At least that is what I gather from reading this fine, well-written, and thoroughly researched piece from a professional paid journalist for the Globe and Mail (Canada).*
Somehow, I had missed the significance of the rise of the extreme right in Japan. I have even missed the rise itself, thinking it no more than the usual rightists and fellow travelers rattling off their poison. I never noticed that the anti-foreign sentiment---although always present among some, including the media and gov't---was any worse than it had been under Koizumi and Abe when it seemed that neither the government or the media could resist labeling crime, criminal tendencies, and non-Japanese in the same category. And of course we have heard the old bigot Ishihara and his oral bowel movements for about a million years.
But the Globe and Mail has found that things are turning truly sinister. So sinister that even the Old School extreme right is concerned. Concerned not with the beliefs of the newer more extreme nutjobs, but with the way they express their beliefs:
“These Net right-wingers have no rules, no restrictions … . I’m against this kind of hate speech, these ugly comments. Their thoughts and ideas are okay, but the way they express them is not,” said Mr. Kimura, whose own Issuikai movement made headlines earlier this year by hosting an international gathering of right-wingers...
Noting that some nutjobs reacted to the Senkaku incident by the usual "smokebombs" at an offending foreign consulate; concealed weapons near the residences of non-rightwing-extremist politicians; anti-Chinese demonstrations etc, our fine reporter observed that these run-of-the-mill events:
... highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest** and most stable** on the planet.
But an even more frightening bit of evidence was uncovered by that sharp-eyed fellow, while watching (?) a demo of 2700 folks organized by the web-based New School extremists with whose ends the Old School agrees:
“Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly. [Emphasis mine]
There it is. I had mostly missed it. I knew of the newer more openly racist*** and extreme groups and their still small but reportedly growing numbers. I knew that many people in a historically xenophobic country exhibited xenophobia to some degree or another. I knew of the anti-Chinese sentiment, especially after Senkaku, but I never had evidence of the silent acceptance of extreme beliefs by the public until I read that last sentence.
Shoppers did not publicly disagree with a large group of noisy nutjobs!!!! What else can one conclude from this but that they must have agreed?
Somehow though, I as a foreign resident do not feel like "other foreigners":
...while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.
for I don't see anything especially new. I don't feel "increasingly unwelcome." I never felt especially wanted nor loved here to begin with. I will have to keep a closer eye on this evil trend.
I must admit that I learned something about myself from reading this piece. I too, am an anti-foreign extremist, for had I been at the demo, I doubt that I would have publicly disagreed with the goofballs either. Blinky Ishihara, old buddy, lets go out for a few drinks...
*A black sun rises in a declining Japan, by Mr. Mark Mackinnon.
**Huh and double huh?
***The more openly racist (is that possible?) newbees reject the idea that their racism is racist.
Showing posts with label Abe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Abe. Show all posts
Thursday, October 07, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
The LDP shows who and what it (still) represents
...On the recent decision of Prime Minister Naoto Kan and all of his Cabinet members not to visit the shrine out of consideration for Asian victims of Japan's past militarism, Tanigaki said, "Each party has its own view." Japan Times
LDP chief Tanigaki will, of course, visit.
PM Kan's recent apology to South Korea for its colonial rule of the country further inflamed some of the right wing of the LDP:
Since Abe's attempt to lead Japan toward a Fujiwara Masahiko influenced Beautiful Country got nowhere, the LDP will now boldly try the same thing over and over. This is a brilliant strategy as sooner or later people will quite worrying about the 2010 economy and their future and focus on reliving the 1900s.
Edited to add: The DPJ could be accused of coming up with this because they seem to have little in the way of (visible) success for improving the economy and the future, but we will look at this as a positive for the party and not a cynical political move as the DPJ is concerned about improving Japan's relations in the region. Unlike the party of Tanigaki/Abe/Mori retrogrouches. Now, about the future...
LDP chief Tanigaki will, of course, visit.
PM Kan's recent apology to South Korea for its colonial rule of the country further inflamed some of the right wing of the LDP:
Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of the LDP criticized the government's decision, describing Kan and Sengoku as "foolish" and "ignorant" about dealing with historical issues. Japan Times
Since Abe's attempt to lead Japan toward a Fujiwara Masahiko influenced Beautiful Country got nowhere, the LDP will now boldly try the same thing over and over. This is a brilliant strategy as sooner or later people will quite worrying about the 2010 economy and their future and focus on reliving the 1900s.
Edited to add: The DPJ could be accused of coming up with this because they seem to have little in the way of (visible) success for improving the economy and the future, but we will look at this as a positive for the party and not a cynical political move as the DPJ is concerned about improving Japan's relations in the region. Unlike the party of Tanigaki/Abe/Mori retrogrouches. Now, about the future...
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Japan’s moral high ground: Hiroshima & Nagasaki
Yesterday, US Ambassador Roos attended the Peace Ceremony in Hiroshima, reportedly to further Obama’s future vision of eliminating nuclear weapons*. Roos’ appearance was not enough for many, something understandable for those (civilians) who were affected by the bomb. Some other folks may have been disappointed that the country which for no good reason repeatedly attacked Japan while it was trying to free subjugated Asians from Western domination in order to place them under Japanese domination did not apologize for Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and causing Japan to attack Pearl Harbor.
We are fortunate that there are now peace education programs available to many to clear up any lack of knowledge of what happened in WW2. For example, in Okinawa, there is such a program for “Ameriasians” which will allow participants to take a hard look at the war. No longer will graduates of the program consider Japan as just a victim because they get to learn of the experiences of a Japanese-American veteran of the Okinawa campaign, Takejiro Higa:
"I know I have responsibilities as an American citizen, but why do we have to invade the land of my ancestors?"
