Regarding the Sept. 2 Kyodo article "Next first lady feels affinity with Michelle Obama": It seems to me that Miyuki Hatoyama is somewhat naive to believe that she has some affinity with Michelle Obama. The common thing she may share is being the wife of a leader, but apart from that I doubt she has any conception of what it is like to be in Michelle Obama's shoes.
I doubt she has felt what it is like to experience racial discrimination to any degree. To say her husband's nickname is "alien" verges on the ridiculous. The term used in this way demonstrates a lack of sensibility in itself. If he is like an "alien," then get him a Certificate of Alien Registration and let him really experience being an alien.
Is she implying that her husband is somewhat the same as President Barack Obama? That's laughable. While I have no disrespect for her husband, I doubt that he has any affinity or sympathy for foreign residents in Japan. From my understanding, the Democratic Party of Japan has no policies to better the conditions of foreign residents in Japan.
On the contrary, the DPJ approved, with the Liberal Democratic Party, a bill clamping down on foreign residents with the proposed introduction of the new "gaijin card" and stricter airport controls. Miyuki Hatoyama is out of touch with reality. I hope her husband is not.
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