[Tintin Storm]

Since the end of World War II and until the 1990s, Japan managed to avoid the need to make important independent decisions at the international level, comfortably staying behind the American back and taking care of the economic component exclusively. By giving its territory to the US military bases and speaking in the international arena exclusively in the wake of American politics, Tokyo actually had no trouble minimizing military spending, but at the same time forgot how to take independent steps, following only historical precedents and stereotypes.
Despite the unique "peaceful" Constitution, for the entire post-war period, Japan has not been able to finally resolve a single dispute with its neighbors. The territorial problems remain with her with the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China and South Korea (moreover, only in the case of Russia this problem is recognized by both countries). Japan is forced to "follow" the United States, since Russia has no obligation to protect the Land of the Rising Sun from its neighboring nuclear weapon states. It should be noted that the perception of Russia in Japanese society is rather negative. According to opinion polls, no more than 17% of Japanese sympathize with Russia and 80% are negative; the attitude to the United States is just the opposite - almost 85% sympathize with the former adversary and only 13.5% feel antipathy.
But it is important to recall that the US President Donald Trump frightened Japan, declaring its intention to pass on to it a significant part of the cost of maintaining the American military. Tokyo was frightened not by the prospect of additional expenses, but by a hint at America’s potential to revise the Security Treaty and leave Japan, leaving it alone with China. And a truly dangerous situation for Japan can become when the American leader decides in his pragmatism that the material (economic) side of the matter is more important for the United States than the ideological one, and repeats the famous "Nixon shock". It should be recalled that in February 1972, the President of the United States, known for his anti-communist sentiment, did not notify his Japanese partner, came to Beijing and concluded a trade agreement with China. After all, as we know, China is considered the main threat to Japan in the field of security, given both the territorial dispute and the perception of the past. Japan is very concerned about the build-up of Chinese military power, the aggressive and offensive policy of the PRC on the seas and oceans. And in the role of the only defender from the Chinese threat, and at the same time from the nuclear missile threat from Pyongyang, Japan sees only the United States.
But, nevertheless, the desire to get out of under too strong US custody was present and is still present in Japan. The founders of the military-political alliance with the United States themselves believed that the time would come when Japan, having accumulated strength, would leave the care of the Americans. But so far this does not happen for various reasons. Among such reasons, for example, is the deeply rooted pro-American lobby. Many Japanese politicians simply do not see an alternative to an alliance with the United States. Among those who advocated Japan’s greater independence was Premier Yukio Hatoyama, but “his fate was rather sad”.
It should be recalled that Yukio Hatoyama is the grandson of Ichiro Hatoyama, the prime minister who signed the 1956 declaration. Yukio Hatoyama is not considered to be a pro-Russian politician, but positive about Russia, the successor of his grandfather. Hatoyama, becoming prime minister in 2009, said that it was necessary to distance Japan from the United States and that they needed to draw closer to China and Russia. He also said that the American bases need to be brought outside of Okinawa, or even beyond Japan. But, as we know, he stayed in the prime minister’s chair for less than a year. Thus, a year spent Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori. Obviously, it is not in the interests of the United States to lose Okinawa, where 75% of the bases in the country are concentrated, from where it is convenient to “get” both China and the Korean Peninsula. Local officials at the level of the Okinawa governor demanded to ease the burden of the American presence, but nothing came of, as the Tokyo authorities, together with the Americans, put pressure on the local population.
That is why, the current Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe acts quite differently. From the one hand, he demonstrates full commitment to an alliance with the United States, and from the other hand, he conducts an independent course in a number of significant areas. For example, under Obama`s leadership in America, it was believed that Abe was a revisionist who would review the constitution and allied relations with the United States. But he managed to convince the United States that this was not the case. They now have quite decent relations with the current president D. Trump. At the same time, the United States clearly does not intend to release Japan from its guardianship, and fear that independent Japanese will begin to develop offensive weapons. And for the Japanese, the main defender from all sides is the United States, and breaking such relations would be a strong blow to the security situation in the country. So, many analysts from all over the world regard Japan’s actions and its desire to simply remain behind America’s back, as a manifestation of weakness and accuse Japan of being completely dependent on the moods of the American government.