3 ms·

>>"Japan was never considered evil in the 1980s" I suppose we remember differently. An example: in 1991 George Friedman (the respected analyst, who, by the way

>>"Japan was never considered evil in the 1980s" I suppose we remember differently. An example: in 1991 George Friedman (the respected analyst, who, by the way, is predicting now the collapse of China) published "The coming war with Japan". Obviously the title is just "click-bait" but I think reflects what was in the zeitgeist then. >>"China has always had a much more complicated relationship with the USA [..]" Absolutely agree with that. After all, the constitution of Japan was basically redacted by the USA and militarily depends on the USA. China is going to be a different matter and, that, I think, it's the real reason because China is considered even more "evil" than Japan, because subdue it it's going to be very difficult (if possible).

seanmcdirmid 7y ago
Being a west coaster obviously biases me a bit, I guess if you were living in Detroit the sentiment would be different. Actually, our beef with japan back then was related to the, trying to export their real estate bubble abroad, which is exactly what the Chinese are doing today :) (stop overpaying us for our housing, dammit!). Japan was definitely not seen as a strategic competitor in the 80s, no one was afraid of an invasion coming from them. Pacifism a actually popular sentiment in japan; right wingers in the USA wish japan would drift away from that.
- aksss 7y ago
  > no one was afraid of an invasion coming from them I don’t disagree, but it’s ironic that this was also the sentiment in the 40’s, and then Japan literally invaded (Alaska, after the surprise attack on Hawaii).
  - xenophonf 7y ago
    During World War Two, Japanese forces invaded two remote islands with less than ten thousand troops, voluntarily abandoned one island, and were kicked off the other a year later. It was in all likelihood a diversion during the Battle of Midway. With such a small force and so little materiel committed, it posed little real threat to the U.S. West Coast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_campaign

seanmcdirmid 7y ago

Being a west coaster obviously biases me a bit, I guess if you were living in Detroit the sentiment would be different. Actually, our beef with japan back then was related to the, trying to export their real estate bubble abroad, which is exactly what the Chinese are doing today :) (stop overpaying us for our housing, dammit!). Japan was definitely not seen as a strategic competitor in the 80s, no one was afraid of an invasion coming from them. Pacifism a actually popular sentiment in japan; right wingers in the USA wish japan would drift away from that.

aksss 7y ago
> no one was afraid of an invasion coming from them I don’t disagree, but it’s ironic that this was also the sentiment in the 40’s, and then Japan literally invaded (Alaska, after the surprise attack on Hawaii).
- xenophonf 7y ago
  During World War Two, Japanese forces invaded two remote islands with less than ten thousand troops, voluntarily abandoned one island, and were kicked off the other a year later. It was in all likelihood a diversion during the Battle of Midway. With such a small force and so little materiel committed, it posed little real threat to the U.S. West Coast. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_campaign https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_campaign