NEWS ANALYSIS : In U.S., Hashimoto Trades In Tough Image for One of Global Statesman

There were no signs of the sword-wielding, tough-talking trade negotiator many expected to see when Ryutaro Hashimoto flew into Los Angeles for his debut on the world stage.

Instead, the new Japanese prime minister used his weekend visit to unveil a much different persona--that of global statesman.

In his brief public appearances, Hashimoto played the role of the gracious diplomat, stressing the geopolitical and the positive and avoiding talk about the specific, except where it demonstrated the strength of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the important role Japan hopes to play abroad.

Gone was the hawk who once argued that it was “a delicate issue whether or not [Japan’s role in World War II] was aggression.” Gone was the arrogant raconteur who once chided U.S. Trade Representative Mickey Kantor for being even more aggressive than his “wife when I get home drunk.” Gone was the man who once met U.S. trade negotiators attired in green leather.

Hello prime minister.

During Hashimoto’s less-than-24-hour stay, he squeezed in a private chat with the leaders of the Japanese American and Japanese business communities, held a cordial one-hour meeting with President Clinton in Santa Monica and used a half-hour press conference to heap praise on the president and the United States’ handling of volatile situations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Korean peninsula and the Taiwan Strait.

By fleeing the economic doom and gloom that has plagued his administration since he took office last January, Hashimoto was able to quickly position himself as a senior statesman who could emerge from a brief meeting with a U.S. president on a first-name basis.

This establishment of a “Bill and Ryu” relationship--echoing back to the “Ron and Yasu” friendship cultivated by former President Ronald Reagan and former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone--was exactly what Hashimoto was seeking when he asked for this brief meeting in advance of a formal summit between the two men in Tokyo set for April 16-18.

To that end, the meeting at the Sheraton Miramar Hotel was a masterful production that allowed both politicians to walk away with a win for the home team while attempting to defuse some of the tensions that could mar next month’s meeting.

For Clinton, Friday’s visit to the Southland provided an opportunity to highlight improvements in the U.S.-Japan trade picture and to launch a pointed attack on Republican presidential candidate Patrick J. Buchanan’s criticism of U.S. trade policy and Japan.

Clinton did that with an impassioned speech at the McDonnell Douglas plant in Long Beach, where he told cheering workers that their future depended on “trade that is free and fair so everybody has a chance to grow in the global economy.”

Hashimoto, on the other hand, emerged from the meeting with something to appease unhappy voters back home, especially those on Okinawa, where resentment of the U.S. military boiled over last fall after three U.S. servicemen were charged with the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl.

The Japanese prime minister made it clear that his main agenda Friday was making sure the United States understood the need to address Okinawa’s concerns that it had borne too large a share of the military burden. Although he stopped short of saying that Clinton had agreed to significantly reduce the size of the U.S. military force on Okinawa, Hashimoto expressed confidence that the U.S. government is ready to tackle this issue in the continuing talks about the reduction or redeployment of U.S. military forces in Japan. The two leaders are scheduled to sign a security document addressing this issue during the April summit.

Hashimoto may be best-known to Americans for beating the nationalism drum loudly during last summer’s auto talks, but there were no signs of Japanese flag-waving during Friday’s visit. Instead, the prime minister took every opportunity to praise his U.S. counterpart, and he brushed aside all references to issues still on the table.

He said the two men did not discuss in detail the most contentious of those: the renewal of a controversial U.S.-Japan semiconductor agreement that expires July 31, and a pending complaint by the Eastman Kodak Co. accusing Fuji Film and the Japanese government of freezing the American film giant out of the Japanese market.

The Japanese government has labeled the semiconductor agreement, which was designed to expand the market share in Japan of foreign companies, an unwelcome symbol of managed trade. Particularly offensive is the notion that the Japanese won’t play fair unless they are under the close supervision of the United States.

“This is a kind of original sin from which we cannot ever free ourselves,” Yoshio Ichiryu, a top official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, said recently. “That is why our position remains [that] there is absolutely no need for an extension of this agreement.”

But Hashimoto’s contention Friday that these economic issues should be addressed separately and not allowed to “undermine the bilateral relationship” could point to a political compromise in the making. Until this meeting, the Japanese government had refused to even have talks with the United States on the semiconductor agreement and the Kodak complaint.

Under one scenario, the Clinton administration would agree to reduce its presence on Okinawa--possibly through the transfer of troops to Hokkaido in northern Japan or to Hawaii. During the meeting, Hashimoto mentioned the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station on Okinawa as a possible candidate. In exchange, the Japanese government would agree to a face-saving compromise on a high-profile trade issue, such as the semiconductor agreement, that would give the U.S. government an election-year boost.

“We might see some cross-linkages between our economic agenda and the security dimension . . . if Hashimoto is willing to deal something on the economic side in exchange for American flexibility on the security side,” explained Mike Mochizuki, a Japan specialist at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington.

As a seasoned politician, Hashimoto is familiar with compromise and reincarnation.

In his 33-year-political career, he has held a number of top government positions, including minister of health and welfare, of transport and of finance. He was forced to resign the finance minister’s post in 1991 after he got caught up in a major banking scandal.

One of Hashimoto’s toughest tasks upon his return to Japan will be to rally the public behind a widely criticized bailout of Japan’s debt-ridden banking system. He is also under mounting pressure to call a national election.

The kindler, gentler Hashimoto was on view during his brief meeting Friday with the Japanese American community, where he expressed his feelings of regret for the suffering experienced by Japanese Americans who were accused of disloyalty and interned during World War II.

Minoru Tonai, president of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center, said the personable man he met at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel did not match his public image.

“I expected an ogre,” he said after the meeting.

Hashimoto’s diplomatic skills were put to the test toward the end of his news conference when a reporter asked what he thought of Republican candidate Buchanan’s protectionist trade policies.

“We hope the American people will make a wise decision,” he responded.