美国"漫画外交"宣传美日同盟

在美日安保条约签订50周年以及广岛和长崎原子弹爆炸65周年之际，美国军方推出了一系列漫画作品向日本年轻一代宣传美日安全同盟及其重要性。美军驻日本公共事务处表示，选择用漫画的形式做宣传是因为这是日本人最常用的一种交流方式。据悉，这套漫画一共有四本，主要人物为一个美国男孩和一个日本女孩，两个人是朋友。该系列的第一本《我们的同盟——长久的伙伴关系》已于本周三在网上公开发布，讲的是美国男孩告诉日本女孩，他是来保卫她的家园的，因为他们是“重要的朋友”。据介绍，在这四本漫画中，两位主角将深入了解驻日美军及其在美日同盟中的作用。

The US military is using manga-style comic books to promote to Japanese children its view on the importance of Washington and Tokyo's half-century security alliance.

The storyline of the new series features an American boy called Usa-kun - a word play on USA and "usagi", Japanese for rabbit - who wears a hooded jacket with bunny ears and befriends a Japanese girl, Anzu Arai.

In the first issue of "Our Alliance - A Lasting Partnership", to be published online on Wednesday, the boy tells Anzu that he has come to defend her home because they are "important friends".

The United States is publishing the Japanese-language comic as both nations mark the 50th anniversary of their security treaty, and two days before the 65th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

US-Japan ties have been strained for the past year as a new centre-Left government in Japan for months publicly toyed with the idea of moving a controversial US airbase off the southern island of Okinawa.

In the four-part comic series, the two main characters "explore and learn about the US military in Japan and its role in the US-Japan alliance," according to a statement from the US forces.

The US military chose the manga format because it is "a very common way of communicating in Japan," said Major Neal Fisher, deputy director of the US forces' public affairs office in Japan.

The United States, which defeated Japan in the Second World War and then occupied the country, has 47,000 troops stationed in the country.