The sad memory will never fade for the Japanese-American, who was forced to fight in his own home. Mainichi
Well, perhaps Mainichi left a little out of the story. Or else the peace education program left a little out of the war, such as the reason for Mr. Higa having to invade his ancestors' homeland.
But that’s all unimportant trivia.
I hadn't read the magazine Japan Echo for years, in fact, I had forgotten about it until it began publishing articles on-line recently. I won't be forgetting about it again.
In one interview, Japan's Disappearing Act, Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi covered a number of topics, but the most interesting is his take on the use of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as Japan’s “trump cards” in regaining it’s dwindling relevance in the world:
NHK Director and Interviewer: (After noting that Osama Bin Laden often refers to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in speeches and the fact that radical Muslims often tell the interviewer of their admiration for Japan standing up to the U.S. and wondering why Japan does not take revenge for the atomic bombings) ...I think Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be taken seriously as resources we can use in terms of getting our message across to the outside world...
Ikeuchi: I think if Japan were able to communicate its own version of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki more effectively, it could become a winning card against the United States...
The learned professor suggests a different approach to apologizing for WW2 (though a rare few may quibble with the idea that the Japanese government has done much clear, unequivocal apologizing) and “and strike out ideologically by showing how high our moral position really is.”
Then Ikeuchi suggests a vision for the future that does not as directly rely on reliving a version of the past. Stating that Asia needs somewhat different standards than the West:
...the best thing Japan can do in terms of communicating its message to the world would be to establish in itself in a position from which it can say, “When Western standards are not suitable for Asia, we will translate them for you.”
Not sure if this will slow Japan's international disappearing act, but it might be useful. A declining Japan leading a surging Asia while not really being part of Asia could work as long as Asia thinks it needs Japan's leadership in translating Western standards. (Is China part of Asia?)
The interviewer expressed what he sees as a problem with Ikeuchi’s ideas:
Included among the Western values is an acknowledgment that World War II was a just war in which the Allies, united by a shared belief in democracy and human rights, defeated the Axis powers, which were contemptuous of these values. Does Japan have the magnanimity to accept this view of history? The second question would whether Japan truly holds these values in the first place.
Ikeuchi was also critical of the full-page ad that rightists ran in the Washington Post a few years ago to support former PM Abe's claim that the Japanese Imperial Army did not force women in occupied countries into sexual slavery during WW2. Ikeuchi seems to believe that its credibility was undermined because it was a paid ad, not because of the contents.
They would have done better to have written in via the letters page, exposing the contradictions in their opponents’ arguments, and putting their case in a way that would have struck American readers as reasonable and logical.
Perhaps so, but getting informed Americans (or anyone else) to believe Abe and the rightists' case of no Japanese Army involvement in recruiting/forcing women into sexual slavery might be a little difficult to do reasonably and logically.
Now why is it again that the world has so much trouble believing Japan's sincerity despite Ikeuchi's claim that: "...no country in the world that has issued as many apologies as Japan just for fighting a war."
"Just for fighting a war"???????!!!!!
Early in the interview Ikeuchi took the US to task for (supposedly) focusing on Japan as an economic interest instead of looking at it from a political perspective and asking questions such as:
“Is this country [Japan] likely to be a long-term partner?”
I am not sure that Professor Ikeuchi provided any confidence-building answers to that question.
*Professor Ikeuchi considers Obama's goal as a "PR strategy based on cool calculations in the face of a genuine threat from nuclear terrorism."
We are fortunate that there are now peace education programs available to many to clear up any lack of knowledge of what happened in WW2. For example, in Okinawa, there is such a program for “Ameriasians” which will allow participants to take a hard look at the war. No longer will graduates of the program consider Japan as just a victim because they get to learn of the experiences of a Japanese-American veteran of the Okinawa campaign, Takejiro Higa:
"I know I have responsibilities as an American citizen, but why do we have to invade the land of my ancestors?"
The sad memory will never fade for the Japanese-American, who was forced to fight in his own home. Mainichi
Well, perhaps Mainichi left a little out of the story. Or else the peace education program left a little out of the war, such as the reason for Mr. Higa having to invade his ancestors' homeland.
But that’s all unimportant trivia.
I hadn't read the magazine Japan Echo for years, in fact, I had forgotten about it until it began publishing articles on-line recently. I won't be forgetting about it again.
In one interview, Japan's Disappearing Act, Professor Satoshi Ikeuchi covered a number of topics, but the most interesting is his take on the use of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki as Japan’s “trump cards” in regaining it’s dwindling relevance in the world:
NHK Director and Interviewer: (After noting that Osama Bin Laden often refers to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in speeches and the fact that radical Muslims often tell the interviewer of their admiration for Japan standing up to the U.S. and wondering why Japan does not take revenge for the atomic bombings) ...I think Hiroshima and Nagasaki should be taken seriously as resources we can use in terms of getting our message across to the outside world...
Ikeuchi: I think if Japan were able to communicate its own version of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki more effectively, it could become a winning card against the United States...
The learned professor suggests a different approach to apologizing for WW2 (though a rare few may quibble with the idea that the Japanese government has done much clear, unequivocal apologizing) and “and strike out ideologically by showing how high our moral position really is.”
Then Ikeuchi suggests a vision for the future that does not as directly rely on reliving a version of the past. Stating that Asia needs somewhat different standards than the West:
...the best thing Japan can do in terms of communicating its message to the world would be to establish in itself in a position from which it can say, “When Western standards are not suitable for Asia, we will translate them for you.”
Not sure if this will slow Japan's international disappearing act, but it might be useful. A declining Japan leading a surging Asia while not really being part of Asia could work as long as Asia thinks it needs Japan's leadership in translating Western standards. (Is China part of Asia?)
