Like the Gulf War of 1991, the Iraq War of 2003 sent tremors through Japan's foreign policy establishment in the face of widespread Japanese opposition to the U.S. invasion, and particularly to U.S. invasion in the absence of an authorizing U.N. resolution. This article, written on the eve of invasion, explores the Japanese government decision to support the U.S. war despite its deep misgivings and considers the implications for eroding Japan's constitutionally enshrined no war principles. The author particularly emphasizes Japan's dependence on the U.S. in light of the crisis in Japan-North Korea relations that surfaced simultaneous with the road to war in Iraq. “Japanese Foreign Policy in Light of the Iraq War,” by Yakushiji Katsuyuki, was published in Aera on April 5, 2003.

As distinct from other peoples, most Americans do not recognize – or do not want to recognize – that the United States dominates the world through its military power. Due to government secrecy, our citizens are often ignorant of the fact that our garrisons encircle the planet. This vast network of American bases on every continent except Antarctica actually constitutes a new form of empire – an empire of bases with its own geography not likely to be taught in any high school geography class. Without grasping the dimensions of this globe-girdling Baseworld, one can't begin to understand the size and nature of our imperial aspirations or the degree to which a new kind of militarism is undermining our constitutional order.

This article traces the fundamental shifts in Japanese contingency planning for war under pressure from the start of the Bush administration and particularly since 9/11. The author shows that the Koizumi administration's security policy, and particularly the War Contingency Laws that passed the Diet on May 15, 2003, are not only in violation of the no war clause in the Japanese Constitution but constitute a dramatic extension of the U.S.-Japan security relationship that is at odds with the interests of the people of Japan and Asia. Asai Motofumi, the former head of the Foreign Ministry's China Division, is a professor at Meiji Gakuin and the author of numerous articles and books on Japanese global policy. The article appeared in the February, 2003 issue of Gunshuku Mondai Kenkyujo.