Tidbits

from conversations this week:

"I'm worried that foreigners will think Japan was wrong (on Senkaku) because we gave in to China."

"I think Ozawa, Hatoyama, and Kan are terrible. They gave in to China. We need to show the world Japan's 'will.'" (Discussing Senkaku).

"If China had done that to the US, I think there would have been a war." (Senkaku dispute.)

"I think there should be mandatory military service in Japan to bring patriotism to the young." (US born, LDP supporter. Very "patriotic" who admires the US. Unfortunately, he has an often simplistic or outright wrong view of the US. Decent guy, not a nut. I would say he is simply politically conservative.)

"All Americans have to go in the military if there is a war."

"America is very important for world peace" A reply to my statement of fact that the US cannot continue funding it's current contribution to "world peace" via the military. Time for the "peace country" to show us how it is done?

"We Japanese promised the world we would have no more wars." Same conversation as above. (Was that the US written article 9 he was referring to?) Bottom line: the US is forever supposed to "protect" Japan.

"We shouldn't have to go in the military because we would lose time for learning job skills and foreign languages." (Perhaps Japanese are just as ignorant about the military as Americans. I suppose the lack of opportunity to learn a foreign language is more accurate for the SDF, but folks who work on F-16s might just have a few skills. They surely as hell have more marketable and practical skills than some goofball who majored in such things as Asian Studies).

Gee, nothing totally insane this week. Just enough to reinforce my opinion that most Japanese whom I know---nah, in general---haven't the slightest clue of what the US is or is not.* And little attention is paid to possible repercussions of Japan showing it's "will" or saying "no." Just the mere act of Japan doing so, will somehow impress the hell out of the rest of the world, and Japan will then...ummmmm...what? Win?

Several years ago there was a CM on TV with a popular comedian---I forget his name, but one of a pair who often appear on TV---who was at a meeting full of non-Japanese. He was in some disagreement with them and stood up and shouted in English "No!" The foreigners were taken aback that this Japanese fellow could say "no." A common fantasy that goes no further, it seems.

The US media does a terrible job covering Japan. The Japanese media is little better as far as the US is concerned. I am often amused by folks who claim that Japanese know much more about the US than Americans (US) do about Japan. Yes, people may be familiar with the names of all of the states, some US history (The One with Whom I Share a Mansion is extremely knowledgeable about US history and was even before she attended a US university. She is a rare case though), but as the unquestioning acceptance of Fujiwara Masahiko's book of pure horsepooky proved, most haven't a clue.

What a slow week. It might improve tomorrow as I go drinking with The Oz Lady.

*after nearly 11 years here, neither do I.

1600: Edited to add a few more that I remembered.

Weirdo Japan, part 120 million

First read this post:

News of the Weird phenomenon is when we easily dismiss bizarre incidents from our own society, because we know they originated in a minor subculture, were committed by people with some kind of problem, were done by a marginalized group such as “rednecks” or criminals or fringe political elements, etc. However, we don’t have the same insider knowledge about “weird news” from most other cultures. As a result, when we read something sensational or peculiar, our attempts to practice cultural relativism kick into overdrive and we may accept the item as representative rather than anomalous....Talk to the Clouds

then watch this.



Or visa versa.

And I am joining the evil MSM in posting this. You can bet that some people overseas will see this and believe it to be true about Japan in the same way that some people here will read Fujiwara's The Dignity of the Nation and other nonsense and believe it has something to say about the US or other foreign countries.

Correct. I've nothing better to do...

Apologies to Our Man for using something from R. Murdoch's company. Blame Twitter.

国家の品格

The ex-Yakuza fellow turned Buddhist-with-a-U.S.-liver, and main subject of the book, Tokyo Vice, has written his own book. Tokyo Subculture has just posted an interview of the kindly old man. As is not unusual for the possibly right-leaning (certainly not left) fellows of his type, he is also somewhat concerned with the lack of patriotism and national pride among Japan's young.

I was pleased to see that he admired Shigeru Yoshida and Nobusuke Kishi for hanging tough when thousands opposed the 1960 U.S.-Japan Security Treaty. I believe that there were some folks of his profession who assisted with crowd control during those troubled times. Unfortunately, despite everyone's best efforts, "I like Ike" was not an especially popular slogan among the trouble-making demonstrators, and then-President Eisenhower's trip to Japan was canceled. The treaty is still around though.

I was even happier to see that not only has Mr. Goto found religion and written a book, but that he also shown a taste for fine literature by mentioning the classic by Masahiko Fujiwara, The Dignity of the Nation.

August 25: Thanks to Durf for pointing me toward The Dignity of the British Nation. I somehow missed it back when Fujiwara's tome came out, but it seems that Britain is in many ways similar to Fujiwara's Japan. Masahiko even hinted at that in his book.

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:

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

One may disagree with ol' I-quit-'cause-I-gotta-sh*t Abe, the fellow with a long history of denying that the Japanese Imperial Army recruited women to serve as sex slaves during the war and who got into hot water for boldly stating same as PM, but one can not question his expertise on being "foolish and ignorant about dealing with historical issues."

