[Tsuwabuki]

Originally Posted by termogard

Nope. Thank God, I have never been among occupation forces. I carried a military service within borders of my country.

The occupation ended a very, very long time ago. American forces are the guests of the Japanese people, and are here at the Japanese government's invitation. If the majority of the Japanese electorate really wanted this changed, they would communicate it so to the government. This was not a major issue, or even really an issue at all during the last election. I have seen the protests in person and they are a relatively small number of Japanese citizens.

Really? Should I blindly believe your words?

Be happy to provide photographs if you would like, but MMM has summed it up quite well. You're suggesting I have reason to lie, I don't. I think I even have a photograph of a protest outside a gate to Yokosuka that I took.

Easy. This is a forum. And I have to say your logic is too strange for a teacher. The fact that I have no personal military experience on Japanese soil doesn't mean lack of my right to speak about "relationship between ordinary Japanese and base personnel".

I'm not questioning your right to speak. You can also suggest that American service members are brain-eating purple cow people from Mars. No one is saying you can't. I am saying that you haven't presented any compelling arguments for your view points. You are at a distance. I am not. My experiences counter your claims, and you cannot counter my experiences without accusations of deceit. It is your logic that is flawed, not mine.

By your logic, one could say to mentioned Okinawa protesters something like "hey, your childs aren't raped all, one-by-one, so drop your angry slogans and get out !"

Children, and... what? This doesn't even make sense. I am saying merely that the number of Japanese that care enough, or believe that position strongly enough, to protest are not a significant enough majority to alter Japanese political realities. This is true. They don't have the voting power, because they are a tiny minority.... Not that Japan has a very active electorate. Voter apathy is a real issue here.

What a biblical icon you painted.......Good American sailors teaching japanese teens how to keep their soil tidy.......

I did not say that. We recognised that area was primarily a thoroughfare for sailors, and that some of the trash was there because of the base. As good neighbors we thought it our duty to clean up after "ourselves." The fact we caught Japanese teens contributing was merely evidence that it is not always, or even necessarily often, just sailors. You should not be so hasty to label.

This is quite enough America and American service member bashing, thank you.

Ok, ok. Could you provide some of them to back your statements?

You first. After all, it is your thread. I'll counter-source.

I would be surprised if Japanese children knew nothing about brutal bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

*sigh* You would be surprised then. Education about the war is happening recently, but it has been a very slow process. I love how you ignored that my ninth graders go to Okinawan beaches to learn about what ethnic Japanese soldiers and their commanders did to ethnic Okinawans, and instead latched on to the one thing that would allow you toss out more America-bashing. That's sooooo 2006.

Very recently, there have been changes in Kyoto Prefecture to more fully address the war, and I have spoken to my students about the American viewpoint on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as my own personal opinions. Given what they learn about in Okinawa, it is a real glimpse into how easily ethics and morals are skewed and distorted during war. Who was more brutal? Who was right? Who was worse? And really, does it matter? I don't know the answers to these questions, and I may come to different answers than my students eventually do, but let there be no mistake: five years ago, these discussions would not have happened. Period.

You should address your question to staff of the magazine.

Nice parry.

You wanna say that Okinawa reporters have no idea how to interview poll respondents?

I want to say that I don't trust poll numbers.

Often, but not always.

Often, unless digitised. Wikipedia is a secondary source.

Whatever. Politically, Okinawa Prefecture is still a part of Japan.

...spoken like someone who has never experienced or studied Japanese politics (even if you've been here) and doesn't care enough to do so. This is not a "whatever" situation. It is an identity issue that will always be debated.

This is completely irrelevant to discussion.

It is most definitely relevant. You make grandiose claims about the Japanese people, about their interactions with base personnel, about bases, about politics in Japan... You have not once shown where you have interviewed Japanese people, you have not spoken to base personnel (both contractors and service members) about their side, you have not done their jobs in the locations they serve. I cannot say if you've been to Japan, but you do not seem to have really immersed yourself in the news of the day for a fair period of time.

Quoting someone else's work is fine for an undergraduate essay, but it is lazy as a reporter, and unconvincing to someone familiar with significant parts of the debate.