A couple of days ago, I wrote a diary about a view from South Asia. Since then, I've come to realise that the roughly 4 billion people in Asia don't seem to matter much as the roughly 300 million people in America. (Hold on there, before opening fire on me.) I mean, quite reasonably, that a) they are further away, b) they are treated as large bunches of people (e.g. 'the Japanese'), and c) they are often seen as blocs of economic competitors who want US jobs and money and don't do anything to help Americans anyway.
The People's Republic of China isn't a monolithic state, much as it would like to be. Japan and the Koreas are like a giant atoll stuck like a barnacle on China's NE corner. And there's Taiwan, referred to as the Republic of China on occasion, and at other times treated as China's family black sheep.
What do these people think of the US and of the coming presidential elections?
This article introduces Japan and delivers one set of perspectives out of roughly 1.7 billion.
Japan
Japan consists of about 3000 islands over about 146,000 sq miles. About 3/4 of the country is too heavily forested or mountainous to support regular human economic activity or high-density population. The population of about 130 million people is thus squeezed mostly into coastal settlements; the Greater Tokyo Area contains about 30m of those people. Japan is the world's second largest economy (about 30% the size of the US economy by GDP); it is also the world's second largest provider of developmental assistance funding to other states.
Japan as a nation has been in existence since about 660 BC. Modern Japan is a democracy because of post-war American intervention. It considers its sometimes-uneasy partnership with the USA as a major cornerstone of its policy in economic, political/diplomatic and military terms. Most people think of the US-Japan trading relationship in terms of the fact that the US is Japan's largest market; but apart from China, Japan receives most of its material and cultural imports from the US. While Japan is also a technology leader, its axis of development sometimes seems quirkily different from the US perspective.
The country has been shifting its huge reliance on fossil fuels to nuclear (almost 10%) and hydroelectric power; it now imports more fuel from Russia and Africa than before, thus reducing its reliance on Gulf oil. The Kyoto Protocol was born in Japan in 1997, and despite Japan's large carbon footprint, the country is committed to becoming even more fuel-efficient and to explore alternative technologies in all areas to this end.
Why should Japan matter to the US? What's in it for America?
McClatchy tells us that a larger percentage of Japanese are following the US Presidential race than Americans. In February, a Facebook poll showed Senator Obama in a 65-point lead over Senator McCain among Japanese. This is likely to increase as Japan takes time to examine their respective positions on war, the environment, and the economy. The fact that Senator McCain seems to lag behind in the knowledge-based economy curve will accentuate the trend.
Yes, Japan is a tough negotiator. But mutual respect and a flair for subtle negotiation go far when dealing with the Japanese, much farther than other kinds of approaches in most cases. Japan's support may not be seen as always to crucial to American foreign, economic or environmental policy, but they're a good ally to have on board for many things. America can learn a lot from Japan; Japan has already paid the tribute of being hungry to learn what America can provide.
The overall feeling is that an Obama presidency is a big plus. As the Pacific Rim booms, the Pacific states will benefit from a strong and open trading relationship. This is not to say that Obama will automatically open up Japanese markets – that's unlikely to be a complete win. Rather, the gains from diplomacy and trade will result in mutually beneficial economic boosts.