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...

"I'd like a chance t' shoot at a educated man once in my life."
Augustus McCrae. Retired Texas Ranger.*

I wouldn't call myself an educated man. Daydreamed through the 8th-11th grades. Finished university after the USAF on one of the versions of the G.I. Bill. Even had to spend the first year or so at a community college. Still, I thought I knew a few things until September of 2008 when I learned that I didn't know squat about the way the world works. I realized that I was an idiot and that I would never be like those who can confidently predict the future and know the way to solve the world's problems. I mean, I ain't no Nobel Prize winner like Paul Krugman. (They don't give those things out for nothing, you know.) Plus, I am an American which as everyone knows is the most poorly-educated group on earth. Why, just a week or so ago, there was more hand-wringing in the US over the fact that fewer US students were graduating from universities despite the absurdly inflated costs of doing so. What the hell, put the poorer of them in the military and send 'em to well-off foreign lands to "preserve freedom."

Fortunately, I now live in a country which is ideal for an idiot because of the ability to learn from the highly educated populace. I learn something new and valuable nearly every day. It could be a trivial thing like I learned Monday: People in Osaka walk faster than people in any other city on earth while folks in NY walk second fastest, and those in Tokyo walk third fastest. And here I had been thinking that most people in Tokyo walked at about the pace of a dead snail that is reading email on a cell phone. Stoopid me.

Or it could be something breathtaking and potentially world changing.

Tuesday started as a normal day. I had been given my usual Tuesday task of gathering information about some sort of puzzling New-Think, this time concerning Red Ocean/Blue Ocean. This had apparently been the subject of a popular 2005 business book which I had not read nor even heard of. These small details would not stop me from finding out as much as I could about the subject in 3-4 hours and then pretend I had a clue of what I was talking about.

Fortunately, I found an interview with the authors in which they clearly explained the concept:

We use the terms red oceans and blue oceans to describe the market universe. Red oceans are all of the industries in existence now... ...Blue oceans, in contrast denote all industries not in existence today...

I cut a little, but the above should be sufficient to prompt most to run out and either buy the book, Blue Ocean Strategy, or jump from a tall building. My understanding is that a good "blue ocean strategy" company will try to find customers and markets by thinking outside the box, throwing out the Old-Think, and establishing a new paradigm---all very unusual for a cutting-edge business book.

Oh, to the point of this post...

Later, I got to chat with a fellow whose major had been economics. He is now a fairly high level executive---shall we say in the top level of his organization which is one of the largest in his industry. We talked economics, as he is wont to do when he is not detailing some unique character traits of the Japanese (which seem incredibly commonplace to an uneducated flunky) and how the current environment is affecting his industry and company. For an international company heavily dependent on imported raw materials, the increasing demand for those raw materials is pushing up prices and eliminating profits.

Then he let me in on what may be a secret. There is sort of a cartel controlling prices on these raw materials. It involves a number of foreign countries, including one in South America in which a minority of folks are of European descent. (1-2%, according to him.)

This was interesting. We had discussed this before, but not in such detail. The way he was talking, I began to suspect the Illuminati, but after beating around the bush a bit, he told me: The Jews!

Oh yes, I should have known! It seems many here take for granted the "theory" that to some degree or another Jews control the US, or tend to believe in a general Jewish conspiracy to control the world, but this was the first that I had heard that they controlled a major raw materials market.

Later, as dim-witted and poorly educated as I---and all other Americans (meaning only the US in this case)---am, I began to get an idea. I don't know why I am the only one to think of this, but I may have solved not only my problems, but Japan's and perhaps the rest of the world's. With so much of the world's power and money in the hands of Jewish people, why not convert to Judaism? It may be immoral if one is not sincere, but it would seem to be a pretty simple way to resolve financial worries. I could certainly use the power and influence that this small percentage of the world's population is rumored to have, too. It may even make me more welcomed by some here.

And the risk of an aimless, goalless, thoughtless, clueless leadership class leading the country to the Fujiwara-ian glory of the past of poverty and hardship for all except the powerful elites? Could not Japan convert to Judaism and take advantage of that power and wealth? Isn't there some evidence that Japanese are actually Jewish anyway?

I feel honored that I may have stumbled into the secret of solving all the world's problems in a discussion with a man who, without a doubt, represents one of the most well-educated classes in the country. Not only that, I got to experience that mysterious Eastern wisdom which has been handed down through the generations, and which, despite the fact that we are in roughly the same age group, makes me feel like I was born yesterday while he has the accumulated knowledge of a zillion years.

Whereas these sorts of Jewish conspiracy theories would not be considered acceptable in many other countries, and might be taken as a sign of ignorance or even antisemitism, we can't use that sort of Old-Think about subscribers to the theories in Japan. Things are different here. It's all harmless and innocent. Sort of a quaint and cute provincialism. By the way, my acquaintance is very polite and seems a nice guy. So how could anything be wrong?

