becomes confused:
...he raises social, political and media facts...[Emphasis mine]
Asked why Japan allows the yakuza, he gives the old "the US does it too" whine as part of his answer:
The (U.S.) government is in fact the biggest gangster group. That's why they are engaged in acts of torture at Abu Ghraib prison (in Iraq) and confinement (at the Guatanamo Bay detention center in Cuba). Compared to the level of atrocities committed in these places, acts committed by Japanese gangs probably rate only about one 100-millionth.
... I think the yakuza show the maturity of a country's democracy. I think a society with the yakuza is a sound society...
He then warns us about countries/governments that have eliminated their organized thugs---Nazi Germany, Pol Pot, North Korea. Therefore, if we eliminate organized child porn producing, drug dealing, extortionist, murdering gangs, we'll become like Nazis. "Where the yakuza aren't involved, nations are."
Although he earlier gave us the fact that the US is the world's biggest gangster group because of Abu Ghraib, he doesn't hesitate to show us that Japan is actually a worse gangster:
...Japanese prisons are said to be worse than Abu Ghraib in the treatment of inmates...From where else but the Japan Times
He (Manabu Miyazaki) also opposes the new lay judge system because a democracy is run by "specialist bureaucrats" who "can often make efficient and fair decisions" and that citizen participation might not always be good*. On the other hand, he is not happy about the charges against Ozawa's secretary and believes that the prosecution has political motives.
The ex-loan shark then gives a very shrewd, shallow analysis of Obama's election: People didn't like Bush, so they elected Obama who is like former PM Koizumi because both are populists.
Of course one should read the full article to get the full impact and meaning.
*Edited to more accurately reflect his actual (translated) words.
Showing posts with label child porn. Show all posts
Showing posts with label child porn. Show all posts
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Saturday, July 05, 2008
And maybe not
In May there were reports that possession of child porn would soon be made illegal in Japan. That apparently has not yet happened according to a Japan Times article:
"Among the Group of Eight nations, Japan and Russia have no legislation to prohibit possession of child porn."
"Among the Group of Eight nations, Japan and Russia have no legislation to prohibit possession of child porn."
Friday, May 16, 2008
The huge, gaping loophole in the child porn law will be closed according to news reports tonight. Possession will soon be illegal with penalties of up to 1 year in prison and a one million yen fine. A tough break for the mob.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Japan's John Gotti
After about the unluckiest day of the last 12 years or so---my 3-day old Canon G90 electronic dictionary blew up; I was stranded 30 minutes from home with no money because UFJ bank & ATMs were closed yet again; and my Canon printer suddenly stopped working---it was refreshing to read an article on the y*k*za. Like the mafia, there is romanticizing about them by some. Others fear them very much.
About 20 years ago, there was a book published by 2 American journalists which was appropriately titled The Y*k*za: Japan's Criminal Underworld. I read the original and the updated version too, but always wondered just how accurate it was. The journalists were based in the US and had access to US law enforcement officials as well as some in Japan, but I wondered how much they could really do working from what appeared to be even more outside than the norm for non-Japanese reporters.
A former reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, that sometimes surprising right-wing newspaper---it actually published a decent book on Japan's WW2 responsibilities---has written an article about the y*k*za in the Washington Post. He was the first non-Japanese to work for the Yomiuri.
Most Americans think of Japan as a law-abiding and peaceful place, as well as our staunch ally, but reporting on the underworld gave me a different perspective...
...In Tokyo alone, the police have identified more than 800 yakuza front companies: investment and auditing firms, construction companies and pastry shops. The mobsters even set up their own bank in California, according to underworld sources...
...In the good old days, the yakuza made most of their money from sleaze: prostitution, drugs, protection money and child pornography. Kiddie porn is still part of their base income -- and another area where Japan isn't acting like America's friend...
[On the relatively recent law banning producing and selling child porn, but not possessing it] The ban is so weak that investigating yakuza who peddle child pornography is practically impossible. "The United States has referred hundreds of . . . cases to Japanese law enforcement authorities," a U.S. embassy spokesman recently told me. "Without exception, U.S. officials have been told that the Japanese police cannot open an investigation because possession is legal."
...talk in Japan of criminalizing simple possession, but some political parties (and publishers, who are raking in millions) oppose the idea...
[US law enforcement officials] can't even keep the yakuza themselves out of the country. Why? Because the national police refuse to share intelligence...
I knew that child porn had been made "illegal" several years ago, but I did not realize that Japan did not ban the possession of child porn. I did know that the Japanese police have always been very, very reluctant to share its information with foreign police.
The reporter then goes on to describe what he calls the biggest story of his life: The deal that the FBI made for the "John Gotti of Japan" to be flown to the USA for a liver transplant.
He had to drop that story and resign from the Yomiuri Shimbun due to pressure from some very kind folks with an unusually small number of fingers. The Japanese police themselves were, of course, very helpful.
The author ends the article with a confession of bias:
Of course, I'm a little biased. I don't think it's selfish of me to value the safety of my family more than the personal privacy of crooks. And as a crime reporter, I'm baffled that the Japanese don't share intelligence on the yakuza with the United States.
And I am baffled that the US, and other governments, tolerate that.
Is it safe in Japan to even refer to this article? Well, its only being done here in order for someone in the know to "debunk" it so as to to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. After all, this is not the Japan of temples & shrines, geisha girls, tea ceremonies, sake, and onsen that we all know.
Full article at the Washington Post here.
