An area of the United States is about 9.83 million km² ( 26 times as large as Japan), and the third largest country in the world after Russia and Canada. An area of California state is still 1.12 times as large as total areas in Japan. Its population as of April 2021 is about 3.32 hundred million, and about 2.6 times as big as Japan. Its GDP is a little over 4 times as big as Japan. And the United States is not only an advanced industrial country centering on high technology, but also, as a matter of fact, the best agricultural country in the world supported by high productivity and competitiveness.

Russia, which is becoming the target of criticism from the world right now because of an invasion to Ukraine, has an area of about 1.7 times as large as the United States, but its GDP is about one-thirteen as big as the United States and its population is about 1.46 hundred million (44 % of the United States). Its military budget is one- twelfth size of the United States (the fourth largest in the world), but its ration per GDP in 2020 reaches to 4.26% (3.74 % in the United States), and it seems that this circumstance has a negative effect on private life section. In this way, the United States is overwhelmingly exceeding Russia in terms of military power and economic power.

By the way, about 45 years ago, I visited Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, under the Cold War structure on business and stayed about one week. My impression at that time was that firstly, it was very cold outside where the temperature went down to 15 degrees below zero around in February, and secondly, “Red Square” facing on the Kremlin containing a central organization of its government was so small that it won’t compare to Tiananmen Square in Beijing, and lastly, the food was nothing special. I wondered whether this country struggled for supremacy against the United States. I had intended that I enjoyed in grand scale by drinking vodka in Moscow, but I did not have a feeling like this.

Russia has invaded Ukraine this time, and President Putin might think that he could disturb the unity of European countries by the way of stopping supply of natural gas (production: the second in the world) and oil (production: the third in the world). However, contrary to expectation, it seems to me that the situation in which even Germany, the weakest position at the time, kept pace with other European countries was unexpected. Therefore, I think that Russia intends to show off that it has a nuclear weapon, and bluff or threaten Ukraine. An outrage by President Putin was criticized by all over the world, and from now on, higher energy price will escalate the inflation, and every country has to turn to tight its monetary policy, and I am anxious about the influence on economy domestically and overseas.

And putting back my talk to the United States, during 5 years and 4 months when I worked in New York, I attended to a lot of visitors from Japan. I sometimes visited every place in the United States together with them. And at the last moment when they returned to Japan, almost 100% of the people visiting the United States for the first time told their thoughts unanimously that “Why Japan had fought against such a country (the United States)?”.

Incidentally, admonition as knowledge of a representative is that “a representative is sometimes a driver, interpreter or reception committee, and if the work is done well, it becomes a glorious victory for the head office. On the other hand, if it fails, the fault lies with on-site.” Putting up with these matters led to “The man training”, a wise saying by Isoroku Yamamoto who was a Marshal Admiral and widely known in the Pacific War. During my previous job, I also instructed young employee being stationed abroad carefully, and at the same time issued instructions to domestic related persons not to neglect consideration for a representative.

Marchal Admiral Yamamoto was opposed to the outbreak of war with the United States, as an only pro-American group among servicepersons in Japan. Because he had observed the United States in detail, by studying at Harvard University (for two years) and later working as a military officer stationed at Japanese Embassy in the United States (for two years), and known everything about potential power of the United States. However, He could not resist, and “if that is a case” military operation by him as the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet was “Attack on Pearl Harber” aiming to lose fighting spirit of American citizens. However, it became surprise attack in the condition of delayed declaration of war, and enhanced fighting spirit of American citizens on the contrary, and ended in “stepping on a tiger’s tail”.

The foundation of national defense in the United States is still “Never Forget Pearl Harbor!”.
When I lived in the United States, ceremony by soldiers in the Army or Air Force or Marines was held on December 7 (local time), and movies or video recordings of US-Japan war were televised on TV, and I remember that Japanese living in the United States “bended slightly forward” without knowing why.