*From the 1989 TV mini-series, Lonesome Dove. I think ol' Gus would have saved a lot on powder, balls, and caps for his Walker Colt had he left the plains of Texas and Montana for my current neck of the woods.

"Weird" US

It's nothing new that many folk in the US, and many in Japan, view one anothers country as exotic, weird, and so different as to be incomprehensible. Perhaps a little less so from the Japanese side, but that's just a personal observation.

Try this: Ask a Japanese friend if he/she thinks that a non-Japanese (or a Westerner) can ever understand Japan. Then ask him/her if a Japanese can understand the US (or any other Western country). Bet the answer to the first is "no" and the second is "yes."

It's been over a decade since I returned to Japan. I have rarely visited the US in that decade and it is becoming harder and harder for me to understand what is going on there. No amount of reading newspapers, watching TV news, reading books, or whatever really gives me the same feeling of grasping the "sense" of the culture and why things are happening and what people really feel and believe. Most Americans I know have been here for years too, so I don't gain much insight from talking to them.

I have not really understood the feelings in the US since Sept 11 occurred. I could read about it, I could get angry, and feel the emotions that most Americans felt that day, but I have never really grasped why we seem to have made the "un-American" choice to trade a little freedom for a little security (and theoretically lose both). I can't figure out the Tea Party; the Texas Board of Education; the extreme partisanship that seems to prevent anything from being attempted, let alone accomplished; the apparent surrender of any privacy; the suicide of the Republican Party which may be followed by their resurrection made possible by the Democrat Party (and citizens themselves who can't seem to compromise on anything).

I am much more comfortable with things Japanese---except for the exclusionist fantasy of nihonjinron---than I am with the US and I feel (right or wrong) that I have a better grasp of what is going on here than I do of the US.

I wonder just how people who have never been to the US; who have never had more than the standard media presentation of America; and have had no more than the K-12 education system view of it can assume that they know diddly-sh*t about it. But I still meet people who think that they do and are willing to debate the point. It is like---to steal former Sen. Phil Graham's words---"dueling with an unarmed man."

I really like Ms. O, my long-time friend and tutor, but like many, she seems to believe some of the Fujiwara Masahiko crap. I do enjoy pointing out the fallacies of Ol' Barcode though.

China 2

...The challenge now is how to persuade China to at least moderate its strategy without unleashing something even more destructive. As the decibel level has risen in Washington, Chinese officials have implicitly warned that they could retaliate by dumping Treasury bills from their central bank’s $2.4 trillion cache.

This would be risky for both countries. The move would weaken the dollar and lessen the value of China’s holdings. The United States might weather a sell-off or even benefit from the drop in the dollar’s value, but any precipitous move could further disrupt the skittish financial markets. And Beijing has other potential weapons, like tariffs and quotas. There is no guarantee of rationality in these showdowns. NYT editorial: Will China Listen?

No, there isn't a guarantee of rationality*. There is much more certainty of irrationality in varied doses on both sides. The real question is how the US allowed itself to get into this sort of position to begin with.

Ol' Blinky Ishihara once suggested that Japan dump its US holdings.** According to Blinky, although it would severely damage the US and global economy, in the end Japan and Asia would emerge from the crisis first because that's where all the quality products come from. Apparently nobody took/takes him seriously and relegated him to being a loonytune local-yokel populist (or as the US media tends to refer to the bigot: a controversial nationalist) whose ideas were good enough to get him elected and re-elected. Whatever the reason, we paid no attention.

We still don't. Paul Krugman argues that even if China did dump its US dollar holdings, it would not really have a serious effect. If he is wrong then he personally has a lot to lose....uhhh...well maybe not. Plenty of other economists disagree, but Paul has a Noble Prize. So did Milton Friedman, and I still futilely run outside hoping for money to be dropped every time a helicopter passes overhead.

Anyway, I'll take another wild guess and assume that China, after some displays of irrationality, will ultimately "listen" to some degree. If I am right, I can write a book with a blurb on the rear that reads: "One of the visionary few who predicted that China would avoid a trade war with the US." If I am wrong, I'll claim I work for ABC News and it was simply an unfortunate slip.

Note to self: Must get a life soon.

Note to Google. Google spell check is not aware of the existence of the word "futilely" or "futily". As an American for the US who cannot spell because I had no spelling classes except that I did, I chose the former spelling and then misspelled it. Worse than Google spell check.

*Wait, isn't rationality---according to M. Fujiwara-kun---a Western thing anyway?

**I am not able to find a link. The version I read several years ago was translated to English by a Japanese guy. It should be at least as reliable as an ABC report.

Murdering Cars. Oops. Gomen ne.

I was stunned this morning while watching ABC World News Tonight. First, there was a story in which ABC did not have David Muir or any other reporter mugging for the camera and obscuring the person being interviewed. Then, having barely recovered from that unprecedented event, I saw the head of Toyota---Toyoda Akio---come out of hiding and apologize (sorta) for the now worldwide Toyota recall.

In the report, ABC cruelly showed a clip from a few days ago in which the ABC crew visited Toyota's Japan HQ. After the Guard Man(s) failed at throwing them off of the property,* some fellow in a suit and a mask came out and sorta apologized sincerely for the recall trouble.

