A Chinese proverb holds that one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. Perhaps it can be taken to mean that two great powers cannot coexist as equals.

“Some people argue this can be said of the relationship between Japan and China, but I don’t believe it,” Yasuo Fukuda (1936-2026) once said. “Many tigers can live together. That is how human society works.”

My notes date the remark to December 2019, at a hotel in Tokyo. The former prime minister was attending the closing reception of a Japan-China gathering.

Having startled the Chinese guests with his characteristically breezy, unflappable manner, Fukuda strode out alone, climbed into a taxi and was gone.

News of his death is a reminder of how influential a figure he remained........

© The Asahi Shimbun