David3 comments

My father's older bothers fought in France during WW I. They never claimed tht America should occupy France at the end of that war. My father in the Philippines between the wars. He never claimed the Philippines should be occupied by the U.S. military. My cousin fought in Italy during WWII. He nevr claimed Italy for U.S. occupation. I fought in Korea in 1953. I never claimed Korea should be occupied by the U.S. MILITARY. How would any American react if the United States was occupied by a foreign military?

Okinawa belongs to Okinawans, not to Japan and not to the U.S.

For 70 years Japan has not been a threat to her neighbors. Consider this. If Abe is successful in abolishing the peace constitution, the Japanese government will be free to develop nuclear weapons. That idea has never been discussed while Article 9 is on the books. Do the Chinese people want the Japanese people to have nuclear weapons? How about Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia. Do Okinawan people need nukes. All the major industrial powers maintain nuclear arsenals, with missiles ready to launch. Abe cannot compete on the world stage without nuclear weapons. Is that preferable to having a peace constitution? The United Nations mandate established in 1945 was to abolish war making. Article 9 has achieved that for 68 years. Peace is possible - imperfect as it is. As Noam Chomsky says, "Article 9 should serve as an inspiration and a model for the world to follow."

Consider a unique form of apology. Japan’s Apology to her WWII Asian Victims. One of the most meaningful forms of apology is one that encompasses action. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is an action of reconciliation, enacted on a daily basis. Therefore this form of apology is a living document, infinite in its scope, providing Article 9 remains a vital part of the constitution. Most official government apologies are words only and relatively short in duration. Japan’s apology via Article 9 may become a template for world peace, not only an apology but also an inspiration for all nations.

Horrors! Our Puritan forefathers had it right. Woman is Satan. Cover her up from neck to toe - nay, head to toe. A naked statue in a museum is bad enough - but woman in the flesh?! "Hail Mary full of grace, the Lord is with thee....." say ten of these and light a candle....

Let's take this a step further. At this time the origin of the explosions are not known. If it happens to be an act of sabotage, what does that say about the infamous secretly conceived US-JAPAN Security Pact?

Sign me up. I'm all for a "good" country. Not as simplistic as it sounds. We live in the nuclear age where the military-industrial-scientific-complex plays nuclear roulette every day. While they are the power-brokers we are dependent on them to make the right decisions about our survival. What is the alternative? Extend our good will to the power brokers. Make friends with them. Invite them to constructive discussions and public debates. In every despot there is a human heart with the same potential for good and the same failings. It is our common humanity. Embrace that humanity. Use imagination, empathy and love. Their addiction is our addiction. Break our habits, find new ways, new energies. A minority of people make misery in the world. A minority of people have the power to generate good. Some will laugh and mock us in the beginning, eventually they will embrace our humanity. Check out Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution. It is a template for goodness. Save Article 9. Bring it to other nations. It is a proven, living document-in-action. Heiwa.

My understanding is that Germany is now offering free university education to foreign students. Europeans long ago came to embrace knowledge for the sake of knowledge as a prime goal of education. In America the exchange of legal tender from one pocket to another is the prime goal of education.

Any leader who says he wants to change the world is deluding himself and those who follow him. Abe is a fool on a mission and when fools go on missions, beware!

my heart aches for these poor people...no words.

bam-boo, you hit the nail on the head. Dignity for the Okinawan people. Isn't that what U.S. and Japanese democracies preach for all peoples? Or as a democratic American, have I lived a lie all my life? America, leave Okinawa gracefully. Japan, leave Okinawa gracefully. You will gain more respect and compassion from a world who cares.

Following his recent landslide election victory, some political pundits perceive Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as a strong leader. If a bully is perceived as strong, then Abe is certainly strong. More realistically Abe comes closer to being a 21st Century version of Adolf Hitler. This man, who's passion it is to restore the glory of Japanese militarism to pre-World War Two standards while denying the atrocities committed by Japan during WWII, ie. rape, torture, enslavement, murder and forced prostitution (comfort women) must be perceived as a security threat to not only southeast Asia, but also as an international security threat to the world. We live in the nuclear age where the weapons of choice are nuclear weapons possessed by the world's most powerful industrial nations. For Abe to compete on the illusory world stage as a "normal" power, he must develop nuclear weapons inside Japan, otherwise he will be seen as a paper tiger. To develop nuclear weapons at the current destructive level is to play a form of nuclear roulette with his own people. Can Mr. Abe afford that legacy?

"Mad dogs and Englishmen walk in the noonday sun." In this case, you commentators may or may not be Englishmen, but you are all walking in the noonday sun. You babble on about one military strategy after another, yet no one mentions that we live in the nuclear age. Japan, in order to compete militarily on the world stage, must develop nuclear weapons. Are nuclear weapons a threat to human survival? Can any nation truly defend themselves in a nuclear conflagration? The only real answer (if survival is important) is for Japan to impeach Abe and reclaim full ownership of Article 9. There's already a movement by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom to bring Article 9 to the U.S.Constitution. A golden opportunity exists for Japan and the U.S. to form an international coalition to support the UN mandate to abolish war making as a political - economic tool.

Vote for Onaga, oust Nakaima. Bring Okinawa out of the 20th Century. Send U.S. TROOPS PACKING! Time for an independent Okinawa.

The madness continues. Every time a world leader makes a move or utters a statement, the media blows it up to dangerous proportions. If the media ignored Abe's visit to the shrine, it would have zero meaning and put him out of the business of psychological terror. Nuclear Roulette is the play-thing of today's power brokers. They should be held accountable for this crime against humanity and imprisoned for recklessly exposing their people to the very real possibility of nuclear annihilation. Article 9 has kept Japan free of war making for 67 years. Abe and his cohorts would gain world wide respect and fame if they promoted Article 9 as the template for peace that it is proven to be.

There is no history of Japanese committing atrocities against anyone except for WWII. Therefore it has to be analyzed and judged in that context, not in some "time-honored tradition." Whether the Japanese government officially ordered the atrocities is immaterial, it was officially administered by the military. The "Rules of War" are contradictory and hypocritical. Everyone knows that the objective of any military in modern "total warfare" is is the complete destruction of the enemy. The enemy is perceived, in total war, as every member of the opposing nation or culture. In war there are no war criminals, the act of war is the crime, hence all combatants are criminal.

Is it possible for Japan and the U.S. to have a strong, respectful political/economic relationship without the so-called "security pact" and without a U.S. military presence in Japan and Okinawa?

May I suggest that people google Secretary of State Cordell Hull and read about his meeting in Lafayette Park with Washington journalist, Joseph Leib. Two or three weeks before the attack on Pearl Harbor Hull gave documents to Leib informing him that Japan would attack Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7. He told Leib to put the information on the international wire services. Leib did and one week before the attack on Nov.30, 1941, headlines appeared on the front page of the Honolulu Advertiser, "Japanese May Strike Over Weekend!" Anyone reading those headlines in Hawaii had to at least consider that it might mean Pearl Harbor was the target. If Cordell Hull knew about the attack in advance may we speculate that FDR probably knew as well?