After a rude, sarcastic remark about that incident, ABC showed interviews with several experts on corporate screw-ups. Toyota was criticized for not having top executives go public immediately with an explanation on what happened and what was being done; for being disengaged; and for not understanding "the emotional nature of the US market."

"The emotional nature of the US market!?" Good lord, Fujiwara Masahiko's dignified brain must be rolling in its grave! Aren't folks in the US Mr. Spock-like logical, while in Japan folks are all warm, fuzzy, "wet," and basically operating in a society in which human relations are all based on emotion without logic? Doesn't Toyota have some sort of international culture class in which management can study how the Japanese are different? How could they misunderstand their largest market?

Or couldn't Toyoda-shacho have learned from what happened in unique Japan a few years ago to a foreign company that did not understand the (emotional?) Japanese market and failed to take appropriate action quickly?:

Japanese culture and its scapegoat-seeking media often make bad times far worse for companies compromised by events. But for foreign firms less familiar with the country's societal norms, such problems can easily spiral completely out of control...

...They had no clue that their products would soon be referred to as "murdering elevators" on the streets, online and in the Japanese media. And they could perhaps never have expected that — despite being the world's No. 2 elevator maker — their sales in Japan would come to a sudden halt...

...along with the public's desire to know why the tragedy occurred at all, another key question was whether Schindler's elevators might be inherently dangerous. Japan Times

Will we see raids by teams of 321,002 police officers on Toyota's headquarters carrying out boxes of documents (and girly magazines?) for show? Will we see Toyoda-shacho fly to the US and other countries in person like the head of Schindler did?

Or has Mr. Toyoda become Western?:

"I would say that our reaction was typically Western, especially an Anglo-Saxon type of reaction," said Schindler..."

Or could the unthinkable be true:

..."Japan's famed quality- control is a myth, but like any good myth, many people believe it. When the myth is shattered, scandal results." [Mark D. West][Same JT article]

I could paste that entire article here and substitute Toyota for Schindler and the US for Japan and it would in many ways match Toyota's actions.

This is the sort of stuff that can cause one to become all befuddled. I can only assume that Toyota is operating on the well-known in Japan fact that folks/companies in the US don't apologize or accept any responsibility for anything because they will be sued. This is known because US auto insurance policies warn against such statements, and as we all know, the coldly logical "dry" Americans run their lives according to insurance policies.

Unfortunately, I cannot find the ABC report at their site. A video (in Japanese) and story (in English) of Toyoda's apology is here.

*The ABC crew was thrown out of a dealership in Tokyo in that earlier report---broadcast a day or two ago.

Edited at 1130

A Sunday stroll through the neighborhood

On Sundays the wife goes off to play tennis and with her friend, The Firefighter's Wife, and probably afterward to badmouth both The Firefighter and me at some izakaya. This leaves me plenty of time to do other things. One which I enjoy is picking some nearby area in Tokyo/Yokohama and walking around aimlessly. Reminds me of one of my jobs.

Today I decided to avoid anything to do with train/subway travel and stayed close to home. Although I have lived in the area for about 3 years now, I still haven't seen it all.

I had barely walked 10 minutes when I met a very kind man in "downtown" Denenchofu. I knew that he was a kind man because he stopped for me as I waited at a crosswalk. At first I didn't trust him, having had much experience in crossing streets in the area, and thought he was tricking me and would suddenly accelerate and run me down as soon as I stepped off of the curb. However, since he was not driving a city bus, or a silver Mercedes, or a dark blue BMW coupe with Shinagawa tags, I decided to risk my life. Amazingly, he waited patiently while I crossed and did not enter the crosswalk until I was out of it. Hmmm. Must not have been from around here.

As I walked toward the Tama River via a route that I had not traveled before, I began to sense from the near monopoly of JCP campaign posters that I was in a heavily Communist-occupied area.

One might assume that such an area would force even more folk to obey the rules---this being Japan and all too---and I found this to be true. Folks here obey the rules as much as or more than everywhere else in Tokyo/Kanagawa.

I waddled in true Tokyo style on down to the river and observed a lovely Sunday afternoon scene that one could see only in Japan. Folks were relaxing and having fun while being concerned with others and naturally observing all the rules and laws as this sort of thing is in Japanese DNA.

I wouldn't know since Japanese is too Japanese to be understood by non-Japanese, but I think that sign reads: Please barbecue here. It could not say that barbecuing is prohibited.

I continued my walk, enjoying the unique and well maintained nature of the river side and soon passed under Maruko Bridge. I suddenly came upon a large number of parked cars in the area near the bridge where I noticed some men changing clothes. Had I not been in Japan I would have sworn a few of these fellows were about to do a Kusanagi except for small, somewhat strategically placed towels. Now I once heard from a Japanese gal who had never been to the US, but had visited Canada, that people could walk down the street nearly naked in the States, but I could not believe that the traditionally conservative and modest Japanese would be sitting around naked in an open, crowded, public area. I was tempted to hang around in the interest of research to see if any women would join the display, but had to move on. Unfortunately, I didn't have the courage to snap a few nudie pix, but since this sort of thing doesn't happen here, I could not have taken them anyway.

