1. The Merits and Demerits of Western-style Capitalism

(1) The Effects of Western-style Modernization

For the past one hundred years, Japan has continued in the belief that she should vigorously adopt the framework of modern Western materialism. Thanks to these material benefits, we Japanese have been able to enjoy a more convenient and comfortable way of life than in the past.

(2) The Advent of an Unhealthy and Abnormal Society

On the other hand, the rapid development of materialism and technology demands a pace of life that is too fast for human beings. Under strong pressure from a variety of materialistic desires, traditional power structures and communities have collapsed, we have fallen into the worship of money and speculative economics. Interpersonal communication has deteriorated, and people’s tension and anxiety has increased still further. As a result, in today’s Japan, we are facing the advent of a psychologically abnormal society. The educational sector is suffering from bullying, truancy, social withdrawal, dysfunctional classes, and an increase in serious juvenile crime. Meanwhile, society as a whole is experiencing such phenomena as death from overwork and a high suicide rate.

Meanwhile, the medical and pharmaceutical industries needed to restore our damaged health, and the sports and fitness industries needed to reduce our weight are booming. One particular problem is in the medical field, where the medical insurance budget is massively in the red, and is threatening our nation’s finances.

2. We Have the Wisdom to Find an Asian-style Solution

(1) We Should Take a Fresh Look at Asia’s Merit(as illustrated by the war on Iraq)

I would like to ask the distinguished representatives of Asia gathered here together one question. That question is:“Can’t we give the world an Asian-style solution?”.

Historically-speaking, Western-style confrontational thinking has brought about many conflicts. The Iraq war waged by the current US administration led by President Bush may be categorized as one example of this from an Asian perspective. It is my belief that “Not one single inhabitant of Asia feels that this war was truly necessary.” I am certain that we would not have decided to do so. That is because the war proposed by the Bush administration lacked justification and legitimacy. We believed that such a war would be the equivalent of opening Pandora’s Box, leading to instability in the region as a whole.

It is from this perspective that the Democratic Party of Japan expressed our opposition to this war, and opposed the dispatch of Japanese Self Defense Forces. In fact, the situation in Iraq worsened just as we had feared. The United States is trapped in no-win situation.

The Japanese government and other Asian governments, in their heart of hearts, may have been opposed to the war, and have felt uncomfortable with the unilateral behaviour of the Bush administration. However, they were unable, in the main, to criticize the Bush administration. Furthermore, some governments, including Japan, sent troops to Iraq. The reality was that these countries, in the face of silent pressure from the US, thought about their future relations with the US and so reluctantly agreed to follow along. This war exposed many serious issues, not only the question of whether the war was justified, but also the legitimacy of the US doctrine of preemptive attack, the issue of the loss of UN authority, and the violation of the principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of another state. Moreover, Asian nations were exposed to an extremely grave situation with troops they had dispatched coming under attack from armed Iraq groups.

Under these difficult conditions, I believe that the following two proposals will be extremely valuable from the point of view of promoting Asia-centric thinking.

(1) Although in some respects we may have passed the optimum time for doing so, Asian nations should discuss the Iraq war frankly and seriously, and make every effort to come to a conclusion regarding our response to this issue. If we are able to reach a conclusion, we should inform the United States and the international community of our intended response, and work towards its fulfillment.

(2) The individual contributions that have been made by various Asian nations towards Iraq reconstruction are extremely valuable, but from now on, the countries of Asia should work together as a bloc, like the European Union or NATO. The basic concept is that, by obtaining the cooperation of the countries surrounding Iraq, we will undertake the training of Iraqi administrators, police officers, and potential entrepreneurs, and guidance and resource procurement for Asian corporations hoping to move into Iraq in the future.

3. The Increasing Need for Asian Solidarity

Since the establishment of APEC, economic cooperation within Asia has increased. In Japan, ties, not just economic and social but also cultural and spiritual ones have continued to develop, and the need for even closer ties continues to grow, as can be seen from the following examples.

(1)Japanese television programmes, such as animation, and the drama “Oshin”, have been popular in many Asian countries in the past, and now the South Korean television drama “Winter Sonata” is a huge hit in Japan.

(2)In the recent Japanese Upper House elections, Park Shin-Kun, who fought his campaign both in Tokyo and nationwide under the slogan “My father’s country South Korea, my mother’s country Japan’, and Ren Ho, who has a Taiwanese father, were successfully elected as Diet members for the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).

(3)In the near future Asia will be the biggest growth center for the global economy. It is our responsibility to ensure the smooth development of the Asian economy. When we look at Japan’s trade figures, we can see that the Asian nations recently overtook the USA to become Japan’s biggest trading partners.

(4)Japan is facing the problems of an aging society and falling population, and it seems that we have reached the state where we should undertake a fundamental rethink of the flow of human resources between Japan and Asia. I believe that we should make Japanese society more open to receiving Asian citizens.

(5)Rapid urbanization and changes in social environment have led to the appearance in Japanese society of such phenomena as the destruction of traditional communities and dysfunctional classes. I believe that there would be great significance in our working together to search for a solution based on Asian values.

(6)Japan is now debating the question of constitutional reform for the first time in the post-war period. However, as you can see from the report issued by the DPJ, which proposes that we establish a separate national cemetery for the war dead in response to the Yasukuni Shrine problem, we intend to strengthen our political philosophy, which vows to totally renounce war, and are determined that Japan will never pose the same threat to the nations of Asia as she did in the past.

4. The Issues that Should be Considered when Creating a New “Asian Union”

(1)We should utilize APEC to the full, continuing to develop free trade and free economics, while creating the potential for the creation of a common Asian currency in the future. The basic concept would be something along the lines of an Asian version of the European Union, but I think it would be possible to develop this structure further in the future to create a “Global Union.”

(2)I believe that it is vital to have a concrete image in mind for a regional security framework. With the end of the Cold War, the Asian region itself needs to formulate a mature response, and construct a framework which can ensure the security and stability of the region. We need to search for courageous resolutions to territorial disputes while striving to create mutual trust.

5. In Conclusion

There are many problems that must be overcome in furthering the creation of a new sense of Asian solidarity. EU nations have overcome strongly-rooted nationalism to create a successful regional community. Asian nations are said to have a more harmonious mentality than the Europeans. Therefore, I believe that the idea that we can further deepen our ties, and create a regional community similar to the European Community, is a natural historical progression and certainly not just an impossible dream. The twentieth century was “an era of competition, confrontation and war”, particularly in the Western nations. It was an era in which nations each trumpeted their own legitimacy, based on imperialistic values. I believe that the twenty-first century can be “an era of coexistence, harmony and peace”. The nations of Asia, being of a naturally harmonious spirit, should take the lead in this era, and I am certain that this is possible.

From this standpoint, I feel that we Japanese should determine how we should act as citizens of Asia, and make a significant contribution, giving full play to our unique Japanese identity. Government officials have to take a variety of official positions into account and so it is difficult for them to debate such issues freely. It is up to party politicians like us to start the ball rolling by engaging in open dialogue.