President of the United States John F. Kennedy said, "Ich bin ein Berliner (I am a Berliner)" in West Berlin in June 1963. In those days, Berlin was separated into four parts, which were governed by the United States, Britain, France and the Soviet Union. The Cold War was in full swing and Kennedy's speech encouraged the citizens to be proud of living in Berlin. This summer, about 45 years after Kennedy's visit, another big name from the United States visited Berlin: Barack Obama. He chose Berlin as the first city to visit in Europe during his presidential campaign because Berlin is a bridge between East and West, and also a symbol of the ending of the Cold War.

Obama started his speech saying he came to Berlin not as a U.S. Democratic presidential candidate, but as a citizen like any number of visitors. He probably decided to say this because his speech was meant to take place at the Brandenburg gate, a symbol of Germany's Cold War division, as well as the site of Kennedy's speech and one by Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, but Angela Merkel rejected his plan.

The reason for the rejection was "because he is still one of the candidates," and not yet president. Probably many Americans realized how logical Germans are after this decision. Obama then chose to make his speech in front of the Victory Column of Tiergarten, a Berlin landmark. The bronze sculpture of Victoria, goddess of victory, is a famous monument.

Ironically, the place Obama chose for his speech was relocated by the Nazis to its present site, therefore critics argued this location was not suitable for Obama, who preaches a message of global unity. On the other hand, this monument is used for many different peaceful events. Questions remain, however, as to whether Obama was aware of the backdrop of the place where he gave his speech. Given that this Victoria Column was built to celebrate military victories against Denmark, Austria and France, the location is a far cry from Obama's vision of Europe.

Obama's speech was held in my neighborhood, so I was going to head down to hear him, but I ended up missing it and only saw on the evening news what he said and the reaction of the crowd. Obama's popularity in Germany has left me in shock, given how bad U.S.-German relations have been since the Iraq war. Some 200,000 people gathered in Berlin and Obama's visit was well received by the public. His speech was positively reported and the visit was considered a success. It is clear that Obama is popular in Germany. He is even described as "The New Kennedy" in some quarters. However, Obama's support for further military intervention in Afghanistan seemed not to garner a single supporter in Germany.

Germany is perhaps just sick of Republican President George W. Bush. Some media attribute the popularity of Obama in Germany to anti-Bush sentiment and support for U.S. Democrats.

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall," President Reagan said in a Berlin speech. Now the Berlin wall does not exist any more. Obama says the collapse of the wall is a symbol of unity and democracy. On the train, I encountered a young American guy, who was excitedly talking on his cell phone about how excellent Obama's speech was, especially his new vision of globally crossing the ethnic and religious divide. In fact, there are lots of people who are suffering from poverty due to democracy and the market economy in the new, unified Germany. Such people still believe the wall should not have been torn down.

Obama's speech was held in a Berlin long after the Iron Curtain was destroyed. However, I could see the invisible wall between the extreme popularity of Obama and his vision. It is also difficult to see where Japan stands in Obama's vision. Regardless of whether Obama becomes president of the United States, his popularity remains in Germany and throughout Europe. What concerns me is that Japan might be less represented as relations between Europe and the United States change at high speed. Seeing Obama on TV, surrounded by so many people in the plaza, hesitations about the future rose in my mind.