About 20 years ago, there was a book published by 2 American journalists which was appropriately titled The Y*k*za: Japan's Criminal Underworld. I read the original and the updated version too, but always wondered just how accurate it was. The journalists were based in the US and had access to US law enforcement officials as well as some in Japan, but I wondered how much they could really do working from what appeared to be even more outside than the norm for non-Japanese reporters.
A former reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun, that sometimes surprising right-wing newspaper---it actually published a decent book on Japan's WW2 responsibilities---has written an article about the y*k*za in the Washington Post. He was the first non-Japanese to work for the Yomiuri.
Most Americans think of Japan as a law-abiding and peaceful place, as well as our staunch ally, but reporting on the underworld gave me a different perspective...
...In Tokyo alone, the police have identified more than 800 yakuza front companies: investment and auditing firms, construction companies and pastry shops. The mobsters even set up their own bank in California, according to underworld sources...
...In the good old days, the yakuza made most of their money from sleaze: prostitution, drugs, protection money and child pornography. Kiddie porn is still part of their base income -- and another area where Japan isn't acting like America's friend...
[On the relatively recent law banning producing and selling child porn, but not possessing it] The ban is so weak that investigating yakuza who peddle child pornography is practically impossible. "The United States has referred hundreds of . . . cases to Japanese law enforcement authorities," a U.S. embassy spokesman recently told me. "Without exception, U.S. officials have been told that the Japanese police cannot open an investigation because possession is legal."
...talk in Japan of criminalizing simple possession, but some political parties (and publishers, who are raking in millions) oppose the idea...
[US law enforcement officials] can't even keep the yakuza themselves out of the country. Why? Because the national police refuse to share intelligence...
I knew that child porn had been made "illegal" several years ago, but I did not realize that Japan did not ban the possession of child porn. I did know that the Japanese police have always been very, very reluctant to share its information with foreign police.
The reporter then goes on to describe what he calls the biggest story of his life: The deal that the FBI made for the "John Gotti of Japan" to be flown to the USA for a liver transplant.
He had to drop that story and resign from the Yomiuri Shimbun due to pressure from some very kind folks with an unusually small number of fingers. The Japanese police themselves were, of course, very helpful.
The author ends the article with a confession of bias:
Of course, I'm a little biased. I don't think it's selfish of me to value the safety of my family more than the personal privacy of crooks. And as a crime reporter, I'm baffled that the Japanese don't share intelligence on the yakuza with the United States.
And I am baffled that the US, and other governments, tolerate that.
Is it safe in Japan to even refer to this article? Well, its only being done here in order for someone in the know to "debunk" it so as to to avoid confusion and misunderstanding. After all, this is not the Japan of temples & shrines, geisha girls, tea ceremonies, sake, and onsen that we all know.
Full article at the Washington Post here.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Child porn not so bad either
Several years ago the Japanese government was embarrassed into taking action against the huge child pornography industry in Japan. (The troublesome US was going to put Japan on a watch list.) It was one of the largest sources of child porn in the world. (I remember going to a so-called "love hotel" in the late 80s and turning on the TV to a video of naked 10-12 year old girls swimming. How erotic.)
However, as with everything else, child porn in Japan can be explained and excused by referring to culture and tradition. Especially among some men---don't say "perverts," it shows a lack of cultural sensitivity. That would be using western values. I don't see or hear of many adult Japanese women clamoring for child porn. But let's remember Fujiwara's bushido. Women didn't really have an equal position under the wonderful pure ethics of bushido. So who cares what they think? Shut up and serve the tea woman, then maybe you'll find a good man to serve as a wife.
Magazines focusing on preteen girls in thongs may not be pornography since it is hard to define legally. I wouldn't doubt that you could find similar images in other countries too, so therefore it must be ok.
Anyway, The Japan Times Online has an article about the latest trend in cutting edge Akihabara Japan. One of the mothers of a child model in this article has no problem with he daughter posing in a magazine which sexually arouses men. She thinks her daughter has a "neutral sexless beauty" (Is she an idiot?) and:
"The industry doesn't want me to talk about the details of what's going on behind closed doors," she said. But she hinted that she has seen some mothers forcing their crying children to put on sexy swimsuits for the camera.
The really bad, disgusting thing to many folks here is not this, but women touching up their makeup on a train. Oh, horrors!
From the Japan Times Online by Jun Hongo HERE
However, as with everything else, child porn in Japan can be explained and excused by referring to culture and tradition. Especially among some men---don't say "perverts," it shows a lack of cultural sensitivity. That would be using western values. I don't see or hear of many adult Japanese women clamoring for child porn. But let's remember Fujiwara's bushido. Women didn't really have an equal position under the wonderful pure ethics of bushido. So who cares what they think? Shut up and serve the tea woman, then maybe you'll find a good man to serve as a wife.
Magazines focusing on preteen girls in thongs may not be pornography since it is hard to define legally. I wouldn't doubt that you could find similar images in other countries too, so therefore it must be ok.
Anyway, The Japan Times Online has an article about the latest trend in cutting edge Akihabara Japan. One of the mothers of a child model in this article has no problem with he daughter posing in a magazine which sexually arouses men. She thinks her daughter has a "neutral sexless beauty" (Is she an idiot?) and:
"The industry doesn't want me to talk about the details of what's going on behind closed doors," she said. But she hinted that she has seen some mothers forcing their crying children to put on sexy swimsuits for the camera.
The really bad, disgusting thing to many folks here is not this, but women touching up their makeup on a train. Oh, horrors!
From the Japan Times Online by Jun Hongo HERE
Thursday, March 29, 2007
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.
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