Whatever you want to say about Justin Bieber's lack of common sense, as either a pop star or a mortal, you have to admit he has incredible timing. He managed to capture the attention of the world with his impromptu visit to Yasukuni Shrine by posting photos of it the day after more than 100 Japanese lawmakers acted on the same impulse, thus overshadowing the latter's stunt as far as the foreign press was concerned.

So this time it was a Canadian idol who attracted the wrath of China and South Korea rather than the usual bunch of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers. In fact, the wrath was intensified tenfold since much of it was expressed by Asian fans who said they would never listen to his music again.

Of course, fans are a fickle bunch. You bad mouth an idol in public, you risk the eternal enmity of followers who will come after you with every weapon in the social media arsenal; by the same token if that idol is seen to betray the trust of those fans by crossing a line of propriety more fundamental to their self-image, such as one delineating national identity, then he will see those followers fall off by the tens of thousands.