The other night at my local sushi bar conversation turned to Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso's comments about constitutional revision — specifically, his suggestion there is something to be learned from the way the Nazis revised the Weimar Constitution in 1933.
The person next to me suddenly switched to English and, with bowed head, said, "He is our shame." Down the bar, a retired banker opined, "Aso doesn't know his own mind or what he wants to say — and the sad thing about Japan is that people like him become our political leaders. They have no idea about leadership and they harm Japan's interests."
Based on differing versions and varying translations of Aso's speech, there has been considerable debate about what exactly he said and meant.