leftovers #2: march was made of yarn

The one thing a tsunami has in common with a nuclear strike is that each is an example of a national tragedy that could befall Japan with as little as fifteen minutes warning. The loss of life isn't as easily comparable - analysts estimate that if North Korea nuked Tokyo, a million people would die.

I'm not sure about the exact numbers there ('a million' is a really convenient round number) but the basic formula of 'nuclear attack = incalculable loss of life' is good enough to get us all on the same page. In fact, let's make this idea look a little more official:

TOA Official Policy: let's not have any nuclear strikes on Tokyo, Kyoto, Katsumoto, Hello Moto, or anywhere else, really.

With this in mind, I present a fact that sometimes surprises my American readers - Trump's foreign policy is viewed a little differently abroad than it is here. I'm not saying it's viewed more (or less) favorably, I'm not saying all Japanese have one unified point of view, I'm just saying that what you'll get in Japan as it pertains to public opinion about Trump's foreign policy is different than it is here.

I don't think the explanation for why the Japanese will view the US differently than Americans view the US is very complicated. Just crunch those numbers again, reader, and consider how these might influence the concerns of the average Japanese. I don’t think it’s very complicated – Tokyo is one time zone east of Pyongyang while The Very, Very White House remains a full twelve time zones away. Forget a planned attack - North Korea is close enough to accidentally hit Japan with a nuke. Such proximity makes merely dismissing the antics of world leaders - North Korea’s or otherwise - a very different proposition in Osaka than it is in, say, those cities serviced by the Acela route.