Posted on 11/21/2009 9:18:54 AM PST by AmericanInTokyo
"(Japan Prime Minister) Hatoyama Vs.Obama -- The Scandal That Nobody Will Report" (由紀夫 vs オバマ「書かれざるスキャンダル」）
Reporters at the weekly Shukan Bunshun news magazine here in Tokyo, Japan have written a rather caustic report about President Obama's 23 hours in Tokyo last week, from a frank Japanese perspective, exclusively in the Japanese language, and released to the newstands just now. In that sense this is more or less an *FR Exclusive*. A number of eye-opening claims, pieces of information and details emerge about Obama's brief stay in Japan as part of his disastrous Asian trip--over and above the very controversial, near-"dogeza" bow delivered as a Head of State of a superpower to the Emperor of Japan. There is criticism in this article for both the Obama Administration and their behavior, as well as within the Japanese government either in response or through their own incompetence. Either way, it does not make for a very pretty picture and is squarely at odds with the Administration which announced upon arrival in the US that the Asian trip was a "success". By what benchmark?
This Japanese magazine is a major weekly publication in Japan. I have as a courtesy provided a synopsis English translation, not word-for-word, of the main gist of the article. As always, the original Japanese authors' Japanese language version of the article prevails over the English. For general discussion, research and historical purposes.
--For the first time since he was inaugurated as President of the USA in January, Obama had visited Japan for the first time on January 13th, and conducted a summit meeting with the Prime Minister, Yukio Hatayama. After their meeting, the two leaders conducted a press briefing. "We had a very deep, discreet discussion, and we even reached the point of being able to call each other 'Yukio' and 'Barack' ", the Prime Minister stated afterwards.
--Or so he accentuated the positive results of such a meeting with Obama. But the internal fact of the matter is, the US-Japan Summit Meeting was MISERABLE. (惨憺たるもの)
Indications that it would be chaotic were picked up in advance, even before President Obama arrived in Japan. "Even within the Japanese government there was and is still no agreement among the Japanese Cabinet Ministers on what to do about the Futenma USMC station in Okinawa situation (moving it to an offshore location or elsewhere), and for that reason the decision was being put in a holding pattern because of it, the US peppered their disbelief at Japan, stating "we don't know just who is saying what and if it is true on your side, the decision is taking too long." And that is when the U.S. side sent their anger to Japan in message form by their highly unusual, sudden, last-minute change in the schedule of Obama to come to Japan, a US journalist source revealed.
--The plan was for Obama to arrive in Japan on the November 12, have his summit meeting with Hatoyama on the 13th, and thereby jet out of Japan the following day, the 14th to Singapore for the APEC Summit meeting. The US journalist also revealed that the Obama administration made the sudden request to change this schedule for Obama to the 13th (arrival in Japan), on November 7. Said the same US journalist source, "their excuse for the delay was the shooting at Ft. Hood, Texas on the US Army base on November 5. But the fact of the matter is, the memoral service was on the November 10 and only took a day trip for Obama whereupon he returned immediately to Washington. After that, he had the National Security Council meeting on policy in Afghanistan on November 11th. However, he could have departed Washington D.C. right after that and could have still landed in Japan as everyone agreed and planned on, for the 12th."
--Additional screw-ups that created a possible conflict with the Emperor's schedule and the entire Cabinet celebrating his 20 years on the throne, can be traced to the Japanese Foreign Ministry. A ruling Democratic Party of Japan spokesperson said "at any rate, with four days in China for Obama, the fact is China is the big thing for them."
--Obama was made to wait five minutes in a car at the entrance way to the Prime Minister's Official Residence, which as seen as not only a diplomatic discourtesy, but a breach of security procedures, and furthermore it would be recalled the Prime Minister and his wife had kept Obama waiting for a long time in Pittsburg at the G-20 dinner as well, says foreign affairs specialist Oyama.
--It may have been felt as a diplomatic slight to get back at the Americans because of the very sudden, troublesome last minute schedule change.
--A DPJ ruling party official stated to Shukan Bunshun, that "in the Obama-Hatoyama summit itself, the Japanese side had a total of 14 officials, including six cabinet ministers, the Foreign Minister Okada, the Defense Minister Kitazawa, etc. but on the American side it was only "Team Obama" staff and hardly anybody else. There was agreement in advance that there would be no detailed discussion on any topics, and there was not even a dynamic give-and-take discussion in the meeting. It was to the point that even on the American side, there were those in the Obama delegation who were yawning and even some who were nodding off right there in the meeting."
