Some in Japan Are Already Missing Trump
Conservative commentators dislike Biden, but they’re a minority.
Even as the U.S. presidential race drags on, at least some Japanese are already missing Donald Trump, whose reelection chances appear to be slipping as votes continue to be counted on Thursday.
Even as the U.S. presidential race drags on, at least some Japanese are already missing Donald Trump, whose reelection chances appear to be slipping as votes continue to be counted on Thursday.
“From FDR to Truman to Obama, nothing great happens to Japan under a Democratic president,” the conservative commentator Haruo Kitamura said on Japanese television. “At least Trump brought up the North Korean abductees at the U.N.,” he added, touching on the long-standing but largely fruitless campaign by Japan to get a clear accounting of Japanese kidnapped by North Korean agents in the 1970s and ’80s.
“We will be in big trouble when Biden wins, because he will suck up to China,” the well-known journalist Taro Kimura added.
Others have pointed out that U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, who served under President Barack Obama, had tweeted against a controversial dolphin killing that takes place off the waters of a small Japanese town each year. Her high-level protest, raising a touchy subject, earned a rebuke from then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who is now the country’s prime minister.
The pro-Trump mood is definitely not universal. At the Japanese foreign ministry, where the North American bureau had been known for its high stress and long hours, there is likely to be some relief that the former niceties of consultative policymaking and diplomatic courtesies may come back in a more organized State Department under a Joe Biden presidency.
Overall public opinion will also not be sorry to see Trump leave. A survey conducted in February and March by the national broadcaster NHK found that 57 percent of respondents thought that Trump’s reelection would be negative for Japan. Only 10 percent thought it would be positive. And yes, polls in Japan are considered accurate.
William Sposato is a Tokyo-based journalist who has been a contributor to Foreign Policy since 2015. He has been following Japan’s politics and economics for more than 20 years, working at Reuters and the Wall Street Journal. He is also the co-author of a 2021 book on the Carlos Ghosn affair and its impact on Japan.
More from Foreign Policy
At Long Last, the Foreign Service Gets the Netflix Treatment
Keri Russell gets Drexel furniture but no Senate confirmation hearing.
How Macron Is Blocking EU Strategy on Russia and China
As a strategic consensus emerges in Europe, France is in the way.
What the Bush-Obama China Memos Reveal
Newly declassified documents contain important lessons for U.S. China policy.
Russia’s Boom Business Goes Bust
Moscow’s arms exports have fallen to levels not seen since the Soviet Union’s collapse.
Sign up for World Brief
FP’s flagship evening newsletter guiding you through the most important world stories of the day. Delivered weekdays.
By submitting your email, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use and to receive email correspondence from us. You may opt out at any time.
