good thought.  i'm one of those weird history buffs that usually thinks of stuff like that.  speaking of the japanese, tomorrow is my bday.  12/7, the date that lives in infamy.

...no signs to that effect at the K.

It's ironic and strange, but I think it's also a testiment to how far we've come. Japan is now one of our greatest allies. They don't have fighting troops, but they have telecommunications experts and medics side by side with our boys as we speak.

This has changed, but in the 80's, when the Japanese were our new economic overlords, mentioning WWII to a Japanese man was taboo. The saying was "he would lose so much face you could see the back of his head."

I do not want this to turn in to an argument about  political correctness so I'll be as frank as possible.  First of all, there's nothing to discuss.  The Royals are guaranteed to have at least one Japanese player on their roster.  The K is near Harry Truman Road.  As it happens, I'm sure that Yabuta, Hillman, Fukudome, etc. have not taken the time to stop and smell the irony.

Your topic is analgous to, say, a Saudi banker working near ground zero in New York - i.e., "isn't it ironic that he works near the site of the world trade center"  Umm, not really. It is a globalized world that we live in these days. Not really worth discussing.

Mac Suzuki's no longer with us?

I'm wondering what Japanese history books say about WWII. I know there is a huge controversy about the Japanese whitewashing their history books of the fact that Japanese soldiers raped and pillaged Korean villages during WWII, which still upsets Koreans to this day. Korea demanded an official apology and asked Japan to let their students know of that awful tragedy, and Japan has refused.

I'm wondering how they slant WWII, if they portray it as an emperor gone mad, or if they justify his imperialistic notions, and how they portray the U.S. and the attack on Pearl Harbor. I'm especially curious as to how they portray the nuclear bombings.

It is interesting how close the two countries have become in retrospect. Were the tables turned, and we were bombed by some country, I have a feeling we would still by trying to go to war today. I guess that's the difference in cultures.