Not too long ago I received a post card from a friend living in Japan. It seemed like a beautiful and exotic location. So I set out from Baltimore for that far off land and now find myself living near Baltimore’s sister city of Kawasaki, a struggling blue collar port city that stands in stark contrast to the serenity of the picture postcard that offered a glimpse of Mt. Fuji. A few weeks ago I ventured to Kawasaki’s Ginryugai Market. Like it or not a walk through this teeming market affords an immediate close relationship with the denizens of these parts. If one is not immediately overwhelmed by the suffocating crowd he or she is likely to be by the ceaseless brain penetrating noises that seemingly emanate from every jam packed nook and cranny of the place. What makes the crowd that has crammed into the market on this particular Sunday stop　and really take notice is a group of about sixty to seventy five people making their way through the market in relative silence. It’s a sight that is becoming increasingly prevalent across Japan　these days with growing numbers of people.

Here they call it　the Kawasaki Peace Walk, a loosely organized group of local citizens who　gather about once a month in the hopes of preventing a US led attack on　Iraq. With 79% of Japanese citizens opposed to an invasion of Iraq, according to a recent Kyodo News survey, these marchers are apparently in　step with public opinion here, evidenced as well from the reaction of the curious but supportive onlookers at Ginryugai Market. One of the marchers, Misa Yasuhiro, a 39-year-old mother of two, says, “I never thought about war much before, now all I can think of is the children of Baghdad.” In one hand she holds the hand of her 4-year-old son who is looking for flower petals that have been swept up by the wind from a nearby flower shop and strewn about the market’s street. In her other hand she is carrying a book documenting the use of depleted uranium during the first Gulf War and the children born since then who are suffering from leukemia as a result of exposure to airborne radioactive particles from spent DU weapons shells.

The use of nuclear weapons such as depleted uranium and the fact that the US may use other weapons in its nuclear arsenal in an attempt to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein is a particularly sensitive subject in the only country to have suffered the effects of a nuclear weapon of mass destruction. Depleted uranium is not anything new to Japan either, between 1995 and 1996 US forces test fired some 1500 depleted uranium shells on Torishima Island, Okinawa in direct violation of regulations prohibiting their use in Japan, sparking considerable outrage from the public. Another marcher carries a placard that reads, “Why support US war on Iraq? Why support US troops?” Perhaps this points to a strain in a relationship with a country that plays host to nearly 50,000 US servicemen and women. A rocket attack on Camp Zama, located just southwest of Tokyo, last December highlights that strain and serves as a frightening reminder that not all opposition is nonviolent.

In an attempt not to fall out of favor with Washington or the Japanese public the administration of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to walk a tightrope by not formally opposing an attack on Iraq and yet not stating unequivocal support for it either. Many political pundits are speculating that Japan is holding out until support for the US position will yield the most favors from Washington. Koizumi has come under a barrage of recent criticism from within his own party for not taking a clear stance in opposition to a US led attack on Iraq and a fall on either side of the administration’s high wire act is inevitable. If they should fall in on the side of the US it will have a significant impact on a public that is becoming increasingly suspicious of what many view as an administration intent on undermining Japan’s war renouncing constitution.

In Japanese there is an expression “honne-to-tatemae,” where “honne” refers to one’s true inner feelings which are often expressed only among one's closest friends and family, “tatemae” refers to opinions which are sweetened for broader social consumption. Both are said to exist within the individual at the same time with one’s true feelings being suppressed by the need to keep up certain appearances on the surface. As war clouds fill the sky over Washington the view from Japan is also a bit cloudy but things may not be exactly as they seem. If the official stance of the Government of Japan is tatemae then the stand that the people of Kawasaki have taken is definitely　all honne. Being a member of the family I got a glimpse of how people here really feel. And the next time I see somebody standing on some very shaky ground trying to give me a load of tatemae regarding a US invasion of Iraq, I’ll look for the honne. It’s just below the surface.


For more information on anti-war activism in Japan with links to other sites in Japan see:
www.tokyoprogressive.org
For more information on the use of the use of DU in Japan see:
www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html