The interviewer expressed what he sees as a problem with Ikeuchi’s ideas:
Included among the Western values is an acknowledgment that World War II was a just war in which the Allies, united by a shared belief in democracy and human rights, defeated the Axis powers, which were contemptuous of these values. Does Japan have the magnanimity to accept this view of history? The second question would whether Japan truly holds these values in the first place.
Ikeuchi was also critical of the full-page ad that rightists ran in the Washington Post a few years ago to support former PM Abe's claim that the Japanese Imperial Army did not force women in occupied countries into sexual slavery during WW2. Ikeuchi seems to believe that its credibility was undermined because it was a paid ad, not because of the contents.
They would have done better to have written in via the letters page, exposing the contradictions in their opponents’ arguments, and putting their case in a way that would have struck American readers as reasonable and logical.
Perhaps so, but getting informed Americans (or anyone else) to believe Abe and the rightists' case of no Japanese Army involvement in recruiting/forcing women into sexual slavery might be a little difficult to do reasonably and logically.
Now why is it again that the world has so much trouble believing Japan's sincerity despite Ikeuchi's claim that: "...no country in the world that has issued as many apologies as Japan just for fighting a war."
"Just for fighting a war"???????!!!!!
Early in the interview Ikeuchi took the US to task for (supposedly) focusing on Japan as an economic interest instead of looking at it from a political perspective and asking questions such as:
“Is this country [Japan] likely to be a long-term partner?”
I am not sure that Professor Ikeuchi provided any confidence-building answers to that question.
*Professor Ikeuchi considers Obama's goal as a "PR strategy based on cool calculations in the face of a genuine threat from nuclear terrorism."
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Let a hundred flowers bloom
I always enjoy it when someone from the right-wing (I do not mean merely conservative as it is often used in the US*) expresses their views and thoughts in a public forum. I especially love it when they do so in English for it is important for people to know these thoughts and opinions. It is especially valuable for those people in the US as we need to know who our friends are.
Recently, I was fortunate have had an opportunity to read the comments of an anonymous commenter here, who if not a member of the far (?) right is certainly a convincing actor able to explain exactly why Japan cannot build a relationship with China, and who even had something nice to say about the people of the US. Now I get it.
*Not that we don't have a right wing there.
Edited to add: Oh, good grief. Should I explain the post heading? I use it in the sense of allowing folks to come out and freely express their opinion so that we know may who our friends are. And aren't.
Recently, I was fortunate have had an opportunity to read the comments of an anonymous commenter here, who if not a member of the far (?) right is certainly a convincing actor able to explain exactly why Japan cannot build a relationship with China, and who even had something nice to say about the people of the US. Now I get it.
*Not that we don't have a right wing there.
Edited to add: Oh, good grief. Should I explain the post heading? I use it in the sense of allowing folks to come out and freely express their opinion so that we know may who our friends are. And aren't.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Blinky the bigot
cannot trust himself, for folks of foreign roots owe allegiance to their foreign ancestors. Where did the Japanese---whomever "the Japanese" are---come from? Is Blinky-the-bigot Ainu by any chance?Well, although Blinky was elected and has been re-elected governor of Tokyo by the citizens of this fine prefecture, we can't assume that just because he is a racist that everyone else is.
However, as Debito Arudou writes in The Japan Times: Last Gasps of Japan's Dying Demagogues, some are:
[Citing research from M. G. Sheftall of Shizuoka University---good god, A furriner! Who can believe him?] Ishihara's "Showa Hitoketa generation" (1926-1935) was "completely immersed, from birth until late adolescence/early adulthood, in prewar Japanese ideology at its most militantly militaristic, chauvinistic and xenophobic. It is unsurprising many never quite recovered from the trauma they suffered when their ideology was suddenly and catastrophically delegitimized in August 1945."
Arudou points out that the argument of the folks who opposed the partial foreign suffrage proposed by the DPJ that bakagaijin should naturalize if they want to vote is purely fatuous (he does not use those words) as folks of Blinky's ilk will never accept naturalized citizens as Japanese when they won't even accept people who have been here for generations as Japanese.
We can only hope Debito is correct when he calls these types a dying breed. I ain't so sure, at best I think that they are a diminishing breed as there will always be others to pick up the flag.
I have nothing against that old extremist that the citizens of Tokyo decided to have represent them. The fact that he is a well-known racist, misogynist/misanthrope, and all-around kook was not important enough to give them pause. I wish him no bad luck, but if he were to be hit by a freight train, I would not spend the night crying. (What a mean thing to say!)
Google spell check does not recognize delegitimized as a word.
Edited 1010pm
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Gobblins of the past
Was watching BS Fuji Live Prime News when that fellow who quit due to bowel trouble appeared, Ol' Beautiful Country Abe himself.
I actually got the creeps. I feel unclean and unwashed. Abe began to opinionate* about North Korea and I could not switch the channel fast enough.
For the simple-minded and naive, it is difficult to understand why anyone in the US would have any sort of nostalgia for the Japan of that fellow's party.
Today, it was reported in a number of articles that Secretary of State Clinton has moved to cool down the crisis(!!!???) over Futenma---though one reported that she expressed no willingness to compromise.** Joseph Nye had earlier written an article for the NYT trying to talk some sense into everyone---and it was necessary?
How unbelievable it is that such a thing escalated into what seemed to be (at least in news reports) such a major issue. If the US-Japan relationship is still "the most important relationship in the world, bar none"*** (or even close to it) how can that single issue "threaten" it? Obviously, we peons don't understand anything that's going on and cannot determine what is important and what is not. Our esteemed leaders cannot seem to explain what's going on and why it is of such importance either,**** which does not reflect especially well on them.
Hatoyama may not have handled the issue perfectly, but I do admire him for hanging tough. Maybe the days of Abe and his ilk are over for a while.
