True Left

The first mention of the Japanese archipelago was in the Chinese historic text Book of Later Han, in the year 57, in which it was noted that the Emperor of the Han dynasty gave a golden seal to Wa (Japan). The King of Na gold seal was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the eighteenth century.[3] From then on Japan was repeatedly recorded in Chinese historical texts, at first sporadically, but eventually continuously as Japan matured into a notable power in the region.

There is a Chinese tradition that the first Chinese Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, sent several hundred people to Japan to search for medicines of immortality. During the third century, Chinese travelers reported that inhabitants of Japan claimed ancestry from Wu Taibo, a king of the Wu state (located in modern Jiangsu and Zhejiang) during the Warring States era.[4][5]
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During the Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty, Japan sent many students on a limited number of Imperial embassies to China, to help establish its own footing as a sovereign nation in northeast Asia.
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Important elements brought back from China (and some which were transmitted through Baekje to Japan) included Buddhist teachings, Chinese customs and culture, bureaucracy, architecture and city planning. The Japanese kimono is very similar to the clothing of the Tang Dynasty, and many historians believe that the Japanese started wearing robes like what Tang royalty wore, eventually adapting the garb to match Japanese culture. The capital city of Kyoto was also planned according to Feng Shui elements from the Chinese capital of Chang'an. During the Heian period, Buddhism became one of the major religions, alongside Shinto.

China and Japan will only join forces when they remember how they used to see the West:

https://supchina.com/2021/08/11/the-start-of-modern-sino-japanese-relations/

   

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On July 31, 1862, the Japanese steamship Senzaimaru arrived at Nagasaki, ending a two-month stay in China. Crewed on its voyage home by 10 Dutch sailors, the mission of “a handful of shogunal [government] officials, three merchants and other officials associated with the Nagasaki Commercial Hall, and a large number of young samurai attendants whose job description was never explicitly spelled out,” as historian Joshua Fogel described them in his book Maiden Voyage, the Senzaimaru was the first official overseas embassy sent from Japan to China in more than 300 years.
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    In the 19th century, both China and Japan were grappling with expanding European maritime power, power that had made their previous trade policies unsustainable.
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    With this in mind, Japan looked toward the nearby Chinese treaty ports to see what this new era of international trade might offer.

    The most obvious and promising link to be made was between Nagasaki and Shanghai. Nagasaki — in the news this week on the anniversary of the second atomic bombing in 1945 — had been Japan’s only port open to international trade for centuries, a role it retained as commerce with the United States and Europe began to open in the 1850s. Shanghai, quickly emerging as China’s most cosmopolitan port, was also the closest point on the Chinese mainland to Nagasaki, just 500 miles away across the East China Sea.
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    The Japanese observers were also keenly aware of the disparate situation of Chinese and Westerners in the city. “Although the harbor is all hustle-bustle, it is due entirely to the large number of foreign merchant vessels. Within and without the walled city are numerous foreign commercial houses which are thus thriving. The places where I have seen Chinese living are often poor and filthy.” The same samurai who had noted the port’s prosperity later corrected himself, writing, “Pray, do not say of Shanghai that this is a flourishing place, For how much of it is being transported home on barbarian ships?”
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    “The main purpose of the mission of the Senzaimaru was to observe the Western world in microcosm in Shanghai,” he writes. “In this way, Shanghai was to serve a double role as microcosm both of the West and of China.” The Japanese observers came away from their time in Shanghai repulsed by Western racism and arrogance. They viewed the exploitation of China as a lesson for Japan: in particular, the Qing acceptance of Western aid to fight the Taiping rebels — the Senzaimaru arrived at the height of the Taiping War — as a deal with the devil that would lead China to ruin. They were not wrong.

Koxinga is regarded as a hero in the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Japan, but historical narratives regarding Koxinga frequently differ in explaining his motives and affiliation. Japan treats him as a native son and emphasized his maternal link to Japan in propaganda during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan.[74] The People's Republic of China considers Koxinga a national hero for driving the imperialist Dutch away from Taiwan and establishing ethnic Chinese rule over the island.[74]
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In Taiwan, Koxinga is honored as the island’s most respected saint for expelling the Dutch and seen as the original ancestor of a free Taiwan, and is known as Kaishan Shengwang, or "the Sage King who Opened up Taiwan"[76] and as "The Yanping Prince",[77] referring to the Kingdom of Tungning, which he established in modern-day Tainan.

Japan, after more than 70 years, is abandoning its pacifist path and confronting the Chinese challenge.

