Japan is pretty clearly part of the imperial US having ceded all military protection to the US.

Have you ever heard anyone in government use the acronym CONUS? It is supposed to stand for Contiguous United States: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contiguous_United_States#CONUS....

But it is more commonly used opposed to "United States Interests at home and abroad" - i.e. the imperial United States

Sony Pictures, not Sony. While it indeed is part of the Japanese conglomerate, it was founded in 1987 as Columbia Pictures Entertainment, Inc., and renamed Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. in 1991. So, it basically is a wholly owned US subsidiary.