In Final Writing, Armitage Urged Japan to Be Proactive; Booster of U.S.-Japan Alliance Expressed Hope, Concern

By Aya Igarashi / Vice Chair of The Yomiuri Shimbun Editorial Board

6:00 JST, June 22, 2025

WASHINGTON — Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage dedicated the latter half of his life to enhancing the Japan-U.S. alliance. In what turned out to be his final message, which he was preparing shortly before his untimely death, he urged Japan not to flinch in these uncertain times. His stance of encouraging Japan to be proactive rather than to bend to the circumstances and demands of the United States remained unchanged throughout his life.

Armitage, who died on April 13, was buried at the U.S. Naval Academy’s cemetery in Annapolis, Md., in line with his wishes on May 29.

In a missing man flyover on the day, one of four military aircraft suddenly ascended and broke away from the formation — a traditional aerial custom to honor the deceased. With attendees honoring him as a true patriot, Armitage received a 19-gun salute, the second highest form of that honor, behind only the 21-gun salute for heads of state.

At the memorial service held before the burial, former Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns, who worked with Armitage at the U.S. State Department, recalled that Armitage was “the ultimate trust-builder.”

Burns said, “He [Armitage] clung to the belief that America could be a positive force in the world, so long as we tended our own garden well, sustained our network of alliances and partnerships, and were careful in the use of American power.”

How did Armitage view the future of Japan-U.S. relations amid an international situation that has become increasingly chaotic due to the actions of the second administration of U.S. President Donald Trump? Many of those who heard of his sudden passing must have wondered.

Kara Bue, a close friend of his for 25 years and a founding partner of his consulting firm, shared his way of thinking and was able to provide some answers to that question.

Armitage had been planning to visit Japan in May. Ahead of that trip, the next installment of his “Insights into the World” column for The Yomiuri Shimbun was already in the works. To refine the content, Armitage and Bue had two lengthy discussions over one week. This was his usual approach to working out his thoughts in detail.

Bue said Armitage was concerned that Trump was treating U.S. allies unfairly and that there was a lack of experts within the current U.S. administration who are well-versed in Japan among other countries and regions.

However, he reconsidered criticizing Trump as “it might not be the most constructive idea” when “it would be difficult to predict what Trump might be doing or how he might evolve his policy positions,” Bue said. Instead, he decided to focus on encouraging Japan to take on an even greater role as an international leader.

With his health seemingly stable before his unexpected death, it is unlikely that he anticipated the column he was working on with Bue would become his posthumous message.

If his column had been completed, and the visit to Japan had taken place, perhaps we could have heard memorable words from him urging Japan to rise up, similar to “Show the flag” that he said after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Former Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato gave a eulogy at the service in Annapolis, in which he quoted a haiku by an 18th-century Zen monk.

The bell stops

but the sound keeps

coming out of the flowers

Kato said: “The clear bell that was Richard is silent. But the goodwill, the friendship, the trust, the many gifts he gave us are living still, through us.”

As Bue spoke about Armitage in the suburbs of Washington, it was as if this writer could still hear his hoarse, high-pitched voice.

Summary of Armitage’s posthumous piece

The following text is based on oral notes that he was preparing. He had tentatively titled it, “In uncertain times, Japan must remain confident in its global role.”

***

Japan should not flinch or have its confidence falter under the current situation where U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is creating uncertainty around the world and taking actions that are averse to our bilateral interests. I want Japan to stand fast and confident in its leadership role.

Since the 1980s, when I first visited Japan, the country has continued to evolve and has become such an important member on the global stage. During the time then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whom I see as a true patriot, was in power, Japan found its footing as a global leader, not just in terms of national security or economic issues. Japan led the role on the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, but the country also was a humanitarian force for good and so had a very comprehensive global role, growing into a true leadership position on the global stage.

I want Japan to remember how prized you are as a nation. I want Japan not to be left uncertain or confused about what it should be doing because the U.S. administration has created such uncertainty that the world needs Japan more than ever as a steady hand.

While the United States secures an important part of the global world, we’re able to do that because we have allies and partners, including Japan. I am concerned that the Trump administration does not tend to them as they should and that there are not enough experts in the administration to effectively engage with these allies and partners.

The top two people — the president and the prime minister — do not reflect the entire relationship between Japan and the United States. Both countries have had such an extended alliance relationship. There are many experts not only within the governments but also in the private sector whom the two countries have nourished, creating an infrastructure in place for that alliance. We should feel reassured by that.