When the solemn observances of the 50th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor are over this Dec. 7, the American survivors will hold a final banquet at the Sheraton Waikiki Hotel. The hotel is owned by a Japanese company, Kokusai Kogyo of Tokyo.
This circumstance underscores the powerful cross-currents pulling at Hawaii as it prepares to commemorate that infamous day at a time when the Japanese have achieved with yen what their grandfathers could not with bombs.High hopes that the observance would herald a new era of cooperation have now turned into fears of an opposite outcome.
Some people are demanding that Japan apologize. Some worry that the ceremonies will intensify anti-Japanese sentiments in this country and anti-America feelings in Japan.
Some fear a backlash against Asian-Americans that could drive away the Japanese tourists who are a mainstay of the Hawaiian economy.
Others hope bygones can at last be bygones. "Fifty years of pain and hatred is long enough," said Sen. Daniel K. Inouye, a Japanese-American, at a dinner held last week by the Japan-America Society of Honolulu. "The time has come for reconciliation."
That Inouye, a Democrat who lost his right arm as an American soldier fighting in Italy, should have to issue such a plea served only to emphasize the tense state of Japanese-U.S. relations today.
Neither government appears willing to use the Pearl Harbor ceremonies to grapple with the issues that divide them. In July the Bush administration, under pressure from veterans groups, said no official foreign guests would be invited to the Pearl Harbor events, thereby avoiding the painful matter of whether to invite the Japanese.
The Japanese have been silent, saying the question of how Pearl Harbor is remembered is strictly an internal American issue.
The anniversary comes at a time when the economies of the two countries are more intertwined than ever but when tensions and resentments are greater than at any time since the end of the war in 1945, largely because of disputes over trade and investment.
Nowhere are the contradictions between the nations more pointed or complex than here in Hawaii, where the economy is closely tied to Japan.
Indeed, as planners sought a site for the final Pearl Harbor observance, they could hardly avoid using one with Japanese ties: Nearly every hotel in Honolulu large enough for the event is owned by Japanese interests.
As the commemoration draws closer, survivors are coming forward with harrowing memories of the attack, the fearsome blasts, the mangled, burned and bloated bodies.
The early morning air raid left 2,403 Americans dead, 21 ships sunk or damaged and 188 aircraft destroyed and drew the United States into the war that ended with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki three years and eight months later.
Richard I. Fiske, a Marine bugler on the battleship West Virginia, still recalls seeing a Japanese pilot's smiling face as he veered off after delivering a bomb to the nearby battleship Arizona, which was sunk with the loss of 1,177 sailors and Marines. "For years I dreamt about it," said Fiske, who is now 70. "I can still see that smile."
Passions still run high among many of the American survivors. "We did not invite the Japanese 50 years ago and we don't want them now," said Gerald Glaubitz, the national president of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, who is mayor of Morningside, Md. "This is our own thing. We've been planning for almost five years. I've had widows call me and say, `You mean they are going to invite the people who killed my husband?' "
Such sentiments have been a source of discomfort to Hawaii's political and business leaders, who hope the events focus not just on a painful past but also on a hopeful future of cooperation.
"Pearl Harbor was very prominent in our history," said Adm. Ron Hays (Retired), a former commander-in-chief of the U.S. Pacific Command who was appointed by Gov. John Waihee III as chairman of a special committee to review the events. "But we are also talking about a strong ally. Our economy and security are interdependent. We both stand for democracy and freedom. So I would hope to see a balanced program to pay tribute to those who lost their lives and also look ahead."
The debate has been fanned in recent weeks by Honolulu's pugnacious mayor, Frank F. Fasi. He has suggested the Japanese apologize for Pearl Harbor and then be invited to attend the ceremonies.
That brought a testy retort from some politicians in Japan, who said the United States should apologize for the atomic bombings.
In a move rich with symbolism, Takashi Hiraoka, the mayor of Hiroshima, visted Honolulu last week and laid a wreath at the Arizona Memorial.
For the Japanese, the events present a delicate problem in a state where heavy Japanese investment in real estate has stirred resentment in recent years.
At the Japanese consulate just five miles from where Japanese bombers once rained bombs, Consul General Masaji Takahashi chose his English words carefully.
"Who should be invited is a matter to be decided by the American side," said Takahashi, who was born in 1937 and has no memory of the momentous events of 1941. "The expatriate Japanese here are rather uncomfortable. The feeling is that this may be the start of Japan bashing."
He added, "Fundamentally, the relationship will not be damaged, but there is a certain worry."