Okinawa re-elects opposition-backed governor in blow to ruling party

TOKYO (Reuters) -Voters in Japan's Okinawa re-elected Denny Tamaki as governor on Sunday, public broadcaster NHK and other media said, backing an independent candidate who wants a smaller U.S. military footprint on the chain of islands near Taiwan.

The anticipated re-election of Tamaki, who was supported by a coalition of opposition parties, is a sign of pushback against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's ruling party, which has been hit by scandal over members' ties to the Unification Church.

Okinawa prefecture is far closer to Taiwan than to Tokyo, putting it front and centre to growing tension in the region.
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His victory is likely to be seen as a setback for Kishida's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has seen approval ratings slide over revelations about the long-running links between some lawmakers and the Unification Church, which critics call a cult.
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Kishida's ruling (LDP) has pushed for increased defence spending to counter Beijing and backed former local mayor Atsushi Sakima. Tamaki defeated Sakima in 2018, partly by calling for the large Futenma U.S. air base to be moved outside the prefecture.

Okinawa saw some of the bloodiest fighting in World War Two and has long resented the burden of hosting the majority of U.S. troops in Japan on facilities that take up 5% of its land.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Support for Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida tumbled to its lowest since he took office, hit by anger over his ruling party's ties to a controversial church and a state funeral for former leader Shinzo Abe, an opinion poll showed on Monday.

Government support fell to 41%, from 47% in a previous poll late in August, to hit its lowest since Kishida took office last October, identical to similar polls published last week, and down from 57% in early July, the poll showed.

The share of those who did not support Kishida rose to 47% from 39%, the poll by the Asahi Shimbun daily showed.

Links to the Unification Church, founded in South Korea in the 1950s, have become an increasing headache for Kishida since July 8, when Abe was killed by a suspect who blamed him for supporting the church, which he said had bankrupted his mother.

TOKYO: CAN PEOPLE EXCHANGES OVERCOME TOXIC TIES?

Japanese college student Momoe Unou went to the Tokyo festival to scout out the food — she wants to sell Chinese dumplings and buns at an upcoming event with exchange students from China.

Until a high school trip to China, her view of the country was based solely on textbooks and TV news — and it wasn’t a positive one. Once there, she was struck by the eagerness of her Chinese counterparts to communicate, prompting her to major in Asian studies.

“I would have thought of China as a scary nation if television news were my only source of information about it,” she said.

The Japan-China Exchange Festival returned last weekend after a two-year hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers hope it will help restart cultural exchange despite tense political ties as Japan is pulled into a growing rivalry between the U.S. and China.

Festival adviser Yasuo Fukuda, a former prime minister who is an active proponent of better ties with China, said the pandemic has reduced communication between the two nations.

“Lack of dialogue increases risks of misunderstanding … and things that do not happen under normal circumstances could happen,” he said in an interview with the AP.

“I hope this festival provides an opportunity for you to think of that day 50 years ago and find our path for the future," he said in remarks at the opening of the two-day event.
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BEIJING: CAN SOFT POWER OVERCOME WARTIME HISTORY?

A fatty, garlicky smell greets visitors to Yume Wo Katare restaurant in the Chinese capital. And come they do, lining up at times for the 90 or so bowls of Jiro-style ramen served daily at the shop in the Japanese restaurant row.

Owner Shi Xin, who has lived in Japan, expressed a sense of achievement at bringing back the hearty soup with its thick noodles and winning over fans among both Chinese and Japanese living in Beijing.

“Although it’s nothing huge, through small things like food, I hope to promote friendship between China and Japan and contribute to cultural exchange,” he said ahead of the dinnertime rush at his 6-year-old restaurant.

Japan has unveiled plans for its biggest military build-up since World War Two. The government says it will double defense spending, bringing it up to the NATO standard of two percent of GDP. Japan's move away from a 'self-defense only' stance comes as it seeks to counter regional threats. It plans to acquire long-range missiles capable of striking China. Beijing said the plans undermine bilateral relations.

Japan has approved a new defence policy. It plans to increase its defence budget to 2% of its GDP by 2027. This is to counter the threat posed by China.

#Japan #military #WION

Japan’s Defence Ministry has announced that it has signed four contracts to develop anti-ship and hypersonic missile. Contracts worth $2.3 billion have been signed with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI). Tokyo is striving to acquire counterstrike capabilities amid heightened tensions with China, Russia and North Korea. Watch the video to know more about the contracts for Japan's 'Tomahawk', hypersonic weapons.

#japan #japanesedefence #china #russia #northkorea

00:00 - INTRODUCTION
00:51 - CONTRACTS FOR JAPAN’S ‘TOMAHAWK’, HYPERSONIC WEAPONS
03:35 - WHY IS JAPAN STRENGTHENING ITS MILITARY ARSENAL?