Kabuki is a term used by American political pundits as a synonym for political posturing. It acquired this derogatory meaning after drawn out peace-time treaty negotiations between the United States and Japan which had extended to 1960, and because Japan, in an effort "to shed its image as a global marauder" sent Kabuki theater tours to the U.S. after World War II to sow the seeds of goodwill. It first appeared in print in 1961 in the Los Angeles Times in an article written by Henry J. Taylor.