Lots and lots have been written about the running sore on U.S.-Japan alliance issues that is Futenma, but I was struck by just how unhappy the Japanese people I talked to are, with much of  the conversations having to remain off record.

When the U.S. came over to Japan in the week up to the original June 29 news of the deployment, alliance managers here were struck by the perceived U.S. attitude to the issue, which was basically “deal with it.”

Actually the story runs a lot deeper than that. Alliance managers in Tokyo may feel that Nagatacho has been put in a no-win solution with the situation, the MOD feels that the MV-22 is a military issue (if you want the U.S. to defend Japan, you got to have the best gear) while local politicians in Yamaguchi and Okinawa are genuinely fearful that the Osprey is one crash away from causing a genuine eruption of a “bases out/ no Americans in my back yard” sentiment spreading away from Okinawa into mainstream discourse via the media.

Anyway, coincidentally, in a bout of grim international relations-esque black humor, I have been plowing through “offensive realism” theory a la John J. Mearsheimer! Here is the story from this week’s Defense News.

Many thanks to Kawakami Sensei and Brooks Sensei for their insights on this issue.