But Bill ignored Abe’s own feelings. Abe is a conservative nationalist. He had visited Yasukuni before, although not as prime minister. He wanted to go again. Reflecting on his mistake, Bill told me, “I think that the question I was really answering wasn’t ‘Will Abe visit Yasukuni?’ but ‘If I were PM of Japan, would I visit Yasukuni?’”3 That’s astute. And it should sound familiar: Bill recognized that he had unconsciously pulled a bait and switch on himself,
