India And The World

[Husky]

Japan



1. forbes.com/sites/[color="#0000FF"]stephenharner[/color]/2014/01/02/after-yasukuni-china-closes-the-door-on-abe-why-is-he-smiling/



Shinzo Abe's visit to "controversial" Yasukuni war memorial shrine (not a Kami=religious shrine, but a commemoration site for nationalist dead built in the Meiji-era) was less Shinto-tva [=modern JP nationalism] - which some foreign "analysts"** had insinuated that Abe's move indicated - and more for the purpose of irking China, so that the two countries could both stop pretending to want to be friends.





This bit on additional US bases is not a good thing for JP:

Last month’s Vice President Biden state visit to China, a follow up to last June’s bold and highly promising Sunnylands Summit between President Obama and President Xi, seems to have been fruitless, if not counterproductive. Biden arrived in Beijing after meeting with Abe and declaring that the U.S.-Japan alliance is the “cornerstone” of U.S. security in Asia.



Biden’s words were music to Abe’s ears and elicited one of the intended responses: effective pressure on Okinawa’s governor to approve building a big new U.S. air base that will, in part, replace the Futenma Marine air base but is likely to have expanded missions. The impression that the Pentagon (to the exclusion of others) is orchestrating U.S. diplomacy and overall policy in Asia, both toward Japan and China, is inescapable.



In Beijing, VP Biden admitted to U.S.-China relations being the “central, organizing principle” in international relations in this century. The problem is, while admitting to this principle, the U.S. has been doing virtually nothing to “operationalize” (to use a term favored in Washington) it.

The above writer's own comment later on:

[color="#0000FF"]Stephen Harner[/color], Contributor 1 week ago

Yes, you are correct that I advocate U.S. military withdrawal from Asia. We should close our bases in Japan and Korea and revert to U.S. territory, Guam and Hawaii. This is what I mean by reversing the “pivot” which, although given window dressing about being comprehensive engagement, has been fundamentally military/strategic, driven by the Pentagon whose self-interested and self-fulfilling China threat myth captured the supine Hillary State Department and Obama’s White House. The Japanese Occupation/Korean War/Cold War legacy “forward deployment” of U.S. power and the alliance system is unnatural and highly destablizing in today’s Asia and the destablizing effect increases by the year.Reversing the “pivot” would be drastic change only because the situation today is so unstable and tense. But the way to greater stability is not to “strengthen” or double up the imbalance, but to begin dismantling it.[color="#0000FF"]The two great Asia powers–China and Japan–and the secondary powers–South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines–will be able to reach a mutually beneficial, stable and sustainable modus vivendi if left along by the U.S. to do so.I would add that by virtue of “American exceptionalism” the U.S. is psychologically, philosophically, emotionally, and culturally unable to insinuate itself into Asian affairs without creating great dysfunction and tension. The U.S. is not an Asian country. It is not an Asia culture or society. Asia is the seat of several of the world’s great and most successful civilizations. Asians can and should be allowed to manage their own affairs.[/color]



[color="#800080"](I like his reason for leaving Asia alone: for the reason of just leaving it alone. But as if AmeriKKKa would ever allow that - not until they create a mess in Asia and it gets too hot for them. At which point, the US govt/military will move its seat of infestation from the E and SE to set up shop in so-called "South Asia", aka India and SL etc - since islam won't allow American infidels in dar-ul-islam - to start a headache there.)[/color]

2. ** C.f. how the foreign monitors stationed in Japan seem to go on about the JP nationalist fundamentalism "Shinto-tva" in Abe and its sinister portents/his taint by association with controversial visit to controversial memorial site.

E.g. the following, which links to more examples

shisaku.blogspot.jp/2014/01/hes-pro-shinto-but-not-that-pro-shinto.html

shisaku.blogspot.jp/2014/01/shrine-temple-and-mr-abes-first-year.html



The above blog's "Academic Links" section predictably links to known puppeteers:

academic journals

Chinese Journal of International Politics

CSIS Asia Publications

EJCJS [color="#800080"][uk site on Japanese studies][/color]

European Journal of East Asian Studies

Far Eastern Economic Review

Harvard Asia Quarterly

Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies

Japan Focus

Japanese Journal of Religious Studies

Journal of Japanese Studies [color="#800080"][Washington site on JP studies][/color]

Monumenta Nipponica

The Journal of Asian Studies

They have departments to "study" (monitor, influence, control, blacklist) *every* major Asian nation.



The second blog entry mentions Temple University Japan [TUJ] campus, which belongs to Temple Uni US, founded by a reverend of a US Baptist Church. It's officially accredited as a foreign uni, medium is English, international (many western) students, and hosts political views on JP's government in the TUJ's u-toob channel.

The blog host's speech on Abe's nefarious nationalist fundamentalism is not just hosted on TUJ grounds and promised to be posted on their utoob channel, but it was organised/hosted by "Institute of Contemporary Asian Studies (ICAS)", which sounds like yet another JP equivalent of the sort of foreign (usually US) Institutes that "discuss" [lecture about] India to their foreign and sepoy audiences.



An interesting comment at one of the two blog entries above (which follows on from another comment on how Abe, being a 'nationalist fundamentalist/Shinto-tva', he should get along swell with the US christo rightwing):

Robert Dujarric said...

[color="#0000FF"]Yes Abe could find common ground, but could American Christian zealots accept it? Shinto is not universalist, so it's OK for Abe and his folks to accept that US barbarians practice other religions. But the Scriptures prescribe death for idolatry, so the Christian agitators in the US are bound by their faith to either convert or terminate those who reject their beliefs.[/color]

"Shinto is not universalist" -> i.e. it is not missionary (but an ethnic religion. But then, no heathenism is universalist.)

Also nice to see that this last commenter - whatever his opinion on other matters - recognises that christianism only spells convert-or-kill for all heathens and other unbelievers.