동북아역사재단 2023년 04월호 뉴스레터
- Seok Ju-hee, researcher at the NAHF Dokdo Research Institute
January 12, 2023 at 6:40 AM. Members of the Liberal Democratic Party’s National Defense Lawmakers’ League arrived at Miyakojima, a three-and-a-half-hour flight from Tokyo. Citizens and reporters protesting against the facilities of the Self-Defense Forces gathered at the arrival hall. Miyakojima is attracting attention as the Japanese government recently decided to establish facilities for the Japan Self-Defense Forces there. LDP lawmakers said that the visit to Miyakojima was a support activity for the Kishida cabinet to increase its defense budget. However, on the other side, there is a change in their territorial perception that it is a key point for national strategy in an island on the periphery.
In the 2000s, Japan established laws and systems related to maritime territories in a short period of time. The Framework Act on the Sea was enacted in 2007, followed by the announcement of the Framework Plan for the Sea every five years from 2008. In 2013, the Office for Planning and Coordination of Territorial and Sovereignty in the Cabinet Secretariat was established, and in 2018, the Territory and Sovereignty Exhibition Hall related to Dokdo, the Southern Kuril Islands, and the Senkaku Islands(Chinese name: Diaoyu Islands) was opened. In 2020, the Territory and Sovereignty Exhibition Hall was expanded and relocated to about seven times the size of the previous one. As such, Japan strengthened its maritime territorial claims over the past 20 years or so by overhauling its laws, systems, and related institutions. In the background, there is bipartisan cooperation led by the LDP and activities of right-wing groups.
LDP and bipartisan political league: From an island nation to a maritime power
On March 9, 2007, the LDP held a joint meeting related to the Framework Act on the Sea and approved the bill. On April 3, 2007, the LDP, Komeito Party, Democratic Party, Communist Party, and People’s New Party voted in favor and passed the bill in the House of Representatives, and the Framework Act on the Sea was passed with a majority in favor at the House of Councilors held on the 20th of the same month. It took only 90 days for the bill to be passed and implemented from the House of Representatives to the House of Councilors, which is very unusual. The Framework Act on the Sea was evaluated as laying the institutional foundation for Japan to become a maritime power from an island nation. After the Act, Japan announced the outlines of maritime policies, formulated the framework plan for the sea, and reorganized related administrative organizations by establishing a comprehensive maritime policy headquarters. Since the establishment of the Office of Policy Planning and Coordination on Territory and Sovereignty in 2013, it has been claiming sovereignty over Dokdo, the Southern Kuril Islands, and the Senkaku Islands.
Meanwhile, lawmakers from the LDP and the Constitutional Democratic Party are united in the activities of the League of Lawmakers Acting to Protect Japan’s Territory(“Lawmakers’ League for Territories”). The Lawmakers’ League for Territories was formed in 2004 as a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to respond to Dokdo, the Senkaku Islands, and the Southern Kuril Islands. Currently, Yoshitaka Shindo, a member of the House of Representatives of the LDP, serves as the chairman, and many members of the Constitutional Democratic Party are also included. The Lawmakers’ League for Territories submits opinions on the revision of elementary, middle and high school learning guidelines, or attends the so-called “Takeshima Day” in Shimane Prefecture and the “Northern Territory Day” held in Tokyo every year. They hold regular meetings and discuss countermeasures related to maritime territories.
In Japan, the right wing is at the forefront of historical and territorial issues. They are widely known both domestically and internationally for leading street demonstrations around the events of “Northern Territory Day” or the so-called “Takeshima Day.” In addition, when there were specific events related to the maritime territory, demonstrations were held in front of the embassy, the National Assembly building, and major stations with loudspeakers on in dedicated vehicles. According to the Japanese “Police White Paper” in 2021, the number of groups mobilized by the right wing in relation to Korea is about 1,100, with about 2,330 people and about 930 vehicles. Most right-wing demonstrations mobilize vehicles, with two to three people riding in each vehicle.
Most of the right-wing groups currently active in Japan were formed around 1960. After Japan's defeat in the war, most of the traditional right-wing groups were disbanded by banishment from public offices and orders to dissolve political organizations. However, in the 1950s, right-wing groups were newly organized and reorganized in the name of the Cold War and anti-communism. In the 1960s, the national right was formed in earnest. During this period, the largest scale security struggle occurred in Japan over the Japan-US Security Treaty, and the confrontation between conservatives and reformists reached its climax. Entering a period of rapid economic growth, the Japanese right wing sought to break away from its existing image as a violent group and transform into a policy-oriented right wing political group. After the death of the emperor in 1989, the right wing emerged as a central force in historical revisionism. In 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the defeat in the war, when the term “post-war responsibility” appeared throughout Japanese society, the right wing took the lead and fiercely protested.
