The Japan Times, the only newspaper in Japan meant primarily for a foreign readership, and therefore freer to be bluntly critical of the establishment, has printed a few good articles recently. (It would be a mistake to believe that the news in the JT is reported in the same way, or has the same contents, as news meant for Japanese readers.)

One, which discusses the real results of blind "bushidoism" (like ol' Barcode Fujiwara goes orgasmic over" is When the way of the samurai was pointless self-anniliation. by Philip Brasor.

He discusses a few instances---of which there are many more---of this wonderful disregard of the value of life (which Fujiwara considers beautiful thing) during WW2 and how the government would exaggerate incidents for propaganda purposes.

Another, which would not be a big surprise to find in a normal Japanese newspaper concerns Akira Kimura's theory---based on research and evidence, unlike a lot of the nihonjinron nonsense---that the US obstructed Japan's surrender in WW2 to enable it to use nuclear bombs before the war ended as a way to put the USSR on notice. Kimura is not some sort of "Japan was an innocent victim" nut either, as he acknowledges that Japan was trying to develop a nuclear bomb during the war and would likely have used it had they been successful. (Few I have spoken to know, or believe that fact. I doubt many non-Japanese know it either. I read a book by one of the Japanese scientists involved over 15 years ago, but can no longer find the book in print.) You can read this article at The U.S. obstructed Japan's surrender to test nukes: claim by Michael Hoffman.

The Dignity of the Nation

I have had a tough time finishing Fujiwara Masahiko's nihonjinron rant in book form, but I have finally reached the last chapter. Not that it is difficult, it's just that it is a tedious, boring read of a book written by a man who believes that normal human feelings/emotions are experienced only by---or particularly by---Japanese. Of course this is what nihonjinron is. A mythical, quasi-religious fiction.

Fujiwara attacks the west in general and the US in particular. He draws ridiculous conclusions and makes hasty generalizations about the cultures and people of the west based on shallow stereotypes, hearsay, and the like. Europe and Britain do not escape his rants either. Other countries of the world don't really figure much, but he makes a few references to China, Korea, and other Asian countries/culture in the book---none especially flattering as compared to Dai Nippon.

He also attempts to discredit logic by setting up logical fallacies and then using logic to discredit them. From there, he leaps to the absurd conclusion that logical reasoning is flawed because he discredited the fallacy!! To give him credit (!?), he appears not to understand that he is attacking a logical fallacy with logic. A math professor who taught at a US university who does not understand logic.

He seems to actually believe that his sudden discovery that logic alone cannot solve all the world's problems is something that is nobody ever thought of in the Ayn Rand-ist, Mr. Spock-like US. According to Masahiko, we robotic idiots in the west cannot understand this: Logic alone cannot solve all problems! Wow! Who'd a figured!

He discredits democracy and champions a sort of dictatorship of mysterious elites in which citizens---scratch that---subjects have only one single right: The right to complain. It is possibly the most repressive system one could imagine, except that Fujiwara fantasizes that bushido would make it all OK because the elite dictators would show the peons bushidoistic compassion. And they would presumably be really, really smart. Smarter than all the subjects combined.

He cherry picks "facts" to such an extreme that many of his arguments are actually weakened for any but the true believer who can't be bothered to think. Just the type who would make an ideal subject in his fantasy-world bushido dictatorship. He very conveniently forgets things which Japan did in the past--such as the invasions of Korea under Hideyoshi, its annexation of Korea, the many internal wars in Japan's past, its treatment of minorities---the eta (burakumin) among others---in the Tokogawa era, most likely because these facts would discredit his whole thesis of neo-bushidoism. This especially applies to anything that seems a bit unpleasant about Tokugawa since this was a popular period for bushido . Since it worked so well for Japan in the past (?), he wants to export his neo-bushidoism to the rest of the world in order to save it. (It is amazing---no, comically naive---how he thinks Japan alone could solve all the problems in Iraq.)

I hope to write more, and in more detail as time goes on, but the book is simply ridiculous in most parts. He may have this great view of Japan and its past, as may many Japanese who don't know their own country's history, or much about the rest of the world except for nihonjinron myths, but I doubt many others share the fantasy. I'd suspect China and Korea might have a less than enthusiastic opinion of bushido. Though again, to give Fujiwara credit, he does admit that Japan was "mean" to China and "bullied" it in WW2. I have seen no mention of any "meanness" or "bullying" as far as Korea is concerned.

I will say, however, that he does not seem to share the exact same views as the right wing nationalists, the Abe/Aso/Tojo nutjobs. He may understate or leave out some of the things Japan did (at least in this book) but he does not deny that Japan did wrong in WW2.

As I read months ago on the internet (by a Japanese writer) there isn't much to be said for the contents of this book. The question is: What exactly is the purpose? Where does he want the country to go?

