Japan’s postwar edifice has rested on two mighty pillars. The first is its military alliance with the US, its erstwhile conqueror, under whose nuclear umbrella Japan has sheltered since 1945. The second is the Liberal Democratic party, stalwart defender of that alliance, whose benign conservatism supported Japan’s extraordinary economic rise. The first of these pillars, the LDP, is about to crumble. What will happen to the other one?
The question is worth asking even though the alliance is made of stronger stuff than a mere political party, however enduring. In a dangerous region still echoing with wartime rancour and groaning under the strain of shifting economic and military fortunes, it will be in the interest of both countries to hold their postwar clinch for years, if not decades, to come.
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