Shrine, Temple and Mr. Abe's First Year

The past three weeks have seen the publication of reams of interpretation, analysis and discussion of Abe Shinzo's visit to Yasukuni. The East Asian Forum alone has published six different essays on the subject by authors like Aurelia George Mulgan and Tessa Morris-Suzuki, whom I admire, and Hugh White, whom I do not. (Link)

Of the hundreds of op-eds and blog postings now out there, the ones that get closest to the answer to the question of "What was Abe Shinzo thinking?" are The Economist Tokyo Bureau Chief Tamzin Booth's allusively titled Banyan post "See you at Yasukuni" (Link) and the always provocative Stephen Harner's post on the Forbes website "After Yasukuni, China Closes The Door On Abe: Why Is He Smiling?" (Link)

One would have to be a veteran of the Comfort Women resolution wars in the U.S. House of Representatives and a reader of the twisted stuff published in revisionist monthlies such as WiLL, Seiron and the now blessedly demised Shokun! -- and the blogs of folks like Sakurai Yoshiko -- to know at least one of the things Abe Shinzo was thinking when he went to Yasukuni on December 26:

"Turkey"

If that makes not the least bit of sense to you, please come by the second floor of Temple University Japan's Azabu campus tomorrow evening. I will be speaking on Abe's first year in office and the political outlook for 2014 (Link). The doors open at 19:00 with the session staring at 19:30.

The speech is open to the public but seating is limited. Though registration is not mandatory, the host of the event, the Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS) asks that appreciates it when persons wishing to attend to send a registration email to icas@tuj.temple.edu

Later - ICAS has written to say that there is plenty of space available for tomorrow night's event. That's good to know. However, if you are not on the ICAS mailing list, a registration email to this event will put you on its list, giving you first notice of all future events.

Oh, Amaterasu, How Did I Ever Miss This One?

A photo for the ages -- let us just hope the age in question is not ours.

Right wing heroine and TV personality Sakurai Yoshiko, former prime minister and LDP member Abe Shinzo, Sunrise Party (Tachiagare Nippon) leader Hiranuma Takeo and The Spirit of Japan party leader Yamada Hiroshi announce the formation of a united front against the Democratic Party of Japan.

- The Hanoi field hospital (1945)-born author of the infamous "The Facts" full page advertisement in The Washington Post, as well as hundreds of revisionist articles, opinion pieces and books.

- The grandson of a Class A War Criminal. And lots of other stuff.

- The adopted son of a Class A War Criminal.

- A signer of the official letter in support of "The Facts" advertisement and former mayor of the only major city whose public middle schools used the controversial Fusosha "New History Textbook."

Honestly, when will these folks find some other hobbies to pursue?

Photo courtesy: The Sankei Shimbun

Saved by the Bowel

Uggghhh! I opened up the Asahi Shimbun this morning, thinking myself basically safe from the most egregious of nonsense, only to be greeted with this advertisement for a book by right wing hotcake and president of the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals Sakurai Yoshiko:

Courtesy: The Asahi Shimbun

"Parents must properly scold their children."
"The Teacher is not my friend."
"To be with a family member at the moment of death"

These things that Japanese have forgotten, let us bring them back!

The Graces of the Japanese

Let us become Japanese who have pride!

Oh gag me...with straw men...and that bloody word hokori again.

Yes, the nation is shamed by its ravening hordes of improperly scolded children who are way too chummy with their teachers and skip out on Grandma's crossing over to the golden land.

Uh, no.

But for Sakurai, an even more insidious evil lurks just over the horizon. At her blog she reports on the possibility of a perfidious E Pluribus Unum...and the purblindness of the current political leaders to the potential isolation and abandonment of A Beautiful Country®:

3月12日、米海軍のキーティング太平洋司令官が、中国軍幹部から太平洋の分割支配を提案されたと、米国上院軍事委員会で証言した。同軍幹部は、ハワイ以東を米国が、以西を中国が支配しようと真顔で提言したという。

中国が描くのは、米ソが二分して支配したかつての世界秩序のかたちだ。そして、中国は旧ソ連邦的な対米敵対姿勢を採らない。米国はそのぶん中国に誘引されやすい。米中が手を打てば、台湾は即中国にのみ込まれ、馬政権が台湾自決主義を尊重しても無意味になる。また日本は深刻な孤立に直面する。

こうした事態には自力で立ち向かうしかなく、日本はまさに今、最悪の事態を念頭において覚悟を固めなければならないのだが、福田康夫・小沢一郎両氏にはそんな考えは露とも浮かばないのであろう。まさに政治の貧困で日本は力を落としていくのである。

"In testimony on March 12 before the Senate Armed Services Committee, PACCOM Commander Keating said that he received a proposal from an admiral of the Chinese Navy to divide-and-rule the Pacific. That admiral offered, with a straight face, that the U.S. control everything east of Hawaii and China control everything west.

What China is describing is a form of the former order where the U.S. and Soviet Union divided the world in two and each ruled. What is more, China is not adopting the anti-U.S. confrontational stance of the Soviet Union. It is easy for the U.S. to be enticed by China. In this, Taiwan is already swallowed up by China, making the Ma (Ying-cheou) government's respect for Taiwan's autonomy meaningless. Once again, Japan faces severe isolation.

We must prepare to grapple with this situation* using our own powers. Japan at this very moment must make its will firm** keeping in mind the worst possible potential outcome. Such a thought probably never crosses the minds of either Fukuda Yasuo or Ozawa Ichiro. Truly, it is through the poverty of its politics that Japan's power is being thrown away."

Truly, I cannot express with any brevity my relief at the thought that Sakurai and her allies are no longer frequent and honored guests at the prime minister's table.

Tonight, let us lift a glass of special thanks and shout, "Hurrah for chronic bowel disorders!"


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* Normally, I would translate "kō shita jitai ni wa" as "in this kind of situation" but here she is clearly only talking about a division of the Pacific between China and the United States.

** To be fair, "kakugo o katamenakereba naranai" can also be less militantly translated as "must make preparations for."