The EconomistJune 27th 2020 Asia 292
Banyan Sudden onsen
B
ack in february, when covid-19 was
raging in China, a young girl in Japan
took Chinese social media by storm.
Dressed in a traditional Chinese cheong-
sam, she stood on the streets of her
hometown bowing to passers-by to
solicit donations for the afflicted. Calli-
graphers, too, knelt in Tokyo, inkbrush in
hand, writing prayers for the people of
Wuhan. Consignments of face masks
made their way from Japan to China with
poems on the box: “Though separated by
mountains and waters, we look at the
same sky.”
To any scholar of East Asia’s classical
history, such acts have context. Japan
and China share an extraordinarily long
interaction. The Japanese language had
no written form until Chinese characters
were imported over 1,500 years ago.
Kyoto, Japan’s cultural heart, was laid out
in emulation of the Tang dynasty capital
of Chang’an (modern-day Xi’an). Japan-
ese monks and scholars helped bring
from China three religions that played a
big part in shaping Japanese culture:
Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism.
Yet to a student of the two countries’
more recent relations, the Japanese
gestures of sympathy amid the outbreak
and their warm reception in China might
be surprising. Anti-Japanese riots broke
out in China only eight years ago, as a
bellicose leadership issued threats over
Japan’s Senkaku islands, which China
claims. Then, in 2015, China belaboured
Japan’s wartime guilt, to mark the 70th
anniversary of the end of the second
world war. President Xi Jinping snubbed
Japan’s prime minister, Abe Shinzo, after
coming to power in 2012. Mr Abe, for his
part, saw China as an existential threat,
eating Japan’s lunch in economic terms
and challenging its security.
If anything changed, it was the elec-tion of Donald Trump as America’s presi-
dent. His mercurial approach unsettled
not only China, which got lambasted over
trade and more, but also Japan: Mr Trump’s
disdain for alliances undermined the basis
of its security. As an adviser to Mr Abe put
it at the time, China and Japan both recog-
nised they could not fight a war on two
fronts—the Trump front was quite
enough. A rapprochement was inevitable.
Besides, China wanted Japanese invest-
ment, while Japan’s hopes for an economic
revival included more tourists from China.
Last year nearly 10m Chinese flocked to
Ginza’s swanky shops and to the snows
and onsen (hot springs) of Hokkaido. A
modern pilgrimage route leads young
Chinese to the locations that feature in
their favourite anime films. Admittedly,
Japanese hold their noses at breaches of
etiquette—not least, flatulence in the
onsen. But Chinese views of Japan have
been transformed. An opinion poll in
September by the Genron npo, a Japanese
think-tank, found 46% of Chinese had a
favourable opinion of Japan. That is up
from 5% in 2013.Mr Xi defined it as a “new era” in
relations. He was to have come on a state
visit in April (the first by a Chinese leader
since 2008), to be greeted by the new
emperor, Naruhito. Partly to ensure it
went well, the Japanese government was
still welcoming Chinese tourists in late
January, even as the virus raged in Wu-
han. That seeded an outbreak on Hokkai-
do, hastening the spread of covid-19
throughout Japan. When the pandemic
forced Mr Xi’s visit to be postponed, Mr
Abe’s advisers breathed a sigh of relief.
The prime minister was getting flak from
his right wing for hosting a dictator.
The new era has since been losing its
shine. Since April Chinese coastguard
vessels have sharply increased oper-
ations around the Senkakus, with near-
daily visits. And now Hong Kong has
become a thorn in the relationship. In its
strongest language against Japan in
years, China lashed out at criticism of its
plan to impose a draconian security law
in the territory (see China section), even
though Mr Abe had walked a delicate line
by declining to join Australia, Britain,
Canada and the United States in an ad-
monitory joint statement.
Some 1,400 Japanese companies and
26,000 Japanese make Hong Kong their
home. But Japan’s greater concern is
what China might do to Taiwan, its
democratic neighbour and friend. It all
means, for Mr Abe, that domestic politi-
cal constraints will grow, too. Already,
ordinary folk increasingly fault China for
Japan’s epidemic. And, crucially, they
remain suspicious of China’s intentions.
The same Genron npopoll found that the
proportion of Japanese with an unfa-
vourable opinion of China had remained
at 85%. Bet on Mr Xi’s state visit never
happening. Don’t count on the new era
lasting either.The supposed new era in relations between Japan and China is already fadingweekends in summer on the road, taking
his bulls to competitions.
The covid-19 pandemic has put a stop to
that. Excitable crowds in stadiums present
too much of an infection risk, whether they
are watching baseball or bullfights. At pre-
sent, fans are stuck with video reruns of
past fights. Mr Lee pulls one up on the asso-
ciation’s office computer. Damduck, one of
his bulls, headbutts his opponent into sub-
mission in a few seconds. “He has won
countless fights—he’s a very good fighter,”
Mr Lee says proudly.
It is unclear when Damduck will next beable to fight. Jinju’s bullfighting stadium is
in dire need of refurbishment. The local
government has in principle decided to put
up the cash, but has not set a date for work
to begin. The pandemic will probably not
accelerate things. What is more, some
members of the local assembly have begun
to ask whether the fights are cruel, much to
the dismay of Mr Lee. “We would do any-
thing for our bulls, we don’t abuse them,”
he says. Critics attack not just the fights
themselves, which occasionally result in
injuries to the bulls, but also the training
regimen, which is rumoured to involveforcing bulls to drag car tyres uphill and
feeding them soju, a local spirit. (Mr Lee
says his bulls eat only nutritious home-
made porridge.)
Huh Jeong-lim of the local culture com-
mittee says no decision has been reached
on how to resolve the conflict between ani-
mal-rights activists and bull owners. “It
will be a long-term discussion,” she says.
Mr Lee, for his part, hopes the fights will
pick up again once the pandemic is at bay.
“It puts you on the edge of your seat watch-
ing them butt heads,” he says. “It’s just a
fight—everybody loves a fight.” 7