Okazaki Kaheita’s Activities And Reflections On China

After the founding of New China,the Western camp,led by the United States,adopted a hostile and encircling policy towards China,and Japan,as a member of the Western camp,also followed the U.S.policy toward China.Although the Japanese government has not recognized the PRC government for about 20 years,people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan have been ongoing.The people-to-people exchanges between China and Japan have not only promoted the exchange of economy and culture,but also promoted the political contacts between the two sides.Among the important persons who promoted the exchanges between China and Japan,Okazaki Kaheita with his unique vision,unremitting efforts and extraordinary contributions has left a glorious chapter in the history of Sino-Japanese relations,who was praised by the Premier Zhou Enlai as one of "the well diggers" of the Sino-Japanese relations.Okazaki Kaheita was a financial personage who had acquired a certain social status before the Second World War and had experienced the invasion of China.It is an interesting question why,after the war,he has made some positive efforts to promote Sino-Japanese exchanges and even the establishment of diplomatic ties with China and Japan.This paper tries to make full use of the existing materials about Okazaki Kaheita,and to organize his main activities to China,to explore his thinking behind these activities.Although Okazaki Kaheita was born before World War II,he was less influenced by militarism,and he believed that a simple colonial expansion could not achieve the interests of Japan.He believed that Japan was destined to live with Asian countries,Japan couldn’t enjoy peace and prosperity on its own,but must work with East Asian countries to progress together.At the same time,he deeply understood the pain caused by Japan’s foreign invasion and expansion to its neighboring countries.Therefore,he advocated that Japan and the East Asian countries should not be taken lightly by the Japanese-American relationship.He is not only to promote China-Japan relations,but also hands-on,personal participation.The Sino-Japanese folk communication channel,represented by Okazaki Kaheita,not only provides an important channel for economic and cultural exchanges and political contacts between the two countries,but also provides an important window for the understanding between China and the West.And in Okazaki Kaheita ’s old age,he seems to have seen some of the worries of Sino-Japanese relations.