日本の有識者のなかに、ながらく真珠湾・ルーズベルト陰謀説を信じる人がかなりいたという事実が如実に示すように、日本人は歴史の陰謀説が好きだ。このことは例の中曽根発言とは逆に、日本の有識者の「知的水準」を示しているようで、もの悲しくなってくる。貴兄には常識だろうが、米国社会にもポピュリズム（人民主義の思想）の伝統が根づよく、この種の「陰謀説」妄想による政治のパラノイアや反知識人主義が、ときどき、顔をだす。アメリカ人の対日脅威論のなかにも、このパラノイア的陰謀説があるようにおもうが、どうだろうか。

"Letter to my American Friends"
by Younosuke Nagai
Bungei Shunjyu, May 1987

The Japanese like historical conspiracy theories. Among Japanese intellectuals, one obvious proof of this is the fact that, for quite some time, there was a fairly large group of people who accepted the Pearl Harbor-Roosevelt conspiracy theory. This is not to be compared with the Nakasone statements which indicate the sad state of the level of intelligence of Japanese intellectuals. This may be knowledge common to all of you, but also in American society, populism (the general idea or thought that government exists for the common good as opposed to elitist interests) is based on strongly-rooted traditions. This sort of conspiracy theory obsession sometimes causes government paranoia or anti-intellectual philosophy to rear its head. I think this same paranoia-based conspiracy theory would seem to exist within the American circle that debates the threat of Japan, but it's hard to say for sure.

One ever-increasing type of conspiracy theory obsession affecting both Japan and the United States focuses on the era of critical climate change from the 1930's to the 1940's, the characteristics common to the two nations, and how it is not acceptable for either country to deny the era's existence. In this present-day society of multiple mutually dependent relationships, where we are not always able to grasp the exact cause and effect of a certain incident, it is becoming more and more challenging to specify the corresponding consequences. In this world of nebulous government, it is easier to invent the cause of a problem than to find its actual origin. In other words, it is easier to create a scapegoat(s). If we look throughout history, there was a tendency to choose scapegoats based on their ethnic or religious background. One might say that the Jews or the Japanese have a high occurrence of so-called "goat-ability" (the ability to be made a scapegoat).