they want to look like us, imitate us, but they don’t want us here. A friend of mine put it rather succintly…The Japanese love us from a distance.
Next you have the declining birth rate. They work the people to death here. I have asked many a Japanese person why they work so much overtime (many have told me they don’t even report it.) They can almost never give me a logical answer. If the work will be there the next day, go home, do it the next day. Japan does have labor laws, you cannot get fired for going home at the end of your shift, yet the people seem to think otherwise. Go home, then the managers will get the hint that maybe they need to hire more people rather than letting one or 2 people do all the work and work so many GD hours that they have no time or energy to make a family. Talk about major human rights violations.
How about the blatant discriminiation of women in the workplace? They treat them like slaves? Many of these things don’t really get out of Japan and are accepted here as “cultural norms,” but they just go too far sometimes. Again, to become a better country, they need to work from the inside out. It will help strengthen the ties for sure.
Removal of troops would be nice but what are all the Okinawans who rely on the bases for their jobs going to do? It’s already the poorest part of Japan.
(1) makes no economic sense. (2) and (3) are just silly. Japan is already blowing millions of dollars a year on the JET program, and what is it getting in return?