Edo 慧人 Naito 内藤’s Post

Yet more evidence that the CRINKs (China, Russia, IR Iran, and North Korea) are supporting each other with weapons supply, critical parts, and advanced technology, including Russian MIRV-capable ICBMs to Pyongyang.

No surprise. Documented evidence that CCP is attempting to intimidate their critics and opponents in Japan both directly and through threats to their relatives in CCP Wonderland. Free Occupied Tibet Free Occupied East Turkistan Free Occupied Mongolia Free Occupied Hong Keep your hands off of Free Taiwan. https://lnkd.in/gt4KcT26

After Patriot system missiles and ongoing discussions on ship repair and new shipbuilding, the next set of discussions is about the co-production of AMRAAM missiles. Japan remains in a quite narrow state with respect to supplying defense systems, but this might be the first offensive weapon system if it occurs.

As expected, an hour or so ago, the new Japan PM Ishiba formally dissolved the Diet (our legislative body like your Parliament, Congress, National Assembly), triggering a national election on Oct. 27 for the 465 seats to be contested in the more powerful Lower House. Media will call it a "snap" election, not because it is a surprise to anyone, but only because it is formally occurring about one year before the 4-year term of the Lower House is to expire late next year, which in Japanese politics rarely reaches its formal term before the PM calls for an endorsement from the Japanese electorate. The attached link will take you to a quite accurate overview of the mechanics of the election and the current seats pre-election held by the LDP, its current partner, the Buddhist pacifist-leaning soft-on-CCP China Komeito, and the two more significant opposition parties, CDP and Ishin, the gradually disappearing Communist Party and a hand full of fringe parties. For those interested, I will do a more detailed look later at what levels of Lower House control leads to a smooth-running legislature and where the yellow flashing and red lights are. For the LDP, but more importantly for PM Ishiba, who will do everything possible to define the definition of "success" for the media echo chamber to be as low as possible. https://lnkd.in/gRyNvwT2

The ubiquitous CCP censors have no issues with this form of self-promotion. In fact, it seems the fastest way for little folks to reach fame and fortune is something like this, filming other anti-foreign hateful acts for CCP social media sites, or flying to Japan, defacing a Japanese monument by urinating on it, and defacing it with nasty graffiti, have it filmed, upload it to CCP social media for millions of views, and then scamper home a "hero". Some people will rush to tell me that Japan inflicted pain and suffering on China over 80 years ago, and I will agree that is a deeply regrettable history for which Japan will have eternal regret. BUT I will also respond that for large periods of the past 80 years, the CCP China government did NOT support this type of racist hate in public. I can attest personally to that fact at least for the past 40 years of going to China many hundreds of times. And I will point my finger directly at Xi Jinping, who is most certainly directly responsible for the level of pure hate and the systematic manner in which it has been taught from kindergarten to university since he became Emperor of the CCP some 12 years ago. Hate of external forces is the tried-and-true method for the CPP to distract and divert the people from the endless mistakes of the CCP and Xi's own miserable leadership. Teaching hate is state policy. Essentially, this is applied "Xi Thought."

Another excellent article by Dr. Ju Hyung Kim - this one focused on the critical issues that underpin nuclear decoupling and how North Korea is attempting to undermine the rapidly strengthening Japan/South Korea/US trilateral relationship.

Since, unsurprisingly, all comments were turned off, I will simply repost the statement from the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter-Terrorism so you can see how the UN continues to respond to the massacre of October 7, to the continuing cruel fate of the now 101 hostages one can only pray remain alive despite the horrors they have been put through over the past one year including babies and preschoolers, a very necessary prayer given how many hostages have been tortured, raped, and murdered by the terrorist Hamas while in their care, while discounting entirely the UN member Israel's right to defend itself from internationally recognized terrorists who continue to attack it daily from Lebanon, Syria, IR Iran, Iraq, and Yemen, but you call out violence by Israel against the terrorists. Sorry, I am not buying this false attempt to appear to be balanced and objective. We have all seen what UN Secretary General has to say. And sorry no Nobel Peace Prizes for the terrorist co-opted UNRWA. These sorts of statements are the reason why the UN has become: UNecessary. UNfund it! UNSC UNworkable UNHRC UNinterested in the worst HR abusers UNRWA UNder terrorist control UNWomen UNwilling to support Israeli, Iran, Tibetan, Uyghur women UNNKSC (North Korea) sanctions are Undermined by UNSC members Time for a tear-down and rebuild, save the few orgs that have value UN, I give up. UNreformable

Another excellent article from a Seoul defense think-tank expert, Ju Hyung Kim, on closer integration of the missile defenses of South Korea and Japan, including the new counter-strike capability that Japan will begin deploying in 2025. I find it remarkable and am delighted to see this level of cooperation and sharing, and I look forward to seeing these plans implemented during the term of the courageous President Yoon.

Many countries around the globe have "anniversaries" on dates that sometimes inspire (VE Day, 8-15 for some, etc.) and sometimes provoke enormous pain that never goes away. Of the latter category, the US has "9-11" with the attack on the World Trade Center where I worked for 4 years. As a Japanese, I relive annually "3-11" with our triple disaster of a magnitude 9+ earthquake, and then the resultant massively destructive tsunami which swept away thousands, many of whose remains never to be recovered again, and the nuclear meltdowns and the decades still ongoing to fully recover from those. Israel has any number of such "anniversaries" but "10-7" will be one that is part of the national psyche for a very long time. Thornhill filmmaker Igal Hecht created a nearly 2-hour painstaking documentary on the events of the massacres that took place one year ago today. Many out there may want to talk about the pain and suffering of other truly innocent who have suffered in the war since then, and there will be times and places to do that, but, on October 7, it feels very right to me to focus on the innocents who were murdered in the most barbaric way and hundreds more taken from their families and friends, and the 101 (we all truly pray they remain alive and safe) hostages still kept by the Hamas terrorists. Note: I have truly agonized over this as I have tried a half dozen times but have been unable to completely finish the documentary in one sitting, but I finished it by breaking it into 3 sessions. I decided that I would include the link in the first comment below.

It is starting soon in Hokkaido, but it has been hotter than usual, so it will be delayed as the autumnal changes move slowly to the west - in the opposite direction to how cherry blossoms start in the west and move gradually to the east.