The all-powerful United States demands that Japan do something equivalent to breaking its own national law.

Giving in to the pressure would invariably result in a deep crack developing within Japan. But rejecting the demand is just as tricky, as there is no knowing how the United States would react.

What to do?

That was the sort of catch-22 predicament that the Tokugawa Shogunate found itself in 1853, when the Black Ships, led by Matthew C. Perry (1794-1858) of the U.S. Navy, showed up near the capital city of Edo (present-day Tokyo).

I was thinking about that yesterday while awaiting the Japan-U.S. summit footage that was to be broadcast live from across the Pacific.

Only about the first 30-minute segment of the summit was released. And to be frank, I was somewhat relieved.

I had been worried, ever since hearing about the cancellation of the scheduled working lunch, that President Donald Trump would put the screws on Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to send Japanese armed vessels to the Strait of Hormuz.

To my surprise, however, Trump praised Tokyo, saying it was “stepping up to the plate” on Iran, “unlike NATO.”

Perhaps Japan’s “generous gift” of a 11-trillion-yen ($69 billion) project to build small modular nuclear reactors and other facilities in the United States has done the trick.

But let us not forget that we are dealing with an individual who has zero qualms about insisting that something is “black,” just one day after calling it “white.”

It would be way too premature to assume that Japan is now off the hook.

In “The Devil’s Dictionary,” U.S. author Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914) famously defines diplomacy as “the patriotic art of lying for one’s country.”

I would like to think that Takaichi was practicing this very art when she declared to the effect that “only Donald can bring peace and prosperity to the world.”

But I refrain from commenting on its appropriateness.

The Takaichi-Trump summit had the attention of the world. And so far, Takaichi has stuck rigidly to her stance of not saying anything negative about the U.S. war against Iran.

Is Japan coming across to the international community as shamelessly fawning on Trump, and are we Japanese being pitied by the rest of the world? It would be unbearable, if that were the case.

–The Asahi Shimbun, March 21

Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.