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Somali Pirates and Political Winds Drive Japan to the Gate of Tears [Updated]

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Michael Penn
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In late October 2007 an odd story appeared in the press. A Japanese-owned chemical tanker called the Golden Nori was hijacked off the coast of Somalia. There were no Japanese nationals on board, but the East Asian nation had become entangled, quite unusually, in an East African affair. Unforeseen at that time was that this curious incident would eventually become one of the top foreign policy issues in Tokyo: Somali piracy has emerged as a potential turning point for Article Nine of the Japanese Constitution, and is significant for other reasons as well. The following essay reviews the record of Japanese encounters with Somali pirates and explores the motives and political pressures driving the Maritime Self-Defense Forces (MSDF) toward a proactive role in suppressing East African piracy.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 7 , Issue 4 , January 2009 , e3
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2009

References

Notes

[1] Asahi Shinbun, “Ships Detouring to Avoid Pirates,” December 2, 2008.

[2] Afrol News, “Eritrea Blames US for Somali Piracy,” November 21, 2008.

[3] Connie Levett, “Fishing Fleets are Pirates, Too,” Sydney Morning Herald, November 24, 2008.

[4] Alastair Dalton, “Ocean of Opportunity for Modern Pirates,” Scotsman.com News, November 19, 2008.

[5] GDP per capita income figures from the CIA World Factbook.

[6] Yomiuri Shinbun, “Govt to Bring Antipiracy Bill Before Diet,” January 7, 2009.

[7] Yomiuri Shinbun, “MSDF May Be in Somali Waters by March,” January 16, 2009.

[8] AFP, “US Envoy Urges Japan to Join Somalia Anti-Piracy Mission,” January 9. 2009.

[9] Yukio Okamoto, “Japan and the United States: The Essential Alliance,” The Washington Quarterly, Spring 2002, p. 64.

[10] Kenneth B. Pyle, Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose, PublicAffairs, 2007.

[11] Madeleine Albright, Madam Secretary: A Memoir, Miramax, 2003, p. 182.

[12] Edward Wong, “China Signals More Interest in Building Aircraft Carrier,” New York Times, December 23, 2008.

[13] Julian Ryall, “Japan Concerned Over US Relations with China,” The Telegraph, December 23, 2008.

[14] Saba News Agency, “Yemen Seeks Japanese Support for Establishing Regional Fighting Piracy Center,” September 7, 2008.

[15] Saba News Agency, “Yemen to Host Regional Meeting on Combating Piracy,” September 16, 2008.

[16] Kyodo News, “Yemen to Get Patrol Boats to Fight Piracy,” December 24, 2008.

[17] Michael Penn, “DPJ Hawks Call for a Military Anti-Piracy Role in Somalia,” Shingetsu Newsletter No. 1170, October 19, 2008.

[18] Ibid.