Big News Brewing in Japan?

The American Thinker ^ | April 21, 2004 | Thomas Lifson

[King Prout]

dammit, I *know* I know your tagline, and I *know* you will dog me for having to ask for an ID, but... please ID it.

[AmericanInTokyo]

It's probably "Ue made bumppu shiyo yo." But don't quote me on that.

Probably "Bumppu!" will do just fine.

[Modernman]

I would be shocked if Japan does not have all the elements of nukes ready to go in separate parts ready for assembly and, amazingly enough, the nukes just happen to fit on ballistic missles Japan has in the closet that just happen to have enough range to hold all of China and NK at risk.

Or, in a secret facility on one of Japan's northernmost islands, there are a bunch of guy sitting in front of a bunch of missiles that are lacking the last screw. the guys sit there with a screwdriver and the screw in question so that the Japanese government can honestly say that Japan does not have nuclear weapons.

[Modernman]

People on this thread keep acting like that's a good thing.

Why would we fear the Japanese? What are they going to do, nuke Los Angeles? It's tough to sell cars and electronics to a nation that you're at war with.

[Modernman]

All kidding aside, Japan IS a superpower. Count on it.

Yup. They just haven't realized it yet. Second biggest economy in the world, perhaps the highest technological level in the world and an incredibly advanced military.

[Brian Allen]

Big news brewing in Japan?
April 21st, 2004



Almost unnoticed by the American press, the aftermath of Japan?s hostage crisis in Iraq is developing in a direction which may have permanent and serious positive implications for American foreign and military policies.

Prime Minister Koizumi?s response to the kidnapping of the first three Japanese taken hostage in Iraq marked a watershed in Japan?s posture for dealing with external threats. Prime Minister Koizumi simply refused to ?go Spanish? in the face of terror threats against his citizens. As the Wall Street Journal notes (link requires subscription), Japan had previously embraced the notion that the lives of hostages must be paramount. In the words of former Prime Minister Takeo Fukuda, who capitulated to Japanese Red Army airplane hijackers, ?human life is heavier than the Earth."

Having watched the Red Army metastasize into a far larger and bloodier threat in the aftermath, Japan has learned some lessons. The specter of a nuclear-armed North Korea lobbing missiles over the Japanese Archipelago has also done wonders for the strengthening of the Japanese national spine.

Despite large public anti-war demonstrations and tearful pleas from relatives of the hostages, the public has been strongly backing Koizumi's tough stance.

Now, a steady stream of news, much of it leaked from governmental sources, is hinting that the first three hostages may have faked their kidnapping. If and when these suspicions becomes provable, the public backlash in Japan against the anti-war left could be fearsome, and drive Japan?s foreign policy even further toward muscular collaboration with American defense efforts. Given Japan?s formidable economic and technological resources , the coalition of the willing would benefit substantially for a long time to come.

We have reported (here and here) on previous evidence supporting speculation that the first kidnapping incident might have been fabricated by the left-leaning war opponents, in order to pressure the government of Prime Minister Koizumi into withdrawing Japan?s forces in Iraq, or at least embarrass his administration. They were purportedly seized by a previously-unknown group shortly after arriving in Iraq from Jordan. The Koizumi government indeed was subjected to mass demonstrations by Japanese anti-war groups, and tearful pleas from hostage relatives, urging that Japan withdraw from the coalition forces, as Spain has just done.

The left-leaning daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun now reports that the three activists have been treated very differently by the Japanese government than another group of two hostages, released shortly after the first group was freed. While the first group of three were hermetically shielded from the press, and were taken back to Japan under guard, prevented from interacting with, or even being photographed by the press while flying on a commercial airliner (in coach, it must be noted), to face police questioning, the second group has been free to speak with the press while in Dubai, and under no official constraints on where they go and with whom they speak.

