社説:衆院選 ここを問う 日米のつながり

December 12, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
社説:衆院選　ここを問う　日米のつながり
Editorial: Politicians must envision long-term Japan-U.S. relationship

　◇長期的視野で考えたい

Located on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean, Japan and the United States have long been tied to each other through common interests. It was U.S. Ambassador to Japan Mike Mansfield who said, "The U.S.-Japan relationship is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, bar none."
　太平洋を挟んで直接向き合う日本と米国は、長らく共通の利益で結びついてきた。「例外なく世界で最も重要な関係」と位置づけたのはマンスフィールド元駐日米大使である。

However, for countries with such disparate cultures and histories to maintain an alliance, human exchange and connection are indispensable, and it's questionable whether Japanese politicians are working to lay the foundations necessary for such bonds.
　しかし、異なる文化と歴史を持つ日米同盟を維持するには人的なつながりが欠かせない。日本政治はそのための布石を打っているだろうか。

In their campaigns leading up to the House of Representatives election on Dec. 14, Japan's various political parties are all pledging to strengthen and deepen the Japan-U.S. alliance. But none of the campaign platforms expand on that relationship beyond military cooperation, or in terms of long-term prospects.
　各党の公約は同盟強化・深化などをほぼそろって掲げる。それでも、日米の絆を軍事以外まで広げ、長期的に考察したものは見当たらない。

Japan and the U.S. have found themselves on different wavelengths of late.
　日米の間ではこのところ気になるすれ違いが続いている。

The New York Times addressed Japan's treatment of the "comfort women" issue in an editorial Dec. 3, criticizing the Abe government for "playing with fire in pandering those demanding a whitewash of wartime history." The U.S. government also expressed disappointment in Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine late last year.
　米紙ニューヨーク・タイムズは、４日付で慰安婦問題の社説を掲げ、安倍政権が歴史の修正を求める勢力に迎合する「火遊び」をしていると批判した。安倍晋三首相の靖国神社参拝に米政府が「失望」を表明したこともある。

If there are any unfounded criticisms, Japan should make appropriate rebuttals.
根拠のない指摘には、日本は適切な反論をすべきだろう。

But myopic stopgap measures are insufficient. We need to look back to the late 19 century, to the early years of the relationship between our two countries, to determine how to go forward.
　だが、目先の対応だけで十分とは言えない。日米関係を１９世紀後半の出会いにさかのぼり考えてみよう。

The Japan-U.S. relationship can be divided into six periods.
　戦前・戦後に連なる歩みを六つの時期に区分する見方がある。

Bilateral relations were amicable from the 1853 arrival of U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry in Japan to the signing of the Treaty of Portsmouth in 1905 marking the official end of the Russo-Japanese War. The subsequent period saw a mixture of cooperation and antagonism, but after the Manchurian Incident in 1931, relations deteriorated. After World War II, friendly ties returned, peaking with Okinawa's reversion to Japan. This was followed by an ambiguous period that entailed a strengthening alliance and economic friction. After overcoming a crisis in the post-Cold War era, we arrive at where we are now, with each country searching for ways to deepen bilateral ties.
　戦前は、ペリー来航から日露戦争後のポーツマス会議まで友好関係が続き、協調と対抗が交錯する時代を挟んで満州事変以降は破局への道を進んだ。戦後は、沖縄返還を頂点とする友好関係を経て、同盟強化と経済摩擦の両義的関係の時代を挟み、冷戦後の危機を超え日米関係の深化をうかがう今日へと至る。

History shows us that prior to World War II, it was tensions over China that split up Japan and the U.S. Lessons from that experience should inform how we in the 21st century maintain the Japan-U.S. alliance while also developing a strategic relationship of mutual benefit with a growing China.
　歴史が示すように、戦前は中国をめぐって日米両国が対立したことが破局の導火線となった。これを教訓に、２１世紀は日米同盟を維持しながら台頭する中国と戦略的互恵関係をどう結ぶかが課題となっている。

Former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and influential Japanese and American figures from politics, industry and academia gathered for the first time in Washington on Dec. 5 to work toward compiling recommendations for a new bilateral relationship as the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches. We praise the momentum that both countries have created to expand the network of people -- which can so easily become limited to the same few -- working on such an initiative.
　５日、福田康夫元首相ら日米の政財学界の有力者が、戦後７０年に向け新たな日米関係の提言をまとめようと、ワシントンで初会合を開いた。同じ顔ぶれになりがちな人脈を拡大する両国の機運を大切にしたい。

Efforts to cultivate ties between young people of both countries are also important. According to the U.S. State Department, at least 47,000 Japanese students were studying at American universities in the 1997 academic year, but that number dropped by at least half in the next 15 years.
　米国務省によると、１９９７年度に米国の大学で学ぶ日本人学生は４万７０００人以上を数えたが、その後の１５年間で半分以下に減少した。若い世代のつながりを強める努力も重要だ。

Today, many countries find themselves deeply intertwined with the U.S. on security issues, and with China on economic issues. The late Masataka Kosaka, an expert on international politics who advocated friendly ties between Japan and China wrote in his book, "Kaiyo kokka Nihon no koso" (Vision of Japan as a maritime nation), "Japan must ponder the difficulty of taking a unique stance while at the same time being neighbors to the rest of Asia."
　安全保障は米国、経済は中国というジレンマを抱える国は今や多い。国際政治学者の故高坂正尭（まさたか）氏は日中友好を説きつつ「（日本は）東洋に隣り合いながら、独自の立場をとることを認識し、そのむつかしさをかみしめなくてはならない」（「海洋国家日本の構想」）と書いた。

We urge our political parties to build a vision that has Japan and the U.S. at its foundation.
　各党には日米を基礎づけ、構想を描く視野も持ってもらいたい。

毎日新聞　2014年12月12日　02時33分