Japanese right winger trivializes WW2 sex slavery

[politicus]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-22519384

The Mayor of Osaka is being a dick (or perhaps thinking like one..).

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

I didn't know that the Mayor was a Republican.

[minionofmidas]

Kind words? Words of comfort perhaps?

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Hashimoto might actually be the worst major politician in any rich democracy.

[2952-0-0]

Obama and Hillary must share some responsibility for this outrageous spate of comments by Japanese politicians.

[batmacumba]

Hashimoto might actually be the worst major politician in any rich democracy.

I'm trying to remember who could make worse statements in poor democracies.

[Cory]

Kind of figures seeing as Japan in pop-culture very much "got away" with WWII whereas Germany is made to feel guilty.

There is a reason so many Asians on the mainland hate the Japanese. This smug attitude and whitewashing of the issue just rubs it in. The Japanese as a society have never taken responsibility for their actions they way the Germans did.

[Benj]

Hashimoto might actually be the worst major politician in any rich democracy.

I'm trying to remember who could make worse statements in poor democracies.

Various BJP politicians in India have basically endorsed genocide. Shiv Sena is even worse. There are probably other nasty examples. Also depends on how bad you consider corruption vs. nasty politics. Lots of poor democracies have a bunch of comically sleazy politicians.

There are nasty examples in wealthy democracies, too. XA in Greece and Jobbik in Hungary are the typical ones, both at least as bad as Hashimoto. I don't know their leaders' names, but there you go.

[Beet]

The Japanese revanchists really should bring it on. The U.S. and China will renew their ancient alliance and squash Japan like a bug.

[2952-0-0]

The Japanese revanchists really should bring it on. The U.S. and China will renew their ancient alliance and squash Japan like a bug.

As I said, I think Obama and Hillary partly own the recent spate of Japanese politicians saying outrageous things. By so overtly announcing a pivot to the Asia Pacific, they had emboldened right-wing Japanese politicians to speak what they had deep down believed, but until recently were smart enough not to say. All this causes trouble in Washington, since its goal is to retain US influence in Asia, not to build an unrepentant Japan which seeks to shut out the US. We're reminded of the Anglo-Japanese alliance of a century ago.

At some point Obama must make it clear to the Japanese leadership that they cannot take US support for granted, that Japan has no hope of confronting China head-on, and that Japan cannot continue to drive down the yen indefinitely without political consequences.

This is yet another example of Washington trying to play God in a part of the world whose history and culture it's unfamiliar with.

[Beet]

Dude, I thought you were joking.

You may be onto something. But don't let China off the hook. Let's face it. When Obama came into office he tried to act like Bill Clinton and thought he could pursue engagement with China. But the Chinese saw the U.S. financial crisis and suddenly started to think they could run with the big boys. The media fluff about a new reserve currency and G-2 and whatnot from circa 2009 got to their heads. When Obama went to Shanghai they humiliated him, not even bothering to broadcast his summit on T.V., as they did with Clinton in 1998. Then they humiliated him again at Copenhagen, effectively scuttling climate change action during his administration. Then, they started sabre rattling against ASEAN, whereas up until that point they had built up considerable goodwill in ASEAN. Obama had to put them in their place.

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

Hashimoto might actually be the worst major politician in any rich democracy.

I'm trying to remember who could make worse statements in poor democracies.

It's not that rich democracies make politicians better people; it's that they're the countries with whose political cultures I, privileged as I am, am most familiar.

[2952-0-0]

You may be onto something. But don't let China off the hook. Let's face it. When Obama came into office he tried to act like Bill Clinton and thought he could pursue engagement with China. But the Chinese saw the U.S. financial crisis and suddenly started to think they could run with the big boys. The media fluff about a new reserve currency and G-2 and whatnot from circa 2009 got to their heads. When Obama went to Shanghai they humiliated him, not even bothering to broadcast his summit on T.V., as they did with Clinton in 1998. Then they humiliated him again at Copenhagen, effectively scuttling climate change action during his administration. Then, they started sabre rattling against ASEAN, whereas up until that point they had built up considerable goodwill in ASEAN. Obama had to put them in their place.

All that is true to various extents. But there are limits to what the US is capable of, and it doesn't seem like they were aware of it. There really is no excuse for Washington's failure to foresee the rise of Japanese right-wing nationalism and to act accordingly. Suddenly its rhetoric about bringing security and freedom to Asia sounds hollow when many high-ranking Japanese politicians are intent on returning to the 1930s. Now Obama must warn the Japanese to back off without losing their face, and without overly emboldening China.

And then the developments in Burma are more proof: the liberalization by the junta was prematurely greeted by Washington hoping to increase its influence in the region. On the surface, the junta giving up power is positive, but it unleashed nationalistic hysteria - the kind where Aung San Suu Kyi is afraid to state that Muslims are people. China is hedging its bets by continuing to support the Burmese government while quietly sending weapons to Christian rebels. Perhaps if the US wasn't pivoting to Asia while Burma was reforming, Obama's people would have warned him against embracing Aung San Suu Kyi too quickly, but that can't be known now. Obama probably regrets being played by the rather unsavory Burmese generals. And if you're a young and frustrated Muslim in Pakistan, this is yet more proof that the US is intent on destroying Islam. And all this was caused by a burst of naivety!

The US should have foreseen every potential consequence of its grand strategy and taken into account the complex nuances involved. But now it's opened the Pandora's Box, it owns all resulting problems.

[Nhoj]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/majority-reject-japan-mayor-s-comments-o/680908.html

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Obviously 21% is still ridiculously high, but I do wonder what it looks like broken down by age group.

[politicus]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/majority-reject-japan-mayor-s-comments-o/680908.html

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Obviously 21% is still ridiculously high, but I do wonder what it looks like broken down by age group.

Not sure it will be the way you expect. Young people with little knowledge about WW2 may well be more positive.

[Nhoj]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/majority-reject-japan-mayor-s-comments-o/680908.html

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Obviously 21% is still ridiculously high, but I do wonder what it looks like broken down by age group.

Not sure it will be the way you expect. Young people with little knowledge about WW2 may well be more positive.

Oh I think that could very well be the more likely way, but either one is plausible.

[ingemann]

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/majority-reject-japan-mayor-s-comments-o/680908.html

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Obviously 21% is still ridiculously high, but I do wonder what it looks like broken down by age group.

I don't find it that high, it's not positive, but neither is very worrying, when the vast majority find the statement inappropriate, especially when we don't whether, they thought he was talking about sex slaves or common prostitutes. If you do not know a lot of history, you may think that "comfort women" was a term for the latter. It's the great problem with statistics.