'Individual acts' a fig leaf to cover Japan's responsibility evasion

Editor's note: Zhou Xin is an observer on international affairs, focusing on the Asia-Pacific region. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.

Recently, two news reports involving active-duty officers of the Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) attracted widespread attention.

The first case involves Kodai Murata, a second lieutenant in Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), who illegally broke into the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo, armed with a 31-centimeter-long knife. He was rearrested on April 14 on suspicion of violating Japan's Firearms and Swords Control Law.

During police questioning, Murata claimed he had received divine instructions in his dreams, telling him to stop China from making tough diplomatic statements. However, Japanese authorities described his action as an isolated one, and stated that his motive was being investigated.

The second case concerns Mai Tsugumi of the GSDF Central Band. Invited to attend a convention hosted by the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, she came in her official uniform and led the attendees in singing the Japanese national anthem.

This act is widely deemed a breach of the SDF Law, which prohibits SDF personnel from engaging in political activities beyond electoral participation. It has drawn sharp criticism from opposition parties and the Japanese public, who say it undermines the SDF's political neutrality and exposes its manipulation by the ruling party.

Japan's prime minister, defense minister and senior SDF officials have all attempted to downplay the incident, claiming that she participated in a private capacity.

Though seemingly isolated, the two cases point to the same inconvenient truth: rampant mismanagement and a loss of discipline within the SDF. Japanese authorities habitually tolerate misconduct, brushing off serious incidents as mere individual acts once a crisis erupts.

Murata, an active-duty SDF officer, was able to abandon his post, obtain a lethal weapon and sneak into a foreign embassy. Japanese netizens expressed alarm, questioning how such a person could have been recruited at all. Many described the case as deeply unsettling.

Some Japanese netizens also revealed that the suspect's extremist views were fueled and radicalized by far-right rhetoric, and the SDF is clearly guilty of dereliction of duty in this regard.

The Tsugumi controversy has further punctured the Japanese authorities' hypocritical rhetoric. Masayoshi Arai, GSDF chief of staff, admitted he was aware that the SDF official attended a political party's event in uniform. If an incident like this can be dismissed as a private act, then nothing is indefensible.

The excuse of "individual acts" has long served as a convenient shield for the Japanese authorities to contain controversies and evade accountability, crafting a self-serving narrative of "individual wrongdoing, legal punishment and that's it." On the surface, this appears to be an attempt to extricate themselves from diplomatic and public backlash, but at its core lies an institutional haven for right-wing extremism.

Two cases in Japan's modern history serve as prime examples. One is the May 15 Incident in 1932, when a Japanese navy lieutenant, along with cadets from the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, stormed the prime minister's official residence and assassinated him. The other is the February 26 Incident in 1936, when junior officers of the army's Kodoha faction led soldiers to attempt a coup. However, Japanese authorities dismissed both events as "individual radical acts" by lower-ranking officers.

Faced with such egregious conduct, the Japanese authorities chose ambiguity and indulgence. Even when they claimed to conduct thorough investigations, the result invariably downplayed major offenses and whitewashed minor ones. Such unscrupulous cover-ups fueled the continuous expansion of extremist forces in Japan, dragging the entire nation into the abyss of militarism, and bringing devastating war in the region.

Some from the Japanese right-wing circles have brazenly come to the defense of the recent intrusion into the Chinese Embassy. They have urged the Japanese government to take a hard line against China, claim that "the embassy intrusion was an individual act for which the state should not be held accountable" and "there is no need to grovel and apologize to China." These remarks reveal the arrogance and bigotry of Japan's right-wing forces.

According to statements from the Chinese Embassy in Japan, the diplomatic mission suffered three terrorist threats within a single month, with all perpetrators confirmed or claimed to be affiliated with the SDF.

For decades, the SDF has been plagued by scandals. At the Ebino garrison in southern Japan alone, where Murata is stationed, multiple crimes have been committed by SDF personnel, including assault, theft and child indecency. In February, mortar firing drills conducted by troops from the same garrison at the Kirishima Training Range triggered a severe wildfire. Multiple helicopters had to be dispatched from the neighboring prefectures of Kagoshima, Miyazaki and Oita were to contain the blaze.

Most recently, an ammunition explosion during tank firing exercises at the Hijudai Maneuver Area in Oita Prefecture in southern Japan left several SDF personnel dead and injured. These incidents demonstrate systemic mismanagement and pervasive safety failures within the SDF, a crisis underscored by the Japanese prime minister and defense minister's repeated pledges to strengthen internal safety governance.

Despite the rise of right-wing ideology and persistent chaos within the SDF, Japanese authorities have to this day refused to confront these problems and make timely corrections. Such evasive behavior cannot conceal the deep-seated crises of systemic dysfunction and the spread of extremist ideology within the SDF. Still less does it mask its true agenda: condoning right-wing forces and accelerating military rearmament.

However, the rational voices within Japanese society are calling on their government to take responsibility and issue a sincere apology to China. For a nation that professes its commitment to the rule of law, the Japanese government now faces scrutiny from the Chinese public and the international community over whether it will fulfill its obligations under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

It is high time the Japanese authorities abandon the self-deceptive rhetoric of "individual acts." Continued obfuscation will not only make Japan an international laughingstock and tarnish its national image but also embolden extremist and dangerous conduct, leading to far more serious consequences.

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