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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
In the last week of 2007, Japanese Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo made an official visit to China. The tone of the trip was set by positive rhetoric on both sides and at one point, Fukuda expressed his conviction that now “Bilateral ties have become increasingly complementary, and one cannot do without the other.” Fukuda is working under the assumption that closer Sino-Japanese relations are a key to the future of Japan and East Asia. This article shares that view. As Slavoj Zizek and other contemporary philosophers have noted, imagination has an important impact on political realities. To build a progressive international relationship, the future of that relationship must first be imagined, diverse visions contested, and concrete strategies for a way forward defined. Given the extraordinary degree of economic connectiveness between Japan and China and the seeming ability of both markets to complement the strengths of the other within an expansive regional economy, there are compelling incentives When Koizumi stepped down in September 2006, his successor, Abe Shinzo, quickly chose to visit China in early October. That trip was reciprocated in the following April when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao went to Japan. Fukuda's trip to China in late 2007 extends the constructive diplomatic chapter inaugurated by Abe.
[1] Xinhua News Agency, “Fukuda: China's economic growth an opportunity to Japan, world”, December 26, 2007.
[2] Robert Porter, Ideology: Contemporary Social, Political and Cultural Theory, Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2006.
[3] See, for example Norimitsu Onishi, “Ugly Images of Asian Rivals Become Bestsellers in Japan”, New York Times, November 14, 2005, Late Edition – Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 1.
[4] Matthew Penney, “China Comparisons: Images of China in Japanese Popular Non-Fiction”, Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies, 4:2(2006), pp. 15-28.
[5] See, for example, Rumi Sakamoto and Matt Allen, “”Hating ‘The Korea Wave ‘“Comic Books: A sign of New Nationalism in Japan?”, Japan Focus.
[6] Mel Gurtov, “Reconciling Japan and China”, Japan Focus.
[7] B-Net Business Network, “Chinese feelings toward Japan show signs of evolving” B-Net Asia Political News. In addition, many have noted that Chinese official references to Japanese war crimes have been toned down in recent months. See, Associated Press, “China remembers ‘Nanking Massacre‘”, USA Today, December 12, 2007.
[8] Okabe Tatsumi, Nitchu kankei no kako to shorai, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, 2006.
[9] Ibid., p. 4.
[10] Shimizu Yoshikazu, Jinmin Chugoku no shuen, Tokyo: Kodansha, 2006.
[11] Shimizu Yoshikazu, Chugoku ga hannichi o suteru hi, Tokyo: Kodansha, 2006.
[12] Tanaka Naoki, Hannichi o koeru Ajia, Tokyo: Toyo Keizai Shinposha, 2006.
[13] Ibid., p. 21.
[14] Ibid., p. 31.
[15] Ibid., p. 40.
[16] Ibid., p. 9.
[17] Nikkei Keizai Shimbunsha, Chugoku daikoku no kyojitsu, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 2006. Yukawa Kazuo, Chugoku o shiru – Bijinesu no tame no atarashii joshiki, Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 2007.
[18] Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, Chugoku daikoku no kyojitsu, p. 3.
[19] Yukawa, Chugoku o shiru, pp. 15-18.
[20] Ibid., p. 26.
[21] Ibid., pp. 134-135.
[22] Taoka Shunji, Kita Chosen, Chugoku wa dore dake kowai ka, Tokyo: Asahi Shimbunsha, 2007.
[23] Ibid., p. 268.
[24] Ibid., p. 19.
[25] Ibid., pp. 138-139.
[26] Amako Satoshi, Chugoku, Ajia, Nihon, Tokyo: Chikuma Shoten, 2006.
[27] Ibid., p. 10.
[28] Ibid., p. 12.
[29] Ibid., p. 12.
[30] Ibid., p. 32.
[31] Ibid., pp. 40-41.
[32] Ibid., pp. 21-22.
[33] Ibid., p. 203.
[34] Kondo Daisuke, Nihon yo, Chugoku to domei seyo, Tokyo: Kobunsha, 2006.
[35] Ibid., p. 11
[36] Ibid., p. 19.
[37] Marukawa Tomoo, Gendai Chugoku no sangyo, Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2007.
[38] Ibid., p. 237.
[39] Sato Ichiro, Atarashii Chugoku, Furui daikoku, Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2007.
[40] Iris Chang frequently described Bungei Shunju as “ultra right-wing”, see [http://www.irischang.net/press_article.ctm?n=9]
[41] Sato, Atarashii Chugoku, p. 75.
[42] Ibid., p. 195.
[43] Higurashi Takanori, Okinawa o nerau Chugoku no yashin, Tokyo: Shodensha, 2007.
[44] Oda Sora, Chugoku no hone wa ippon sukunai, Tokyo: Sobisha / Shueisha, 2006.
[45] Oda Sora, Chugoku ikaga desu ka, Tokyo: Sobisha / Shueisha, 2000. Oda Sora, Chugoku ikaga desu ka zoku, Tokyo: Sobisha / Shueisha, 2003.
[46] Oguri Saori, Darling wa gaikokujin, Tokyo: Media Factory, 2002.
[47] Oda, Chugoku no hone, p. 144.
[48] Ibid., p. 17.
[49] Ibid., p. 24.