*Note to the language sensitive: Intentional use of Nonstandard English.
**Read it this morning, but cannot recall where.
***It obviously ain't now, if it ever was.
****Repeating the same-ol', same ol' a zillion times is not an explanation either, especially when the explanation seems to assume that the same ol' same ol' relationship will continue unchanged forever.
I actually got the creeps. I feel unclean and unwashed. Abe began to opinionate* about North Korea and I could not switch the channel fast enough.
For the simple-minded and naive, it is difficult to understand why anyone in the US would have any sort of nostalgia for the Japan of that fellow's party.
Today, it was reported in a number of articles that Secretary of State Clinton has moved to cool down the crisis(!!!???) over Futenma---though one reported that she expressed no willingness to compromise.** Joseph Nye had earlier written an article for the NYT trying to talk some sense into everyone---and it was necessary?
How unbelievable it is that such a thing escalated into what seemed to be (at least in news reports) such a major issue. If the US-Japan relationship is still "the most important relationship in the world, bar none"*** (or even close to it) how can that single issue "threaten" it? Obviously, we peons don't understand anything that's going on and cannot determine what is important and what is not. Our esteemed leaders cannot seem to explain what's going on and why it is of such importance either,**** which does not reflect especially well on them.
Hatoyama may not have handled the issue perfectly, but I do admire him for hanging tough. Maybe the days of Abe and his ilk are over for a while.
*Note to the language sensitive: Intentional use of Nonstandard English.
**Read it this morning, but cannot recall where.
***It obviously ain't now, if it ever was.
****Repeating the same-ol', same ol' a zillion times is not an explanation either, especially when the explanation seems to assume that the same ol' same ol' relationship will continue unchanged forever.
Friday, August 28, 2009
We can help
(Revised and reposted.)
Apologies to Billy Swan. (Oh well...soundtrack has been removed....)
Sunday, July 26, 2009
UN misunderstands Japan
A U.N. panel on gender equality criticized Japan on Thursday for failing to advance the rank of women in society or to fully address the wartime "comfort women" issue. Asahi Shimbun English
Two points:
1) Everyone knows that Japanese women are different so it can't be assumed that they want their rank in society advanced. Ask Fujiwara Masahiko about a woman's place. Or you might pick up a book similar in title to Fujiwara's by Mariko Bando: Dignity of a Woman. Or see excerpt below* from the classic Onna Daigaku to understand what has been lost in the modern era. Make a copy for the wife or girlfriend. She'll love it like mine did when I copied it and hung it on the wall just after we were married. (That woman has no sense of humor.)
2) Former US President Bush accepted ex-Prime Minister Abe's apology concerning the sex slave issue years ago. Abe, who had long fought any attempts to address the issue and who caused a big controversy when he claimed publicly as prime minister that there was no proof that the Japanese military at the time directly forced women to become sex slaves. He never took that back, but was still man enough to apologize to Boy George. Perhaps the UN is confused: How could Bush accept an apology for something which did not involve his sorry buttocks from a man who claimed that what he was apologizing for was not directed by the Japanese Imperial Army?
Onna Daigaku: Late 1600s/early 1700s:
*IV. The Wife’s Miscellaneous Duties
Ahh, the good old days when women knew their place. We don't need no stinkin' UN making things worse than they have already become.
Two points:
1) Everyone knows that Japanese women are different so it can't be assumed that they want their rank in society advanced. Ask Fujiwara Masahiko about a woman's place. Or you might pick up a book similar in title to Fujiwara's by Mariko Bando: Dignity of a Woman. Or see excerpt below* from the classic Onna Daigaku to understand what has been lost in the modern era. Make a copy for the wife or girlfriend. She'll love it like mine did when I copied it and hung it on the wall just after we were married. (That woman has no sense of humor.)
2) Former US President Bush accepted ex-Prime Minister Abe's apology concerning the sex slave issue years ago. Abe, who had long fought any attempts to address the issue and who caused a big controversy when he claimed publicly as prime minister that there was no proof that the Japanese military at the time directly forced women to become sex slaves. He never took that back, but was still man enough to apologize to Boy George. Perhaps the UN is confused: How could Bush accept an apology for something which did not involve his sorry buttocks from a man who claimed that what he was apologizing for was not directed by the Japanese Imperial Army?
Onna Daigaku: Late 1600s/early 1700s:
*IV. The Wife’s Miscellaneous Duties
A woman has no particular lord. She must look to her husband as her lord, and must serve him with all worship and reverence, not despising or thinking lightly of him. The great lifelong duty of a woman is obedience. In her dealings with her husband, both the expression of her countenance and style of her address should be courteous, humble, and conciliatory, never peevish and intractable, never rude and arrogant . . . When the husband issues his instruction, the wife must never disobey them . . . Let her never even dream of jealousy. If her husband be dissolute, she must expostulate with him, but never either nurse nor vent her anger. If her jealousy be extreme, it will render her countenance frightful and her accent repulsive and can only result in completely alienating her husband from her, and making her intolerable to his eyes . . . In her capacity of wife, she must keep her husband’s household in proper order. If the wife be evil and profligate, the house is ruined. In everything she must avoid extravagance, and both with regard to food and raiment must act according to her station in life, and never give way to luxury and pride.
From Women in World HistoryAhh, the good old days when women knew their place. We don't need no stinkin' UN making things worse than they have already become.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Aso does an Abe
"No facts have been confirmed," the prime minister told the Upper House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense when asked whether Aso Mining used Allied POWs as forced labor during the war....
...Although Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita stressed that records at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration show that forced labor did take place, Aso repeatedly told the Diet that no factual details have been confirmed. Japan Times.
