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© Copyright 2009 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Opposition DPJ says it's ready to stand up to U.S.
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souryeki
"More than 50,000 U.S. troops are stationed throughout Japan, which pays billions of dollars each year to support them" now this is indeed something unique.
I read that after WWII, when France, England and the US left some occupation troops in Germany, France and England were paying the rent from their own pocket and their presence was actually beneficial to the local economy, whereas the US base renting and related costs had to be covered in full by the German government. This would be a good source of saving money for Japan if the US bases would cover their own cost and not the japanese taxpayer.
Badsey
Due to Japan's strict adherence to the Kyoto protocol, they can no longer "afford" the U.S. colonialist's CO2 emissions.
=the great American colonialist War Machine must finally come to an end. We all must put on our finest Kimono and finally say goodbye. We will miss you (and the one world order).
societymike
To expand on what you said souryeki, Japan pays for new infrastructure built on the bases and the Japanese government employees who work on the bases. The US pays for everything else including maintanence and improvements to infrastructure. In essence, Japan is "renting" US forces for defense which actually saves Japan billions since Japan doesn't have to build up her own military.
FYI, the US Military has been trying to downsize in Japan for years, in fact, they have tried to close quite a few bases and stopped when Japan requested they stay for defense and local economy reasons.
Anyway, I see this new attitude as both good and potentially bad. Good because they might just have the balls again to do something good and reform their Government, however, it can be a bit scary when you start thinking of japans history and the fact that the party is using words like "Ally" in this day and age. It's as if they think the cold war is still going and they still see clear "sides" to choose from.
OssanAmerica
I totally disagree. The chances of Japan, after having enjoyed democracy for nearly 70 years going back to the military controlled fascist state that was Imperial Japan is slightly less than the odds of monkeys flying out my, well..
It IS going on, in a different way. What you think Russia and the US now train together? The Chinese train with the U.S. as the designated enemy. Economically the world is closer but geopolitics are as tough as always. To think otherwise is unbelievably naive. For Japan, they have three options, become totally militarily independent- which they obviously don't want to do, or ally itself with China which is at ideological odds with everything they cherish, or remain allied with the United States. There is a reason that democratic nations in East and Southeast Asia want the US presence, and why China has declared her intent to replace the US as the dominant strategic force in the region.
lincolnman
Talk about bad timing; here the DJP is "ready to stand up" and "be more assertive" to the US right when nK is having a succession crisis and exploding nuclear weapons and China is claiming ownership of broad swaths of the South China Sea... Uh, stand up to your closest ally who is defending you from these threats? OK Okada, perhaps the US should be more assertive also - if you win, we're out'a here - deal with these issues own your own.....
And why is it the the Japanese media can't get past the "burden" issue anytime the US Security Alliance is brought up - there's plenty of burden on the US side too - a little too much in my view, given our current economy. Lets take our share of $ spent on the Defense Treaty and use it to pay down the national debt..... That may be a more productive way to enhance our national security in the long term.
GW
ossanamerica
I agree that Jpn/Japanese dont want to go down the road they did prior/durring WWII, BUT, all it takes is a change of "leadership" they rant this & that & next thing you know its happening again & the people while disagreeing simply fall in line like they did before. The people wont want but if crap starts happening they wont be able to stop it either, the saying is I believe shoganai
timorborder
Having it both ways. A willingness to "stand up" to the US, but..... This little tidbit of information is just political posturing. If and when the DLP comes to power, it will be business as usual simply because the US can always play the linkage card regarding Japanese access to the US market.
Badsey
The Federal Reserve (debt) and the U.S. Military are one of the same. =Your job is to slowly increase debt until the Federal Reserve (a private entity) has complete control. -Know your role!!
The same people that own the Federal Reserve most likely own the Japanese banks and large corps also. Again know your role!! =The U.S. Must stay and Japan must buy U.S. Debt so the Fed can make more debt for you to buy.
Federal Reserve 1913, League of Nations, Collapse of small banks and take over by Fed (consolidation) WWI, Communism, WWII, Vietnam (prolonged war), Korean war (never ended), Iraq-Iran. Bankers play both sides and make the $$$$ = you pay (usually Americans) Now we are in another Fed buying banks cycle and going after resources =Hillary Clinton in Africa, free trade agreements.
Statistician
Good to see the DPJ taking a more independent line. It fits in better with an Obama perspective too.
