No matter how alarming the day's news is, you can always count on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to put a happy face on it. In the daily press conferences where he sidles up to journalists to field a few softballs he always has a way of making everything sound inconsequential.
"No, I don't think you can say that at all," he remarked with mild surprise when a reporter asked if he would describe Japan's current diplomatic situation as being "happo fusagari (trapped on all sides)."
"Japan-Korea, Japan-China and Japan-Russia relations are all progressing smoothly."