Resuming my stroll I went down a newly opened walkway, dodging mamachari and their morons. Fortunately, there are rules about riding these high-tech machines where I was walking.

The signs apparently say: Please feel free to ride your clunker like some sort of drunken idiot along this path and see how many people you can run down.


Then I began to head home. I took my time as I walked through Tamagawadai Park, pausing often to listen to the cicadas. Of course I was unable to do so, because as the great intellektual, Masahiko Fujiwacko, informed us, only Japanese enjoy insect sounds or some horsepooky like that. Frustrated at my racial/ethnic/national origin inferiority, I gave up and left.

Not long afterward, I reached Denenchofu eki. (That's a real Japanese word. No need for it here, but I threw it in just to show that I am a member of an in-group. Watch this: 駅. Oooohhhh, kanji!) Denenchofu has been referred to as the Beverly Hills of Tokyo, apparently by folks who have never been to Beverly Hills. Most folks here are successful in some way, or else descendants of people who owned land in the area years ago. People do not become successful in Japan unless they obey the rules. Which rules, I don't know, but I guess they do.
I had mixed emotions as I returned to my mansion. Why can't the rest of the world be as polite, law-abiding, and rule-obeying as we are in Japan? You'd have to try really hard to find anyone other than a non-Japanese breaking rules or laws here. It's all part of the unique uniqueness of the country. I aspire to be able to do as the folks I saw today, but I haven't the guts, for I don't think the koban-sitters would understand.

WTF does blogger preview have no resemblance to the actual post? Why do I have to play around in HTML? OK, back to the old editor. It wasn't perfect, but it's better than the new and improved version.

I done did wrong?

Had to have. Perhaps my sin is why I have developed a severe case of blogger's block.

Friday afternoon, I was walking around the neighborhood with one of my cameras and saw the same flowers that I see every year at this time. The flowers (I have no idea what kind they are---non-native I suppose as I cannot find them in any of my paid-too-much-for books) are on a bush that hangs out in the road. They drop off about this time of year and the fallen flowers can make an interesting background for photos of those still in bloom.

While I was taking a few photos trying to find an angle that might make a halfway decent composition, I noticed an old lady walking down the road. I sensed her stopping behind me, but didn't pay much attention right away. I have generally found that old people have no problem of walking up and starting to chat in Japanese* when I am taking photos with a dSLR or larger format camera. This is shocking since everyone knows that the Japanese are shy.

A moment later she asked, "Are you taking photos of the flowers?"

"Yes," I answered.

"They are pretty," she said. "If you would like, you can cut some and take them with you."

"Thanks."

"The house with those flowers is mine."

"Oh, really. They're very beautiful."

"Do you live around here?"

"Yes, about five minutes away."

"If it's ok with you, could you bring me one of the photos?"

"Of course."

Then she walked to her door and went inside.

I walked by there this morning and noticed that the bush had been severely trimmed. No flowers were left, and was cut back inside the fence and had lost well over a foot of height. Never, since I moved to the area 3 years ago has that bush ever been trimmed and the flowers had always been left until they dropped.

Somehow, I cannot get the idea out of my head that it was done because of me. No evidence, just a feeling that I doubt I would never have outside of Japan. I know that it likely had nothing to do with me, but there is always the sense of being held at arm's length (thus the overly polite bakagaijin treatment some folks are so fond of) and the awareness of a forced separation from the society that I am supposed to be living in. It isn't uncommon to have some vague feelings of guilt for no reason here, or to feel that I have to show that I ain't a criminal, or that yes, Fujiwara Masahiko-chan, I can hear insects too.

Never got a decent photo, but gonna print one for her anyway and drop it off. Wonder if she really thought I would? I can even ask her what kind of flower it is since I cannot find it in any of my paid-too-much-for books. And maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to find out what (meaning why) happened to the flowers.

*Most of the time, older folks---especially women don't attempt to resort to English every time I miss something. What a relief...

Hiroaki Sato again

Sato, whom I posted about below, writes The View from New York for the Japan Times. He also writes occasional book reviews. In addition, he is a translator and an essayist.

He has had a real problem with Herbert Bix and his book, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, for years. I can understand that emotion, as I had a problem with what I had heard was in Fujiwara Masahiko's The Dignity of the Nation too. The difference is that I read the book.* Sato, despite repeatedly attacking what he had heard Bix had written or what he had read in excerpt, still has not bothered to actually read Bix' book. Believe me, if I can go through Fujiwara's nonsense, he should have been able to manage Bix' book in the now nearly 9 years since it was published. He'd then be somewhat credible when he dismisses it completely as he has done.

Wading back through some of his early articles---need I have read them before commenting on the content?---I quickly found at least two in which he criticized Bix using his "haven't read, but if" line of argument. (Just to note: I personally do not believe that it has been proven that Hirohito had the power to start, stop, or significantly influence WW2, but he was hardly an innocent peace-lover either.)

