[Ronin]

I agree with you completely AIT. For all the Western culture tacked on the surface, inside they are very Japanese.

Japan could go nationalist and militarist in less time than it would take to say it, and I personally think it is not only likely -- it's inevitable. Just a matter of when.

In fact, I am cynically of the opinion that there are a lot of people in government and private industry that think a shot of good old fashioned nationalism combined with a military buildup would be just the ticket to shake the Japanese economy out of the never-ending doldrums.

All it takes is the proper catalyst. It never ceases to amaze me how fast and how completely Japanese public opinion can shift gears.

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #46

The political change in Japan is infrequent. But when it happens, it is a cataclysm. Japan now has all the ingredients of a cataclysmic change, the internal problem(her economy nearing the collapse), and the external one(nuclear threats from N. Korean.) N. Korea is accelerating the time table now. N. Korean regime will be most likely remembered as the one which lit the geopolitical fuse in N. East Asia, unless it backs down soon. Once the fuse is lit, its effect will be felt by nations in the region for a long time.