[50] Uemura Yumi and Kakehi Takeo, Chugoku to no tsuki ai kata ga manga de sanjikan de wakaru hon, Tokyo: Asuka Publishing, 2006.
[51] Ibid., p. 81.
[52] Ibid., p. 73.
[54] Kurashina Ryo, Dawn, Vol. 1, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2004.
[55] Kurashina Ryo, Dawn, Vol. 7, Tokyo: Shogakukan, 2005, p. 117-118.
[56] Kawakatsu Mamoru (eds.), Chugoku no rekishi, Vol. 10, Tokyo: Shueisha, 2006.
[57] Ibid., p. 13.
[58] Ibid., p. 109.
[59] Ibid., pp. 122-128.
[60] Ibid., pp. 138-139.
[61] Ibid., p. 163.
[62] Ko Bunyu, Joku de wakaru, Chugoku no wareenai genjitsu, Tokyo: Tokuma Shoten, 2007.
[63] Hayasaka Takashi, Sekai no Nihonjin joku-shu, Tokyo: Chuokoron Shinsha, 2006.
[64] Rumi Sakamoto, “‘Will you go to war? Or will you stop being Japanese? ‘Nationalism and History in Kobayashi Yoshinori's Sensoron”, Japan Focus [http://www.japanfocus.org/products/details/2632].
[65] Hatake Natsuko, Manga de yomu Showa-shi, Nankin daigyakusatsu no shinjitsu, Tokyo: Wakku, 2007.
[66] Takarajima, Shirazu ni taberuna! Chugoku-san, Tokyo: Takarajima-sha, 2007. Chin Keiun, Chugoku shokuzai chosa, Tokyo: Asuka Shinsha, 2007.
[67] See, for example, Shin Saihin, Ima no Chugoku ga wakaru hon (Understanding Today's China), Tokyo: Mikasa Shobo, 2007. Much like the authors discussed above, Shin sees close Sino-Japanese ties to be an ideal goal for both countries. He criticizes the Chinese government, writing that “the Chinese Communist Party must change.” (p. 35) He is also critical of Japan, recommending that Japanese leaders follow Germany's lead in expressing remorse for wartime atrocities. (p. 62) Shin imagines that small steps on both sides can lead to rich future cooperation.
[68] For a discussion of the intersection between ideas of Japanese nationalism and Japan's global roll, see Takekawa Shunichi, “Forging Nationalism from Pacifism and Internationalism: A Study of Asahi and Yomiuri's New Year's Day Editorials, 1953-2005”, Social Science Japan Journal, 10(1), 2007.
[69] Stephen Hoadley, “Pacific Island Security Management by Australia and New Zealand: Towards a New Paradigm”, Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand, Working Paper, No. 20/05.
[70] David R. Morrison, Aid and Ebb Tide: A History of CIDA and Canadian Development Assistance, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier Press, 1998.
[71] “Aikokushin ‘aru’ ga 78% honsha yoron Chosa”, Asahi Shimbun, 25 January 2007 [].
[73] Gurtov, “Reconciling Japan and China”.
[1] Izawa Motohiko, Soshite Chugoku no hokai ga hajimaru, Tokyo: Asuka Shinsha, 2006.
[2] Ibid., p. 3.
[3] Penney, “China Comparisons”, p. 16.
[4] Akebono Kikan, Abunai! Chugoku, Tokyo: Takarajima, 2006.
[5] Ibid., p. 88.
[6] Ibid., p. 97.
[7] Ajia Mondai Kenkyukai, Manga de wakaru Chugoku 100 no akugyo, Tokyo: Shinyusha, 2007.
[8] Ibid., p. 58.
[9] Ibid., p. 127.
[10] Tsuge Hisayoshi, Nihonjin yo, Yahari Chugoku wa abunai, Tokyo: PHP, 2007.
[11] Ibid., p. 1.
[12] Ibid., p. 22.
[13] Ibid., pp. 4-5.
[14] Watanabe Shoichi, Nihonjin no tame no Showashi (A History of Showa for Japanese), Tokyo: Wakku, 2007. This book, the very title of which shows a concern with “Japanese narratives for Japanese”, is representative of Watanabe's approach to history.
[15] Watanabe Shoichi, Chugoku o eikyu ni damaraseru 100 mon 100 to, Tokyo: Wakku, 2007.
[16] Ibid., p. 36.
[17] Ko Bunyu, Bunmei no jisatsu, Tokyo: Shueisha, 2007.
[18] Ibid., p. 212.
[19] Neo-nationalist authors, while castigating China for enforcing cultural uniformity through violence, have been silent on Japan's prewar record of forcibly assimilating the culturally and linguistically distinct Ainu and Okinawan peoples as well as efforts to downplay local traditions and enforce emperor worship and Japanese language learning in colonial Korea and Taiwan. When neo-nationalists do discuss these efforts, they are typically painted as a “civilizing project” in a pattern of representation that differs little from the most excessive Chinese government rhetoric.
[20] A few of the works critical of China that were released in hardcover format in 2005 have been incorporated into various bunko series. See, for example, Komori Yoshihisa, Chugoku ‘hannichi’ no kyomo, Tokyo: Bungei Shunju, 2007. The book describes “Chinese anti-Japanese education” as “more dangerous than a nuclear weapon.” (p. 38).
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