The headlines both online and in print have constantly been mentioning Futenma when it comes to US-Japanese relations. Especially with Obama's upcoming visit to Tokyo, just about everyone is wondering what's going to happen, since Hatoyama and the DPJ want a more "equal" relationship with the US.

The contention is over a longtime plan to move bases from Futenma to Nago, up in Northern Okinawa. Now that the DPJ is in power, they're hemming and hawing over the plan, with a cacophony of voices suggesting everything from moving it to other parts of Japan to Guam to getting the US out of Japan entirely.

I can understand the DPJ wanting to spread its wings and all, but this is one issue that they really should shut their mouth on. Mutantfrog Travelogue highlights some of the points much better than I can, and the one reason I want to highlight here is that the Japanese are getting what is essentially a heavily subsidized national defense. With a debt that's roughly 200% of their GDP (and rising), they should really focus on cutting their own debt before thinking having to pay retail for all their military products.

Of course, this has been a pain in the ass for the US, because Japan is acting like a horribly indecisive girlfriend right now. Obama is not planning on talking about Futenma in-depth when he meets with Hatoyama, which will probably be for the best, although I do hope he takes a bit of a harder line with the man behind closed doors.

Well, hopefully the DPJ will get their heads on straight, although I'm not quite sure how well that will work out with Ozawa micro-managing the new DPJ members.