Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's annual visits to Yasukuni Shrine and his surprise visit to Pyongyang in 2002 all reflect a diplomatic decision to defy "gaiatsu," or foreign pressure, a former top diplomat recently reckoned.
Former Deputy Foreign Minister Hitoshi Tanaka, well-known for engineering Koizumi's historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in September 2002, said gaiatsu was a guiding influence in Japan's domestic reforms during the postwar era, leading to more open markets and legislation needed to ensure the nation's security.
But in the past decade, there has been a growing sense that Japan should be making policy decisions at its own discretion, and Koizumi is an adamant advocate of such thought, he said.