Den Den
Can we have that in a signed, legal document?
stirfry
oooooh...the locals flexing their non-existant muscles
Alphaape
I say good on the DPJ. If they are ready to play ball in the "big league" then let them. Don't want to support fueling US ships around in the Persian Gulf (even though Afg. is a land locked nation with no navy) then fine. Next time things start to get really hot in the region, let Japan send their own forces to protect their shipping. Same as with the pirates down in the South China Sea that recently attacked a JN merchant.
As far as this is concerned, I recently just came from a trip to Indonesia. As I was sitting in a taxi at a stop light, the car suddenly became engulfed in a swarm of motor-scooters spitting out all types of blue smoke (just replace Indonesia with any other country in Asia and you will get the same result) that reminded me of my days cutting lawns with the old lawn mower in the States. What really surprised me that when I looked closely, these motor-scooters had such names as Honda, Suzuki, Yamaha, Mitusbishi and other Japanese names. So on the one hand while they are shoving the "Prius" and other "green cars" down the US throat and expecting commitments from the US on Kyoto, they are selling like crazy all of those worse polluters all over the rest of the third world.
So I say, if they want to stand up to the U.S. fine. But get ready to be able to take the heat when the U.S. starts to treat you as you wish as being more independent and stops looking over the small stuff that has been gotten away with by Japan for so long.
Triumvere
DPJ won't do jack... they'll make a little noise and then its back to business as usual. The only reason they say these sorts of things is so they can distinguish themselves from Jiminto. Once they are in power...
zurcronium
Only the cynical and grossly out of touch cannot see that on many issues a change to the DPJ from the useless and very tired LDP would make a huge difference in Japan.
Richard_III
Should this be so, I can see tax rises around the corner.
kyourin
well, it's not much of a problem for America ..
but I wonder what will happen to Japan if America really leave ..
North Korea and China will have a target shooting practice with their Nuclear Bombs .. even before Japan could build her own military power (which is impossible because of the economic crisis)
isthistheend
Yikes, maybe true democracy will come to these shores! Ummmmmm in about 50 years at the earliest.
tkoind2
Japan does greatly benefit from US protection and the money it clearly saves the country by having someone else take care of R&D and everything else that goes into maintaining the strong military protection Japan enjoys.
While I do believe that Japan needs to have her own foreign policy, it should first concentrate on sorting out her domestic nightmare and find someone capable of governing this country.
As for a return to militarism. Never underestimate this potential in any nation. Nationalism can be leveraged by even democratic states to do terrible and foolish things. I offer Iraq as a recent example.
Japanese culture is collective and given to following the general consensus. If conditions arose that provided charismatic leadership and the right social and economic motivations, you could see a far more active and militant Japan again. While outright war is highly unlikely, isolationism and nationalism are not only possible, but we have seen the beginings of this kind of thinking in standing elected officials. So don't write this off as a real danger as it is very much a possiblity if conditions allow.
Shumatsu_Samurai
GW
That's the same in any country. If George Bush had decided he didn't want to leave the White House, declared a state of emergency, put troops on the street and shut down all organised opposition with lethal force, that would be the end of the matter. You could say "it would never happen", but it's no less likely than Japan setting off to conquer all of Asia again.
What I'd like to know is how the DPJ expect Japan to have a more independent foreign policy if they're only willing to participate in military operations authorised by the United Nations, which would give several countries a veto over Japan's foreign policy.
pharaoh21
The burden is brought on by the US herself.
Sarge
Minshuto is going to lose.
TokyoShizz
Sarge, they're not going to lose. You're going to eat those words.
Whaling, forcing the abductee issue in the 6 party talks, Abe's bizarre take on history, full page ads in the Washington Post, repeated visits to Yasukuni.
If he had said "It’s like Japan hasn’t had a clue about its own diplomacy, or its own opinions" I would agree.
Simon_Foston
Anything to base that opinion on? Other than "they're whiners who don't want to fight terrorists?"
YuriOtani
I will be happy when the American base people stop leaving their bases and enforcing their will on the local population. I would be a lot happier if they would stick their policy on their bases alone. They just have to go to Japan and try and force their morality on others. It would not surprise me to see American military police searching locals houses and stores and calling the Japanese Police as an afterthought. I applaud the DPJ in their effort to get the Americans to be respectful of their hosts. It will be your turn soon, do not mess it up!
Sarge
"I applaud the DPJ in their effort to get the Americans to be respectful of their hosts"
I applaud the Americans for keeping Japan out of trouble for the past 60 years.
rogerbentham
stand up and sit down japan. America is everything.
hworta269
Yuri, the military does not in any way force anything on non Americans.