Kyodo News Service of Japan reports that the Japanese government plans to charge the three hostages for the costs of the chartered airplane which took them from Iraq to Dubai immediately after their release. The government reckons this bill at 660,000 yen (approximately $6000). Meanwhile, the Asahi quotes a senior ruling party official as saying that the total cost to the government of the incident is about two billion yen (approximately $18.46 million dollars), which some influential politicians want to bill directly to the families of the hostages, if only for symbolic value.

Various politicians have gone on the record with harsh words for the three hostages. Fukushiro Nukaga, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, said

``The families above anything else should say they are sorry for causing such trouble, and their initial request for the government to pull the Self-Defense Forces out of Iraq is questionable,'' Kiichi Inoue, state minister in charge of disaster prevention, told reporters. ``Since they caused a lot of trouble for many people, they should acknowledge their responsibility.''

``This may sound harsh, but people must take into consideration that they are responsible for themselves before they act,'' education minister Takeo Kawamura told reporters. ``In a way, this is an educational issue.''

Such conspicuous lack of sympathy is in marked contrast to the words of US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who
said the freed hostages should be commended for putting their lives at risk for the ``greater good,'' according to Kyodo News.

``I am very pleased,'' Powell said in an interview with Tokyo Broadcasting System reported by Kyodo. ``I was very worried about the Japanese hostages and I am so pleased that they have been released and that they are safe.''

Powell said the three Japanese should be commended for their activities in Iraq.

``If nobody was willing to take a risk then we would never move forward, we would never move our world forward.''

Most interesting of all is word leaked from police sources, based on interrogation results, that the hostages were actually instructed to pretend to be scared. Kyodo News Service reports

Iraqi militants asked three Japanese nationals to pretend to be scared when videotaping them after kidnapping them earlier this month, Japanese police sources said Tuesday after interviewing the trio.

The video showing the three being threatened with knives and guns was broadcast on the Al-Jazeera TV news channel on April 8 as part of the kidnappers demand that Japan withdraw its Self-Defense Forces troops from Iraq.

Stay tuned. The Japanse are paying close attention. Fully forty percent of the population watched live coverage of the release of the three hostages.

Like everyone else, the Japanese deeply resent deception intended to maniputlate their emotions. Japan?s national will to defend itself, once mobilized, is extremely formidable. No one, least of all Japan?s Asian neighbors, doubts Japan?s capability to become a serious military power, once the will is present. Fortunately, this time around, Japan is firmly anchored to the cause of human freedom and democracy.


Thomas Lifson

[How in Hell did quidnuts find his way to "American Thinker?" -- Mustabeen dropped off there by his psych nurse/chinwiper/minder, eh]

[Brian Allen]

# 106 BUMPping

[Little Ray]

Bushido is (probably) BS.
There is pretty good evidence that the word was not actually invented until the late 19th century when the Japanese were attempting to use nationalism and tradition to unite the country. The "do" part is especially suspicious. It means "artistic way". Ju-jutsu is a fighting style; judo is an equivalent art form (but still pretty formidable...). Its possible I'm wrong, but if I am, its an honest mistake.

That said, most samurai, like most knights, were armored thugs. They claimed the right to cut people down because they felt they were rude and otherwise mercilessly exploited their station. Like knights, they have been glorified beyond the reality.

Nor were they particularly great soldiers (as opposed to warriors). Peasants with muskets slaughtered them at Sekigahara, and Christian peasants occupying a ruined castle defied their samurai besiegers for literally years. That was the last battle the samurai fought until the Satsuma rebellion during Meiji restoration.

The Japanese don't need to look back on their traditions for pride and honor, they just need to look at what they have achieved since the end of WWII. There is more than enough there.

[valkyrieanne]

The government is insisting the three "hostages" pick up all the charges they ran up for the Japanese Government for their rescue, and they take "responsibility."

Tell me if I'm right - does the phrase "take responsibility" in Japan carry far more weight than it does in the US, right up there with "you need to apologize?"

[Travis McGee]

Thanks for the update!