--Prime Minister Hatoyama essentially left Obama on Japanese soil while he went ahead of Obama to the Singapore summit of APEC, leaving on the November 14 even while Obama still had major events in Japan such as delivering a major live speech and visiting the Imperial Palace, so this to was seen perhaps as a message leaving ahead of him like that as a country's host, observed a reporter attached to the Prime Minister's beat. The reason to go to Singapore like that was to tape-cut the grand opening of a Japan information center, but in order to do that, cutting time to be spent with the President of the US on Japanese soil is rather unprecedented, journalist Michael Yu observed.
--Before the US-Japan summit, the leader of the Socialist Party of Japan Ms. Fukushima, threatened that if the US Marines would move their base up to (the) Henoko offshore reef from the current Futenma location, then she would leave the Hatoyama coalition government. Well it seems Prime Minister Hatoyama is more afraid of Socialist Party leader Fukushima than he is President Obama of the USA, that is why he reversed himself on the committment about settling Futenma USMC Station issue so soon after meeting Obama.
--A source in the US government stated "US-Japan relations are having a problem, but it is not a crisis." --However, it does seem a crisis is approaching as we speak.
(END OF MY TRANSLATION SUMMARY)(BOLD TEXT FOR EMPHASIS ONLY)
president moron strikes again.
The article cannot be viewed online (and it is only in Japanese) unless one has an online subscription to the magazine. It is out in hard copy though this week, on the Japanese news stands, in bookstores and in convenience stores throughout Japan, from cold, chilly Wakkanai in the north, to hot, summery Miyako Island in the south.
It should be no surprise to find out that dems don’t have manners. Just look at some of the media talking heads. They are plain disgusting.
Must be a typo.
So much for improving US respect around the world. What a BAFFOON.
I’m sure that most heads of state by now see Obama as a temporary aberration and to be taken seriously.
100% of the population of District 15 in Arizona were proud of Obimasshu’s asian trip.
CORRECTION: I’m sure that most heads of state by now see Obama as a temporary aberration and NOT to be taken seriously.
I take it they want it gone?
As well as New Hampshire’s 00th district ...
I saw Japanese TV pool film footage of the delegation meeting with Hatoyama and his team, sound off, and they did look somewhat rude. I noticed Axelrod, Gibbs and Jarrett in there in the handshake lineup. A real group of winners. Wonder if they even put their feet up on the furniture over there, or of Rahm Emmanuel, if he was even there—not sure, dropped any “F” bombs. How wonderful.
The idiot man-child’s egregious lack of qualifications for the job is again detrimental to America and again concealed by the media.
The news from Singapore is similar to say the least - a lot of things going on behind the scenes. Hope to have a full report soon.
A success by this benchmark:
An open challenge to all FReepers, Lurkers, O-Bots and Trolls
I believe that everything 0bama has done has:I beg of you, if you can think of anything post it on that thread.A. weakened America
B. strengthened islam
C. attacked Israel...or some combination of the above.
Can anyone cite something he’s done that doesn’t fit A, B and/or C?
Thank you for the report!
Very complex. Therefore I purposely provided the hotlink to a helpful URL for the word “Futenma” above, for additional resource/reading. ;-)
BUMP for excellence in freeping.
Thanks for your work.
They want to turn it into a tourist airport/hotel site.
The Communuists there have been using a CH-53 crash as an excuse to shut it down.
Outside of severe battlefield situations such as in the heat of World War II, treat most if not nearly all Japanese with respect, and you will get respect back, maybe even double-fold. Treat them with contempt or rudeness--whether outwardly or under the surface, and you will get contempt and rudeness back (or they may hold in the rudeness but it will be under the surface regardless and you will get scr*wed in some other way some time later). Fundamental rule. We are all humans at the end of the day.
All too true.
Now that the famous bow has had time to percolate for a few days, any new opinions as to how it will be characterized in the long run?
I know enough about formal Japanese manners to have been shocked at opening up Drudge and seeing that low, ridiculous grovel.
They left behind a pile of problems, if you ask me, and think the American People back home will never find out about it.
Thanks for your post and translation,
this kind of work is what separates FR from
the rest.
I have decided to start calling him:
Barak Obama ATBP (Alleged to be president)
I’m not sure if that should come after SOA or not.
Thanks for the summary.
