To promote national interest in diplomacy, it is essential to set goals, establish basic policies to achieve them and work out overall strategies, while keeping in mind the links between individual goals and between those of nations and regions. However, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi lacks such strategies. He needs to restructure Japan's diplomacy toward Asia from a global perspective.
Conspicuous among diplomatic problems Koizumi faces are Sino-Japanese relations aggravated by his visits to Yasukuni Shrine. He must distinguish his visits to the shrine, which honors the nation's war dead, from the diplomatic problems they are causing. He is no ordinary citizen; he is a prime minister who bears the heaviest political responsibility in Japan.
In 2005, Japan's trade with China is likely to surpass that with the United States. It is clear that Japan and China depend on each other for their prosperity. Nevertheless, Sino-Japanese relations are very chilly. Japanese and Chinese leaders have not reciprocated official visits, holding occasional summits on the sidelines of international conferences in other countries.