~~~~~~~


MESSAGE FROM LIONHEART

Oh yeah. Due to severe delirium brought on by acute dessertemia I forgot to mention that I got my Koizumi Cabinet E-mail Magazine the other day.

"The title of this column "Lion Heart" is a reference to the
Prime Minister's lion-like hairstyle and his unbending
determination to advance structural reform."

Junichiro (we're on a first-name basis) is a lot more coherent than Bush, even in English, and his life sounds a lot less stressed. No wonder: he's a bachelor in the Big Ringo, has no Cheney, Rumsfeld or Condoleezza, no WMD falsehoods, no Iraq fetish. And he gives unscripted press conferences that are quite comprehensible.

He writes about meeting people from other countries, seeing the movie Seabiscuit, and about how Haruurara, Japan's beloved losing racehorse, lost another race the other day, tenth in a field of eleven (even ridden by Japan's best jockey), so you shouldn't give up either if you fail.

He doesn't say a word though about the important stuff, such as how to cut your tax bill, or why Japan doesn't allow tax-paying, property-owning permanent residents to vote, or grant permanent dual citizenship to children born here of international parentage, stuff that really matters to the folks who get his letter in English. Maybe he should have two letters, one full of the usual boilerplate (anko?) for the electorate, and one of substance (cherry pie?) for the disenfranchised residents (all foreigners).

Nevertheless, it is a thoughtful gesture and a welcome effort at beginning, and I can e-mail back, which I will (to what end I can't imagine).

You too can comment on the xenophobic qualities of the Japanese Government.