Newswise — Naoki Sakai, professor of Comparative Literature and Asian Studies at Cornell University is available to comment on President Obama’s historic trip to Hiroshima, a symbol of the Japanese – and global – peace movement.
Bio: http://lrc.cornell.edu/asian/faculty/bios/sakai
Sakai says:
“Does Obama’s visit to Hiroshima signify the change of the long-held U.S. policy towards Japan’s Peace Constitution? I do not think so, but neither do I believe that Obama is endorsing Abe Shinzo’s attempt to change the Constitution in view of the international situation in the Western Pacific.
“Since the beginning of the anti-nuclear movement in the 1950s in Japan, the city of Hiroshima – together with Nagasaki – has been seen as a symbol of the peace movement.
“How President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima will be received in Japan is not certain since the current Abe administration has declared its aspiration to change the Constitution and abolish Article 9 – which renounces war and forbids Japan from maintaining war potential.
“For the last six decades the U.S. has sought to change article 9, and the Japanese public opinion has been divided between the anti-American pro-constitution and the pro-American anti-constitution campuses.
“By inheriting the legacy of his grandfather and former prime minister Kishi Nobusuke, Abe Shinzo represents the extreme right of the Liberal Democratic Party that has advocated for Japan’s nuclear rearmament and the abolition of the postwar constitutional democracy.”
Cornell University has television, ISDN and dedicated Skype/Google+ Hangout studios available for media interviews.
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