President Trump’s meeting with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House was the talk of Japan on Friday. But the focus wasn’t just on investment deals and geopolitics: It was on Mr. Trump’s Pearl Harbor joke.
In the Oval Office on Thursday, the president made the crack while explaining why he did not give Japan advance notice of the attack on Iran.
“We wanted surprise,” he said, with Ms. Takaichi seated next to him. “Who knows better about surprise than Japan, OK? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor, OK? Right?”
There was scattered laughter in the crowd of officials and journalists. Ms. Takaichi widened her eyes and looked in the direction of the Japanese reporter who asked the question. She did not speak, sitting with her arms crossed.
Many Japanese scholars, politicians and commentators were aghast. Some criticized Mr. Trump, saying he should not have revived a painful World War II chapter so casually. Others directed their anger at Ms. Takaichi, saying she should have spoken up. Still others said they were concerned that it might harm relations between Japan and the United States.
Toru Tamagawa, a commentator for the broadcaster TV Asahi, said on a morning show that the comment showed “an unpleasant side of President Trump.”
“He doesn’t care at all that the Japanese prime minister is sitting next to him,” he said.
Izuru Makihara, a professor of Japanese politics at the University of Tokyo, said in an interview that many Japanese would probably shrug off the joke, seeing it as just another over-the-top remark by Mr. Trump.
But he added: “This is something that absolutely shouldn’t be said. He might start saying things like, ‘Hiroshima and Nagasaki were fine, weren’t they?’ For Japanese people, we can’t accept that.”
In Japan, the perception of the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, which led the United States into World War II, is complicated. Some nationalists and older generations of Japanese still defend the assault as a necessary response to diplomatic bullying by the United States, describing the war as unavoidable.
In the postwar era, when Japan officially adopted pacifism, there was more criticism of the attack. Still, interest in Pearl Harbor has waned among younger Japanese, who see the episode as remote and irrelevant, or are unaware.
Mr. Trump’s remark surprised many people in Japan, who had grown accustomed to American presidents avoiding harsh discussion of Pearl Harbor. His predecessors have instead focused on deepening ties with Japan, America’s ally since the end of World War II.
Ms. Takaichi, who worked hard during the visit to stay on Mr. Trump’s good side, drew criticism for not saying something about the joke — and for her attempts to curry favor with the president. At dinner on Thursday, she complimented Mr. Trump’s looks. And earlier in the day, she told him, “I firmly believe it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace across the world.”
Hitoshi Tanaka, a former diplomat, wrote on X that Ms. Takaichi’s approach was “bizarre and embarrassing.”
“It’s a relationship between heads of state,” he wrote. “While some flattery is fine, if it’s overdone, it ends up repulsing the onlookers.”
Commenters found fault not just with Mr. Trump and Ms. Takaichi, but with the Japanese television journalist who asked the question of Mr. Trump. Ms. Takaichi also seemed unhappy with the reporter when she looked his way.
The prime minister and her office have not commented on the episode. Some said they felt sympathy for Ms. Takaichi.
“The Pearl Harbor incident was not the kind of thing that could be countered on the spot,” Shiori Yamao, a former lawmaker, wrote on Facebook. “Her calm attitude of letting it be said was also correct.”
Javier C. Hernández is the Tokyo bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Japan and the region. He has reported from Asia for much of the past decade, previously serving as China correspondent in Beijing.
The post In Japan, Trump’s Pearl Harbor Joke Elicits Scorn and Dismay appeared first on New York Times.
