Obama and the view from Japan

There has been a lot of talk about the excitement of Democrats and especially Obanma supporters all over America. Oddly enough, there may be even more excitement here in Japan (I am a Hoosier, living in Tokyo, teaching English). The Japanese media has been giving remarkably detailed campaign information to the public but you would swear that there were only two candidates, Sens. Obama and Clinton. The Republicans are seldom mentioned. I have yet to meet a Japanese person who has heard of John McCain, beyond his name and Mike Huckabee is completely unknown.

 Japanese people are also extremely excited about “change”. The Iraq war is extremely unpopular and during the 8 years of the Bush Administration, the view of the US has changed here dramatically, and not for the better. Now, for the first time, people are calling for US troops to leave their bases in Japan. US-Japan relations are at a low point.

  Japanese people also remember the Clinton Administration as a time of Japan-bashing and fear that Sen. Clinton as President might mean more of the same. So, almost unanimously(at least, the ones I have met and talked to), Japanese people are excited about Sen. Obama. They are amazed that a candidate from a minority could even have a chance at election (there are very few minorities here and they are quite marginalized). They are thrilled by the call for change. And while most of them can’t follow the rhetoric (it’s very hard to translate), they can feel the excitement.

But what difference does it make what Japanese people think? They cannot vote, of course. They have a limited perspective and a serious lack of information. Still, for far too long, we have ignored the views of other countries. The President of the United States is, for better or worse, in many ways, still the leader of the free world. Instead of antagonizing the world (a la Bush and McCain) or ignoring the world (a la Sen. Clinton), how about a leader who engages the world, respects the world, has experienced the world outside our shores, is willing and able to talk to the world, able to stand up for America in the world while tackling world problems (global warming, hunger, AIDS, etc.) in tandem with the world, not in opposition to the world. As much as we need bi-partisanship and change in Washington, we need it all the more in our relationships with other countries.