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Mar. 21st, 2026 10:47 amIt's amazing to see how well the Japanese, esp. women, communicate without words. You always have to pay attention to it during negotiations. For example, here the Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi reacts to Trump's recent "Perl Harbor" comment. Watch the changing expression of her eyes, their movement, the turn of her head, the lips, the breathing pattern - all of it is classic Japanese theater without words. Can you read and interpret it?
https://x.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/2034668157718130718
If I'm not mistaken, there was a study during the pandemic that showed a difference in understanding of facial expressions between Western and Eastern people. In short, a mask on someone's face completely destroyed communications West–West, West-East, and East-West. By contrast, communications East-East were minimally affected because they were mostly through eye expressions, which is common in the culture.
Back to the Perl Harbor comment, what the MAGAsphere interpreted as a clever reply, the rest of the world perceived as a gaffe. Why? Because the question was about why Trump did not warn his allies about the impending attack on Iran, so that they could prepare for its consequences — oil shock, etc. Trump replied that "you" (Japan, who was a military adversary of the US in 1941) didn't warn "me" (the US) about Perl Harbor. It's a blunder on two levels:
1) The question is about a relationship between allies, while the answer is about a relationship between enemies. Instead of an meaningful answer, Trump produced a superficial brain fart. Obviously, warning one's allies about a pending military action is different from warning one's enemies.
2) Trump answer shows that he still thinks about Japan not as an ally, but as an enemy. Saying it in front of the Prime Minister of Japan is ugly and rude.
In any case, the episode was another Rorschach test that showed the gap between MAGA people and the rest of the world.
https://x.com/AdamJSchwarz/status/2034668157718130718
If I'm not mistaken, there was a study during the pandemic that showed a difference in understanding of facial expressions between Western and Eastern people. In short, a mask on someone's face completely destroyed communications West–West, West-East, and East-West. By contrast, communications East-East were minimally affected because they were mostly through eye expressions, which is common in the culture.
Back to the Perl Harbor comment, what the MAGAsphere interpreted as a clever reply, the rest of the world perceived as a gaffe. Why? Because the question was about why Trump did not warn his allies about the impending attack on Iran, so that they could prepare for its consequences — oil shock, etc. Trump replied that "you" (Japan, who was a military adversary of the US in 1941) didn't warn "me" (the US) about Perl Harbor. It's a blunder on two levels:
1) The question is about a relationship between allies, while the answer is about a relationship between enemies. Instead of an meaningful answer, Trump produced a superficial brain fart. Obviously, warning one's allies about a pending military action is different from warning one's enemies.
2) Trump answer shows that he still thinks about Japan not as an ally, but as an enemy. Saying it in front of the Prime Minister of Japan is ugly and rude.
In any case, the episode was another Rorschach test that showed the gap between MAGA people and the rest of the world.
