TOKYO —

Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer said Wednesday that Japan should reexamine its interpretation of the Constitution with regard to the ban on engaging in collective self-defense and urged Japan to do more in relation to the reconstruction of Afghanistan and antipiracy operations.

In his last official press conference as ambassador, Schieffer also emphasized that Japan must open its markets further especially in relation to agriculture, noting that a dispute over the safety of U.S. beef imports remains a ‘‘thorn in our relationship’’ that should be overcome ‘‘at the earliest moment.’‘
   
‘‘I think that a redefinition (of the Japan-U.S. alliance) will be appropriate,’’ he said. ‘‘Japan could easily assume a greater role in the alliance…Japan can speak with a louder voice in international affairs, America will welcome that.’’

Schieffer, wrapping up his four-year term, drew laughter from the audience when he quoted U.S. President-elect Barack Obama’s famous ‘‘Yes we can’’ slogan and said, ‘‘Japan’s first response to this new administration must not be, ‘No we can’t.’‘’

Schieffer reiterated that the United States is committed to defending Japan, where more than 40,000 US troops are deployed.

But the alliance has recently seen strains after Japan’s rising opposition, which controls one house of the Diet, temporarily blocked the extension of a naval mission supplying fuel to U.S.-led forces fighting in Afghanistan.

Japanese conservatives have also been uneasy with U.S. concessions to North Korea under a denuclearization pact.

Wire reports

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10 Comments

• 

  OssanAmerica at 08:02 AM JST - 15th January

  ‘‘Japan’s first response to this new administration must not be, ‘No we >can‘t.’’’

  Mr Schieffer must certainly know that in Japan it's more like "we will consider whether we can". Anyway nice outgoing message with dovetails with Mr. Nye's incoming message. Or rather, it's the same.

• 

  MeanRingo at 08:24 AM JST - 15th January

  ‘Japan could easily assume a greater role in the alliance...Japan can speak with a louder voice in international affairs, America will welcome that.’’

  Wonder if NK, China, South Korea and Taiwan would also welcome this move? Let's see, if this economic cycle is paralleling the Great Depression, how much longer do we have before we see another major Asian land and sea war? Gotta love those cycles. Vicious beats.

• 

  MeanRingo at 08:25 AM JST - 15th January

  Opps, forgot the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia... oh hell the list goes on and on.

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  some14some at 08:26 AM JST - 15th January

  ‘‘I think that a redefinition (of the Japan-U.S. alliance) will be appropriate,’’ he said. ‘‘Japan could easily assume a greater role in the alliance...Japan can speak with a louder voice in international affairs, America will welcome that.’’

  that is quite possible, Japan's declining monetary influence will ultimately result in increase in military influence.

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  motytrah at 09:45 AM JST - 15th January

  how much longer do we have before we see another major Asian land and sea war?

  Not long with the shenanigans that Russia and China have been up to as of late.

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  OssanAmerica at 12:13 PM JST - 15th January

  Wonder if NK, China, South Korea and Taiwan would also welcome this >move?Opps, forgot the Philippines, Indonesia, Australia

  Taiwan, Phillipines, Indonesia, Australia (and NZealand, India, Vietnam although not mentioned) would welcome the move. SKorea and China may or may not depending entirely on their relationnship with Japan at the time. NKorea obviously won't but who cares what they think.

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  apecNetworks at 12:23 PM JST - 15th January

  It won't work. Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer and incoming Amb. Nye can pressure to take out Article 9, but the situation inhibits that objective. The Japanese SDF knows they have 2nd and 3rd tier armaments, the US is the one capable of pushing their Foreign Policy in the region, the Japanese people don't want Article 9 to be taken out. In a democracy, Article 9 stays put. Reading Prof. Chalmers Johnson's 3part tour de force analysis, forget it. The SDF is equipped and set up to defend Japan and some of the outlying area - force projection is not viable nor desired. US would be more productive selling more stuff to the SDF, but in geopolitics, Australia is more suitable to implement US Foreign Policy. Finally, some of these major problems on the horizon were created by the US - this is not good. Pressure can be applied to the critics, but the analysis will not change.

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  zurcronium at 12:54 PM JST - 15th January

  Is Schieffer going to go back to baseball ownership, which is where bush met him and therefore qualified him to be the Amb. of Japan? There is baseball in Japan so I guess that makes sense.

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  cabdriver at 02:51 PM JST - 15th January

  Thank God he's leaving. Please accept our appologies,the Bush administration wasn't meant to be a foreign-focused election (2000). We elected him to focus on a domestic agenda of programs, unfortunately al-Quida (9-11) had other plans, & we don't change horses in mid-stream (2004) esp. during a war, & they have a war.

  Any help our friends give while we deal with these issues would be greatly appreciated. In the Family of Nations, we're just a teen-ager, & just as prone to mistakes. Let us all pray we haven't made another one & the warmongers don't get what they want.

• 

  Sarge at 10:35 PM JST - 21st January

  "Japan's first response to this new administration must not be, "No we can't"

  Hee hee!

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