In ancient Japanese mythology the Golden Kite, one of the highest decorative orders of the Japanese military, was a messenger bird which enabled the Emperor Jimmu to defeat his enemies. The order was abolished in 1947 after American occupation. Yet now the spirit of the Golden Kite is back, all at the behest of the U.S. However, the Japanese will be wary of the myth of Icarus, of flying too near the sun and having its wings burnt.
The ‘Entente Cordiale’ began in 2023 with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin preparing the way for the MOU (Memorandum of Understanding for Research, Development, Test, Evaluation Projects). This will develop cooperation in ballistic missile intercept systems (GPI — Glide Phase Interceptor). Japan will now reexport Patriot missiles, having a license from the U.S. Japan is seeking to nurture new technology knowhow in the defence industry. However, some are not so bullish about U.S.-Japan military ties. The Diplomat mentioned that:
‘Concerns remain, however, about the barriers to harness this momentum. On the part of Japan, for example, while many Japanese see this period as the most severe post-war security environment, and there is a call for greater support to enhance security and stability in the region, there is an internal cultural barrier that resists Japan’s increasing organic defence capability, slowing Tokyo’s ability to implement tangible outcomes.’
There are deep historical divisions between the U.S. and Japan. Yet in today’s geopolitical world of flux and realpolitik the cold-war divisions of ideological foes is redundant. No more the clear-cut ‘Capitalism-Communism’ division. In the new epoch of resource and global realignment the most unlikely of bedfellows operate. However, with World War II a not-too-distant memory, there are echoes of Hamlet’s disgust at his mother’s remarriage after his father’s death: ‘The funeral baked meats did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables.’
The U.S.-Japan alliance illustrates the convergence of strategic interests, despite past differences. It appears huge ideological and culture differences can be overcome when the alternative is the Russian bear and Chinese ‘Tianxia.‘ (‘All under Heaven’ — China at the centre of their cultural world). The Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) stated that, in military parlance, Japan is moving from a ‘Spear and Shield’ capability (U.S. the spear, Japan the shield) to one of ‘Spear and Sword,’ a more independent strategy. Therefore, Biden and Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida in August discussed the purchase of hypersonic missile interceptors. From December 2022, under the NSS (National Security Strategy) the Japanese ascertained the need to spend the 2% of GDP and build a counterstrike offensive capability to destroy enemy launch sites. The theatre of grossraum geopolitics is shifting to the Asia Pacific region. Japan sees multiple threats from China, North Korea, and Russia. In a remark of clarity and prescience Kishida stated that ‘the line between contingency and peacetime is increasingly becoming blurred.’ This was a tacit acknowledgement that war, over the long term, is fought in economic and technical realms.
Defense Visual Information Distribution Service
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