TWO DEVELOPMENTS IN JAPAN-LEBANON RELATIONS

There are two recent developments in regard to Japan-Lebanon relations that have appeared in the news recently.

First of all, Japan has decided to dispatch three crime investigators from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department to Beirut to assist a UN team in identifying those who assassinated former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri on February 14th of this year. This is the first time ever that Japan has participated in an international terrorism-related investigation under UN auspices. It is unclear how long the mission will last and what the specific duties of the three Japanese officers will be. The Yomiuri Shinbun speculates that Japanese investigators were chosen to enhance the perception of neutrality and fairness in the investigation.

The second bit of news is that Naoto Amaki, the former Japanese Ambassador to Lebanon who resigned in protest to Prime Minister Koizumi’s decision to support the Iraq War, has announced that he will run as an independent in the September 11th election in the Kanagawa No. 11 constituency; that is, he will run directly against Koizumi in his home district. Amaki states that his purpose in running is to protest Japan’s Iraq policy and its pro-Bush Administration foreign policies in general.

Of course, Amaki’s run is only symbolic, and the practical effect will only be to divide Koizumi’s local opposition three ways (Amaki, the DPJ, and the JCP) rather than two ways.

Naoto Amaki has already written several books on his experience in Lebanon and his criticisms of Prime Minister Koizumi and MOFA.