Jan. 29 2001 Was Pearl Harbor Really a Surprise?

I have not read the Shokun article or others pertaining to this particular "myth" that Bix had in mind, but I have the feeling that in this instance Bix is putting the cart before the horse. [Emphasis added]

In that article, Sato also wrote: Yes, Vidal is a novelist, and "The Golden Age" is a "historical novel." But about this category he has something to say for "those who mistakenly regard history as a true record and the novel as invention."

That is interesting if one considers what Sato accused Bix of in his April 5 article:

Positivism in historiography means an emphasis on facts over theory, documentary evidence over deductions from premise...

...Bix believes in the efficacy of the "voiceless order technique," among other things, as he liberally puts his imaginings and assumptions into others' heads where evidence does not exist.

It seems that Sato has somewhat changed his mind since 2001. There seems to be no room for "I have a feeling" or Gore Vidal novels in a positivist approach.

Oct 30 2000: U.S. Reporter misses the mark on Japan: Sato upset at Howard French, former NYT Tokyo bureau chief, wrote: Was Hirohito a "militarily aggressive leader?" I haven't read Bix's book and I am no historian. [Emphasis added]Most of his criticism is directed at French and his comments about the book, but also toward Bix including the hanging curve of a question: What has he [Bix] been reading? The answer: Obviously more than Sato-san.

It's easy, and maybe a bit unfair, to pick out contradictions in what people who write for a living say as there is a record going back years. I think that Sato writes some good columns occasionally. Others, in my opinion, seem to verge on the "Japan as victim," although he can be critical of some of Japan's actions and the extreme right.

A bit too much of what passes for thought for me on the weekend. Why should I even care about this? Is WW2 over yet?

* I must confess: I have not read the last two chapters of Fujiwara's book. I am going take a wild leap and assume that the last two chapters do not negate what he wrote in the others. Perhaps I am partially guilty of Satoism.

Sato-san as book critic

I always loved this fellow.** Now I have found yet another reason to admire him:

I have read neither Dower's introductory essay nor Bix's tome [Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan], but I'd like to comment on the latter...

...I think Bix is wrong if his premises include, as Akita says they do, that Hirohito possessed immense powers and, because of his kami ("someone above") status, assumed his commands or demands would be obeyed. The suggestion is that he should have been on top of the list of Japanese war criminals...

...Akita does not say whether Bix cites Honjo on the event that changed the course of prewar Japan. But, if Bix does,...Japan Times

I seem to recall Sato-sama criticizing Bix's book years ago in his Japan Times column when he had not read it. My recollection of the book leads me to think that the above overstates what Bix wrote---maybe I'll have to review. And maybe someday Sato will actually read the book and then he would know what Bix wrote and be able to give some valid criticism---something that readers might possibly expect from a person writing a newspaper column.

Akita's book sounds interesting if one ignores Sato:

...Akita relates how and why he decided to adopt a positivist approach and explains what he means by the term as it applies to humanistic studies. He enumerates the difficulties linked with reading primary sources in Japanese by looking at a variety of unpublished and published materials and identifying a major problem in reading published primary sources: the intervention of editors and compilers. He illustrates the pitfalls of such intervention by comparing the recently published seventeen-volume diary of Prime Minister Hara Takashi (1856-1921), a photo reproduction of the diary in Hara's own hand, and an earlier published version. Using documents related to Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922), a figure of central importance in Japan's post-Restoration political history, he demonstrates the use of published and transcribed primary sources to sustain, question, or strengthen some of the themes and approaches adopted by non-Japanese scholars working on modern Japanese history. He ends his inquiry with two "case studies," examining closely the methods of the highly acclaimed American historians John W. Dower and Herbert P. Bix. Amazon.com From the Publisher

Unlike our esteemed Japan Times columnist, we can actually read a book although at the ¥6000 price, nowadays it might be best to hope against hope for a soft-cover.

1:36PM: A little googling results in more information . The impartial Asiatic Society of Japan hosted Professor Akita in November 2003 and provides a very professional write-up of the event here. The Society provided its most devastating insight into the motives of Professor Bix:

On the question of Bix's ideological affiliations, Prof. Akita said that Bix was a disciple of E.H. Norman, and was a member of the Committee of Concerned Scholars who praised Mao's revolution and supported revolution in Asia.

Eeewww!! If that doesn't prove Bix wrong, nothing does. Bix has associated with lefties, and may even be tainted with the stench of Marxists! Friggin' Commie!*

Using that "logic" I wonder if I should buy Akita's book or not? After all, he has proven connections to the Imperial Family through the Asiatic Society of Japan (Prince and Princess Takamado were patrons of the Society. After the Prince's death, the Princess continues in that role). Doesn't that prove something?

*Note that Dower is considered by some to have a somewhat liberal/leftist point of view. Are two examples enough to imagine a bit of a pattern emerging? Could we assume that without reading Akita's book?

ASJ's new site is here.