I knew MangaMan Aso was a rightist/revisionist, but up until now, I had thought he was a sharper politician than "I-quit-'cause-I-gotta-s*@t" Abe. Oops. Wrong again.
As I said, I love it when these fossils let us know exactly what they believe and where they stand. Let's hope the rest of the world is watching and listening.
...Although Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Yukihisa Fujita stressed that records at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration show that forced labor did take place, Aso repeatedly told the Diet that no factual details have been confirmed. Japan Times.
I knew MangaMan Aso was a rightist/revisionist, but up until now, I had thought he was a sharper politician than "I-quit-'cause-I-gotta-s*@t" Abe. Oops. Wrong again.
As I said, I love it when these fossils let us know exactly what they believe and where they stand. Let's hope the rest of the world is watching and listening.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Keep talkin'
I love it when the loony-birds of the right speak openly and unapologetically of their true beliefs. This will insure that the rest of the world gets the message that some of the kooks who have never accepted that Japan did anything wrong in World War 2 are still around, still in power, and still accepted by many.
Pugnaciously defending his version of Japan's role in a war that killed millions across Asia, Toshio Tamogami, 60, told parliament Tuesday that he does not see "anything wrong with what I wrote." Washington Post.
At least he has the guts to continue to defend what he truly believes, unlike Abe who expressed what he believes then claimed he didn't really say what he meant, or mean what he said, or that what he said didn't mean what it meant. Or whatever he mumbled before he retired because of bowel trouble.
Of course Tamogomi is able to stay in the news and publicize his beliefs and perhaps gain a few new believers or put some doubt about WW2 in the minds of others. Others may have a less kind reaction and take it out on Aso.
Pugnaciously defending his version of Japan's role in a war that killed millions across Asia, Toshio Tamogami, 60, told parliament Tuesday that he does not see "anything wrong with what I wrote." Washington Post.
At least he has the guts to continue to defend what he truly believes, unlike Abe who expressed what he believes then claimed he didn't really say what he meant, or mean what he said, or that what he said didn't mean what it meant. Or whatever he mumbled before he retired because of bowel trouble.
Of course Tamogomi is able to stay in the news and publicize his beliefs and perhaps gain a few new believers or put some doubt about WW2 in the minds of others. Others may have a less kind reaction and take it out on Aso.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
General Tamogomi continued
Herbert Bix, the author of Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (among other things) has posted an article at Japan F0cus concerning the essay that got Tamogomi relieved:
...essay contest sponsored by a large scandal-marred construction and real estate conglomerate, the APA Group, which required contestants to write on “The True Outlook for Modern and Contemporary History.” APA's President is Motoya Toshio, the author of historical works and a key figure in political organizations supporting the Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture (fronting the Sea of Japan). He has strong ties to former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and other rightist politicians, including Tamogami. [2] As far as is known, superiors in the Defense Ministry's chain of command did not carefully scrutinize Tamogami’s essay. A notorious Nanjing atrocity denier, Professor Watanabe Shoichi, headed the panel of judges that awarded the prize. And the essays were apparently “solicited for the purpose of ‘steering Japan toward a correct understanding of history as an independent nation.’”
Bix then analyzes Tamogami's essay and rightist beliefs (as did Tobias Harris earlier at Observing Japan here here, and here). Bix discusses some of the Western Allies' hypocrisy during the Tokyo Tribunal which gives the right-wing some of their rational for dismissing the war crimes convictions as victor's justice. He also discusses US/Japan alliance and why it may not be so good for Japan's future by its pressuring Japan to rearm (thus playing into the right-wing's hands.):
...But the real problem with the US-Japan security relationship is that it is a poison injected into the arteries of Japan’s political system, continually weakening Japan’s commitment to its constitutional ideals.
A link is provided tin Bix's article for the text of Tamogami's essay in both English and Japanese.
See Japan Focus for the full article.
...essay contest sponsored by a large scandal-marred construction and real estate conglomerate, the APA Group, which required contestants to write on “The True Outlook for Modern and Contemporary History.” APA's President is Motoya Toshio, the author of historical works and a key figure in political organizations supporting the Komatsu Air Base in Ishikawa Prefecture (fronting the Sea of Japan). He has strong ties to former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo and other rightist politicians, including Tamogami. [2] As far as is known, superiors in the Defense Ministry's chain of command did not carefully scrutinize Tamogami’s essay. A notorious Nanjing atrocity denier, Professor Watanabe Shoichi, headed the panel of judges that awarded the prize. And the essays were apparently “solicited for the purpose of ‘steering Japan toward a correct understanding of history as an independent nation.’”
Bix then analyzes Tamogami's essay and rightist beliefs (as did Tobias Harris earlier at Observing Japan here here, and here). Bix discusses some of the Western Allies' hypocrisy during the Tokyo Tribunal which gives the right-wing some of their rational for dismissing the war crimes convictions as victor's justice. He also discusses US/Japan alliance and why it may not be so good for Japan's future by its pressuring Japan to rearm (thus playing into the right-wing's hands.):
...But the real problem with the US-Japan security relationship is that it is a poison injected into the arteries of Japan’s political system, continually weakening Japan’s commitment to its constitutional ideals.
A link is provided tin Bix's article for the text of Tamogami's essay in both English and Japanese.
See Japan Focus for the full article.
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Beautiful country continued
Fired Japan Air Force Chief Gen. Toshio Tamogami (sorry, I meant Air Self-Defense Force. Air Force sounds like a military branch) defended his and his fellow traveler's interesting beliefs:
In his first public appearance since being sacked over the essay Friday, Tamogami reiterated that Japan was not an aggressor nation and that the people have been misled by erroneous education...
"It is necessary to revise the view that Japan did wrong during the war, if it wishes to prosper as a nation in the 21st century" ...
