Breaking Away from an Overemphasis on Economic Ties – Japan As Seen from Indonesia – by Kamimura Jun
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COVER STORY II • 3 Japan Viewed from Other Asian Countries Breaking Away from an Overemphasis on Economic Ties – Japan as Seen from Indonesia – By Kamimura Jun O a majority of Indonesians, Japan or Flower of Patriotism is a military Japanese business since the late 1960s T is, more than anything else, the song that many elderly Indonesians can are much fresher in their minds. Still, most familiar and conspicuous “eco- recall from the era of Japanese military they absolutely repudiate – from a nomic superpower.” It is a technologi- rule) nationalistic standpoint – the argument cally advanced country whose sophisti- “Actually Japan was not allowed to advanced by some Japanese that “the cated products dominate Indonesia’s come to Bandung. To many people, Japanese army liberated the Indonesian consumer market of nearly 220 million Japan was an arrogant enemy state,” he people” or that Indonesia “owes its people, who make up the world’s fourth said. “But Sukarno said Japan is not an independence to the Japanese occupa- largest population. enemy. Without Japanese occupation, tion.” They have fierce pride in their When Japanese visitors walk about Indonesia should not be free. Because people having secured independence by the countryside in Indonesia, children when Japanese occupied Indonesia, it themselves in the four years of war with and youths often call out “Toyota,” was also against the Dutch. That was the Dutch that followed Japan’s surren- “Honda,” “Panasonic” or “Ajinomoto.” the historical role of Japan. They gave der. This is because for a long period, bilat- us two things, one is military training, Take, for example, the Japanese film eral relations were expanded with a lop- the second is how to run a country, Merdeka 17805 (merdeka is an sided emphasis on trade, aid and invest- which we learned from the Dutch.” Indonesian word meaning indepen- ment. While both sides have since “Of course, we had to pay dearly,” he dence) released in 2001. It tells the tale endeavored to broaden ties through added. During WWII, with the excep- of a Japanese lieutenant who, along exchanges in the sociocultural field and tion of the island of New Guinea and with other soldiers, remained behind in other areas, the road to a diversified other eastern areas, most of Indonesian Indonesia after Japan’s surrender and bilateral relationship is undoubtedly soil was spared fierce fighting. What participated in the anti-Dutch war for long because of the different state of many people remember even today is independence. The film portrays the affairs in the two countries. that the Japanese army drafted many Japanese army being welcomed as liber- Of course, Indonesians have not for- young people to engage in construction ators by women on Java Island. One gotten the Japanese occupation during work in Burma (now Myanmar) and problematic scene, in which an World War II before the former Dutch elsewhere. Most of them never Indonesian woman was shown kissing colony gained its independence. The returned. the feet of a Japanese officer, was edited lasting image of Japanese of that time – In fact, the Japanese word for a labor- out by the filmmakers after the on the whole, regardless of feelings er, romusha, has been directly adopted Indonesian government protested – toward individual Japanese on a person- as an Indonesian word meaning a forced mildly, however – that it distorts histor- al level – is that of arrogant and ruthless laborer. At the National Monument in ical facts and wounds national pride. rulers. the center of Jakarta, a diorama repre- In the years following independence, I asked former Foreign Minister senting the Japanese occupation era Sukarno, the “star” of the Third Ruslan Abdulgani how Japan was per- portrays romushas forced to labor under World’s anti-colonialism movement, ceived half a century ago during the gaze of a Japanese soldier. Schools drilled into the minds of his multiethnic Indonesia’s initial period of national teach that a number of romusha were citizens the concept of “one people.” development. This 90-year-old states- conscripted, and died of hunger or dis- Meanwhile, Japan reentered the Asian man was a close confident of the late ease. Some believed more than 200,000 diplomatic stage at the Asia-Africa Achmed Sukarno, Indonesia’s indepen- died. Some movements still continue in Conference, and money spent as war dence hero and the first president. which former romushas and former compensation served as a springboard Abdulgani laughingly remarked, “No comfort women (sex slaves forced to for Japanese business activities in Asia. more Kimigayo, Aikoku-no-hana,” serve Japanese soldiers) demand com- It can be said that Japan’s economic before reminiscing about the days when pensation for their ordeals. advance