Our special correspondent, Hadrien Levi, writes: Saturday, August 15th, 2020, almost the end of Japan’s Obon Holiday week. Korean War 2.0 ended before the beginning of the Summer Tokyo Olympic Games, and there were some rumors circulating in the Japanese and International media about a possible visit by Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Yasukuni Shrine to mourn the War dead. It’s a sweltering Summer morning in Tokyo, and it is possible to hear the cicadas singing in the trees. Shock troops from the Metropolitan Police Agency are everywhere in the surroundings of Yasukuni Shrine, all the way to the Imperial Palace, which is close by. The Right Wing, Nationalists, “Black Trucks” with their loudspeakers are kept far away from the vicinity of the Imperial Palace and Yasukuni Shrine.
The headquarters of the Ministry of Defense is also surrounded by shock troops. At the Prime Minister’s residence, there are no shock troops, but the area is surrounded by Police Officers from the Metropolitan Police Agency. There’s an unusual number of helicopters flying around Tokyo, some from the Metropolitan Police Agency and some from Japan’s Self Defense Forces.
People entering Yasukuni Shrine are asked to have their belongings submitted for inspection and to be searched with metal detectors . The media has been tipped about such unusual number of Police Officers in the Central Tokyo Area . The National TV Broadcasters start showing cars with Military personnel exiting the Ministry of Defense heading towards Yasukuni Shrine. Moments later, a motorcade arrives at the Prime Minister’s residence. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gets into his car, and the motorcade departs on its way to Yasukuni Shrine. Officials from the Ministry of Defense and Japan’s SDF’s top brass arrive at Yasukuni Shrine and are greeted by Yasukuni Shrine’s Chief Priest. They stand waiting outside in this warm Summer morning.
Moments later the Prime Minister’s motorcade arrives at Yasukuni Shrine . Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is greeted by the Ministry of Defense Officials, SDF’s top brass and Yasukuni Shrine’s Chief Priest. Surprisingly, they all stand there waiting. The roads linking the Imperial Palace to Yasukuni Shrine have been closed to traffic. Minutes later, at the Imperial Palace, a gate opens and a motorcade leaves the Imperial Palace taking the Emperor and Empress. whom ascended to the throne about a year earlier.
The National TV Broadcasters are flabbergasted by all that’s been happening . Prime Minister Abe, his entourage and Yasukuni Shrine’s Chief Priest, all stand there waiting for the Emperor’s motorcade to arrive. Upon arrival, the Emperor and Empress are greeted by Prime Minister Abe, his entourage and Yasukuni Shrine’s Chief Priest . They all walk towards the shrine. The people present at Yasukuni Shrine are amazed at all that’s been going on . A Ceremonial Ritual is held inside Yasukuni Shrine, but the media is kept far away.
The next day, protests are held in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and other major cities in mainland China . Japan’s Ambassador to China is called into China’s Foreign Ministry in Beijing . Since the participation of China’s PLA in Korean War 2.0, China mainland became a not so comfortable place for Japanese companies to either have dealings with or to have manufacturing bases in.
China’s Economy, having followed Japan’s rapid development model, also starts faltering as Japan’s Economy did when it’s Asset Bubble burst in the late 80’s . With Mainland China’s Economy faltering, Japan Bashing becomes the norm, as a way for China’s Political Elite to control the discontent masses. To no surprise, there are no protests in Taiwan, after China’s PLA participation in KoreanWar 2.0 . Protests are also held in Seoul and other major Korean cities, which are steadily curbed by the newly elected right wing Korean government . The newly elected right wing government knows they will need the financing from Japanese Financial Institutions, which have the funds needed
for the Reunification Process. Sadly enough after the Reunification Process is over, Korea will be so heavily indebted to Japanese Financial Institutions, that it wouldn’t be far fetched to look to Korea as almost a Japanese Colony.
After North Korea’s launch of an ICBM towards Japanese soil and the participation of China’s PLA in Korean War 2.0, there’s some additional debate over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Nago’s Henoko District. On National TV discussion panels, every commentator readily acknowledges the heavy burden that is put on the population of Okinawa for hosting most of US Armed Forces in Japan, but all end up enforcing the necessity of the bases in Japanese soil as an assurance against a growing militaristic China.
Some commentators talk about the need of strengthening the roles of Japan’s Self Defense Forces with budget increases comparable to the two percent of GDP quotas set for NATO member countries. Right Wing Maverick Politician Tooru Hashimoto readily cogitates on the need of the return to the conscription format, citing Israel’s IDF as an example to be followed. Shigeru Ishiba, who is quoted to be Japan’s next Prime Minister, stirs great controversy, as he cogitates on National TV, about the need of Japan possessing Nuclear Weapons.
The rhetoric behind Japan possessing Nuclear Weapons being that North Korea wouldn’t have attacked Japan if the country possessed Nuclear Weapons to retaliate . The funds needed for the retrofit of the DDH-183 Izumo and DDH-184 Kaga Helicopter Destroyers, into Aircraft Carriers, close in style to the US Navy’s Wasp Class of Amphibious Assault Ships, were secured and works at the IHI shipyard are ready to start. In the USA, Lockheed Martin and the Defense Department are sounded by Japan’s Defense Ministry about the possibility of having F-35 B jets ready for delivery when the retrofit works on the DDH-183 Izumo are over, since the US Marines are the biggest customers for the F35 B version of the stealth jet. Meanwhile in Japan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries cogitates on the possibility of it assembling the F 35 B jets needed for the Japanese Aircraft Carriers.
In Japan, with the end of the Heisei Era, a period characterized by the aftermath of the end of Japan’s Asset Bubble, came the end of the country’s 70 years of Peaceful living after the WWII defeat.
