Bush Hosts Japanese-American 'Sunrise' Breakfast To Mark Pearl Harbor (Shinto=religion of peace)

Following yesterday's message from President Bush honoring the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Fitr, the President today hosted a "sunrise breakfast" for leading Japanese-Americans, the Japanese diplomatic community and a delegation of Shinto priests from Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which commemorates Japan's war dead.

In his remarks delivered before the breakfast, President Bush said, "I want to thank all of you for joining me on a day that means so much both to Americans and to Japanese. Our countries are and always have been good friends. Our cultures are very much alike. We both place great value on individual freedom and opportunity. We both value frankness and straightforward dealing. We have both always been peaceful countries, at home and abroad. And we both have great respect for other cultures and peoples.

"I want to thank the delegation from Yasukuni Shrine for coming so far to join us and to lead us in prayer before our meal. I know that Christianity and Shinto are very much alike. Both are religions of peace, just as Islam is a religion of peace. Shinto leads faithful Japanese to lead lives of honesty and integrity and compassion, as many Americans who were once guests of Japan can attest.

"In hosting this morning's breakfast, I send a message to all the dead warriors gathered at the Yasukuni shrine. America treasures your friendship. America honors your faith.

"We see in Shinto a religion that traces its origins back to rocks and trees. We share your belief in the Gods' inscrutable ways, and in your insistence on man's submission to his arbitrary fate. We thank the many Japanese, past and present, who stand with us against terror, against attacks delivered without warning, like those on September 11, 2001. That is truly a date which, to coin a phrase, will live in infamy.

"Today's breakfast sends a message to all Americans: our nation fought a war against a small number of misguided Japanese naval pilots, not against a religion, and not against a civilization. One of the deepest commitments of America is tolerance. No one should be treated unkindly because of the color of their skin or the content of their creed or their propensity to appear unexpectedly over other people's harbors. No one should be unfairly judged by appearance or ethnic background, or religious faith, or general sneakiness. We must uphold these values of progress and pluralism and tolerance.

"I thank you for coming to the White House this morning. Please join me after breakfast on the White House lawn, where we have arranged a special flyover of Japanese naval aircraft, so we can all see the rising sun at its most dramatic. Don't forget your coats; there's a little nip in the air this morning."

Following the flyover, the Japanese ambassador expressed his deep respect for America by presenting President Bush with the shorter of the two traditional Japanese swords. Both Japanese and Americans applauded the gesture loudly.

I think the satire piece is cruel and I knew it wasn't the President from the very beginning.

Cruel indeed. The Yasukuni Shrine is very controversial because of the convicted war criminals buried there. Japanese politicians cannot visit it without creating a huge uproar.

It was cruel on several levels. Not only cruel to our veterans and tens of thousands of our honored dead who fought in the Pacific Theatre in WWII, but cruel to Japan who has fought their way back into a place of honor in world civilization after taking a very wrong, dishonorable turn.

And it was also cruel in attacking an ancient religion that we may not believe, but which still provides pride and solace for others.

That it was cruel to the President, whose balancing act in this war on terror is worthy of respect not invective, was almost beside the point.

And it was also cruel in attacking an ancient religion that we may not believe, but which still provides pride and solace for others.

You're missing the point. Shintoism during the war was used by the Japanese government to whip people up into a fighting frenzy. In particular, it was used to exhort the kamikazi to do their deed. It may have been a peaceful religion before the war, but certainly after its misuse during the war it is not considered a religion of peace and most Japanese are ashamed of that chapter of their history. Shintoism in today's Japan is all but dead.

All countries use their current religion to whip up the troops. Going back sixty years to diss someone's religion in order to attack a current President is below the belt in my opinion.

We sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic at the end of the Memorial Service in the National Cathedral on September 14, 2001, and I thought it was pretty cool.

Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning
Of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.

Chorus:
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watchfires
Of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar
In the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence
By the dim and flaring lamps;
His day is marching on.

Chorus

I have read a fiery gospel writ
In burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with My contemners,
So with you My grace shall deal":
Let the Hero born of woman
Crush the serpent with His heel,
Since God is marching on.

etc.

All countries use their current religion to whip up the troops.

This was not quite the same thing with respect to Shintoism. Consider if President Bush declared himself to be God and declared everyone not believing in him to not be Christian. That's along the lines of what the Showa Emperor did. He was always considered divine, but emperor worship coopted what had used to be Shintoism.

Going back sixty years to diss someone's religion in order to attack a current President is below the belt in my opinion.

Agreed, it was an unbelievably cruel article. I think though, that the comparison the author wanted to draw was the parallels between kamikazi and the suicide bombers and get in a dig at the religion of peace. Clever, but in extremely poor taste.

did you know that American pilots were the first kamikazis, in the Battle of Midway?

No. That's interesting. I can find references to the Battle of Midway being the first Japanese use of kamikazi. Can you point me to a reference regarding Americans? Kamikazi are an incredibly wasteful resource.

For our pilots, mostly raised in the South, it was born out of desperation, needing to make a dent in the Japanese carriers when our munitions (?torpedo bombs) were ineffective and perhaps the first couple started after they were hit and going to be going in the sea but turned their craft toward the carriers instead.

At this point in the war, we really hadn't had a decisive victory against the Japanese and were in dire straits. I envision them going in with a rebel yell.

I can't remember the book on the war in the Pacific that went into this, but I believe it was written as the result of a personal memorial journey that the author, who was known for other things, took. It drives me crazy that I can't remember him or the title. I read it a couple decades ago. I don't know if that's the one, as I've read lots of WWII books during my life.

I'll see if I can jog my memory by dropping over to Amazon after I check the news here.

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