Cold War and GIG relationships?

[headpower]

I was watching the supplment movie of GIG, and the director mentioned something about Cold War and how it affected Japan. Since I never really care aboutthe Cold War history, so how did Cold War affect Japan. Did Japan Econnemy rise during the cold war. And in the show, the Prime Minister said something Gondo was trying to create another Cold War. So how did Cold War affect Japan? And also at the end, when Gondo heard the news that the nuclear bomb was intercepted by the satellite, he said it doesnt really matter. A new cold war is created through the decisions of the prime minister. So what's this cold war thing that is mentioned through out GIG. I know the cold war between usa and soviet pact wutever, but wtf does it have to do with japan.

[jerryku]

I don't know enough to provide you with a good answer, but we know that Oshii believes that Japan was used as a "shield" to America's "sword" in the Cold War. I think this was mentioned in 2nd GIG by the Tachikomas. I also think one of the Patlabor movies mentioned something about Japan helping to manufacture weapons for America or something.

The US has military bases setup in Japan, and the US used these bases during the Korean and Vietnam wars, I think. As such, I'm sure the Soviet Union had nuclear weapons trained towards Japan. This probably made many Japanese, especially those of Leftwing politics, frustrated, as they could potentially be pulled into a conflict they wanted no part of. This is the "shield" part that the Tachikomas are probably referring to. Other leftists may have felt that Japan was being forced to help kill their own political brothers (the communists in North Vietnam for example), or to prepare for an invasion of China.

Meanwhile, some Right wing Japanese probably felt that the US was helping to defend them from the so-called "Communist domino effect" that was supposedly rolling over all of the world, and that if America was not there, Japan would be ultimately taken over by the Reds. This was, after all, a strong reason Hitler and his Nazis launched a war on the Soviets. They felt that the communists were trying to take over Germany, especially after the failed communist uprising took place in Berlin with the Spartacists League. So these right-wing Japanese, who I think are represented by Gouda and the right-wing Cabinet guy with the white hair and glasses, feel that the US is ultimately a great ally, one that is bringing Japan wealth and security.

There are even some theories out there that the Japanese mafia, the Yakuza, have ties to the American military/intelligence communities. Supposedly the American mafia played a supportive role in the anti-communist conflicts of the Cold War, too. So I guess it's possible the Yakuza did the same. Organised crime is usually friendly towards fascist and far-right movements, as their philosophies are not very Marxist to say the least.

But, all this is just guessing on my part.

[houkou5tail]

I think there is also the implication that after the cold war ended Japan's economic status slipped because of emerging new capitalist markets in the the former com-bloc nations.