Another Fine Mess

The serviceman who killed the pedestrian in Yomitan now realizes that the blood all over his wrecked car came from a human being, not a tree. He is willing to apologize to the dead man's family. Great. But not as great as giving the man back to the people who were counting on him.

What would be even greater is if the US would apologize to the serviceman for sending him to a place like Yomitan in the first place. He doesn't belong there. He belongs in his own home town with people who speak his language.

It is too late to return the Okinawan man to his family, but not to late to return the 27 year old serviceman to his.

Just do it.

He's Here!

Mr. Obama arrived in Tokyo to much fanfare. It was a rare treat to see a Japanese prime minister speaking to an American president in English. It was an equally rare treat--something we haven't seen in about eight years--to see an American president speaking real English.

Let us hope that genuine communication ensues.

PS: About the same time Mr. Obama was thanking the troops for their "contribution" in Okinawa, a US GI was arrested for killing an Okinawa resident in a hit and run accident. The GI said he couldn't understand what the arresting officer was saying. Was there something about the evil of killing a pedestrian and running away that needed to be explained?

Okinawa vs New Jersey

Tomorrow US President Obama will meet in Tokyo with the new Japanese Prime Minister, Mr. Hatoyama. The US air base at Futenma, in Okinawa, is one of the topics on the agenda. The base occupies the largest part of a congested city, and it is next door to a major university.

Not so long ago, a Futenma-bound US helicopter crashed and burned on that university campus, spewing radioactive material helter skelter. That was not nice. No one wants a burning helicopter on their lawn, especially one whose ashes can kill.

Okinawa--the island with all the US bases--is smaller than the US state NJ. If you have 2 hours, you can drive the length of it taking time out for lunch and a little sightseeing. There are sixteen (16!) US military installations on Okinawa. How many similar-sized US bases are in NJ?


(two: Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth)

A Parade in Manhattan

It was a glorious moment, the parade featuring the Yankees' MVP Hideki Matsui. For some reason, the sight of Mr. Matsui waving from an open car reminded me of a Walt Whitman poem. I looked up the poem, and here is the first verse:

"OVER the western sea, hither from Niphon come,
Courteous, the swart-cheek’d two-sworded envoys,
Leaning back in their open barouches, bare-headed, impassive,
Ride to-day through Manhattan."

This was written by Whitman in honor of the first Japanese visitors to the US, who paraded down Broadway 150 years ago at the opening of the Meiji Era. The poem celebrated the idea of the one-ness of the world.

I think 150 years is a very long time between parades, but the outpouring of enthusiasm was just the same.

As Whitman put it, hurray for geography! We are all in it together.