
Image by MB298; (License CC BY-SA 4.0)
I feel very far removed from life in the US right now. Physically, it’s because I’m living in Japan for the next year. Mentally, not as much news crosses my path as it used to; with the exception of one colleague asking me what Trump meant when he called Kim Jong Un (KJU hereafter) a “smart cookie.” My language skills weren’t advanced enough to explain to him that the president just says things without thinking and doesn’t care about the consequences.
I can understand why the average Japanese person would be interested in US politics when it intersects with North Korea. Although KJU’s latest attempts to create an ICBM have fizzled, Japan is just as much on the front lines as South Korea in terms of aggression from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK hereafter); possibly even more so, as both Koreas may ultimately see the other side as “lost” and in need of a steady hand to exert control. Unfortunately, animosity towards their former occupiers is still widespread, even passed down to the younger generations.
“Even facts for which there is video evidence, like not having the largest crowd of all time on Inauguration Day, remain a fluid topic for someone like Trump.”