Bush Will Be on Friendly Terrain in Japan

[Moloch]

KYOTO, Japan - The mood will be celebratory when President Bush takes center stage in this ancient capital with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, his closest ally in Asia.

The two leaders meet Wednesday amid apparent progress toward ending the two-year-old Japanese ban on U.S. beef imports that has been an irritant on the American side. And the two countries just announced an agreement to realign and reduce U.S. military forces in Japan, resolving an issue that had caused concern in Tokyo.

Bush and Koizumi were expected to keep under wraps a host of trickier matters, such as a growing trade deficit with Japan, Tokyo's reluctance to reduce the kind of farm subsidies that are holding up progress on a U.S.-backed global free-trade pact, and a recent Koizumi visit to a controversial shrine that has roiled relations between Japan and neighbors South Korea and China.

Koizumi earned Bush's steadfast loyalty by staunchly backing the invasion of Iraq and making the unpopular decision to send non-combat troops there in January 2004. That mission is expected to expire next month, but Bush indicated before the trip that he wouldn't press his friend for a decision on whether to extend it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051115/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_asia

Bush is unpopular EVERYWHERE. Koizumi will have to face the voting public of Japan. People aren't stupid. If you lie down with dogs...

[SoCalDem]

1. Ummmm.. yeh.. they "love" him there

A South Korean farmer burns a wooden structure symbolizing U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korea's national assembly at a rally against the wider opening of the local rice market in Seoul November 15, 2005. About 10,000 farmers protested the possible ratification of a bill that will further open the countrys rice market on Tuesday. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

[Hekate]

2. Japan is not Korea, but I agree the Japanese people probably don't like W

Somehow I think the Japanese people will not be greeting Bush with sweets and flowers.

As for Koizumi: lie down with dogs, get up with fleas.

Hekate

[leftchick]

4. I would say the Japanese HATE him...

A Japanese man demonstrates in protest against U.S. President George W. Bush's Japan visit in the ancient capital of Kyoto November 15, 2005. Bush flew in to western Japan Tuesday evening for talks with his close friend and ally Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday, where he is expected to nudge Koizumi to extend the deployment of Japanese non-combat troops in Iraq. Demonstrator's bib reads; 'Against war; Bush, do not come to Japan'. REUTERS/Eriko Sugita






A Japanese kimono-clad woman holds up a flag in demonstration against U.S. President George W. Bush's Japan visit in the ancient capital of Kyoto November 15, 2005. Bush flew in to western Japan Tuesday evening for talks with his close friend and ally Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday, where he is expected to nudge Koizumi to extend the deployment of Japanese non-combat troops in Iraq. REUTERS/Eriko Sugita

[psychopomp]

7. I think the mood is less clear-cut

largely due to the news media's concerted lack of interest in the problems of the Iraq war. Also, most Japanese are very concerned about their crazy cousins to the immediate west of them in North Korea; bush's* inclusion of NK on the short list of bad states went over well here.

As for protests, there have been some in almost every major city, but the people who participate are small in number. As in the U.S. many of those who show up are ordinary people but there is also a contingent of the extreme left who organize around anti-war themes that I believe have a negative effect on the growth of the anti-war movement. The extreme left in Japan is still stigmatized by the leftist terrorist groups that were active thirty or forty years ago. I see them demonstrating today, with their faces covered by facemasks and their hats pulled down over their eyes. They are just on the opposite end of the political spectrum from the rightist uyoku, and just as bonkers.

The people in your photos do not fit that description, however.

[Kagemusha]

3. Koizumi faced the voters not long ago and won.

So if Bush is going to go there, now's the time, when voters' memories can fade before the next election.

Which Koizumi seems to have said he won't stand in anyway. It's an odd approach.

[cal04]

5. U.S. president arrives in Japan on swing through Asia

Under heavy security, U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Japan on Tuesday to begin an eight-day swing through Asia for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in South Korea.

Bush was to stay in Japan overnight in the ancient capital of Kyoto, visit the famous Golden Pavilion temple and have lunch and a summit with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi before heading on to South Korea on Wednesday for the APEC meeting.

Though no incidents were reported, some 5,800 police were mobilized to ensure the safety of Bush's visit. Officials said it was the largest mobilization in Kyoto in recent years, but did not have details.
Bush was also scheduled to visit China and Mongolia before returning home.

Koizumi said that although the visit is brief, it was no less important.
"The U.S. is the most important ally for Japan, and I want to have a straightfoward exchange of views from the perspective of the U.S.-Japan alliance," he told reporters before Bush's arrival.

http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/national/news/20051115p2a00m0na026000c.html

[0007]

6. I hope Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pukes on junior & Laura..n/t

[Say_What]

8. Will he puke in the PM's lap like Poppy did?

We're still laughing about that one! The Japanese named a verb for that bit of US presidential trivia. It's called "BUSHURU" meaning to "to commit an instance of embarrassing public vomiting."

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[rainbow4321]

9. The media is getting desperate in trying to make him look good

But, but, they LOVE him in Mongolia....

Maybe he can stay in Mongolia and be THEIR commander-in-terror for a while...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10028235

Bush’s last stop is Mongolia, where he will be the first sitting U.S. president to visit. The landlocked country has reached out to the United States to avoid the sway of big neighbors China and Russia, sending 120 troops to Iraq and about 50 to Afghanistan. The visit will last just a few hours.

“They’re going to love him in Mongolia ... he may want to stay three days,” Cossa said.