The Italian restaurant was a small place, much like many other restaurants in Japan and packed so tightly that if the clientele simply listened, no conversation would remain private for long. I was doing just that, listening intently to a group of respected Japanese journalists who had invited me to dinner in Tokyo. They were concerned with my country, with Arabs and of course, more importantly, with oil.
One member of the group turned to me and asked: "Do you suppose there is a Western plan, led by the United States, to blockade Japan economically using Russia?" I was surprised at the question since our conversation had been reasonable, far removed from the conspiracy theories so beloved by many Arabs, but he insisted. "Haven’t you noticed that they are both white and from the same cultural background?"
I wasn’t sure whether my questioner was serious. During the few days that I had been visiting Japan at the invitation of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, I had found them a rational people who discussed politics without looking for bizarre possibilities. I was surprised too because after their defeat in World War II, the Japanese had given up any doctrinal direction to their foreign policy. I mean such things as "The Asia Issue" or what the generals who ruled Japan at the time termed "The New Asian Order"; there were ideas that had thrust them into a world war from which they had nothing to show but destruction and defeat. They were later convinced that the military junta had over-inflated an issue that didn’t really exist simply to satisfy their own needs while, in effect, Japan’s interests were best served by peace and prosperity which would in turn bring happiness and stability. Therefore their most fierce wars with the Americans were fought over the value of the yen, open markets and balance of trade issues.
Once the topic of American investment in Russia was introduced, the conversation quickly reverted to the more "moderate" tone, previously adopted after briefly skirting "conspiracy theories." The Americans’ interest in the "Soviet" continent was clear. Markets that had been closed for decades had now become highly attractive to those American products seeking new markets. Russian oil reserves were even more tempting, playing as they do an important role in America’s current strategic direction aimed at reducing dependency on Arab oil. In addition, Russia’s transformation from foe to ally could weaken the post-World War II alliance between Tokyo and Washington. But while the issue of switching oil suppliers from Arab to non-Arab deserves our attention, the issue of "an American-Russian conspiracy to blockade Japan" should not worry the Japanese much and will not influence their conviction that their interests lie in an alliance with the Americans. This was made clear to me from the conversation that evening and from what I later saw and heard.
My Japanese friends didn’t elaborate on the conspiracy theories and we Arabs in turn should not hang our hopes too high on finding an Eastern partner to compensate for all that we lost with the fall of the Soviet Union — someone, in short, to put a stop to US hegemony in its dealings with us. Calls for such a search have been coyly made in some columns and commentaries. This, however, is nothing but an admission of weakness from our side, of our need for an "uncle" who will protect and stand up for us. May God forgive Samuel Huntington whose controversial theory that the Chinese giant will one day confront the West — its Confuciustic civilization allied to Muslims (the two civilizations being so different from the prevailing Christian one) — has indirectly given us the belief that we have a chance of allying ourselves with that giant.
However, the shrewd observer will realize that it is only a matter of time before China joins a certain new Western religion just as Japan and Korea have done. It is a religion that has nothing to do with Christianity or any of the many Oriental religions. It has, however, a great deal to do with the economy, free markets and liberal democratic principles that because they have been tried and successfully tested in the West have come to be labeled Western. As for us, if we do nothing to change our fate, then we will remain locked on the "Asian question."
How is our relationship with Japan these days?
It is clear that the idea of an alliance with either Japan or China is present only in the minds of some Arab writers and analysts and has not reached that of those in power for no one is officially working toward that goal. In fact, ever since the retirement of the previous Saudi Ambassador Bashir Kurdi more than eight months ago, the Kingdom has not even appointed a new ambassador to Japan. Attending to Saudi interests from his luxurious eight-story building in Tokyo, a city well-known for its exorbitantly priced real estate, is Charge d’Affaires Muhammad Ameen Wali, a respected diplomat. My question about whether the relationship between our two countries could be expanded beyond the limits of oil exported from Saudi Arabia and the cars, electrical and electronic equipment exported from Japan was met by every official at the Japanese Foreign Ministry with the assertion that "the post of the Saudi ambassador to Japan has been vacant for eight months." Are they trying to send a message here?
The extent of Japanese exports has made Japan Saudi Arabia’s second largest trading partner after the United States and this is so in both exports and imports. Another promising side to the relationship, though also economic, is the fact that Japan has directly invested somewhere in the neighborhood of $5.4 billion in the Kingdom.