Tamogami also touched on the 1995 war apology issued by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, saying the statement, now the government's official line on Japan's wartime responsibility, "needs verification." (means withdrawn?) Full article at Japan Times.
The same old thing over and over.
In his first public appearance since being sacked over the essay Friday, Tamogami reiterated that Japan was not an aggressor nation and that the people have been misled by erroneous education...
"It is necessary to revise the view that Japan did wrong during the war, if it wishes to prosper as a nation in the 21st century" ...
Tamogami also touched on the 1995 war apology issued by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, saying the statement, now the government's official line on Japan's wartime responsibility, "needs verification." (means withdrawn?) Full article at Japan Times.
The same old thing over and over.
Saturday, November 01, 2008
We were victims I tell ya, innocent victims!
“Even now, there are many people who think that our country’s aggression caused unbearable suffering to the countries of Asia during the Greater East Asia War,” he wrote, using the term favored by Japan’s right to refer to World War II. “But we need to realize that many Asian countries take a positive view of the Greater East Asia War. It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation.” Comments courtesy of now fired Japan Air Force (which is, of course, not to be mistaken for a military branch) Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami and the NYT.
...in recent years, nationalist politicians belonging to the right wing of the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party have waged a campaign to revise Japan’s wartime history... Full article at the New York Times.
Our rightwinger claimed that innocent Japan was tricked into entering attacking the US at Pearl Harbor and denied that Japan had invaded China and Korea and that Roosevelt, in addition to victimizing Japan was a Comintern puppet. I always knew that lefty Roosevelt was a Commie! (Guardian UK)
Although the above essay already won him $30,000 from a contest sponsored by the real estate developer Apa Group, General Tamogami also deserves the Shinzo Abe Foot-in-the Mouth Award for fearless public denial of history and furthering the cause of WW2 revisionists and apologists. He has stated that he will explain his views to the public next week. Can't wait.
Also articles here and here in case the NYT/Guardian links die suddenly.
...in recent years, nationalist politicians belonging to the right wing of the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party have waged a campaign to revise Japan’s wartime history... Full article at the New York Times.
Our rightwinger claimed that innocent Japan was tricked into entering attacking the US at Pearl Harbor and denied that Japan had invaded China and Korea and that Roosevelt, in addition to victimizing Japan was a Comintern puppet. I always knew that lefty Roosevelt was a Commie! (Guardian UK)
Although the above essay already won him $30,000 from a contest sponsored by the real estate developer Apa Group, General Tamogami also deserves the Shinzo Abe Foot-in-the Mouth Award for fearless public denial of history and furthering the cause of WW2 revisionists and apologists. He has stated that he will explain his views to the public next week. Can't wait.
Also articles here and here in case the NYT/Guardian links die suddenly.
Monday, September 01, 2008
Who will slither in
to replace Fukuda?
I was surprised to hear that PM Fukuda suddenly resigned today as apparently so was everyone else. The question is who will replace him? Is this Aso's big chance? Will Japan return to the rightist policies of Abe or go even further with Aso? The MangaMan will at least handle the selection of the new LDP leader according to Fukuda.
Or, does this mean that the LDP is once again doomed as we have been hearing from some for years and years? Perhaps Ozawa and the DPJ will be able to use this to finally wrest control from the LDP, not just for a year or two, but long enough to bring Japan a real two-party system. If so, it seems like it would happen more because the LDP is showing itself to be completely incompetent and incapable of governing than because of anything that the DPJ does or says. (Ozawa? Is he an improvement on anything?)
I am skeptical---actually cynical---about the latter, and with unjustified self-confidence assume the Aso/rightist scenario is much more likely in both the short and long term.
2320: Even I have to admit that the LDP looks so bad now that those who have been predicting its fall for years may be right this time. Still, I'll believe it when I see it.
I was surprised to hear that PM Fukuda suddenly resigned today as apparently so was everyone else. The question is who will replace him? Is this Aso's big chance? Will Japan return to the rightist policies of Abe or go even further with Aso? The MangaMan will at least handle the selection of the new LDP leader according to Fukuda.
Or, does this mean that the LDP is once again doomed as we have been hearing from some for years and years? Perhaps Ozawa and the DPJ will be able to use this to finally wrest control from the LDP, not just for a year or two, but long enough to bring Japan a real two-party system. If so, it seems like it would happen more because the LDP is showing itself to be completely incompetent and incapable of governing than because of anything that the DPJ does or says. (Ozawa? Is he an improvement on anything?)
I am skeptical---actually cynical---about the latter, and with unjustified self-confidence assume the Aso/rightist scenario is much more likely in both the short and long term.
2320: Even I have to admit that the LDP looks so bad now that those who have been predicting its fall for years may be right this time. Still, I'll believe it when I see it.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Woman, 79, slashes two at Shibuya
Female pair wounded; suspect says she fled shelter, is broke, wants police to care for her.
A 79-year-old woman slashed two women with a fruit knife..."I thought police would take care of me if I caused an incident." JTOnlineWell, gotta add fruit knives to the list of knives to ban. Could it be possible that there are other problems that the government of old, never-had-a-new-idea-and-never-will geezers should look in to? Could it be possible that neither making new rules for the type of knives that can be legally sold, nor attempting to return the the "Beautiful Country" imaginary past will solve them? Could it be possible that there will be no perfect solution? Could there be problems with social welfare that should be looked into? Would the country not be better served by the LDP/DJP actually doing something? Will Fukuda et al take action? BAHAHAHAHA! Is this really an increasingly common problem, or does it just seem so because of the juiciness of the stories for the media?
2025: I love blogger. I can change the font size in "compose" mode with the target highlighted and nothing happens. Then I can check in "edit html" and supposedly font size is "normal", but yet when published it is extra large. Blogger does not have not 12/14 point sizes. That's why it's free(?)
