EDITORIAL / Use pact with U.S. as linchpin to improve ties.

EDITORIAL / Use pact with U.S. as linchpin to improve ties with neighbors

Yomiuri

A little more than three years of administration by the Democratic Party of Japan has knocked Japan's diplomacy into a serious tailspin. How can it get back on course?

This is a task of great importance that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe must address with everything in its power.

Abe is scheduled to make a trip to the United States as early as January to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama. The prime minister's visit to Washington appears in line with Abe's belief that strengthening the alliance between Japan and the United States should be the first step toward reconstructing relations with its neighbors, such as China and South Korea.

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama threw the issue of relocating functions of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture off course, causing confusion and disruption in Japan-U.S. ties.

As though availing themselves of the mix-up, China, South Korea and Russia have each tried to knock Japan off balance over territorial problems.

Such is the common perception among people concerned with diplomatic issues regarding Japan's …