I Became Park Jeong-ui’s Nephew - Chapter 337



Only Noblemtl

He became Park Jeong-ui’s nephew. – (337)

[Why Japan Refused to Live in America’s Shadow]

[Japan has always been like that. They have always been at a crossroads between Asianism and de-Aaronization.]

Here, articles targeting the United States and Japan have emerged as a matter of public interest.

How does Japan look in the eyes of the United States?

A war criminal nation that started a war and threw the world into chaos? In fact, when Emperor Hirohito died, Americans showed their hostility toward Japan without a doubt.

They are a group that pretends to be docile now, but could show their teeth at the US again at any time. That is why the US treats Japan as an ally while also keeping it in check.

So does that mean Japan only viewed the United States positively?

At one time, it seemed like they were siding with the United States, advocating for de-Aaronization, but then suddenly became influenced by Asianism and adopted a regional-isolationist route.

That was transformed into the aggression known as the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Pacific War.

Japanese scholar Kenichi Matsuda evaluated Japan’s isolationism as follows:

“Before the Pacific War, Japan chose an isolationist policy, advocating the idea of ​​becoming the hegemon of Asia. Just as Western powers created a bloc economy based on colonies, Japan also attempted to unify Asia and enjoy sovereignty within that framework. In that sense, the Sino-Japanese War can be interpreted as a process for realizing Japan’s Asianism.

So did post-war Japan give up its isolationist policy?

After the war, Japan gained confidence that it was no longer a defeated nation and a disgrace to Asia. This confidence led to an aggressive strategy of diplomatically incorporating neighboring Asian countries to ensure Japan’s survival and prosperity.”

Some people believe that Japan has broken away from its isolationist policy by signing the EAEC agreement with South Korea.

But that’s a misunderstanding,

Japan’s attempt to break away from the framework of Asia was for the sake of Japan’s prosperity and survival, not to truly become a part of the West.

As evidence, Japan had already planned an Asia-centered isolationist course since the early 20th century, acknowledging that it was part of Asia and attempting to realize a Japan-centered Asianism.

That was what went wrong with the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and the Sino-Japanese War.

Even after defeat, that perception did not change.

“Huh? We’re back to life?”

“Well then, there’s no way Japan would die this easily.”

“We are no longer a defeated nation, but an economic powerhouse representing Asia. There is no need to be afraid of the United States!!”

With its confidence back, Japan again focused on Asianism.

Attempting to rebuild Asianism centered on Japan, but will that work as planned?

The United States tried to strengthen its influence in the Pacific-Asia by controlling Japan, and each time, Japan clung to Korea.

Japan’s essence is more closed and self-centered than anyone else’s, so would such a country easily fall under the control of the United States?

Then, on the contrary, why did they strengthen their diplomatic line with Korea?

From the perspective of Asianism, joining hands with Korea is the best diplomatic means for Japan to exercise its sovereignty, and this is embodied in Shintaro Ishihara’s ‘anti-Americanism, entry into Asia’ theory.

It is interesting to note that the person who said this, Shintaro Ishihara (current governor of Tokyo), is classified as an extreme right-winger within Japan, and that Japan must now break away from the American framework and return to the embrace of Asia.

What image do Koreans usually think of when they think of the far right?

Aren’t they a group that denies responsibility for war and the past while practicing submissive diplomacy toward the United States? However, even within the far right, there are quite a few who distance themselves from the United States and advocate Asianism.

This is why Japan is also confused about its identity.

What does Japan really want?

Isolationism? Greater East Asia-centered? Or We Are the World? They don’t know.

The reality is that there is no thinker who can summarize this in one word, so we chose Asianism, which has been promoted for 100 years.

“Japan, do you want to continue to choose isolationism? Hurry up and sign a FTA with the United States!!”

“What benefits do we gain by signing a FTA with you?”

“You did it with Korea?!!”

“It’s okay because Korea is also part of Asia.”

“You’re kidding, since when have you been so friendly with Korea?”

“Asia is originally one. We have been thinking like that for 100 years.”

“That country colonized Korea and invaded China? That’s ridiculous!!”

This is why America is so absurd.

Japan has a history of invading Korea, and doesn’t Korea hate Japan?

Then it would be normal for them to hate each other, and if that were the case, the US would have expanded its influence in the Pacific-Asia by mediating between Japan and Korea.

This strategy worked until the 1980s, when the communist powers of China and the Soviet Union existed, allowing the United States to control Korea and Japan.

But now that Korea has integrated Asian society, the United States can no longer exert influence in the Pacific.

Japan also knows this, so sticking close to Korea and ‘acting Asian’ is a foreign policy that Japan has pursued for a long time.

Korea has long cooperated with China’s tributary system, but did Japan do the same?

For example, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, the third shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, paid tribute to the Ming dynasty despite criticism from domestic public opinion. This was a policy based on the necessity of tribute trade, which was beneficial to the shogunate’s finances.

However, Ashikaga Yoshimochi, the fourth shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate, abolished his father’s policy and refused to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty starting in the 11th year of King Taejong’s reign in Joseon.

Although the Ming dynasty’s Taizu sent envoys twice to urge tribute, Ashikaga Yoshimochi refused, and trade between the Ming and Japan was restored only after the fifth shogun, Ashikaga Yoshinori, ascended to the throne.