Saturday, August 23, 2008
He's baaacccckkkk
Bowel trouble mostly cleared up, ExLax PM Abe, best buddy of MangaMan Aso is gonna try once more to make Japan a Beautiful Country. No, he's not gonna leave, but is:
trying to move back into the political limelight, even though his close associates think it's too early. Japan Times (yet again)
24 August. I apologize for the childish attempt at humor by calling Abe an ExLax PM instead of ex-PM. I have been properly reprimanded.
trying to move back into the political limelight, even though his close associates think it's too early. Japan Times (yet again)
24 August. I apologize for the childish attempt at humor by calling Abe an ExLax PM instead of ex-PM. I have been properly reprimanded.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
As I await the end of summer, which by temperature standards of my home would be around late October in Kanto, (meaning it is what I would call summer-like in Tokyo until then) I am trying to focus on trips to the mountains that I plan for the fall and winter. I am hoping to be able to go to areas sufficiently remote that I don't have a noisy bunch of grannies and grandpas destroying any sense of nature with transistor radios blaring, talking and giggling in voices loud enough to wake the dead, or even the types I see on TV who as soon as they reach a cleared, leveled, and perhaps even concreted viewing platform of an official scenic view scream "sugoiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!" repeatedly. This rules out much of anything that does not require camping or travel by car.
I have been able to get completely away from humans only once in the last year when I went to the Nikko area and found an obscure trail leading to the top of one of the more popular mountains there. I never made it to the top as I did not have a real map, but a printed puzzle written by a clown with no sense of scale nor idea of how to make a map. (Real maps useful for doing any serious hiking or climbing are hard to find. I understand that they are or were available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, but I have not checked yet.)
Decent English books on aspects of nature concerning Japan are tough to find. Decent does not include books with the standard "mystery of the Orient" slant to them. There are magazines in Japanese concerning mountain climbing (actually hiking) that are somewhat useful in getting an idea of where to go. Otherwise, like most other magazines, their main focus is on selling readers stuff they don't need.
One book that I recently bought is The Green Archipelago by Conrad Totman. It concerns forestry in pre-industrial Japan and is one of the very few in English that I have been able to find. In fact, I have not been able to find much in Japanese beyond the simplistic either, at least in any bookstores. Even if I could, it would be a challenge for me to read it and get as much out of it as I could one written in English.
Oh well. Forget that. Manga-Man Aso is seen by some as angling to slither into the prime minister slot. There is the answer to Japan's problems. And don't worry, about some of his and his supporter's statements in the past. After all, nationalism is not an issue in Japan, yet.
I have been able to get completely away from humans only once in the last year when I went to the Nikko area and found an obscure trail leading to the top of one of the more popular mountains there. I never made it to the top as I did not have a real map, but a printed puzzle written by a clown with no sense of scale nor idea of how to make a map. (Real maps useful for doing any serious hiking or climbing are hard to find. I understand that they are or were available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, but I have not checked yet.)
Decent English books on aspects of nature concerning Japan are tough to find. Decent does not include books with the standard "mystery of the Orient" slant to them. There are magazines in Japanese concerning mountain climbing (actually hiking) that are somewhat useful in getting an idea of where to go. Otherwise, like most other magazines, their main focus is on selling readers stuff they don't need.
One book that I recently bought is The Green Archipelago by Conrad Totman. It concerns forestry in pre-industrial Japan and is one of the very few in English that I have been able to find. In fact, I have not been able to find much in Japanese beyond the simplistic either, at least in any bookstores. Even if I could, it would be a challenge for me to read it and get as much out of it as I could one written in English.
Oh well. Forget that. Manga-Man Aso is seen by some as angling to slither into the prime minister slot. There is the answer to Japan's problems. And don't worry, about some of his and his supporter's statements in the past. After all, nationalism is not an issue in Japan, yet.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Words of Wisdom?
As usual, the anniversary of Japan's surrender was marked with a number of ceremonies. And, as usual, the right-wingers had a nice gathering at Yasukuni. Even some of Fukuda's cabinet showed up in order to keep thier and the LDP's extreme right credentials in order.
This is nothing new and just goes to show that some of the nutjobs will never change. Fortunately, we have a young generation of non-Japanese (and Japanese) who will put things into the proper touchy-feely, lovey dovey perspective with deep and thoughtful observations:
This is nothing new and just goes to show that some of the nutjobs will never change. Fortunately, we have a young generation of non-Japanese (and Japanese) who will put things into the proper touchy-feely, lovey dovey perspective with deep and thoughtful observations:
All those mistaken foreigners (and the Japanese who marched in anti-Yasukuni protest Friday) should show more patience and tolerance for the rightwingers of Japan who are visiting Yauskuni in innocence and purity.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Manga Man Aso. More of the same.
Since PM Fukuda reshuffled his cabinet, many of his new appointees---who are retreaded old geezers who haven't had a new thought since Christ was a child---have been attempting to return his kindness.
Manga Man Aso, the guy who thinks that the secret to getting foreigners to "understand" Japan's foreign policy (it has one?) is to explain it via comic books; the guy who would like make Japan a country that rich Jewish people would want to move to, has compared the LDP's opposition to Nazis. (Also here and here.)
It's good that we have folks like Aso who speak what could be referred to as their mind. That way, folks can get a better idea of what these semi-fossilized relics really think. Then we have to ask ourselves how they get elected and reelected again and again. After all, this is a democracy and someone, in fact a large number of someones, must support them. Entertaining these ancient ones might be, but you have to wonder what they would do if they had the full power and free reign to move the country their way?
