Japan Loves You, Brother

Japan's new prime minister is spelling out what his personal philosophy of "yuai" means for his country. The result may redefine the nation's place in the world.

By Devin Stewart | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Oct 28, 2009

Even before Yukio Hatoyama became Japan's prime minister in August, people in the country and abroad have tried to grasp his personal philosophy of yuai, an idea that translates loosely into "fraternal love" and has been ridiculed by the press and politicians alike. The conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper worried about the concept's origins, tracing it back to the liberté, egalité, and fraternité of the French Revolution and comparing Yukio Hatoyama to a modern-day Robespierre, albeit sans guillotine. The moderate newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun doubted something so lofty could be understood, much less applied on a global level. And despite Hatoyama's assertion that his brand of fraternity is "combative," rooted as it is in revolution, his political opponents have derided it as impractical and "as mushy as ice cream."

Yet yuai is more than just a tempting target. This week, in Hatoyama's first parliamentary address since taking office, he began spelling out how this fuzzy-sounding notion would be applied to policy. On both a domestic and international level, it would stress the importance of coexistence with others and a respect for differences. Guided by a spirit of fraternity, he said, Japan would seek to temper the turbulence of globalization by promoting the free market, while also boosting domestic social safety nets. Japan would take a moral leadership role on the world stage by aiding poor countries in their fight against climate change. And it would agree to cut CO2 emission by 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020 if other rich countries reciprocate. In essence, he suggested, the philosophy would elevate Japan more than ever before into the community of nations that are now tackling transnational issues such as climate change, the financial and economic crisis, nuclear proliferation, and terrorism.

In so doing, Hatoyama's vision would go far beyond that of his predecessors, who have been trying for decades to coin a catchphrase that would somehow provide a signpost for understanding Japan's place in the world. Some of these ideas understood Japan primarily in relation to the world's great powers. DPJ chairman Ichiro Ozawa talked of Japan as a "normal country"—by which he meant that Japan would have a foreign policy of its own, independent of the United States. Other ideas were more nationalistic in tone, such as former prime minister Shinzo Abe's idea of Japan as a "beautiful country" or Taro Aso's of Japan as the "thought leader" of Asia. Still others attempted to position the country as the premier power in Asia, with Japan dubbed the head of "the flying geese." But all of these formulations seemed to position Japan against others, rather than putting it in a truly global context. Yuai, by contrast, identifies Japan as an independent actor that is also part of a much larger and integrated global system. Indeed, the universal rhetoric seems appropriate for a time of universal problems.

Hatoyama's grandfather Ichiro is said to have stumbled upon the idea in a book he discovered while in political isolation, forced out of Japanese politics by the U.S. occupying forces in the early 1950s. The book, titled Totalitarian State Against Man, was written in the 1930s by Richard Coudenhove-Kalergi, the originator of the idea of a unified European community. He argued that fraternity was the key to building a peaceful society and striking a balance between freedom and equality. In his view, too much freedom yielded anarchy; too much equality yielded tyranny. The elder Hatoyama was so moved by the author's ideas that he translated the entire book into Japanese while living in Karuizawa—a resort town near Tokyo—and in 1953 he began promoting the idea to postwar Japan, a nation in which bureaucratic politics tightened its grip and Marxism was growing increasingly popular. He believed fraternity could inspire a Japanese society in disarray by offering an alternative to the extreme of Marxism.

His grandson has tried to translate these ideals into today's terms. Japan's direction of inclusiveness—the idea that new institutions should be open and pluralistic—is in line with the Obama administration's emphasis on consultation with the community of nations. Hatoyama supports the global goal of eliminating nuclear weapons. In his speech to the Parliament, known in Japan as the Diet, Hatoyama promised to "build an economy for the people" at home by stimulating consumer spending so the country doesn't have to rely so much on exports for growth. He suggested tax cuts and funding for child care, and promoting domestic industries like nursing, education, and tourism to create jobs. Abroad, Hatoyama aims to position Japan as a "bridge for the world" between the East and the West, between rich and poor countries, and "between diverse civilizations," while also providing leadership on global issues. For instance, the government recently announced it would lend Indonesia the equivalent of $400 million to fight climate change, and that same week, the prime minister urged India to make its own commitments to battle the global problem. Japan has also indicated that it will apply this lofty idea on a regional level by emphasizing sustainable and inclusive growth in the Pacific as Japan's chairmanship of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation approaches in 2010.

All of these initiatives suggest that yuai is a vast improvement over previous philosophies. It is an attempt to forge a new identity for Japan, one that allows it to lead as part of a team and one that puts one of the world's largest economies at the forefront of those nations seeking solutions to the world's problems.

Stewart is program director and senior fellow at Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and a fellow at the Truman National Security Project.