OK, guess Our Man should write something about the US Marines in Okinawa and whether they should eat in or take out. This apparently is a major question of major significance to everyone in the world, so for your benefit, allow Our Man to get his teeth stuck into this kettle of fish and pull out a plum: Here's what you need to know:
1. Japan has been occupied since the war by US soldiers. There are about 36,000 still here (about the same number that will be going to Afghanistan to fight for peace).
2. Most of them are in Okinawa - a tropical island halfway between Japan proper and Taiwan that America only returned to Japan in the 70s.
3. When not raping or killing the locals, the US soldiers there are tolerated as they know pizza. Real good pizza. The kind of pizza that has you doing Robert De Niro impressions just thinking about all that cheese and pepperoni. Are you talking to me? Yeah, I'm talking to you.
4. Would you like to live next to a base full of foreigners armed to the teeth? Whose pizza joints are out-of-bounds?
5. The war (you know, the real significant one) is over. Has been for 65 years.
6. The Okinawans, despite having the highest unemployment rate in Japan, don't want the Yanks on their doorstep anymore - they kinda don't see the point (see no. 5).
7. So the Okis voted for the DPJ.
8. The DPJ is in power now.
9. The DPJ would like to keep the Yanks happy, but more than that, would like to keep the locals voting for them.
10. Folks in Japan are not particularly worried about imminent invasion, or even which puppet is in the hotseat in Kabul, Baghdad or Washington DC.
So, you know, take a chill pill America. Whether your 'copters are in Okinawa, Guam, Taiwan or Hawaii, what does it matter? But then, Our Man is a Brit and we went through all this base business 20 years ago (remember Cruise missiles and Greenham Common?) Somehow, Blighty is still there, mostly doing America's bidding even without staring down the barrel of a Smith and Wesson.
Japan would too, you know, given the chance.
Pic lifted from here.
5 comments:
Never saw the point of that US-style pizza. If I want a grilled sandwich it's tastier to make a real one. With less bread.
Now a real Swedish kebab-pizza with garlic sauce or bearnaise - I sometimes wake up at night dreaming of one. My wife kind of looks at me funny when I want to order one in Sweden though..
Ok Janne are you going to tell the dear readers that every pizza joint in Sweden serves pizza with sauerkraut on the side?
This is true. I have been to Sweden, I have Swedish cousins (through marriage). I had to take my kids to pizza places in Sweden.
Uncle Bengt says it is because the man who introduced pizza to Sweden always also served sauerkraut. Uncle Bengt who is a prominent sociologist in Sweden was surprised that we did not eat pizza with sauerkraut.
Can't say anything about Swedish pizza, the closest Our Man came was meatballs at IKEA, and that's as close as he wants to get.
Must say, the worst pizza he ever had was at a rest stop in Italy. The soggy thing had a fried egg in the middle.
ummmmmm, fried eggs and sauerkraut! :-) Loco
It's a variation on cole slaw, actually. And cracking a raw egg over the pizza before baking it is great - but only on pizzas where it fits. I would not want it on a kebab pizza, though on a chicken pizza with curry and mayonnaise it really fits well.
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