Considering that Japan’s own Tony Blair, Junichiro Koizumi, is due to step down as Prime Minister in a few weeks, it’s hard to know what impact his current sucking up to murderous Central Asian dictators will have on the constitutionally pacifist nation’s future foreign policy.Nonetheless, the fact that any supposedly liberal, westernised democracy would even consider attempting to build closer relations with the perpetrators of last year’s Andijan massacre, or a state which routinely employs threats of bottle-assisted anal rape in an attempt to silence political opponents, is concerning to say the least.

Update: More in-depth analysis of Koizumi’s trip from the always top-notch Registan (and part 2, and again) and neweurasia.