Like Russia is hurtin' for real estate

Why don't they just give up on the damn islands?*

From the loud shouting and orchestral noises filtering through the shut windows of my office, the Russian Coast Guard's killing of a Japanese fisherman and the seizure of his 3 shipmates in the waters off Kagarajima has initiated a real party out in front of the Russian Embassy.

Oh, boy! And Saturday is the 61st anniversary of the Soviet military takeover of the Southern Kuriles.

Oh yippie tai yai yeah!

Combine the shooting with last night's burning down of Katō Kōichi's Yamagata home by an unconscious and thus rather uncommunicative right wing nutjob--and what we got is a real Uyoku Week Extravaganza!

And you just gotta believe that somewhere in Beijing or in Seoul, someone is telling an interviewer right now:

"See? See? I told you this would happen!"


* Yes, yes, I am aware that a return of the Southern Kuriles to Japan would be a real blow to the commanders of the Pacific Fleet, reducing the ability of Russian submarines to slip in or out of the Sea of Okhotsk undetected.