The extent of the relationship’s stability is perhaps the reason why the Committee for Saudi Japanese Cooperation, originally scheduled to meet every year, has in fact not met for the last five years. The most recent meeting was last June and was notable for the large Saudi delegation numbering 50 and representing various government departments and the commercial sector; it was led by Minister of Planning Khaled Al-Gosaibi. The meetings between the two sides lasted two days and the Japanese group was led by the Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi and Minister of Economy, Commerce and Industry Takeo Hiranuma. During the meeting, they searched for an answer to the question that I had heard often asked by Japanese as well as Saudis in Tokyo: "How do we expand our relationship beyond oil and commerce?"
It seems that both groups realize that the potential does exist. Japan knows that it is confronted by two geographic conglomerations: China and the Islamic and Arab world. Both of course are possible markets. While the Chinese market is familiar to the Japanese, the Arab and Islamic world, on the other hand, is a more complex multi-hued area. That is where American and Japanese interests may clash and while Japan could be at odds with the whole world, it will not risk being at odds with America.
An official at the Japanese Foreign Ministry told me that the size of the Saudi delegation had attracted his government’s attention. The government explained their presence as either the delegation had come to cheer at the World Cup or that Saudi Arabia was more enthusiastic than ever at the prospect of developing its relationship with Japan — following the tension in the former’s relationship with its historic ally, the US.
This may go a long way toward justifying the question asked of the leader of the Saudi delegation by Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, "Is your relationship with the US still bad?" This was surely a rhetorical question but at the same time, was he trying to tell us that if our relationship with the US had been ruined, then we should try Japan. Of course not. It would be naive to follow the Huntington train of thought — namely that new alliances will be established based on civilizations. Again the stronger alliance from which Japan has so far benefited is the one with the United States and Europe i.e. free enterprise, liberal freedom and the right to prosperity and happiness. If any of these are of interest to us, then we should squeeze in between these happy people.
A relationship based purely on oil
The term alliance has become cliched and rather short-lived in the world of real politics. It is perhaps better to talk of widening the sphere of economic cooperation and growing from economic to political cooperation. Both areas are in need of building and nurturing between Japan and Saudi Arabia. Japan for example does not hide its desire to reduce its dependence on Gulf oil; the Kingdom and the UAE are the biggest oil exporters to Japan. The Japanese have their own reasons for wishing to reduce dependence and they are different from the American ones. Their desire to reduce dependence on Gulf oil stems from anger and the desire for revenge after Sept. 11. On the other hand, Japan fears a repetition of the 1973 Arab oil embargo which, though not directed at them, resulted in reduced production and the destabilization of the oil market. Being the largest manufacturing nation and one that relies entirely on oil imports to meet their energy needs, it left them with a nightmare they will never forget.
When Iraq and other conservative forces in Iran called for the use of the "oil weapon" this year, it stirred feelings of anxiety in Japan; news of the threat made the front pages of their newspapers. The call to reduce Japanese dependence on foreign energy sources — and more especially of oil from the "unstable" Middle East — and develop other sources of oil, such as East Asia, by Japanese investment and speeding up the search for alternative energy sources was reissued. "It is rather regretful," says Kaido Agency’s Deputy Editor in Chief Shahiji Yuki Yushida, "that the Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal’s statements to allay the fears of the market, in which he said that such a weapon (oil weapon) did not exist, didn’t catch the eye of front page editors as much as Saddam Hussein’s threats did. Bad news is always more powerful than good news."
While Saudi Arabia can offer Japan a wealth of good news as well as oil, Japan is neither ready not willing to feel at ease and we must understand those feelings and do our utmost to reassure them.
First impression
In the crowded road from Narita Airport to my hotel in central Tokyo, Japan seemed so far, in fact miles away from the rest of the world. I had been traveling for two whole days, beginning in Jeddah, passing through two airports before finally arriving at Narita which is one of two airports serving the Japanese capital. Geographically and otherwise, America seemed to me closer than Japan, for despite the clashes that may have arisen between us — we still have a history of 70 years’ "alliance" and more than 100,000 Saudis have graduated from American universities. These ties are enough to rebuild bridges of understanding between us. As for Japan, we are starting from almost zero, for they are a world away with their own civilization, a unique way of thinking that is entrenched in their society more than the American civilization is entrenched in theirs. The Japanese teach their children a history that has remained constant for over two millennia. But at least Japan is neutral and that is something worth cultivating.
