Gaku Shibata
Controversy is continuing in Japan over how to interpret "show the flag," a phrase the U.S. deputy secretary of state reportedly used in his talks with the Japanese ambassador to Washington shortly after the Sept. 11 terror attacks on U.S. soil.
Richard Armitage, who is also in charge of U.S. policies toward Japan, was talking with Japanese envoy Shunji Yanai on Sept. 15. In Japanese, his message means either "kishi o senmei ni seyo" (make one's attitude or position clear) or "sugata o misero" (show one's hand).
But some news organizations in Japan referred to his remark as a typical case of "gaiatsu" (foreign pressure) by reporting that the United States had demanded that Japan send Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels flying the Hinomaru national flag to the Indian Ocean.
Concerned about the possibility of negative reactions in Japan to such media reports, U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo Howard Baker vehemently denied during a press conference on Oct. 5 that Armitage had called for Japan to dispatch MSDF ships to the Indian Ocean.
It is worthwhile examining exactly what it was that Armitage is supposed to have said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20011030wo04.htm
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