After that, Japan repeated paying tribute and not paying tribute.

Can Japan still be considered a part of Asia within the Chinese order?

Japan has long been an isolationist country, and is a chameleon-like country that changes its position depending on the surrounding circumstances.

Is it strange that a country like this is distancing itself from the United States and drawing closer to Korea?

If you know Japanese history, you can’t help but think so.

Japan is a country that has always been stuck between Asia and non-Asia. How can it break that isolation overnight?

Even though the world was shouting “We are the world” with the establishment of a world government, Japan’s characteristics were not erased.

***

“Tenno Heika Banzai!!”

“Banzai~!! Banzai~!!”

This is Japan,

A group of protesters began marching near the Imperial Palace.

Its true identity is the Japanese far-right conservative party, the Daito Alliance, which defines Japan’s identity as the emperor itself.

Japan, which seems like it is part of Asia but is not.

How can a country like this maintain its identity? For conservatives and right-wingers, the emperor is not just a king, he is Japan itself.

The problem is that Emperor Akihito is displeased with this development and has people disperse the meeting.

‘Please stop now, I don’t even want to hear it.’

Emperor Akihito has long been seriously concerned about Japan’s identity.

Neither part of the world nor part of Asia, is it enough for Japan to just pursue a path of isolation?

Such isolationism went awry and escalated into the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Emperor Akihito had hated that aspect of Japan since his days as crown prince.

Of course, the prestige of the imperial family will be maintained only if there is support from those people, but even if Japan receives support from those people, it will only receive more criticism.

If you want to establish the dignity of the imperial family and Japan’s identity, you must first establish proper ideology.

Emperor Akihito set out to find a thinker who could make this concrete.

The invited scholar is Kenichi Matsuda, a professor at the University of Tokyo. Kenichi Matsuda is a scholar who has been analyzing Japan’s isolationist policy for several years.

This person could concretize Japan’s identity.

Kenichi Matsuda expressed his convictions as an advisor to the Emperor.

“Japan has maintained its identity through isolationism. And the Imperial Family has become the symbol of Japan. Your Majesty, you have the wisdom to know this.”

“I know, but we can’t maintain Japan’s identity forever with that kind of isolationism. That’s why I’m asking you. Please reconstruct Japan’s history and identity.”

“I think the identity of Japan is part of Asia. Is that what you want?”

“That’s right. Japan has long been a part of Asia and has had to cooperate with Asian countries. That’s why it needs to reflect on its past history.”

Genichi Matsuda nodded.

If this becomes concrete, will the status of the Emperor and the Imperial Family be weakened?

On the contrary, Japan’s Asianism has been led by certain political forces and has been distorted and changed in the process.

The fact that the Emperor is leading the way in correcting this means that the Imperial Family determines Japan’s identity, and in a strict sense, it is an act of establishing the Imperial Family’s authority.

Japan has long been a part of Asia,

Kenichi Matsuda, who followed the Emperor’s orders, made that point clear.

[The Japanese people are genetically closest to Koreans, and the Japanese imperial family has long had blood ties to Baekje. However, when Baekje fell, Japan became isolated as an island nation, and from that time on, it turned to an isolationist policy that divided Asia and Japan.

In order to preserve Japan’s identity, Japan’s history was separated from Asia.

But now times have changed, and Japan cannot continue to protect its identity through isolationism. Japan is clearly a country that is blood-related to Korea, and historically, they have an inseparable relationship.

This announcement shocked Japanese society.

The claim that Korea and Japan have long been intertwined historically, culturally, and blood-wise is a claim that has been consistently raised in academic circles outside the field.

But this is the first time the royal family has officially acknowledged this.

Moreover, Korea and Japan are people with similar bloodlines, and the imperial family itself is the identity of Japan, but the imperial family acknowledged its connection with Korea?

If this happens, the Japanese will have no choice but to change their minds.

The claim that ‘Asia is one’ is too vague, but it is a historically and scientifically proven fact that Korea and Japan are deeply connected.

If we acknowledge this, Japan’s history extends beyond the islands to the Korean Peninsula and even to Manchuria.

The expansion of the national world view that existed in the minds of the Japanese people.

Historians from both countries, who had been keeping quiet for a long time, also reestablished the history of Korea and Japan.

Adding Japan to the Four Kingdoms Period of Korea (Goguryeo – Baekje – Silla – Gaya), and considering that Baekje and Gaya were related to Japan, Japan was a country that had been fighting for hegemony with other countries on the Korean Peninsula since around the 4th century.

Then, with the invasion of King Gwanggaeto the Great, the southern forces of the Korean peninsula were almost completely annihilated, and from this point on, some of the Gaya forces were absorbed into Japan.

And then time passed, Baekje was destroyed, and some of the remaining Baekje forces were absorbed into Japan, and this became Japan’s history and identity.

Why can’t we say that Japan’s identity is not that of a country stuck on an island, but of a country that fought for hegemony on the continent?

Japan has been a part of Asia since the 4th century,

Under the leadership of the royal family, the Tal-A-Ron system was completely abolished.

In this way, it would not be strange for Japan to establish relations with Korea, and Japan’s identity, which had been adrift for over a thousand years, would be established.