I wanted to comment on the peculiar use of the word "world" in The Japan Times and indeed the Japanese media generally. It is only the Japanese media and Japanese politicians who do this when referring to the opinion of the U.S. government. This apparently subconscious phenomenon seems unique to Japan, and is common to both the English-language and Japanese-language press, as well as to Japanese politicians of all stripes.
The Nov. 24 article "Changing world asks more of Japan" is typical. It does talk about the changing world, but the only country questioning the points mentioned in the article is the United States. The U.S. has every right to ask things of Japan. Good luck to both wonderful countries, I say. I would only ask that The Japan Times report American officials' requests as American requests, not as a request from "the world."
Most of the world's population is Asian. And most of the world's population is female. I wonder what Asian women are asking of Japan? No mention of that. I wonder what Brazilians or Russians are asking of Japan for that matter? I don't know either, but I would bet it would have little in common with what is mentioned in this article.
Chinese people seem to want more reflection on the war, and the people of the Antipodes and the British appear to feel most strongly at the moment about the hunting of whales, for example. But as far as I know, only the U.S. -- not the world -- is actively asking Japan to assert itself militarily against its Asian neighbors. The opinions of American officials are interesting and newsworthy, but they are not the world, and The Japan Times does them an unwarranted favor and its readers an undeserved disservice in characterizing them as such.
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