Yukio okamoto biography

It was almost midnight on May 7 when a parliamentarian friend abruptly called to say that Okamoto had reportedly lost his life to COVID It was one of the saddest and longest nights in my life. For those who may not know of Okamoto, he was a Japanese foreign service officer who served as an adviser to Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto in the s and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in the s.

It is gratifying to know that many have written so many good things about him. A New York Times reporter wrote a beautiful obituary for him. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right. With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories.

However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page. Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. Okamoto was never satisfied with the promised life of a Japanese bureaucrat. On the contrary, he had been contemplating resigning for years. When he wrote a note of resignation in the fall of , I was the witness.

He just wanted to prove that he lived his own life in his own way. Was he a national security hawk? Yes and no. Yes, he always challenged Japan's postwar legacy of what I call "Utopian Pacifism. Although he was a champion of conservatism in national security affairs, Okamoto was not always conservative enough on such sensitive issues as Yasukuni Shrine, "comfort women" or history.

Soon after he left government, he warned about the rise of right-wing nationalism in Japan. In a New York Times interview on March 17, , Okamoto expressed his concern about Japan's shift to the right and said, "If you overdo it, it will be very easy to swing to the other side. What was his greatest achievement? One of his greatest achievements is that he paved the way for empowering the prime minister's office in the field of foreign policy.

He was probably the first former bureaucrat to become a political appointee and coordinate external affairs for the prime minister. This eventually led to the creation of National Security Council in In retrospect, Okamoto was a true patriot who, as his friends in Washington wisely recalled, was "a diplomat who always did his best for his nation.

He was interested in China, Korea, the Middle East and many other regions and nations. He also authored articles, books, and op-eds, including in the New York Times. Richard Armitage described Okamoto as the giant of the relationship between Japan and the US, Joseph Nye made the comment that Yukio Okamoto was personally his good friend and an advocate of the relationship between Japan and the US and James Auer , [ 7 ] professor at Vanderbilt University and recipient of the Order of the Rising Sun , Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, told that Okamoto was an intelligent and elegant person.

Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools.

Yukio okamoto biography

Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikimedia Commons Wikidata item. Japanese political pundit. Biography [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Ties, Dies at 74". The New York Times.