By Yoshibumi Wakamiya (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-06 07:16

Japan is a small island nation on the edge of Asia. That is the image we tend to have. But is it correct?

While it is true that Japan is not a large country, it is made up of nearly 7,000 islands and islets, each with a circumference in excess of 100 m. In terms of land area, Japan ranks only 60th in the world.

But since it has many islands such as the Ogasawara chain that juts out into the Pacific Ocean, measured by the area of exclusive economic zone which gives a country the right to resources, it ranks sixth. This is something to be reckoned with.

Moreover, what is characteristic is the shape of the archipelago, which stretches from northeast to southwest in an arc. Indeed, there are many islands to the south of Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands.

Islands such as Miyakojima, Ishigakijima and Yonagunijima that lie far beyond the main island of Okinawa are very close to China's Taiwan province. A close look at the map shows us that they lie farther south than Taipei.

All of these islands make up the Japanese archipelago. Even though the islands are scattered, territorial waters surrounding them are shaped like an embankment that separates the Asian continent from the Pacific Ocean. To countries that have to thread through Japan's territorial waters to get to the Pacific Ocean, Japan must pose a navigational challenge.

When we turn the map about 45 degrees to the left so that Japan appears to sit over the Asian continent, it almost looks like a "lid".

While it reminds me of the way Japan once anticipated the "awakening of Asia", it also makes me think of a "lid" that weighed heavily as Japan tried to conquer Asia with an overreaching ambition.

I am referring to the time Japan defeated Qing (present-day China) and Russia and colonized China's Taiwan and Korea. It also gained Northeast China and invaded into China's inland areas and Southeast Asia.

In recent Six-Party Talks, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) proved to be the leading player. But seen from a different angle, the five countries Japan is dealing with are all nations with which Japan was in contention in the 20th century. They were either enemies in war or countries that Japan colonized. Actually, to come to think of it, Japan is still at odds with them over sovereignty and territorial claims. I find the situation depressing.

Meanwhile, Japan has yet to settle its past over colonial rule of what is now the DPRK. In addition, the abduction of Japanese citizens by the DPRK agents remains a serious problem.

No matter how much we try to justify Japan's position, such assertions alone are useless in settling these disputes. Although I wouldn't go so far as to say Japan has the whole world against it, we must not forget that Japan is a country that is still suffering from the aftereffects of its past on all sides.

As far as the United States is concerned, the return of Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty in 1972 is old history. However, Okinawa continues to host an unequal burden of US military bases. Thus, the southernmost prefecture is being forced to deal with a seemingly endless "postwar" era in an entirely different sense.

Of course, postwar Japan has glorious pride. There is no doubt that it has led Asia in economic development. Tokyo hosted the Olympics 44 years ago, before Moscow, Seoul and Beijing.

But recently, Japan appears to be diminishing in size when compared with China's and India's remarkable economic strides and Russia's newly acquired status as a rising power supported by abundant natural resources. On a whim, I put the map upside down. What I saw was an image of Japan at the bottom of Asia about to be crushed by major regional powers.

What should we do? As I stared at the map thinking of ways to deal with the situation, Japan started to look like a plate that supports Asia. Then it hit me. The image of Japan as a plate offers a hint.

Although Japan has many problems, it is a fact that it acquired valuable experiences and lessons in the course of its development attained much earlier than its Asian neighbors. In that sense, it is much more mature. If Japan takes advantage of the lessons it learned, it can serve as a reliable receptacle for Asia, which is troubled by growing discrepancies and distortions resulting from development.

But does Japan today have the strength to advance such flexible and tough diplomacy based on that idea? Japan is being put to a test.

The recent visit to Japan by the Republic of Korea's new president marked the beginning of the season of diplomacy. Because of the confused political situation caused by the gasoline tax problem, Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's planned visit to Europe was canceled. But after visiting Russia, he will be receiving Chinese President Hu Jintao after the Golden Week holidays.

It has been 30 years since the conclusion of the Japan-China Treaty of Peace and Friendship. Japan will be receiving a Chinese president for the first time in a decade.

Unlike during the administration of Junichiro Koizumi when things between the two countries were less than affable, Fukuda has a special feeling toward Japan-China relations that Japan has carefully built since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe succeeded Koizumi. China must also feel the same way.

If so, grandstanding and nice-sounding phrases alone would not do. Japan must put an end to the dispute over the gas field in the East China Sea and agree on joint development with China. Without it, there would be no progress.

The author is a columnist and former director of The Asahi Shimbun's editorial board The Asahi Shimbun