Photo/Illutration The Hudson Institute, a conservative U.S. think tank, asked Shigeru Ishiba and the other Liberal Democratic Party presidential candidates to submit a commentary during the race. (From the website of the Hudson Institute)

Shigeru Ishiba came across as having little new to offer in his inaugural address to the Diet even as he faced a backlash over a commentary he wrote for a U.S. think tank on security policy before becoming prime minister.

For starters, he barely mentioned security issues, his forte since he once held the defense portfolio.

Addressing a plenary session at the Lower House on Oct. 4, Ishiba also omitted mention of his hopes to create an “Asian version” of NATO. Nor did he take up his call, made during his campaign for leadership of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, to revise the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

The only spark of originality in the speech was his reference to convene a special Cabinet meeting to improve the treatment of Self-Defense Forces personnel.

Instead, the emphasis throughout the address was more of the same: meaning a continuation of the Kishida administration’s security policy to increase the “the number of friendly and like-minded countries with the Japan-U.S. alliance as a cornerstone.”

Ishiba kept his view on security issues under wraps after meeting a hostile reaction from Washington as well as from his own foreign and defense ministers.

During the LDP presidential election, there was muttering in the Ishiba camp about his views on security policy. His detractors felt they were too far removed from conventional Japanese government policy and could cause problems if he became prime minister.

In particular, any revision to SOFA would likely deprive the United States of all sorts of privileges, setting the stage for a showdown with Japan’s key ally.

Ishiba is already facing a sharp critique over the commentary he submitted to the Hudson Institute, a conservative U.S. think tank, before the election. The organization had asked each of the nine LDP presidential candidates to share their views on the future of Japan’s foreign policy.

His commentary was published on Sept. 27.

In it, Ishiba even proposed making revisions to the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty as well as SOFA.

Kenneth Weinstein, the Japan chair at Hudson Institute, described Ishiba’s take as “an outside-the-box idea” during an interview with The Asahi Shimbun.

The fallout triggered a sense of crisis among Foreign Ministry and defense officials.

“The administration will fall,” said a senior Defense Ministry official.

In some quarters, officials were aghast at Ishiba’s published comments.

His ideas “are fantasy,” said a Defense Ministry official.

Some in the government even issued an instruction to officials not to mention Ishiba’s commentary on social media.

A senior Foreign Ministry official said, “I understand the prime minister is aware of what’s going on.”

But the official stressed, “We will firmly convey our position on the current international situation and the direction Japan’s diplomacy has taken to date.”

After listening to the opinions of the foreign and defense authorities, Ishiba decided to keep his thoughts on security policy to himself when making his policy speech.

A source close to Ishiba said the speech was “hastily prepared in just days.”

A U.S. government official, commenting on the way in which Ishiba has responded to the issue, said, “There is a difference between his appeal during the presidential election and his assertions after he became the prime minister.”

The official said the United States will watch how the situation develops.

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