The Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy Also by Mayumi Itoh

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The Forgotten Architect of Sino-U.S. Rapprochement

Mayumi Itoh THE ORIGIN OF PING-PONG DIPLOMACY Copyright © Mayumi Itoh, 2011. Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-11813-3 All rights reserved. First published in 2011 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-29812-9 ISBN 978-0-230-33935-4 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230339354 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Itoh, Mayumi, 1954– The origin of ping-pong diplomacy : the forgotten architect of Sino-U.S. rapprochement / Mayumi Itoh. p. cm.

1. United States—Foreign relations—. 2. China—Foreign relations—United States. 3. Goto, Koji—Influence. 4. Diplomats— Japan—Biography. 5. . I. Title. E183.8.C5I76 2011 327.73051—dc22 2011007027 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, . First edition: August 2011 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 In memory of Gotō Kōji, Marius B. Jansen, and Chalmers A. Johnson, who contributed to the understanding of China and Japan

CONTENTS

List of Photographs ix Note on the Text xi Acknowledgments xiii List of Abbreviations xv Map xvii Photographs xix

One Introduction 1 Two International Political Background 13 Three Goto Koji and Meiden School 37 Four Goto and Table Tennis 59 Five Goto Makes the Decision 73 Six Goto Goes to China 89 Seven Nagoya World Table Tennis Championships 105 Eight U.S. Response: President Nixon Goes to China 129 Nine Japan’s Response: Prime Minister Tanaka Goes to China 151 Ten Conclusion: Lessons of Ping-Pong Diplomacy 179

Appendices 201 Notes 207 Bibliography 227 Index 237

LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS

1 Goto Takasaburo, Founder of Meiden School xix 2 Goto Koji, First President of Meiden High School and the Aichi Institute of Technology xix 3 Goto Koji with Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako at Japan’s National Sports Festival, Saitama, October 1967 xx 4 Outline of Meeting on Sino-Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Exchanges, February 1971 (in Chinese) xx 5 Outline of Meeting on Sino-Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Exchanges, February 1971 (in Japanese) xxi 6 Thirty-First World Table Tennis Championships, Nagoya, Japan, March–April 1971 xxi 7 Goto Koji (right) with Chinese Team Head Zhao Zhenghong at the Sino-Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Tournaments, Nagoya, April 1971 xxii 8 Goto Koji and His Wife Suzuko at Home, Nagoya, January 1972 xxii

Source: All photographs are courtesy of Goto Yoshiki

NOTE ON THE TEXT

This book uses the modern pinyin system of romanization for Chinese words, with the exception of historical names and direct quotations, as well as terms concerning the Republic of China and , which are given in the Wade-Giles system—for example, Chiang Kai-shek and Kuomintang (KMT). This work uses the Hepburn system for Japanese, with macron; however, macrons are not used for words known in English without macrons, as in Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, and Tokyo. The Revised Romanization of Korean spellings is used for Korean words, with the exception of historical words, which are given in the McCune- Reischauer system. Chinese, Japanese, and Korean names are given with the surname first, except for those who use the reversed order in English. Honorific prefixes, such as doctor, mister, and so on, are not used in the text. Titles for individuals are as of the time in which the event is described in the particular passage of the text, rather than the current ones, unless specified otherwise. All translations were made by the author, in the form of paraphrases, not as direct translations. Citation numbers for sources of information are normally given at the end of each paragraph, instead of at the end of each sentence, in order to enhance smooth reading of the text and also to limit the number of citations.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Among the many people who encouraged me in writing this manu- script, I would like to thank Goto Atsushi, Goto Haruko, Goto Yoshiki, Goto Yasuyuki, and Kubo Yasuo for valuable information. I thank Tsuneo Akaha, Kent E. and Toshiko Calder, Steve Clemons, Gerald L. Curtis, Joshua A. Fogel, Ronald J. Hrebenar, Stephen J. Roddy, and Donald S. Zagoria for their insightful comments on the manuscript and for continuous encouragement. I also thank Daniel Dalet and Goto Yoshiki, for the loan of the rare map and photographs. I would like to extend my appreciation to Farideh Koohi-Kamali and Robyn Curtis, as well as Gregory Rewoldt, Megumi A. Itoh, and Ito Shigeru who kept sending newspaper clippings even after suffering from a stroke, for their generous support.

ABBREVIATIONS

AIT Aichi Institute of Technology ATTF African Table Tennis Federation ATTU Asian Table Tennis Union CIA Central Intelligence Agency CCP Chinese Communist Party CCPIT China Council for the Promotion of International Trade CPAFFC Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries CTTA China Table Tennis Association DPJ Democratic Party of Japan DSP Democratic Socialist Party ETTA English Table Tennis Association GHQ General Headquarters HC House of Councillors HR House of Representatives IJA Imperial Japanese Army IOC International Olympic Committee IRC International Red Cross ITTF International Table Tennis Federation JTTA Japan Table Tennis Association JCP Japanese Communist Party JNR Japan National Railways JRCS Japan Red Cross Society JSP Japan Socialist Party KMT Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) LDP Liberal Democratic Party MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs (China) MITI Ministry of International Trade and Industry MOFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan) xvi Abbreviations

PLA People’s Liberation Army POW Prisoner of War PRC People’s Republic of China ROC Republic of China SCAP Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers TTFA Table Tennis Federation of Asia UK United Kingdom UNF United Nations Forces USLO United States Liaison Office in USTTA United States Table Tennis Association USTTF United States Table Tennis Foundation Map of Related to Ping-Pong Diplomacy, 1971

Source: Constructed by author from blank map of East Asia, courtesy of Daniel Dalet, d-maps.com, http:// d-maps.comcarte.php?lib=east_asia_map&num_car=13355&lang=en.

Photograph 1 Goto Takasaburo, Founder of Meiden School.

Photograph 2 Goto Koji, First President of Meiden High School and the Aichi Institute of Technolog y. Photograph 3 Goto Koji with Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako at Japan’s National Sports Festival, Saitama, October 1967.

Photograph 4 Outline of Meeting on Sino-Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Exchanges, February 1971 (in Chinese). Photograph 5 Outline of Meeting on Sino-Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Exchanges, February 1971 (in Japanese).

Photograph 6 Thirty-First World Table Tennis Championships, Nagoya, Japan, March– April 1971. Photograph 7 Goto Koji (right) with Chinese Team Head Zhao Zhenghong at the Sino- Japanese Table Tennis Friendship Tournaments, Nagoya, April 1971.

Photograph 8 Goto Koji and His Wife Suzuko at Home, Nagoya, January 1972.