What will Japan do when it is faced with the risk of war?

In 1951, before the United States ended its occupation of Japan, Washington demanded that Tokyo agree to having its organizations with military capabilities placed under the unified command of a chief commander appointed by the United States.

The Japanese government panicked, thinking the public would be upset if word of the deal got out.

The government decided to accept the demand, but didn’t want it to be spelled out.

The following year, Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida gave his verbal agreement to Mark W. Clark, then commander in chief for the U.S. Far East Command.

Official written records from the time attest to the “secret pact concerning command authority.”

In his satirical book “The Devil's Dictionary,” Ambrose Bierce likens diplomacy to the “patriotic art of lying for one’s country.”

I assume that foreign governments are the ones being lied to in this case.

But our country often clouds the eyes of the public with the smoke of lies and deceit.

When Japan began dispatching Ground Self-Defense Force troops to Iraq in 2003, the government explained that they wouldn’t be placed under the commanders of the multinational force, citing constitutional constraints.

However, the Defense Ministry secretly ordered them to respect and act in accordance with the opinions of the commanders.

I take it that the ministry told the GDSF members to engage in “sontaku,” which refers to the practice of accommodating the assumed wishes and intentions of others.

Whether or not Japan has a firm grip on the command of the SDF is a question that has been often asked in the postwar period.

When Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited the United States earlier this month, he promised to enhance command and control cooperation between the SDF and the U.S. military. Opposition parties and experts have raised concerns that the SDF will effectively come under the command of U.S. forces.

I hope my worries end up being groundless.

But I’m not so sure about that.

Given the history of this country, I can’t help but think that the government will say things like, “they come under the supervision, not command” or “being under the command is different from being bossed around,” to fool the public when the worst occurs.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 27

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.