My question is: Why was this such a big seller in Japan? Do people really take it seriously? Do folks believe this sort of nonsense? (From what I have read and heard, many do like the nihinjinron "We are uniquely human" aspect, but feel a bit uncomfortable with his denunciation of democracy.)

Loved in Japan, disgusting to the west

'Murder copied from a comic'

COPS were last night probing the possibility that comic-book fan Ichihachi copied Lindsay’s grisly murder from a CARTOON story.

Police found piles of violent Japanese Manga comics at the suspect’s flat.

The weekly cartoon-books — which are as popular as newspapers in Japan — frequently feature stories of young women and schoolgirls being raped and tortured...

“Lindsay, like most westerners, found them disgusting."

“They’re cartoon porn and Japanese men get a real kick out of them."

From The Sun Online.
(Full Story)

Lots of Japanese find them disgusting too, but it is true that you can occasionally see men reading them openly on the train (though not so often anymore). This must be bushido. Well, at least Japan has started doing something about the child porn that until 2004 it was a major source for.

Another sadistic murder of a British woman by a Japanese

Several years ago, a young British woman was murdered and her body dismembered and dumped by a Japanese man. Another young British woman who had been teaching English has been found dead in a bathtub filled with sand on the balcony of an apartment of one of her students. Mr. Tatsuya Ichihachi (Ichihashi?) is being sought by the Japanese "police." Strangely, he was in the apartment while these pros searched it, but ran away when they found the body. The cops, it is said, "tried" to grab him.

What is it about Japanese men that make them murder British women? Is it genetic? Is it something in Japanese society? Is it bushido? (SARCASM!)

I think it is necessary for young British women to be aware of the fact that should they visit Japan, there is a chance that they will be murdered by a Japanese man!!! (SARCASM!) English teachers should take note too that student who is so kind and polite may murder you! Don't go to their apartment alone. Nova, the eikaiwa school denied reports that the man was a student. So one must be cautious of all Japanese men. To be really safe, you need to be cautious of all Japanese-looking men. What if he were a crossdresser? Better be careful of all Japanese-looking people period! I do think that only a Japanese could do this kind of crime. Of course this is not racist.

(Yes, in case you don't get it, I am doing to Japan what many in Japan do with crimes by non-Japanese.)

Oh, on a related story about Japanese worry over "foreign" crime:

In a 2006 Cabinet Office survey, 84.3% thought public safety had worsened over the past 10 years, with the largest number (55.1%) putting this down to "a rise in crimes by foreigners visiting Japan."

It appears Japan is a quite dangerous country. You can't trust anyone.

(Nobody really knows what happened to this unfortunate young woman except that she was murdered. Sarcasm aside, this does point out that one cannot accept everything that one reads about Japan being the safest country on earth or any of the other myths. Unfortunately, many people do.)

Uniquely Japanese

An article from the New York Times (HERE) and the problem with inbreeding (pets) in Japan. It seems that some breeders are so crooked that the set up puppy mills and sell overly inbred dogs to make a quick profit. Inbred to the extent that some are born without eye noses, or bones that dissolve in their bodies.

From the article:

The breeder told Mr. Sasaki that he had bred a dog with three generations of offspring — in human terms, first with its daughter, then a granddaughter and then a great-granddaughter — until Keika was born. The other four puppies in the litter were so hideously deformed that they were killed right after birth.

Perhaps this is bushido. Or perhaps it is the result of foreign interference. Or, as is explained in this article, it could be connected to the declining birth rate in Japan which has caused the demand for dogs as sort of substitutes for children for some.

And they must be pure. No mixed breeds wanted.

Of course we can excuse this in Japan by pointing out that other countries have some sort of problem with puppy mills too. Therefore, It's OK.

Another View of the Rightward Rush in Japan

A story about a Japanese high school teacher, Ms. Miyako Masuda, who does not particularly agree with the rants of the right-wing nutjobs that Japan was a victim of WW2. She was upset by a statement a year or so ago by a Tokyo City councilman, Koga Toshiaki, that Japan had never invaded Korea, so she wrote a letter to the South Korean president. One of the loony-bird rightist groups which supports the shrine honoring some convicted war criminals (among the other dead), discovered that she and her class had written the letter and complained.

Masuda is now ordered to spend her days in a small room studying public servant regulations, a serious humiliation she says. She in turn is trying to fight in court.

Masuda's experience shows the growing power of Japanese nationalists, and their
grass-roots influence in Tokyo, analysts say. (From HERE)

AND:

"I explain and teach the past. But I am now suspended as a history teacher for doing that, even though they say it is for administrative discipline."

