It would be great if the living Emperor were to state that Yasukuni was only for those who have served the emperor honorably. Boom, problem solved. But either it doesn’t work that way or it’s because the Emperor is a pussy.

Still, all of this is moot because Obama could fix this WITH ONE PHONE CALL.

How exactly does Obama get a political faction in a foreign country to stop a longstanding tradition when he can’t even get the Republicans in his own country to sign off on a budget deal?

I’m not sure I have much to add other than that:

1) the Japanese need to stop pussy-footing around on how awful they were during the war and just say it unequivocally

2) the Korean government relentless manipulates local Japanophia for its own purposes

3) the CCP is so corrupt and illegitimate, that I don’t listen to them at all on Japan (or anything else) anymore; when I read the ‘Global Times,’ it’s for laughs

4) if Korea was unified and Mt. Paektu could resume its normal place as the geographic focal point of Korean nationalism, we wouldn’t be talking about Dokdo

FINALLY: PLEASE START USING YOUR OWN NAMES IN THE COMMENTS, IDEALLY WITH A PROPER WEBSITE LINKED AND WITH A PICTURE. KEN ECKERT’S LOGIN IS A GOOD EXAMPLE. GIVEN THE TOPIC, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOT HIDE BEHIND ANONYMITY. WE SHOULD KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND BE ABLE ACCESS YOUR OTHER WRITING AND COMMENTARY.

Thank you. REK