More on the Aso Speech

There was a very interesting part of Aso’s speech calling for the emperor to visit Yasukuni that didn’t make it into English reporting so far:

“Japan is treated like a nouveau-riche child because it has no military power but does have economic power. All the G8 countries are White, and Japan is the only Yellow Race country there. So we teamed up with the best fighter, America. This should be obvious!” (Source: NTV News 24, paraphrased from memory)

The statement repeats a theme emphasized in Aso’s most recent essay on his official website:

If you analyze the current situation, unrelated to the anti-American feelings of left-leaning Japanese and the mass media, isn’t it Japan who has no choice but to take a basic national policy attitude of relying on America? Even children know the everyday wisdom that if there’s a dangerous person in the seat next to you, protection, if you can’t provide it yourself, become friends with the best fighter. This is a little too simplistic, but please consider this one “differing opinion.” 

Unfortunately, the video has already been taken down. If anyone can find me the full text of his speech I would really appreciate it!

2 thoughts on “More on the Aso Speech”

Comments are closed.