Do you expect changes in the U.S.-Japan alliance following the change of government in Japan?

Monday 31st August, 03:00 AM JST

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smithinjapan at 10:51 AM JST - 31st August

I suspect that Japan will make some demands and the US simply say it's not in their interests. They will then ask nicely and throw a lot of money somewhere, and the US will let some unnecessary things go while keeping what they need. In other words, very little will change in the relationship.

Japan needs US defense and trade, bottom line, and the US likewise needs to be based here (or very close), and needs the trade and cash for the economy. Whether one wants to be less reliant on the other or not really isn't all that important, since they ARE reliant on each other and that won't change.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what proposals the DPJ makes in regards to changes with the US (and how quickly they 'change').
DeepAir65 at 01:02 PM JST - 31st August

LDP and DPJ are basically the same old boys club
rajakumar at 11:08 PM JST - 31st August

Pro- Obama DPJ,likely to have better ties with Americans/Obama administration/hawaii.
OssanAmerica at 12:32 AM JST - 1st September

No significant changes to speak of. As with all politicians all over the world those wishing to come into power talk alot, and once in power they start backing off.
nigelboy at 12:46 AM JST - 1st September

Ain't it funny how people interpret U.S.-Japan alliance would suffer simply because DPJ emphasized more emphasis on Japan-China relations? But when it comes to Obama mentioning the importance of U.S.-China relations, they automatically conclude that U.S.-Japan relations are no longer important.
Antonios_M at 08:52 AM JST - 1st September

I don't think there will be any major changes in the US-Japan relations.

Nigelboy, totally agree with you.
timorborder at 11:30 AM JST - 1st September

Nothing is going to change. As the political opposition, it is very easy to make outrageous promises on any and all issues. However, actually winning power usually results in the political realities of a situation hitting the people in question with a thud. If this doesn't happen, the world as we know it would be anarchy.

What will happen with US-Japan relations is simple. The Japanese will start off by trying to implement their new agenda. America will consider the ideas put forward and reject those that are not in its interest. The Japanese will then push a little bit further (for the sake of the domestic electorate) and then probably settle back into a business-as-usual mentality. This is invariably what happens in relationships between nation states. As I wrote earlier, if this line of progression is not followed, then anarchy would result. In this case an anarchy that neither the US nor Japan can afford.

Next question?
Beelzebub at 12:45 PM JST - 2nd September

Why should there be any change? The DPJ is just a splinter group created from disaffected former members of the LDP. And as for defense, Japan hasn't been successfully invaded since the end of the Jomon Period. (WW2 doesn't count as an invasion.)
helloklitty at 05:31 PM JST - 2nd September

Here is one major change: Americans will not be able to buy things they can't afford anymore as Japan, China, and the ROW stop propping up the dollar.

The DPJ is a populist Japan-first party. Instead of making the lives of Americans better, by maintaining the export market to the U.S., they will be proposing policies which will make the lives of the Japanese better.

Say goodbye to zero-percent interest rates. They're not doing the Japanese economy any good. The government-BOJ interference is the reason Japan has been in permanent recession.

The only source of purchasing power for the U.S. will be Helicopter Ben and his printing press.
Seiharinokaze at 07:14 PM JST - 2nd September

I am not sure if Japan is no more a "Sit, stand, bark!" tame dog. But it may be time for Japan to humbly ask to gain the ear of her partner if not master that no western powers have succeeded in subjugating Afghanistan and that they were all put to rout in the end. And since most Afghans killed so far by the U.S. army had no actual relation with terrorism, the people of this country may begin to question if the U.S. constructing its naval base in Kandahar as part of the war is really for nurturing freedom and democracy but rather procuring pipelines to secure oil and natural gas from the central Asia through Afghanistan. Then they may or may not approve continue refueling. But they will put everything to light and have discussions held on how we want our country to behave. That's what is happing now.
USNinJapan2 at 10:16 PM JST - 2nd September

Seiharinokaze

...U.S. constructing its naval base in Kandahar...

LOL. Might want to check your atlas pal. Afghanistan is a land-locked nation. I would imagine that ships of navy would have a pretty tough time getting to a naval base in Kandahar...
Seiharinokaze at 10:54 PM JST - 2nd September

USNinJapan2,

The word naval reminds me of the Imperial Japanese Navy that did also aircraft and air strike operation. Sorry, the U.S. built an air force base in Kandahar. No offense, but the war on terror also reminds me of a slogan Japan used to spread the endless war in China by rejecting to deal with the KMT government. A vague morassy war.
grafton at 12:00 AM JST - 5th September

Seiharinokaze at 10:54 PM JST - 2nd September

No offence intended but really you are making no sense at all here. Besides which you do seem to be riding your hobby horse in the wrong field.
Seiharinokaze at 02:45 PM JST - 5th September

grafton,

The U.S. maybe has its own national interests to pursue.
SDF's Defense Outlines prepared a few years ago shifted weight of its activity from UN-oriented to international-oriented, and SDF now shares the military strategy with the US forces while stating clearly that China is Japan's potential enemy. Though the recent dispatch of SDF to Iraq and the Japanese navy to the Indian Ocean may be a small step, many people began to sense that these steps are designed to have Japan gradually prepared to use its military might. In this sense the DPJ government can be any counteractive against paving the way for Japan having to fight with its potential enemy again.
apecNetworks at 06:23 PM JST - 5th September

At this moment in time, the DPJ should view missions for the SDF as training exercises - very selective in giving SDF personnel experience in the field. I personally would prefer heavy emphasis on SPEED. SDF is still a young pup and all missions should have entry and exit points firmly in place.

Formidable in size, it still is setup to handle the immediate area, and focused to handle direct threats to Japan's security. Limited supplement to US interests such as the pirate intervention in the Indian Ocean and refueling should be entertained w/ a clear term of length of deployment. A supplement to US interests, not a primary actor in the engagement due to adherence to conditions set forth in Clause 9.