Yukio Hatoyama

Yukio Hatoyama was the first Democratic Prime Minister in modern Japan. Yukio Hatoyama pursued a foreign policy centered around Asia, committed to establishing more friendly relations with neighboring East Asian countries. He is also committed to deepening economic integration in East Asia, encouraging the establishment of a free trade zone by 2020, and proposing to use Haneda Airport as a 24-hour international flight hub. China Japan relations have also heated up under the efforts of Yukio Hatoyama. The Daily News reported that the two countries held high-level discussions on further mutual visits to promote reconciliation on historical issues. China aims to alleviate anti Japanese sentiment among the Chinese public. Yukio Hatoyama apologized for the crimes committed by Japanese soldiers during his visit to Nanjing during the Sino Japanese War. Yukio Hatoyama has promised to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. He stated that compared to 1990, the target of reducing emissions by 25% will be achieved by 2020, which is the most ambitious emission reduction goal set by all industrialized countries. His speech was widely welcomed at the United Nations, highlighting his leadership role in climate change. Although he served as Prime Minister for less than a year, he had already achieved remarkable results when he left. The first principle of governance is friendly diplomacy. Hatoyama advocates that diplomacy should consider how to build relationships and enable countries with different values to achieve coexistence, mutual prosperity, and self-reliance. Secondly, amend the Constitution. Hatoyama is an active constitutional revisionist. He believes that the constitutional provisions deviate from political reality, depriving Japan of its realistic political choices, and losing the trust of the international community. Therefore, it is necessary to redefine the constitution in the new international environment. Thirdly, regarding the issue of Japanese war crimes, from 1999 to 2006, Hatoyama, along with members of the Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party, proposed the bill to establish the Permanent Peace Investigation Bureau four times in parliament, but all three times became invalid. To promote the bill, Hatoyama also led the establishment of a cross party parliamentary alliance. This bill requires the establishment of a permanent peace investigation bureau at the National Library of Congress to investigate the war crimes committed by Japan from the July 7th Incident to the surrender and defeat. Fourthly, regarding the issue of the Yasukuni Shrine, Hatoyama has always opposed the Prime Minister's visit to the shrine. Prior to the 2009 election, he once again made it clear that if he became the Prime Minister, he would never visit the shrine and would also constrain the visits of his colleagues. Yukio Hatoyama emphasized Japan's right to military self-defense, while criticizing Japan's current foreign policy for overly relying on Western allies such as the United States. Hatoyama Yukio once stated that although the Japan US security treaty remains the cornerstone of Japan's foreign policy, Japan cannot forget that it is located in Asia and must be committed to consolidating economic cooperation and security in the region. From January 15th to 18th, 2013, he visited China in his personal capacity and visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall, becoming the third Japanese politician to visit the museum. He also apologized twice for the atrocities committed by the Japanese army against China. He stated that he had visited the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall and personally faced numerous historical facts. From photos, he saw the Japanese army killing innocent civilians in the city and also read how the Japanese media praised these atrocities at that time. He said that as a Japanese civilian, I would like to express my apologies again. He believes that,