Will Yale
@wayale
Surface Warfare Officer (U.S. Navy) in DC. Six years in Japan, two years in China. Episcopalian. Johns Hopkins SAIS/HNC alum. 中文/日本語 🏳️🌈🇺🇦🇹🇼
TIL there is a member of Ishin no Kai in the Japanese Diet (Shi Ping, or Seki Hei in Japanese) who was born in China, posts online in both Japanese and Chinese, and is a fan of the Imperial Japanese Navy and the “Etajima Spirit” (江田島精神). 👀👀
It was a pleasure to worship (in both English and Chinese) this morning at St John’s Episcopal Cathedral, Taipei!
The PLAN's worst nightmare: the USN Virginia-class SSN USS Minnesota operating side-by-side with the JMSDF Taigei-class SSK JS Jingei at Valiant Shield 2026. 🇺🇸🤝🇯🇵 www.cpf.navy.mil/Newsroom/New...
No trip to San Diego would be complete without a visit to the OG, Tacos el Gordo. Taco de Adobada Mulas de Adobada Taco de Asada Taco de Azteca Horchata
This is extremely bad! The credibility of our commitments rides, in no small part, on our stockpile of standoff precision-guided munitions and interceptors. www.cnn.com/2026/04/21/p...
Friendly reminder that a PRC annexation of Taiwan would be neither “peaceful” nor “reunification.” 1) Even if the Taiwanese government capitulated, annexation would inevitably entail violence; and 2) Taiwan has never been part of the PRC, therefore it can’t “reunify.”
See below from Zheng Yongnian. You would think this is mere CCP propaganda, and yet Zheng actually believes this. Chinese experts, and the CCP generally, fundamentally misunderstand Japan. www.chinaffairsplus.com/p/21-china-s...
My new favorite arcane DC church fact: there is a shrine dedicated to Blessed Karl of Austria at St Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church, and the church celebrates his feast day every year on October 21st with a special mass.
Funny how the superstructure of the proposed design for the Japanese ASEV (aka cruiser) resembles the “Pagoda Masts” of 1930s/40s IJN battleships.
I’m excited to share that I’ve been selected to join the @fp4america.bsky.social NextGen Initiative! We're a community of diverse young professionals across the country dedicated to advancing American leadership in the world through principled foreign policy. #FP4ANextGen2026
For those of you crying over this price tag, you can drown your sorrows with a SPY-6 Sour!
Some eye-popping cost estimates for the battleship, courtesy of Eric Labs of the Congressional Budget Office. 1 BBG could buy up to 7 DDGs (which, btw is 128 VLS cells and 12 CPS cells vs 672 VLS cells). In the words of the immortal Ron O’Rourke, which came first: the program or the analysis?
Large amounts of copium being consumed by the speakers of the Future Fleet Panel at this year’s Surface Navy Association Annual Symposium.
It is disturbing that this gentlemen is a real Army O-5 working in Pete Hegseth’s office, apparently selected due to his political correctness and skill as a propagandist. For someone in a staff job, he is a bad thinker and a bad writer. Are the Army’s promotion standards really this low?
Aren’t states in the region (Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, etc.) the best judges of how much effect a PRC seizure of Taiwan would have on the region’s balance of power?
Isn’t it ironic that someone at DHS decided to pair this video with a recording of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” performed by the choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, London?
@kaitlynugoretz.bsky.social found an odd, uniquely-American “Torii Gate” and “Japanese Garden” at the Muscatine Art Center in Muscatine, IA. Thought you might be interested in it!
Whenever I see a piece of calligraphy, I always check its provenance. In this case, however, it’s just a direct translation of the anodyne English phrase, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” which Japanese internet seems to think was coined by Lincoln.
This may be my new favorite way to wish friends and family Merry Christmas. 祝大家紅毛冬節快樂！
What happens when a bunch of defense budget nerds submit entries to the meme contest at the office holiday party:
Today the Episcopal Church commemorates Channing Moore Williams, Missionary Bishop of China and Japan, whose legacy continues to be felt by thousands of students at Rikkyo University, and members of the Nippon Seikōkai from across Japan. prayer.forwardmovement.org/calendar/cha...
It’s concerning that this man is influential and yet apparently knows little about what he’s talking about.