And yeah, that kyoku is the same as used in 戦局, and it most certainly did not mean anything remotely frivolous back in WW2….

Regarding your second concern, I believe Mr. Okumura employs the word “game” as in a baseball game or 試合 with commitment, seriousness and devotion, as opposed to ゲーム. And of course, the 試合運び is changeable and movable by strategies.

Just my 2 yen.

I’m more concerned by his statement that “Kyodo Tsushin is a wire service and is considered more or less neutral.” I seriously doubt it.

In a sense, isn’t this true in most democracies? In a democracy, usually, there’s separation of powers, there is euqal power in the administration- which consists of the bureaucracy, the judicial branch and the legislature. I kind of have a sense that in Europe, the bureaucracy is as stable (no spoils system) and powerful as is in Japan. This stability of power seems to be the reason for the no-checked corruption going on in Japan.

I think it’s kind of rare that the legislautre has all the real power and muscle. Like you can recall in the comfort women ordeal. If the admnistration did the same thing, it would have really strained the US-Japan relationship.