Excessive respect is what first attracted my attention. The employee at the lost luggage desk showed wholehearted dedication to finding out the fate of my luggage which had gone astray somewhere between Dubai and Melbourne, Australia. He treated me so deferentially that I felt like a king; however, I noticed plenty of other kings around so I assume others had the same problem. In any case, there was much bowing and smiling to all of us. This is perhaps the reason why you will not see two Japanese arguing in the street because one had stepped on the other’s foot or for some other absurd reason, as happens in the rest of the world.
Another thing that I noticed was their extensive use of new technology; this is not unusual for after all, they manufacture a great deal of that technology. Just a few examples of this are the road signposts found in Japan. The lines on them change from white to red and vice versa depending on road congestion, thereby alerting the driver that a certain street is highly congested and thus to be avoided. They also use street maps linked to satellites by which you can map your route from your house to any other location you wish; this service has become widespread throughout the world and has arrived, though still in its infancy, in Saudi Arabia through the cooperation of the Ministry of Transportation and Al-Naghi, agents for the BMW. Halfway to my hotel I noticed a huge construction site that looked like an unfinished bridge. I then realized that it was a fake mountain for skiing. I remember the former French prime minister who commented that the Japanese do not know how to enjoy life and that they work like ants; he had later apologized for the statement. Doubtless he is wrong for the Japanese are passionate about life and its pleasures but they don’t have time to waste like the French and others to travel great distances in order to ski. They simply take the half hour trip by train to the ski "mountain".
Westernization or modernization?
Is Japan a Western nation? It is in its political and economic structure, if we assume that these systems are still Western and haven’t become universal systems maintained by Professor Francis Fukuyama, an American of Japanese descent. Japan remains what it is by virtue of its unique history, its religion and cultural traditions that date back some 2,000 years. This is clear for all to see in the way the Japanese deal with each other as well as in their language that still dominates television, newspapers, street signs and even the buttons and knobs on the electronic gadgets they produce and finally in the traditional costumes worn by Japanese women on Sundays and other social occasions. If we use such things as measures of Westernization and compare ourselves to Japan, we Saudis, who are the most conservative of Arab nations and the loudest in denouncing globalization, would still have to admit that the Japanese are better off. To start with, English is the most widespread language, used in many of our offices and local companies; in fact, we have as many foreign TV stations as we do Arabic ones. At the hotel where I stayed in Japan, the English channels were only CNN and BBC; all the rest were Japanese. On the other hand, if we look at the Hyatt Regency in Jeddah, we find that about half of the hotel’s available TV channels are non-Arabic ones. If you search for a five-star Saudi hotel with a restaurant specializing in Saudi food, your search will be in vain. In Tokyo, however, there are more Japanese restaurants specializing in the various Japanese cuisines than there are French or Italian restaurants. As for shop signs, in Saudi Arabia, English has long been dominant. As for Arabic names on the buttons and knobs of electronic equipment, let’s postpone the discussion until some are manufactured here.
The bookstores packed with customers are the best testimony to Japan’s relationship with Westernization. The publishing business is strong. No sooner is an important book published in New York or London than it appears in Japanese — and I am not talking only of fiction such as "Harry Potter" which, by the way, continues to sell in record numbers, having been translated into virtually every language except Arabic. Does this fact mean anything to us? What about serious, scholarly books full of ideas and discussions? Even Western magazines ranging from "Cosmopolitan" to the "Harvard Business Review" are available in Japanese. All these are in addition to the number of works which are written and published in Japanese; in short, there is the widest possible selection of both Japanese works and of translations from other languages. The speed and accuracy of their translations means that the Japanese can select what they want from outside their culture and transfer it to their own lives and educational system without any sacrifice of their own essential Japanese nature or traditions. This is exactly what they did more than a hundred years ago when they introduced a democratic parliamentary system of rule that came from the West. They tried it and found it useful; therefore they "adopted" it without distorting its true nature or purpose. They also imported along with that system the industrial revolution, the principles of free markets and an educational system and "Japanized" it all together. By doing so, by combining their own unique culture with what was useful to them in the West, they became a great economic and industrial power — at the same time, geographically distant from the West and oriental to the core. They created what came to be called the Empire of Japan.
