The following is from an article by Professor Emeritus Tadae Takubo of Kyorin University, published in today's Sankei Shimbun "Sound Argument."
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but for people worldwide.
(Emphasis in black except for the headline is mine.
Boldly challenging the "monster" without a national outlook
Mr. Yoshihiko Seki, professor emeritus at Tokyo Metropolitan University and former member of the House of Councillors of the Democratic Socialist Party of Japan (DPJ), has been studying socialist thought in various countries, particularly the British Labour Party.
I sometimes recall him saying, "I never thought I would be able to witness the collapse of communism in my lifetime.
Japan's Unique Discourse Space
For a while after World War II, a particular discourse situation covered Japanese society, in which miscellaneous intellectuals who had lost their view of the nation were swarming around.
The result of the "50 Years of Sound Argument" was to sweep away most of the unpleasant odor that these people created.
To recall, some of the frightening and undefinable "progressive intellectuals" whose names immediately come to mind are Ikutaro Shimizu (professor at Gakushuin University), Genzaburo Yoshino (chief editor of Iwanami Shoten's "Sekai"), Masao Maruyama (professor at The University of Tokyo), Hani Setsuko (Professor at Jiyu Gakuen), Hiroshi Suekawa (President of Ritsumeikan University), Yoshitaro Hirano (Vice President of the Japan-China Friendship Association), Tomoji Abe (writer), Tsugimaro Imanaka (Professor at Kyushu University), Kaoru Yasui (Professor at Hosei University), Kanzo Uchiyama (President of the Japan-China Friendship Association), and the list is endless.
If you look at the breakdown, it is challenging to identify occupations such as progressive cultural people, Marxists, and journalists.
There have been many studies on the significance of the postwar period, but my interest is as follows.
What adherents of the Soviet Union, China, and others, as well as proponents of American democracy, had in common was a kind of shared dislike of prewar Japan.
If one lacks a sense of one's national perspective, monsters will be rampant who will praise socialist nations with impunity and represent the national interests of other countries.
Since the GHQ (General Headquarters of the Allied Forces)'s thoroughgoing policy to neutralize Japan and the prewar efforts to destroy capitalism through the Comintern were implemented in tandem, it is not surprising that Japan was in a period of great ideological turmoil.
Communism, however, destroyed itself.
The "Sound Argument" column launched a daring attack against this giant monster.
Fukuda Tsuneari (playwright and critic), with his sharp tongue that aimed unknown intellectuals; Hayashi Saburo (professor at Tokai University), who challenged international politics head-on; Inoki Masamichi (president of the National Defense Academy), who delivered a well-organized criticism of communism on television; Muramatsu Takeshi (literary critic), who used his extensive historical knowledge, How brilliant were the writers, including the then young Shoichi Watabe (professor at Sophia University), Ayako Sono (writer), and Kanji Nishio (professor at the University of Electro-Communications).
The "progressive cultural figures" and Marxist monsters were defeated before the "Sound Argument" line.
The fact that the issue was settled in an impartial forum must have been a glorious result in the history of Japanese discourse. Still, there is no telling what would have happened to Japan's war of ideas had it not been for the end of the Cold War, which had divided the international community.
There have been numerous studies published on how the Cold War ended, but the bottom line is that communism itself was antithetical to human nature. The Soviet economy could no longer withstand the arms race raging with the United States, so it collapsed.
The people with whom "Sound Argument" had fought are gone with the wind.
What kind of world will emerge in its place?
For a while, after the Soviet Union disappeared, the "unipolar era of the United States" arrived.
But then China "emerged" and quickly rose to become the world's second-largest military and economic power, and before we knew it, it was in a position to compete with the U.S. for supremacy.
What is most worrisome is the decline of the U.S. position worldwide.
The "new battle of ideas" is worrisome.
I have long regarded the postwar Japan-U.S. relationship as a masterpiece in international politics. Still, it is sometimes dangerous if there is no place for ongoing overhaul management between the two countries.
For example, during his presidency, Trump overtly complained that it was strange that Japan did not share its fair share of defense.
He also said, "If a third country attacked the U.S., the Japanese would still be watching Sony TV.
No other politician has been so open about the fact that Japan has become complacent about the U.S., especially regarding its security.
While the policies of the U.S. during the Occupation and their legacies are widely criticized in Japan today, conservative criticism of the U.S. in areas such as the Japanese Constitution, Yasukuni Shrine, defense, and textbooks have become commonplace in Japan.
The dubiousness of postwar democracy is gradually becoming apparent, and that cannot be a source of friction between Japan and the United States.
The new ideological warfare is worrisome as China fuels the theory of U.S. decline, and the phenomenon of the political party, racial, and other divisions within the U.S. becomes more blatant.
Perhaps as a result of the "maturing" of democracy, a tremendous struggle to attack the majority in the name of protecting the weak few is beginning to rear its ugly head.
The clouds are growing darker.
