Joshi No Honkai, (A Woman’s Great Satisfaction)
Review by Fumiko Halloran
Prime Minister Abe appointed Yuriko Koike as Defence Minister in the summer of 2007, a bold move in naming a woman to head a ministry of 260,000 officials and military personnel. Koike’s book describes what she did, who she met, and what she discussed with Japanese and foreign defence professionals in her two month-tenure. She resigned ostensibly to take ritual responsibility for scandals within the ministry, including security breaches of classified information. It was widely believed at the time, however, that she was ousted for forcing the resignation of a powerful vice minister, Takemasa Moriya, who resisted her authority. She denies this speculation in her book, revealing that it was she who resigned as Prime Minister Abe tried to persuade her to stay on. Moriya later was tried on charges of corruption. Prime Minister Abe replaced Koike with Shigeru Ishiba.
During her short tenure, Koike visited Washington and met with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates, Marine General Peter Pace who was the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Director of National Intelligence J.M. (Mike) McConnell, Special Assistant to the president Stephen Hadley, and other present and former top officials. The focus of their discussions was the realignment of American forces in Asia, the pending extension of Japanese laws against terrorist threats that would enable Japan’s Maritime Defence Forces to continue operations in the Indian Ocean, and the Japanese defence ministry’s measures to prevent security breaches.
She then visited Pakistan, meeting with President Musharaf and senior defence and foreign ministry officials. All urged Japan to extend Maritime Defence Force operations in the Indian Ocean. Moving to India, she met with the defence minister, chiefs of the army, navy and the air force, and the national security advisor to discuss further cooperation in defence technology and defence of the sea lanes. Back in Tokyo, she said half jokingly in her farewell statement that “I shall return,” a quote from Gen. Douglas MacArthur.
Yuriko Koike is potentially Japan’s first woman prime minister, although professional political observers tend to dismiss that possibility. She has navigated the treacherous political map by frequently changing her party affiliation, earning a nickname the migrant bird. Her background also defies the conventional wisdom.
She grew up in a family steeped in the Middle East and the oil business as her father ran a trading company engaged in importing oil. Her father often talked about Japan’s vulnerability in natural resources and Japan’s need for an energy strategy. After graduating from high school in Ashiya, she dropped out of Kansei Gakuin University, moved to Egypt and enrolled in Cairo American University to study English, then enrolled in National Cairo University, where she studied Arabic, and graduated with a social science degree. While in Cairo, she witnessed the Yom Kippur War in 1973 that triggered an oil crisis.
Returning to Japan, she became a television news commentator at Nippon Television and TBS. Her scoops included interviews with Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Muammar al-Gaddafi, leader of Libya. In 1992, she was elected to the House of Councillors and later to the House of Representatives from a Hyogo district. In 2002, she joined the LDP and Prime Minister Koizumi appointed her as Minister of the Environment. She also served as Minister in charge of Okinawa and the Northern Territories, as special assistant to Prime Minister Abe on national security, and as Minister of Defence in the Abe cabinet.