Masuda's case has been picked up as a case of simple slander by the Tokyo media. A Japanese journalist with extensive experience points out that the Tokyo Asahi ran an item saying that Masuda was suspended for slandering the government officials and the publisher of the textbook. (From the original Christian Science Monitor article.)

The first link's owner also describes a visit to the Yasukuni Shrine that Japanese LDP politicians love so much. It seems less than an innocent little place to honor war dead. I hope to visit myself sometime so I can see how poor Imperial Japan was victimized by the evil Chinese, the West, and others. They never did nuttin' wrong! (But of course, Japan "regrets" some of the bad things it may have caused in the past. Why don't the Chinese believe that?)

Koga Toshiaki's statement: "It is not proper to describe a war of aggression by Japan. Where and when in the world did Japan ever invade? I'd like to ask, once and for all, when where and which country....

Free speech in Japan? Only if you are a right-wing neo-facsist emperor worshiper. Ahhh saving the world through bushido just like in the 30s.

Dignity of an Old Man with a Hilarious Comb-over

Masahiko Fujiwara, he of the retro-grouch anti-democracy, pro-elite bureaucrat directed government based on bushido, and author of the book espousing those views; The Dignity of a State showed up on TV the other day. The word dignity won some sort of award for one of the words of the year, and he appeared on screen. I had never actually seen him on TV before, so it was quite a surprise to see that he was a guy with one of those now unique Japanese comb-overs. Every time I see one of those things, I have to wonder how anyone could actually wear it? Most everyone laughs at those old-fashioned comb-overs because they make the wearer look like a vain fool denying reality. The reality is: You are going bald! Leave it alone, wear a hat, or just shave it all off.

How anyone could wear his hair like that and talk about dignity is beyond me. I guess he wasn't including his appearance in his books theme though. Hell, a samurai generally shaved his noggin' on top---why not ol' Bushi-wara? Perhaps it is because Japan is the only country with four seasons and he would get brain frost if he left it uncovered.

I just don't understand, not having the sensitivity of a Pure-blood Japanese, I guess. But one thing is for sure, he'll never be able to get a job as an English teacher in Japan because he would lose out competing with the cutsies below---but then again, he don't like that thar English larnin' for young 'uns nohow..

OK, this was a cheap shot, an ad hominin attack. I couldn't resist, though. And since Fujiwara more or less says that logic is not something one can trust, a few logical fallacies should be acceptable.

Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara

The old bigoted woman-hating, Korea-hating, Chinese-hating, Caucasian-hating, non- "pure blood"-Japanese hating racist, fascist gummer whom the fine, open-mind non-bigoted non-racist citizens of Tokyo elected and reelected came out with another one of his memorable statements.

Reacting to the recent focus on rampant bullying in Japanese schools in which several young children have committed suicide and schools have been caught covering up, the old Emperor worshiping fellow has made another one of his deeply thoughtful remarks:

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has weighed in on the bullying issue, saying last week that the victims were "spoiled and weak" and that the recent spate of letters sent to the education ministry, most anonymous and all apparently written by children threatening suicide over bullying, were probably pranks. From the Japan Times.

Now of course, just because he has been elected and reelected by folks in Tokyo, and just because he continues to enjoy support and suffers no consequences for his crude remarks, we cannot assume that this in any way reflects poorly upon the citizens who elect him. Not at all. It's only Americans who are stupid. Japan is different---don't you know?

Bushido---saving Japan and the world!!!

Westerners Cannot Understand Haiku--Nihonjinron 2

(Note: This post has been self-censored.)
A student of mine was telling me about a book written by a Japanese math "scholar" in which claim was made that westerners cannot truly understand haiku. You see, we can't picture the image represented by the poems.

For example, Basho's famous poem of the frog goes something like:

An old pond.
A frog jumps in.
Splash!

Westerners cannot get this. We cannot discriminate between one frog and a number of frogs:

An old pond.
Frogs jump in,
Splash!

This fool posing as a scholar (note: I later learned that this was Fujiwara Masahiko) is a perfect example of the those who come up with this ninhonjinron (theory of the Japanese) garbage. And most is as idiotic as the above.

This kind of thing is wide-spread in Japan. You always hear the Japanese talking of "we Japanese" much more than one hears other nationalities talking about their own specialness, uniqueness, and implied superiority.

Usually the thinking behind it is as shallow as the ignorance of others required for someone to believe it is. Let's see, most places have ponds, most have frogs, probably most people have seen and heard a single frog jump into the pond, or could imagine it, so why couldn't foreigners understand this haiku? The real question is, what kind of mind could come up with this ? A scholar????? A borderline r--c-st?

It is something you must get used to in Japan. You generally have to ignore it because you aren't going to change many opinions. The fact that you as a foreigner don't accept or believe it, or that you can refute it, seems to reinforce the belief that the Japanese are uniquely unique among many Japanese.