{"id":29672,"date":"2026-03-21T13:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/29672\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T13:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T13:16:09","slug":"surprise-unease-in-japan-after-trump-uses-pearl-harbor-to-defend-iran-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/29672\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise, unease in Japan after Trump uses Pearl Harbor to defend Iran war"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOKYO (AP) \u2014 Senior U.S. and Japanese officials tend to shy away from anything but very careful public comments about Japan\u2019s 1941 sneak attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor. So there was embarrassment, confusion and unease on Saturday in Japan after President Donald Trump casually used the World War II attack<\/a> to justify his secrecy before launching the war against Iran.<\/p>\n

The Japanese discomfort was compounded by the fact that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi<\/a> was sitting awkwardly at Trump\u2019s side as he spoke. <\/p>\n

Partly, the reaction is linked to the crucial security and economic role that the U.S. plays for Japan, its top ally in the region. Put simply, Japan needs to make sure the U.S. relationship thrives. That\u2019s why Takaichi was in Washington.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s also a reflection of just how fresh the political debate about Japan\u2019s role in World War II remains here, even 80 years after its end. <\/p>\n

Senior leaders, including Takaichi, have argued that Japan has apologized enough for what happened in the war. Takaichi herself has recently hinted at visiting Tokyo\u2019s controversial Yasukuni Shrine, where Japanese war criminals are honored among the 2.5 million war dead. <\/p>\n

It is, however, somewhat startling for Japan to see these history questions spill over into a White House summit. <\/p>\n

On Friday, when asked by a Japanese reporter why he didn\u2019t tell allies in Europe and Asia ahead of the U.S. attack on Iran, Trump cited Pearl Harbor to defend his decision, saying, \u2018Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn\u2019t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK?\u201d<\/p>\n

The liberal leaning Asahi newspaper said in an editorial Saturday that Trump\u2019s comments \u201cshould not be overlooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaking such a remark to justify a sneak attack and boast about its outcome is a piece of nonsense that ignores lessons from history,\u201d Asahi said.<\/p>\n

Claims of rudeness<\/p>\n

Social media reaction has ranged from accusations of ignorance and rudeness by the U.S. president to claims that he didn\u2019t see Japan as an equal partner. There were calls for Japan to protest what Trump said.<\/p>\n

Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation, said in an online opinion piece published in the Nikkei newspaper Saturday that the comment signaled that Trump was \u201cnot bound by existing American common sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI get the impression that the comment was intended to bring the Japanese reporter (who asked the question) or Ms. Takaichi into complicity in order to justify his \u2018sneak attack\u2019 on Iran during diplomatic negotiations and without telling allied countries,\u201d Watanabe said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a feeling that an unspoken understanding exists between U.S. and Japanese leaders to tread carefully on the subject. Both sides need each other, with Washington relying on Japan to host 50,000 troops and an array of powerful hi-tech weapons, and Japan relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella to deter hostile, nuclear-armed neighbors. <\/p>\n

Japan\u2019s post-World War II constitution bans the use of force<\/a> except for its self-defense, but Takaichi and other officials are now seeking to expand the military\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

When it comes to U.S.-Japan reconciliation, many here look to the example of former leaders Barack Obama and Shinzo Abe, who in 2016 paid tribute together at the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor and at the Hiroshima Peace Park. <\/p>\n

Mixed reaction for Japan\u2019s leader<\/p>\n

Takaichi, a hard-line conservative, was praised for not reacting to the comments by Trump, letting them pass with a roll of her eyes and a glance at her ministers seated nearby.<\/p>\n

After all, the goal of her summit<\/a> was to deepen ties with her most important ally, not debate World War II. She arrived shortly after Trump suggested that Japan was among the nations that did not quickly join his call to help protect the Strait of Hormuz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Some, however, criticized Takaichi for not speaking up. <\/p>\n

Hitoshi Tanaka, a former diplomat and a special adviser at the Japan Research Institute think tank, wrote on X that he felt embarrassed to see Takaichi flattering Trump.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs national leaders, they are equals. \u2026 To make an equal relationship is not to flatter,\u201d he said. \u201cJust doing what pleases Trump and calling it a success if you are not hurt is too sad.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reporter criticized<\/p>\n

There was initial blame on social media of the Japanese reporter who asked the question that prompted Trump\u2019s Pearl Harbor comment.<\/p>\n

The reporter, Morio Chijiiwa with TV Asahi, later said on a talk show that he asked the question to represent the feelings of Japanese who are not happy about Trump\u2019s one-sided attack on Iran, and because other countries, including Japan, are being asked to help out. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo that\u2019s why I asked the question. I was meaning to say, Why didn\u2019t you tell us, why are you troubling us?\u201d he said. \u201cThen President Trump hit back with the Pearl Harbor attack. \u2026 I found it extremely awkward for him to change the subject.\u201d<\/p>\n

Junji Miyako, 53, said Takaichi flattering Trump felt more condescending to him than the President\u2019s Pearl Harbor remark.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so frustrated to see Takaichi didn\u2019t even say anything to Trump to stop the war,\u201d he said. \u201cI think Trump\u2019s Pearl Harbor comment was stupid, but to me the war he started is a much bigger problem.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TOKYO (AP) \u2014 Senior U.S. and Japanese officials tend to shy away from anything but very careful public…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29673,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[719,2371,178,2019,38,197,1770,14012,34,196,389,11479,14013,81,9849,12611,771,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-29672","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-iran","8":"tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","9":"tag-2024-2026-mideast-wars","10":"tag-asia-pacific","11":"tag-barack-obama","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-general-news","14":"tag-government-and-politics","15":"tag-hitoshi-tanaka","16":"tag-iran","17":"tag-iran-war","18":"tag-japan","19":"tag-japan-government","20":"tag-morio-chijiiwa","21":"tag-politics","22":"tag-sanae-takaichi","23":"tag-shinzo-abe","24":"tag-washington-news","25":"tag-world-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@iran\/116267357634463623","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29673"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}