The Foreign Service Journal, March 2003

the young Powell fought in a jungle- like society, not only in the mean streets of New York, but also in the Army. He survived the Vietnam War as a young officer, and experienced several other wars fought by America, including the brief 1989 Panama conflict and the 1991 Persian Gulf War. While most people in developed countries have been liv- ing in a peaceful and comfortable modern world, Powell has seen life in some of the most dangerous, anarchic parts of the globe. These experiences entitle him, I believe, to be called a samurai-warrior. Third, consider Powell’s personal way of life and his attitudes toward it. Contrary to popular American belief, the samurai is not a gory killer-warrior. On the contrary, he embodies the aggregate of values called Bushido, which constitute a way of life. The first time I read the Washington Post piece by Bob Woodward last November about “Powell in the Icebox,” an excerpt from his book, Bush at War , I was immediately struck by a sense of familiarity. The story described the sec- retary of State as not being able to square his relation- ship with the president. Responding to his deputy, Richard Armitage, who prodded him to request a pri- vate meeting with the president as other principals did, Powell reportedly said that if President Bush wanted to see him, he was always available. He also said that he saw the president all the time at meetings, where he was able to express his views. This is a typical samurai attitude, which the Japanese treasure. Seeking a private meeting with your boss without being asked is not graceful, at least in the Japanese culture. If you have something to say to your boss, you must be able to say it, whether in public or private. So why not in public? Powell’s attitude also reflects another trait highly valued in Bushido: tacitur- nity combined with stoicism. I am sure many of my compatriots were struck with the sense I felt when they read that excerpt from Woodward’s book: here is a “real man.” Another aspect of Powellian Bushido is his reluctance to be a war- rior. It was well-known that he was hesitant to go into the Persian Gulf War in 1991 when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. I repeat, the samurai is not a bloodthirsty war- rior. He may kill but only when he needs to do so to save a life — or something more precious than life, such as honor. Being a reluctant warrior is quite samurai-like. Principled Stands Related to this is a strong sense of duty, which is also very important in the Bushido value system. It is obvi- ous that Powell sees his role as the top United States diplomat who helps sort out international conflicts, no matter how difficult they are, through peaceful means. He seems to believe that even hinting at the use of force would be “undiplomatic” and therefore inappro- priate, though he has to do so from time to time. Some say, “once a soldier, always a soldier.” But his credo as secretary of State could very well be, “no matter how long I was a soldier before, as a diplomat, my diplo- matic mission must be accomplished.” For these reasons among others, Secretary Powell appeals to the traditional sense of values, which is a sort of aesthetic mannerism, held dear by the Japanese people. The more he is besieged in internal debates of the administration by the so-called hard-liners — or “sharks,” as some call them — the more Powell gains the empathy of the Japanese. As the film makes clear, samurai are often doomed to be losers, and the Japanese see beauty in the samurai’s principled defeat. Nor are such debates limited to international ques- tions. We also saw how principled Powell was in his recently expressed views on the issue of the University of Michigan’s affirmative action practices, even though his point of view did not prevail within the administration. Being a dyed-in-the-wool Japanese conservative, I feel this conservative administration is full of revo- lutionaries or revolutionaries-turned-conservatives, not true conservatives. Revolutionaries are vocal while conservatives are taciturn. Revolutionaries love to see blood while conservatives hate it. For me, F O C U S M A R C H 2 0 0 3 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 45 Powell’s attitude reflects a trait highly valued in Bushido: taciturnity combined with stoicism. Hiro Aida is the Washington bureau chief of Japan’s Kyodo News and author of the book Who Starts War?: The Gulf War and The U.S. Congress (in Japanese; Kodansha, 1994).