in Asia really began in earnest the Japanese delegation was invited to To the great majority of Indonesians, after 1965, at around the time when the 1955 Asia-Africa Conference in Japanese military rule is an episode in Sukarno began steadily losing real Bandung. (Kimigayo is the Japanese history, something from the distant power. Mohammed Suharto, who took national anthem and Aikoku-no-hana past, whereas the inroads made by his place in becoming Indonesia’s sec- 26 JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • July / August 2005 COVER STORY II • 3 Photos : ©ASEAN-Japan Centre ond president in 1967, switched course by pursuing a pro-US, anti-communist line, and the full-fledged introduction of foreign capital was realized. With Japan in an era of high growth, its manufacturers and trading compa- nies eyed Indonesia for its oil, natural gas, timber and other natural resources, as well as for its cheap and plentiful labor, and its potentially huge market. They flocked to Indonesia to set up operations, preceding their full-fledged expansion into North America. For more than 30 years, Japan has almost consistently been Indonesia’s largest trading partner and its most gen- erous aid donor. Despite a decrease in Japanese direct investment amid the shift to China in recent years, Japan continues to top the list of foreign investors in Indonesia in terms of accu- working for Japanese companies operat- mulated Foreign Direct Investment ing in Indonesia grumble that (FDI). Indonesians “fail to grasp the impor- vices sector and strongly nationalistic When then Prime Minister Tanaka tance of basic technology and mistaken- cultural policies must also be taken into Kakuei visited Indonesia in 1974, mas- ly believe they can leapfrog to the man- account. In 1990, when the Japanese sive anti-Japan riots broke out in ufacture of high-tech products.” Such department store Sogo expanded to Jakarta, which stunned the Japanese gap in perceptions about technology Jakarta through a joint venture with people. It was later revealed that the will take a long time to bridge. Yet, in local partners, the company got mixed violence was at least partly orchestrated recent years, Japanese manufacturers signals from the Indonesian authorities by figures engaged in power struggles have positively appraised Indonesia’s on whether it would be allowed to man- within the Suharto administration, but technological advancements. Toyota is age merchandise-stocking or whether it the incident spurred the Japanese gov- using Indonesia as a base for exports to could use its logo. ernment to go beyond mere economic the Middle East and other regions. Recently, however, changes can be linkages with Southeast Asian countries These developments may gradually help seen. The Gramedia Group has been like Indonesia by invigorating people- to the perception gap. publishing a monthly compilation mag- to-people exchanges. Fukuda Takeo, The younger generation of azine of Japanese manga comics, such as who succeeded Tanaka, employed the Indonesians, having experienced neither Nakayoshi, Shonen Magazine and Indonesian catchphrase “dari hati ke the Japanese military occupation nor Shonen Sunday for Indonesian readers hati” or “from heart to heart.” the initial influx of Japanese business, since 2003. Behind such changes, aside There has continued to be a deep- show some interest in Japanese pop cul- from the democratization and increased rooted dissatisfaction with the Japanese ture. The animation character freedom for publishing that followed for their seeming reluctance to embrace Doraemon, the TV drama series Oshin the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998, their fellow Asians. Japan has long been and pop singer Utada Hikaru are famil- is the popularization of the Internet. showered with criticism that it merely iar here, for example. At a Japanese-language debate contest seeks cheap labor and is unenthusiastic Compared with countries like held in Jakarta in March this year, 15- about technology transfers. Singapore and Thailand, however, the year-old high school student Kinarti Abdulgani put it this way, “Japan influence of Japanese culture has not Fitri Asli remarked, “I wanted to learn should give us opportunities to learn been all that conspicuous. One factor Japanese after I came across a Japanese modern technology. But Japan is not may be that 80% of Indonesians are animation by searching the Internet.” open to us. The door is not widely Muslims (a very moderate and flexible open. I understand that maybe strain of Islam for the most part, with Japanese must think about their safety, keen interest in the cultures of advanced Kamimura Jun is chief of the Jakarta Bureau but...” countries). Long years of strict regula- of Kyodo News. On the other hand, many Japanese tions on foreign investment in the ser- JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • July / August 2005 27.