**April 11: I am referring to Hiroaki Sato who writes the column The View from New York for the Japan Times as well as the occasional Book Review of books he may or may not have read. According to the Japan Times, he is a translator and essayist who lives in New York.

1992 returns

In the early 90s, one could barely speak to a person in Japan without hearing about the end of the American Dream™. It's back.

This time, the Japan Times has published an idiotorial on the possible end of the American Dream™---whatever that is. At the same time that the US Senate is involved in a disgustingly democratic debate over President Obama's stimulus plan, the opposition in the Diet is opposing PM Aho's in order to "make the government look ineffectual."(Look ineffectual?!!!!)

The writer, whom I assume is not from the US, wrote that the American Dream™ (again, whatever that is) is "in reality everyone's dream."* It makes fat stupid Americans want to say, "Get your own damned dream and pursue it yourself." It's like having a 30-year old child who still wants to be breastfed. It's time to grow up, sweety.

*I suspect that whatever the American Dream™ is, it is not something that everyone wants. Fujiwacko Masahiko, for example, might not agree with it.

Discrimination validated

by some fellow who wrote an article for the Japan Times last week. I read it and considered replying, but I honestly did not know where to begin. It was like reading Fujiwacko Masahiko's book of two years ago. One has to wonder if he is actually as silly as he seems.

Our explainer basically justified bigotry by claiming it was all made fine and wonderful by his view of "group accountability." Apparently, he thought that it was just dandy that public bath operators in Hokkaido could ban anyone who did not "look Japanese" as this was just a way of making a whole group (those who did not look Japanese) accountable for the actions of a smaller part of that group (Russian sailors).

Naturally the problem is also somehow related to the US because the US is/has been racist and this fact magnifies the feelings of injustice to Westerners. So, I guess we gotta assume that the non-western, non-Japanese who reside in Japan (as well as many Japanese) don't see a problem with it. Anyway, we can't hold it against Japan for discriminating based on "group" because 'merika and the west in general is racist whilst Japan's racial and other discrimination isn't racist.

In Japan, you see, group discrimination---bigotry---is evenhanded. If you ain't a "pure" Japanese, that's sufficient. Since the bath claimed that the reason that no non-Japanese looking person could enter was because some Russian sailors caused problems somewhere, and since Russian sailors are not Japanese then they could---at least until a Japanese court said they couldn't---discriminate against all who are not.

(This brings up the problem of which group must be held accountable for the actions of the mass-murdering Japanese in Akihabara last summer, or the guy who a few weeks ago stabbed 3 people, killing two, because he was supposedly angry that the government had killed his doggy when he was a child. All Japanese? All men? All Japanese men? All young pet owners?)

Our writer then equates the discrimination with the rules for female-only train cars during peak hours and finally makes the utterly bizarre, absurd claim that since this group accountability is a major reason that Japan is safe (prove that) if Japan abandons it, then Japan will become like the mythical US or other countries---unsafe, full of selfish criminals where one cannot walk the streets without being a crime victim. Japan will, in effect, become a foreign country.

"Japan will become one more nation in which the individual is to be feared. That is an outrageously high price to pay for the occasional racial, national, generational or gender-driven slight."

I am not the first to write this, but if that is the case, then the US can become a safer country by openly (or secretly) and intentionally discriminating against groups of people whom those with power may assume (or simply claim) may be troublemakers. We should repeal the Civil Rights laws and go back 150 years to become "safe" again.

The case the apologist-for-bigotry-and-discrimination wrote about was the Otaro onsen case brought by naturalized Japanese citizen, Arudo Debito. Debito has posted the original article and a short response on his blog along with other responses.

The author of the article is putting the finishing touches on a book that is bound to become a classic on what the world can learn from Japan. Although topic sounds like a rehash of the 1980s books of this genre, there are things which folks elsewhere could learn from Japan. Whether or not those things could be adopted is another question. Let's hope, however, that excusing racism, bigotry, and other discrimination based on group membership is not one of them.

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...

Lost dope at Narita

I am not referring to F.M-kun.

In May, Japanese customs drug-detector dog handlers and a trainer---I refuse to use the ridiculous term "sniffer dog"---made news because the trainer had placed a marijuana training aid in a person's luggage at Narita and apparently allowed the bag and the marijuana to get out of their view and control and it disappeared. Those three were punished yesterday for their mistake with a suspension and salary cuts.

I used to do that for a living before I decided that I needed to finish my university degree so that I could ultimately end up as an adverb salesman in Japan. (This is a form of natural selection.) I can imagine---as could every drug or explosives dog handler/trainer---how these guys felt when they realized that the dope was gone. We occasionally did similar things, but we never let it get out of our sight or control. Just a loss of a very few grams of a substance was enough to trigger a major investigation and nobody ever wanted that. One of the things I remember with great fondness is waking up in the middle of the night trying to remember if I had forgotten a training aid somewhere.

