SEEKING AN HONOURED PLACE IN THE WORLD

A memoir of a Japanese diplomat,  1945-97

Masamichi  Hanabusa

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This memoir is the first ever written by a senior Japanese professional diplomat in English. The author candidly and clearly describes what he did and thought during his forty years of diplomatic life from 1958-97. During this time, Saigon fell, a Cold War was fought and ended with the collapse of the Berlin Wall. Japan became the top aid donor and entered into bitter economic rivalry with the USA.

 The book allows readers to have an insight into the Japanese mentality and working methods and consists of two parts. The first deals with the author’s fascinating diplomatic and family life. The latter part is an epilogue, based on his historic viewpoint and his own diplomatic experiences. He  proposes a long-term future path for Japan to pursue, between the hegemonic USA and emerging China. His ideal of a non-aligned, independent Japan with its limited but effective war deterring military capacity is worthy of serious attention for the students of Asia‘s future.

 For the reason of both insight into Japan and the uniqueness of the author‘s views, this book is recommended for the students of Japanese diplomacy.

 Author

Hanabusa Masamichi was born in Tokyo in 1933. After graduating from Keio University, he joined the Japanese foreign service in 1958. For forty years he served various posts both at home and abroad. As Japan recovered from the destruction of the last war and grew fast into a major economic power, Hanabusa witnessed the enormous changes in Japan’s position in the world and the world itself.

Throughout these turbulent years the author endeavoured to find an honoured place for defeated Japan in the world society true to the ideal enshrined in Japan’s post-war Peace Constitution. Much of his efforts in the service focused on the economic development of the developing world and the presentation of Japan’s true figure to the world. Reflecting the unique vicissitudes of his motherland in these years, Hanabusa encountered a variety of situations rarely experienced by diplomats.

 After retirement in 1997, he promoted various non-profit activities such as the English-Speaking Union of Japan, Japan-Italy Association, Giuseppe Verdi Association of Japan, etc. At the publishing of this memoir he was eighty-eight.eighty-eight in a

REVIEW

Japanese diplomats very seldom publish their memoirs. In this sense, this book is a rarity. It is hoped that such efforts would heighten transparency of Japanese diplomacy. 

M. Nishikawa, visiting senior editor on the website of the Mainichi newspaper