＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:https://skawa68.com/
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
<Added on June 14, 2024> “Concealing the facts about the radar illumination incident” was ordered by then-President Moon Jae-in
At a meeting between the defense ministers of Japan and South Korea on June 1 2018, they agreed to prevent a recurrence of the incident in which the South Korean Navy illuminated a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force aircraft with radar, and are seeking to resume defense exchanges.
However, the postponement of the investigation into the facts has left the Liberal Democratic Party and other conservatives very dissatisfied. The Japanese side, which was hit by the fire-control radar, has various data showing the facts, and South Korea’s claims of complete denial are absurd.
It has now come to light that some South Korean military personnel have informally explained the entire sequence of events to the Japanese side, including that the cover-up of the irradiation was “on the orders of then-President Moon Jae-in.”
1. Numerous instances of old North Korean wooden boats washing ashore
Recently, old wooden ships believed to be North Korean have been drifting along the Sea of Japan coast or washing up on shorelines around the country.
In his 2015 New Year’s address, Chairman Kim Jong Un said, “We must summon a typhoon of fish so that the aroma of the sea will waft richly onto the people’s tables.”
A former fisherman who defected from North Korea said, “In response to Kim Jong Un’s speech, fishermen were forced to engage in ‘harsh fishing that risks their lives, like war,’ even in bad weather. But they couldn’t catch any fish near the shore, so they put a small tiller engine on a wooden boat and went out to sea.”
2. Frequent violations of territorial waters and exclusive economic zones by North Korea, China, and South Korea in the Yamato Bank
The old wooden boat mentioned at the beginning was probably a fishing boat that went out for such a reason. However, the “mother ships” of the North Korean fishing fleets that have been operating around Yamato and Musashi banks recently are said to be made of “steel.”
Not only North Korean fishing boats, but also Chinese fishing boats (these are not purely civilian fishing boats, but the People’s Liberation Army’s maritime militia; the countless fishing fleets that threatened the Senkaku Islands also belong to the People’s Liberation Army) and South Korean fishing boats are frequently violating Japan’s territorial waters and invading its exclusive economic zone, and I believe that strict vigilance and strict responses are needed not only from the Fisheries Agency’s fisheries patrol vessels, but also from the Japan Coast Guard and Maritime Self-Defense Forces.
According to an announcement by the Japan Coast Guard, a Japanese fishing boat collided with a South Korean fishing boat in November 2018 in the sea about 330 km northeast of Takeshima, which is illegally occupied by South Korea. It is possible that the collision occurred within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
3. Yamato bank（Yamatotai ）is one of the best fishing grounds in the Sea of Japan
Yamato bank（Yamatotai ） is a shallow area (236m at its shallowest point) located in the central part of the Sea of Japan, and is one of the best fishing grounds in the Sea of Japan.
On November 20th 2018, it was reported that a Korean Coast Guard patrol vessel had radioed a Japanese squid fishing boat operating near the Yamato bank（Yamatotai ） in the Sea of Japan within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, requesting that the boat “cease operation and move to another area.”
In response to this incident, a patrol boat of the Japan Coast Guard radioed the South Korean patrol vessel, saying, “Under the Japan-South Korea Fisheries Agreement, your demands cannot be accepted,” and then intervened between the South Korean patrol vessel and the Japanese fishing boat to protect the Japanese fishing boat.
4. The “fire-control radar illumination incident” by a South Korean Navy destroyer
On December 20th 2018, a serious incident occurred in which a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force P1 patrol aircraft was “illuminated by fire-control radar” from a South Korean Navy destroyer within Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) off the coast of the Noto Peninsula in the Sea of Japan. This was an “action immediately prior to launching an attack.”
At a press conference the following day, 21st, Defense Minister Iwaya said, “This is an extremely dangerous act that could lead to unforeseen circumstances, and we have strongly protested to South Korea through multiple channels, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
This incident was widely reported by the newspapers, so I’m sure many of you are aware of it.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense has made the excuse that “it was during normal operational activities,” but this is completely unreliable. They have offered the lame excuse that “it was illuminated to rescue a North Korean fishing boat.”
However, if they were searching for fishing boats, they should have used “surface search radar” and it would be meaningless to use “fire control radar” in the sky. It is clear that this is an act of interference and intimidation against the patrol activities of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force in the Sea of Japan.
This kind of situation cannot be overlooked, and if we turn a blind eye to it, I believe there is a high risk that the Korean side will continue to run rampant indefinitely.
A similar fire-control radar illumination incident also occurred in January 2013, when a Chinese Navy frigate targeted a Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer, which developed into a diplomatic issue.
5. Japan urgently needs to strengthen its territorial waters security
According to the Fisheries Agency, in just under three months from May 2018 to July 27, the agency issued warnings to 2,687 foreign fishing vessels to leave Japanese territorial waters, of which 1,036 were targeted with water cannons and 40 fishing gear recalls were conducted.
However, although I am a complete novice and outsider when it comes to territorial waters security, I feel that this level of “lenient response” will only lead to foreign fishing boats “taking advantage of” us.
Shouldn’t the Japanese government also focus on deterring the arbitrary behavior of North Korea, China, and South Korea around the Yamato Bank in the Sea of Japan, rather than sending the Self-Defense Forces overseas as a “peacekeeping force” for the United Nations?
Recently, North Korean fishing fleets, which are promoting “fishing combat,” have been advancing into “Musashi Bank” (west of Hokkaido), a good fishing ground comparable to “Yamato Bank.” North Korean People’s Army soldiers have also been called in. In addition, North Korean fishing fleets are reportedly “obstructing enforcement” by “throwing stones.”
The preamble to the Japanese Constitution states, “We, the Japanese people, desire lasting peace and are deeply conscious of the high ideals governing human relationship, and we have determined to preserve our security and existence, trusting in the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world.” However, the part “the justice and faith of the peace-loving peoples of the world.” has now become complete “empty imagination.”
I believe it is time for the Japanese people to wake up from their “peace-drowning” mentality, and I hope the Japanese government will take firm action.
I would also like the media to “face up to and take issue with the tyrannical actions of North Korea, China, and South Korea around the Yamato Bank in the Sea of Japan,” and to actively strive to “report with an emphasis on national interests.”
As for the United States, I would like to see a capable aide to the president like former National Security Advisor Kissinger (who later became Secretary of State), but is that too much to ask?
I hope that by making full use of the Japan-U.S. alliance, the relocation of the Futenma base in Okinawa to the Henoko base will be completed as soon as possible so that we can receive support from the U.S. military in the event of an emergency, and that the Chinese military will no longer pose a threat to the Senkaku Islands or Okinawa.
The fact that the governor of Okinawa Prefecture is now repeating the same “absolute opposition” as the opposition in the Diet is “just what China,” with its ambitions for hegemony in the Pacific, wants.
If a “power vacuum” were to occur, it is not impossible that China could occupy the Senkaku Islands or Okinawa. And in the north, there is also the real possibility that Russia could invade Hokkaido.
It’s not quite like Aesop’s fable “The Wolf and the Lamb,” but there is a risk that Japan could fall into a similar crisis.