Nothing says international friendship quite like projecting a giant glowing portrait of your buddy's president into the night sky over your capital city, and Japan absolutely delivered on that front.
As Trending Politics reported, Japan honored America's 250th anniversary on Friday evening, July 3, with a massive drone and fireworks display over Tokyo Bay in the Odaiba area. Tokyo's Rainbow Bridge served as the backdrop, which is already one of the most photogenic structures on the planet, so the whole thing was basically showing off at that point.
The drone light show featured illuminated formations of the Statue of Liberty and President Donald Trump. One image even depicted Trump alongside Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi during their first meeting earlier this year. If your country's leader has never been rendered in synchronized drone swarm formation over a foreign bay, does your alliance even matter?
Tokyo Tower, the Rainbow Bridge, and the Tokyo Aqua Symphony fountains were all lit up in red, white, and blue from roughly 7 p.m. to midnight. Fireworks launched over the bay. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attended in person, because when you throw a party this big, you send someone with a serious title.
The whole event was part of the U.S. State Department's Freedom 250 Global Illumination Initiative, which activated red, white, and blue lighting on landmarks in dozens of countries between July 2 and 5. The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo organized it in partnership with local entities and encouraged people to share photos using the hashtag #A250inJapan.
Japan also gifted the United States 250 cherry blossom trees as a symbol of friendship, continuing a tradition that started in 1912. That is over a century of sending us trees, and honestly we do not deserve them.
But Japan was not the only country getting in on the action. France projected the number "250" onto the Eiffel Tower in red, white, and blue starting at 11 p.m. local time on July 3, referencing the Franco-American alliance that dates back to the Revolutionary War and France's gift of the Statue of Liberty. Lafayette would be proud, probably.
Over in Australia, 27 sites across Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, and Darwin were lit in the colors of the U.S. flag. Flinders Street Station, Melbourne Town Hall, and the Arts Centre spire were among the landmarks participating. The initiative also included the Washington Monument here at home, because of course we were going to light up our own stuff too.
Say what you want about American foreign policy, but when two dozen countries voluntarily turn their most famous buildings red, white, and blue for your birthday, something is going right. Most of us cannot even get our neighbors to show up to a backyard cookout.
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