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U.S.-Japanese

Japanese citizens.80 When North Korea admit-

has resisted calls for such penalties against

North Korea, yet he retains the ability to

ted to some of the abductions in September

relations have

impose them, a power explicitly granted to

2002, tensions between the two countries

been shaped in

him by the Japanese Diet in early 2004.86 On

increased. Koizumi's second trip to Pyongyang,

the post-9/11

in May 2004, was largely aimed at resolving the

the other hand, Koizumi did halt 250,000 tons

abductee issue. Hopefulness gave way to recrim-

of food aid to North Korea in December

world by

2004.87 Other legislation cut off an estimated

ination by the end of 2004, when Tokyo

Prime Minister

demanded a full accounting from the DPRK.

$38 million in yearly remittances sent to

North Korean officials admit to only 17

North Korea by Koreans living in Japan. A new

Koizumi's strong

abductees, but there may be as many as 400.81

shipping law passed in March 2005 indirectly

and growing

penalizes North Korea because it blocks for-

The enormous disparity between these figures

personal

eign ships of 100 tons or more from entering

plays into wider doubts in Japan about the

Japanese ports unless the ships are insured

veracity of North Korean claims with respect to

friendship

against oil spills and other damages, and few

weapons development and regional security.

with President

North Korean ships meet the requirements.

One tangible manifestation of growing dis-

Bush.

Although the shipping regulation did not

satisfaction with North Korea is declining

specifically mention North Korea, Japanese

financial support from individual Japanese citi-

officials said it was "drawn up with the hermit

zens for the impoverished country. Charitable

state in mind."88

donations to nongovernmental organizations

that help North Koreans have declined fivefold,

North Korea is a leading foreign policy issue

from 50 million yen to under 10 million yen,

for most Japanese, who have increasingly nega-

within the past 10 years. Michiya Kumaoka,

tive views of their neighbor. The problems are

head of the Japan International Volunteer

twofold. On the one hand, the military threat,

Center, estimates that the amount of aid that

particularly the nuclear threat, creates growing

apprehension.89 On the other hand, the highly

Japanese people donate to the 10 or 15 food

agencies active in North Korea has also declined

emotional issue of the abductees is omnipres-

sharply since 1998.82

ent in the Japanese media.

Without question, U.S.-Japanese relations

Opposition to the Jong-il regime is partic-

have been shaped in the post-9/11 world by

ularly strong in some circles. Some of Japan's

Prime Minister Koizumi's strong and growing

most famous and respected citizens partici-

personal friendship with President Bush. In

pated in a three-day "sit-in" in June 2005 in

each of the three cases discussed above,

front of the prime minister's office, demand-

Koizumi strove to align Toyko's policies with

ing that Koizumi impose economic sanc-

tions against North Korea.83

those emanating from Washington. But this

has not always been easy and he was anxious

Koizumi is now caught between "intense

not to get too far ahead of (or fall behind) pub-

domestic political pressure" to sanction North

lic opinion. Although Koizumi reasserted and

Korea, explains East Asia specialist Gavan

consolidated political power in the most recent

McCormack of the Australian National Uni-

elections, and his standing remains high both

versity, and "intense external pressure, notably

within the LDP and within Japan as a whole,

from the government of the United States, for

the fragility of the political process requires

which nuclear matters far outweigh the abduc-

tions."84 Koizumi must react to the twin crises

that policy be based on more than personal

friendships. In each of the three crises dis-

without provoking the North Koreans, while

cussed above, a Japanese prime minister less

addressing demands for toughness on the part

closely aligned with the United States might

of his constituents and from his strategic

well have behaved in a different fashion.

patron, the United States.

Indeed, the opposition DPJ has long advocated

North Korea warns that any economic

a more independent posture vis-à-vis the

sanctions imposed by Japan would be regard-

ed as a "declaration of war."85 So far, Koizumi

United States.90 The key to understanding the

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