Photo/Illutration Yaeko Nogami (Provided by the Literary Museum of Karuizawa)

“I would like to make just one wish,” wrote author Yaeko Nogami (1885-1985) at the start of 1937 in her contribution to The Tokyo Asahi Shimbun.

She went on to state that she didn’t care if the year ahead brought a bumper crop or a crop failure, nor would she mind a major earthquake or violent volcanic eruption occurring in the nation.

“I’d be fine with a double-whammy pandemic of cholera and pest,” she continued. “But please, just spare us from war.”

Perhaps she had a premonition of war. But her wish did not come true, and the Marco Polo (also known as the Lugou) Bridge Incident of July that year led to the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Opening the final edition of the Jan. 4 morning issue of The Asahi Shimbun yesterday, my heart skipped a beat when I saw this headline that read like a New Year’s resolution: “U.S., Britain, France, China and Russia avert nuclear war.”

According to the story, the five nuclear-armed nations issued a joint statement to the effect that it was their “foremost responsibilities” to avoid a war among themselves.

The statement had been issued in advance of talks to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. As such, it apparently had nothing to do with a New Year’s resolution or wish.

But around the world, there are ominous flash points.

For one, Russian troops welcomed the new year while massed near the Ukrainian border.

The United States reportedly told Ukraine that it would “respond decisively” in the event of a Russian invasion.

And a high-ranking U.S. government official has started to openly express alarm over the possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

Every armed clash, no matter how minor, is a nightmare when it involves nuclear-armed nations.

The Marco Polo Bridge Incident, too, was of small scale in itself. Diplomatic efforts were made to resolve the conflict, but they failed to stop it from escalating into a full-fledged war.

In any era, only the power of diplomacy can fulfill the wish of “anything but war.”

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 5

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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