Why is Japan’s right wing interested in territorial and sovereignty issues?
Most Japanese are not interested in or well aware of Japan’s border issues. In order to draw national attention to the border, the Cabinet Office announced the “Border Island Charter” in 2017 and conducted a “Let’s go to the border of Japan” campaign, but the effect was insignificant. Even at the government level, the territorial issue is a difficult task to deal with. In the process of normalizing diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Japan excluded discussions related to the Senkaku Islands from the negotiating table in a “tanage”(postponed) manner.
On the other hand, the right wing is active in the forefront of Japan’s territorial sovereignty. The Japanese right wing has a sense of duty to “deal with territorial issues that cannot be resolved by the state.” They argue that Dokdo, the Southern Kuril Islands, and the Senkaku Islands must be returned because they were acquired during the imperial expansion period. They also appeal about the “injustice of the other country” through street protests and put pressure on the Japanese government to resolve the unresolved border issue. They know that their activities and protests are limited. It is in this context that a right-wing activist is running for local council elections.
What the right wing ultimately aims for on the territorial issue is as follows: First of all, it is to gain public interest and support by spreading public opinion in Japan. Public awareness of Japan’s border issues is very low, so they want to publicize it widely through education and publicity. The second is to make negotiations between countries possible through political acts or politicians and to make diplomatic efforts. In order to resolve territorial issues, their basic perception is that “negotiations should be made with the relevant countries in the diplomatic arena, because the problem will not be solved by repeating self-satisfying claims to their own people.”
In the so-called “Takeshima Day” event in Shimane Prefecture, right-wing groups such as Yamato-juku, which sends propaganda vehicles to the streets every year, are active. Yamato-juku is based in Okayama Prefecture, and works in association with small groups and other right-wing groups. Yamato-juku is the representative of the Chugoku region of the All Japan Patriotic Association, Japan's largest right-wing coalition formed in April 1959. They are called the right-wing activists, attaching the Japanese flag to a black vehicle, hanging a speaker, and protesting on the street in the form of street propaganda.
A representative right-wing organization related to the return of the Senkaku Islands and the ‘Northern Territories’ is the Japanese Youth Society. In 1961, the Japanese Youth Society established its headquarters in Hachioji, Tokyo, advocating anti-communism. The Japanese Youth Society led the installation of a lighthouse on the Diaoyu Islands in 1978 and handed it over to the Japanese government in 2005. In addition, they are writing requests related to the Senkaku Islands and submitting them to the Japanese Prime Minister and Foreign Minister or sending complaints to China. The Japanese Youth Society also emphasizes the ‘state’ and has the perception that “private organizations solve areas that the state cannot do.” Most of the members have jobs, and some have become local councilors.
Need for systematic strategy related to maritime territories
Since the 1990s, East Asia has experienced rapid changes surrounding the ocean. In Japan, a movement to strengthen territorial sovereignty appeared as the government led the search for comprehensive marine management and cooperation between ministries. Among them are the LDP-led bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, the Lawmakers’ League for Territories, and right-wing groups formed after the war. They advocate territorial nationalism and lead activities to strengthen their territorial rights.
However, there are also internal limitations. For ordinary citizens, the right wing is an uninvited guest who causes noise and threatens the peaceful daily life. There is a long-held perception among Japanese people that right-wing activists who drive protest vehicles and threaten them are the yakuza(violence groups). The Police White Paper published annually by the Japanese National Police Agency specifies the number of demonstrations and arrests of right-wing groups in a year. The current address of the Japanese right wing is to face legal action as a group that threatens the safety of citizens. Discord between Japanese local governments and the government over Dokdo is also detected. In an interview with the Sanin Shimbun, a local newspaper, ahead of the so-called “Takeshima Day,” Tatsuya Maruyama, governor of Shimane Prefecture, appealed for “preparation of countermeasures for territorial issues that do not show progress or improvement.” At the 18th “Takeshima Day” commemoration ceremony, Gosei Ikeda, president of the Oki Preparatory Alliance, said, “I hope the government will take this issue.”
Now, 18 years after the so-called “Takeshima Day” ordinance was enacted, it is necessary to closely examine what Shimane Prefecture is asking the Japanese government to do. Meanwhile, as the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, the territorial conflict between China and Japan over the Senkaku Islands is also escalating. It is time to seek a systematic strategy not only for Dokdo and the East Sea, but also for the entire East Asian maritime territory.
동북아역사재단이 창작한 '일본의 국경인식과 영토민족주의 - 누가 일본의 경계를 지키는가? -' 저작물은 "공공누리" 출처표시-상업적이용금지-변경금지 조건에 따라 이용 할 수 있습니다.