The article refers to the marijuana aid as "resin" which would be a bit strange as resin---at least as we used the term---is not "smoke-able" marijuana itself. The reporter or editor did the usual trick of casting some extra suspicion on the whole affair by noting that the customs official did not say where the trainer got the marijuana from. We got our drugs from the US Drug Enforcement Agency. I'd pretty much bet that the K-9 teams get their from a government agency too. It's not as if using drugs to train a drug dog is an option.

Japan, the criminals paradise

Just a few days ago, it was reported that the number of defendants found innocent of a crime has increased to a staggering 2.9%.

Now even some politicians are getting in on the act. Members of the Upper House have suggested that police grillings---sorry, interviews---be recorded. This would let judges and attorneys see what goes on during the interviews and perhaps make sure the the police don't violate more laws than the suspects are accused of violating.

Our fearless, honorable Justice Minister Hatoyama with connections to al Qaeda has strongly objected saying that this sort of stuff could result in Japan becoming a criminal's paradise. Who knows, there could even end up being rumors of a yakuza/LDP connection.

Say what you will, but Hatoyama is no fool:

"Heart-to-heart exchanges between an investigator and a suspect have helped to delve into the truth behind crimes," he said. "A complete recording would make it difficult to establish the facts."

I just tear up thinking about the beautiful heart-to-heart exchanges between the police and hardened murderers.

The police oppose it too with logic which cannot be refuted (nor understood):

State minister Shinya Izumi, who supervises the nation's police forces as chairman of the National Public Safety Commission, said police cannot accept the bill.

"Can it unravel the truth?" Izumi asked.

Thank goodness that the LIBERAL DEMOCRATIC Party opposes it too. We must continue to have these sort of folks running the country. I now understand what Fujiwara Masahiko-chan meant when he suggested that the elite---such as Hatoyama and maybe even himself---should run the country and the masses should just shut up and do as told. We MUST oppose all change!

Full story at JT.

Sorry about (corrected) spelling errors but as Fujiwara Masahiko-chan said, we dumb ass Americans don't study spelling in school, but typing instead. Of course spelling is part of typing classes and many if not most Americans can remember studying spelling in school, however one should not argue with a man with a shiny greasy head covered by an absurd combover known as"Barcode" in Japan.

Nutjob Watch

The esteemed (and dignified) Ms. Yoshiko Sakurai's recent newspaper ad and one of her blog posts is discussed on Shisaku in the post: Saved by the Bowel.

Others on the nutty right seem to have a different view of the US-China relationship than Ms. Sakurai. See Observing Japan: Komori on US China policy.

Let's quit since our leadership has no new ideas

Japan faces a raft of problems related to its place in a changing world that are all likely to get remorselessly more difficult and exacerbated by the triple whammy of an aging and declining population and high government debts. There are measures that could be taken, including greater participation in the economy by women, careful restructuring to encourage consumption, and greater immigration....

.... Japanese media regularly forgets that a free press doing its job properly should be constantly questioning the government and bureaucracy, raising the issues that officialdom would rather see buried, promoting debate and exploring all the options....Kevin Rafferty, Japan Times.

or the old fogies running the country should give up and take Japan back to a mythical past. After all, they have already got theirs. Screw the next generations.

...Nowadays, Ms. Bando [the ex- government bureaucrat author of "The Dignity of a Woman"] believes that a “society in which everyone can lead modest little lives isn’t bad, though it’s not an attractive way of thinking”...

...Japan, in the past, was more open to challenges, she said. “But,” she added, “once you reach a certain level, challenges and competition aren’t necessarily a plus anymore.” Norimitsu Onishi NYTimes.

Isn't that level called death?

The price of xenophobia

Again, no surprises here. Japan to wants to return to the past which it never really left; to go to the fantasy world of Fujiwara. There are a few penalties to pay, but I am sure it can all be blamed on sneaky, Japan-bashing foreigners who don't understand The Beautiful Country:

By raising barriers to foreign investment and impeding the flow of foreign nationals, Japan, as a nation, is at risk of becoming a "subprime state."

[The Japanese Supreme Court labeling of Steel Partners as an "abusive acquirer"]...the overwhelming lesson to be learned from this case was that external capital is no longer welcome in Japan.

...there are also steps that affect the people who move through them [speaking of Japan's attempt restrict foreign investment in airports], in particular, foreign nationals.

It is hard to imagine another world-leading nation engaging in such regressive and exclusionary behavior. From an article in the JT online by Jochen Legewie, President of CNC Japan.

Japan has been playing a rather insincere game of being an international, open, market-based economy for decades. It has never really been true. Japan won't usually open anything unless outside pressure is applied---how often has the government taken the position that opening some sector of the market or even society to foreign companies or people is good because it is good for Japan and the Japanese?

I know it is childish and spiteful, but I wish other countries would take a simpler policy towards Japan. "OK, we can't enter or freely work in your markets/society. No problem. It's your country and your 'tradition.' We won't argue. However, your companies and your people will not have free access to our markets/society. That's all. Should you ever decide to open up, come and see us after you have do so. We don't want to hear sweet talk and "we are unique" excuses. It's action or nothing. Until then, goodbye."

If Japan wants to return to a Third World status let it. If it wants to give up let it.