Happy Pearl Harbor Day from Japan

Funny, I haven't noticed any ceremonies or anyone commenting about Pearl Harbor Day over here. From the Japanese perspective Yamamoto did a great job of catching the U.S. with its pants down, and if a few things had gone Japan's way (if they had caught the carriers in port and had successfully bombed the oil storage depot), the result of the war wouldn't have changed, but it would have taken a whole lot longer (atom bombs aside).

So here I sit just 63 years later in the Japanese capital surrounded by friendly pro-American Japanese who love American icons (there's a Starbucks, McDonalds and Burger King within a block radius of my current office, although I had sushi for lunch). It's hard to believe we were fighting tooth and nail just two generations ago.