The USMC, Japan and China are now squabbling over a model illustration!

Thanks Alexander for the link!  Amazing!

via Time

TOKYO — It’s not every day that the illustration on a box cover for a model warship can annoy the Chinese, alarm the Japanese and amuse the U.S. Marine Corps – not to mention sinking the model ship itself.
But that’s what you get when you mess around with territorial disputes in the East China Sea these days.
This particular saga began about month ago when the Aoshima company introduced an updated version of its popular 1:700 scale model of the JS Hyuga, Japan’s largest and arguably most well-known warship. Hobbyists in Japan spend $500 million a year on scale models and related gear, so it’s a big business.
Being alert to headlines, Aoshima upgraded the Hyuga, a helicopter carrier, with V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and amphibious assault vehicles, and labeled the model “Operation Remote Island Defense.”

Read the entire article.  Its well worth your time.  A couple of things though...

*  The idea that saving face is still an important part of Asian culture should be part of any war plan.  The very thought that an image of a Japanese Carrier, operating Marine Corps equipment with a sinking Chinese Carrier in the background could start a tiff is telling.
*  I verified at this website that this model is long sold out. 
*  I see where the sense of humor still resides in the Marine Corps from this article.  Marine Intel.  I wonder what the actual simulations indicate when it comes to a war in the Pacific.
*  I'm repeating myself but if a model sparks controversy, and then sells out because of that controversy then my five to ten year time frame might be optimistic.  Everyone in that region is ready for the fight to be on.