Rising Sun

The land of backward comics, Harijuku Girls, and cool robots - Japan is HOT! Instead of scary missiles and secret police - Japan built a fun, rich democratic tech saavy, tolerant, egalitarian society with a free, uncensored press, transparent, periodic elections, and independent judiciary that hasn't bothered anyone in over six decades.

A literacy rate of over 99%, Nippon is a wonderful example of the human spirit unbound.

Japan has been a long time ally of Great Satan for eons -- and has the world's second (or third, based on purchasing power parity) largest economy, 2nd biggest contributer to UN, yet Tokyo remains dependent on America for its security, a minor military player despite having global economic and political interests.

That was the 'Golden Age"

That era may be over. Although Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama insists that he wants to strengthen the alliance, before taking office he wrote in the New York Times: "As a result of the failure of the Iraq war and the financial crisis, the era of U.S.-led globalism is coming to an end."

Def Sec Gates recently hit up Nippon and may have freaked them out about a few things

There are historical and constitutional reasons for Nippon's tiny tiny internat'l role, but it is time for East Asian countries to work together to dispel the remaining ghosts of Japan's imperialist past rather than to expect Great Satan to continue acting as the defender of the last resort.



When 44 hits the hood on Veteran's Day -- may be his op to again apologize for Great Satan's past sins and announce America's alliance with Japan — like most Great Satan defense relationships in a particular world view— is either outdated or that America and Japan would benefit from unbinding Nippon from her pacifistic constitutionalism, grant her UN Security Counsel stats while she quietly rearms.

Pic "The Coming War With Japan"