Brothers in Arms

It's always nice to see a friend. as U.S. President George W. Bush prepared to leave Washington—where his poll numbers are slumping and his second term is mired in a swamp of scandal—for a week's swing through Asia, he could at least be assured of a warm welcome at his first stop. In Kyoto, Bush was to meet Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Bush loves Koizumi, and the feeling is mutual. More to the point, it has become conventional wisdom on both sides of the Pacific to assert that the U.S.-Japan alliance is now closer and stronger than it has ever...