It sounds as if the new Japanese PM was repeatedly and deliberately rude to Obama, which is a bit of a reversal of Obama’s usual treatment of allied leaders.
I think I referred to these two leaders in an earlier thread as Pot and Kettle. Two disasters for their countries.
Let’s just hope we can survive the two of them. Obama just ASKS to be trampled on, and evidently that’s what happened. But he was no doubt too stupid to realize it, and probably none of his foreign advisers read Japanese.
And his own typical discourtesy at the start didn’t help.
He seems to attend these highly important summit meetings without doing any advance preparation at all. Fly over, preen for the cameras, insult his hosts, and play it by ear because he’s too smart to need any prepping seems to be his basic method.
Very interesting!!! Thanks for the post. What’s his name is becoming a world embarrassment.
Obama’s handlers seem to have no appreciation
for ON or Giri, I know we live in a modern age
but those still effect Japanese thought and action.
Obama will be paid back at some point and the longer
it takes the more it will be.
I have found amongst my japanese Aikido friends that
even the simplest gesture is reciprocated rather quickly
lest it grow to be unbearable.
Thank you again.
Oh, and don’t forget the “hmm hmm MMM!”
So much for Obismol’s “Rainbow Tour” of the Far East.
Obowma does a 90 degree bow to royalty and is hated.
Hmmm... Dubya was just invited to do a first pitch over in Japan. I bet his visit was more popular than Zero's.
They are both bad for their respective countries, in my opinion. The people in their respective countries panicked, also with a sense of hope in making a complete change from the past, but they may have even gotten things worse--in their irrationality coalescing in votes. At least there in the US it does seem they are slowly coming to their senses, so he has to act fast to ramrod anything through now I bet.
Over here, even Hatoyama's figures are starting to go south.
PS Japan reported pretty big today that Patrice Lumumuba Obongo's support in public opinion has dipped below 50% after hardly a year in office, per Gallup, a good steady decline shared by only a few other US Presidents. Pretty widely on the internet and elsewhere.
Thank you for presenting this article to us. I can’t wait to see how we shxx on other countries and they do us in return. Diplomatic protocol in the day of ‘hope and change’. Arrggghhh!
Actually, I am not an afficianado for Dubya but objectively speaking, yes, he did do well in Tokyo about two weeks ago before what’s his name got here. Endeared himself to Japanese university students, and also seemed to be enjoying himself; probably relieved of all that burden 24/7 is my take. Yes, he threw out a pitch, too.
Excellent! We look forward to it.
Tiger, you should be in on this one. For your information....
Great post. Very interesting. It is amazing how much information is deliberately witheld from the US public.
Obummer-san is a Geisha girl.
This causes me to wonder how he performed in school.
Thank you very much for the (loose) translation.
BO and his gang have no love for America and therefore it follows they have a tin ear for diplomacy. There isn’t even the slightest hint of good intentions clumsily executed.
BO is making our country look worse and worse.
I'm pretty sure George still deals in politics, but he has a good time doing so.
But it is also kind of (funny?) to watch some charlatan-like blogs lift this academic work (such as a summary translation which does not happen by itself) and slap it up on their site, with absolutely no reference to or credit to Free Republic, and link to the Japanese magazine website directly, and then pass it off to look like it is their own work and efforts. Blogs like "Elite Trader". Whatever that is. Guess there will be more. Well. At least people will be reading, right?
The “bow” is pretty much a dead issue here now, but they did watch and comment on all the excitement it had in the USA. It would have been a much bigger story IMHO if it had been stuation that did not involve the Emperor directly. They probably wanted to be rather quiet about it out of deference to His Majesty and just let it slide. Obama could also be forgiven, out of the generousness of the hearts of many Japanese in cases like this, for his ignorance. (They could care less about 44, too, though.)
Sadly, there will always be more ego than honesty I am afraid. It is very irritating to watch one’s work copied and disseminated with no attribution.
But, we appreciate you HERE, and to paraphrase and refute Lenin a bit - quality has a quality all its own, too.
“BO is making our country look worse and worse.”
I think that except for the international ‘yoof’ the world at large recognizes what an alien interloper BHO is, and that zast portions of American reject him in totality.
Once again the arrogance of the anointed One comes through as only his magnificent presence will make everything better.
Since Obamasan is now skinny as a rail, they can all be Pol(e) Pot and Kettle. Kettle can even be their last names, Mao and Pao Kettle. They make the Beverley Hillbillies look like diplomats
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