Memo #42
Gi-Wook Shin
A potential visit by President Obama to Hiroshima or Nagasaki to acknowledge victims of the nuclear attacks would help U.S.-Japan relations. But it may also alienate Asian countries that suffered wartime atrocities by Japan.
On August 6, 2010, the U.S Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, attended a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in remembrance of the first atomic attack in history. Although he offered no remarks, his attendance renewed hopes that President Obama might visit Hiroshima or Nagasaki, something no sitting U.S. president has ever done. Japanese leaders have called for the U.S. President to visit the cities to acknowledge the victims of the nuclear attacks. Many Japanese feel uneasy about the lack of true “closure” between the two countries over the war.
But the question of such a U.S. presidential visit raises the larger issue of the U.S. role and responsibility in (mis)handling historical injustices in Northeast Asia. In recent years, there has been a growing view that the U.S. can hardly afford to stand outside the historical disputes in the region. In the past, the U.S. failed to fully address Asian sufferings by Japanese aggressors through the International Military Tribunal for the Far East and the Treaty of San Francisco.
A visit by President Obama to Hiroshima or Nagasaki would fit nicely with his vision for a nuclear-free world and could contribute to the removal of a “historical thorn” that exists between the U.S. and Japan. But if such a visit were meant exclusively to recognize the suffering of Japanese victims and to reaffirm the U.S.-Japan alliance, it would overlook Japan’s responsibility for wartime atrocities against its Asian neighbours. As a result, the visit may wind up being counterproductive in the effort to achieve reconciliation.
A visit by President Obama to Hiroshima or Nagasaki should only be pursued if it were intended to activate a larger process of historical reconciliation that includes Japan’s Northeast Asian neighbours. The Japanese Prime Minister should follow suit with similar actions toward its Asian neighbours. For example, he could visit Nanjing to pay tribute to the victims of the Massacre.
About the Author:
Gi-Wook Shin is a Director of the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center and Professor of Sociology at Stanford University.
Links:
- Shin, Gi-Wook, Perspective: Historical Disputes and Reconciliation in Northeast Asia: The U.S. Role, Pacific Affairs, volume 83, No. 4, December 2010
- One Alliance, Two Lenses: U.S.-Korea Relations in a New Era, Book by Gi-Wook Shin, January 2010
- Divided Memories and Reconciliation: A Progress Report, By Daniel C. Sneider and Gi-Wook Shin, September 2008
- If you haven’t already, read Julian Dierkes’ August 2010 Asia Pacific Memo, titled 65 Years After The Asia Pacific War: The End of History Politics?
Related Memos:
- Our other Memos about Asia, Japan, and the United States