This is the same Aso whose family business used Korean slave labor during WW2 when Japan was Nazi Germany's ally. (Did Aso's family object to that alliance?) This is the same Aso who said those with blue eyes and blond hair weren't trusted in the Middle East but Japanese with yellow faces could be, thereby displaying among other things his beyond shallow knowledge of the region. This is the same Aso who could be in line to become prime minister should the Japanese public continue to allow the LDP to dominate the post-war government. At least we'll know him.
Manga Man Aso, the guy who thinks that the secret to getting foreigners to "understand" Japan's foreign policy (it has one?) is to explain it via comic books; the guy who would like make Japan a country that rich Jewish people would want to move to, has compared the LDP's opposition to Nazis. (Also here and here.)
It's good that we have folks like Aso who speak what could be referred to as their mind. That way, folks can get a better idea of what these semi-fossilized relics really think. Then we have to ask ourselves how they get elected and reelected again and again. After all, this is a democracy and someone, in fact a large number of someones, must support them. Entertaining these ancient ones might be, but you have to wonder what they would do if they had the full power and free reign to move the country their way?
This is the same Aso whose family business used Korean slave labor during WW2 when Japan was Nazi Germany's ally. (Did Aso's family object to that alliance?) This is the same Aso who said those with blue eyes and blond hair weren't trusted in the Middle East but Japanese with yellow faces could be, thereby displaying among other things his beyond shallow knowledge of the region. This is the same Aso who could be in line to become prime minister should the Japanese public continue to allow the LDP to dominate the post-war government. At least we'll know him.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Watching TV news in Japan can often be frustrating for many reasons, besides not being able to catch everything that is said. NHK and one of the other stations (Channel 4) have bilingual broadcasts so one can listen to those to get rid of most of the language problem. Unfortunately, you still have to endure some story about nothing going on and on seemingly forever. Or you have to listen to a lecture---almost always by a male newsreader---about what society/the government needs to do after a report on a serious incident. (e.g. After a story on fraud, "We must ensure that this kind of thing cannot happen," or some similar goofy comment with which nobody can disagree.)
Having BS, the overpriced satellite service from NHK, with which we can watch old movies that we would not spend the ￥300 to rent or enjoy the Shopping Channel which often uses translated commercials from the US, also allows us to watch news from other countries---England, France, Germany among them. Of course, we have to listen to the French and German news in Japanese.
You can see some of the differences in style. On one, a Sunday Morning BBC political issue broadcast which I occasionally watch, the woman running it seems to be a bit more open with her opinions---or biases---than used to be acceptable in the US media. She does, however, manage to do so without appearing to be some sort of idiotic clown. Unlike those on CNN.
I remember when CNN used to be somewhat reliable and serious, but it is shocking to see how it has deteriorated into something like The National Enquirer on TV. I just watched another edition of CNN Prime which usually focuses on celebrities, weirdos, or some sort of sexual scandal or crime. Anything that they can sensationalize is fair game.
Today, their lead story was on a minor league baseball brawl in which a pitcher got angry and threw a ball at another player, but missed and hit a fan in the face. CNN replayed that at least 10 times or more. While playing the clip over and over and over and over and over, the newsclown, James Galano (?), with a mug so heavily made up that he looked like a plastic Sony robot, made faces to show his disgust and disapproval while giving his personal opinion about the brawl. He always does this on every sensational story he "reports." If he is off, there are a couple of plastic-faced females with unbelievably huge mouths who do the same. No story is too serious or too complex for them to make into a sort of simplistic cartoon. This must be why fewer and fewer Americans get "news" from the TV. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is much better, more believable, and is not nearly so insulting to viewers---and you can get it via the Internet. (Of course, FOX may be even worse than CNN.)
It makes me think that NHK's self-censored news is of much higher quality and reliability even if Abe and his band of rightwing-revisionists lean on it to report only the LDP-approved version of the world. And none of the reporter are so made up as to appear plastic.
1335: Edited because I cannot spell. Ask Fujiwacko why...
Having BS, the overpriced satellite service from NHK, with which we can watch old movies that we would not spend the ￥300 to rent or enjoy the Shopping Channel which often uses translated commercials from the US, also allows us to watch news from other countries---England, France, Germany among them. Of course, we have to listen to the French and German news in Japanese.
You can see some of the differences in style. On one, a Sunday Morning BBC political issue broadcast which I occasionally watch, the woman running it seems to be a bit more open with her opinions---or biases---than used to be acceptable in the US media. She does, however, manage to do so without appearing to be some sort of idiotic clown. Unlike those on CNN.
I remember when CNN used to be somewhat reliable and serious, but it is shocking to see how it has deteriorated into something like The National Enquirer on TV. I just watched another edition of CNN Prime which usually focuses on celebrities, weirdos, or some sort of sexual scandal or crime. Anything that they can sensationalize is fair game.
Today, their lead story was on a minor league baseball brawl in which a pitcher got angry and threw a ball at another player, but missed and hit a fan in the face. CNN replayed that at least 10 times or more. While playing the clip over and over and over and over and over, the newsclown, James Galano (?), with a mug so heavily made up that he looked like a plastic Sony robot, made faces to show his disgust and disapproval while giving his personal opinion about the brawl. He always does this on every sensational story he "reports." If he is off, there are a couple of plastic-faced females with unbelievably huge mouths who do the same. No story is too serious or too complex for them to make into a sort of simplistic cartoon. This must be why fewer and fewer Americans get "news" from the TV. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is much better, more believable, and is not nearly so insulting to viewers---and you can get it via the Internet. (Of course, FOX may be even worse than CNN.)
It makes me think that NHK's self-censored news is of much higher quality and reliability even if Abe and his band of rightwing-revisionists lean on it to report only the LDP-approved version of the world. And none of the reporter are so made up as to appear plastic.
1335: Edited because I cannot spell. Ask Fujiwacko why...
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