One thing I've become well-accustomed to in Japan is the frequent appearance of the Uyoku vans, driving around the streets, blaring out old Japanese muzak and xenophobic propaganda. Never a dull moment.
The straight-arm-saluters, although they come in many varieties and degrees of fanaticism, usually believe in the three following things:
a) That Japan should expand its military
b) That the emperor should be returned to power
c) That Japan's domestic and economic policies should be much more conservative.
Japan's National Police Agency esitimated that there were over 1000 right wing groups with 100 000 members in 1996.
Quirky Japan homepage
You can argue with politics, but you can't argue with travelling in style- these things are photogenic to the max:
From top to bottom: the mobile library of the future, the 4WD for housewives to drive to the ultra-right-wing supermarkets of tomorrow, how we'll all be buying our ice cream in 10 years time, and the only way for a war-veteran tour group to travel to the Yasukuni shrine.
Is it strange that I rather enjoy seeing these vehicles?