Japanization: What the World Can Learn from Japan's Lost Decades

Chapter 6Hello Kitty Isn’t a Foreign PolicyHow Amateurish Diplomacy Undermines Japan

In May 2013, Shinzo Abe did a goodwill tour of the tsunami-devastated Tohoku region. He visited local government offices, aid workers, schools, and displaced inhabitants along Japan’s northeastern coastline. Keen on making the most of the trip and buttressing his bona fides as a strong leader, Abe’s advisers added a stop at Matsushima air base. There, Abe would be photographed conferring with senior military brass. It would be photo-opportunity heaven. Little did Abe’s people know it would also precipitate an international incident.

The Matsushima base is home to “Blue Impulse,” Japan’s Air Self-Defense Force’s aerobatic display team. Created in 1958, the squadron is the pride of Japanese military culture and their Kawasaki T-4 training aircraft painted in white-and-blue colors are instantly recognizable throughout the nation. Abe’s aides couldn’t resist having their boss climb into one of the cockpits for the cameras. Unfortunately, the plane was emblazoned with the number “731.”

The Imperial Japanese Army’s Unit 731 tested chemical and biological weapons on human prisoners during the 1937–1945 Sino–Japanese War and World War II. It was located in the city of Harbin, the largest city of Manchukuo, the Japanese puppet state that is now northeast China, and run by General Shiro Ishii. A microbiologist by training, Ishii is often called Japan’s answer to Josef Mengele, the brutal doctor of Auschwitz ...