Speaking of Mama Grizzlies, I was once again puzzled by the goings on in the US. After a person who might be called a loony-bird by less politically correct, cruder folk went on a shooting spree in Tucson, the early consensus among media types and some on the far left seemed to be that Sarah Palin was somehow to blame. Apparently, her map with crosshairs targeting certain seats for takeover by Republicans caused a guy who, among other things, was upset about the improper usage of English grammar* to go on a shooting spree.

This all began a debate on the recent (?) lack of civility in US politics which---if you are so foolish as to read comments on newspaper articles/editorials---seemed to mostly be partisans blaming each other for being at least partially responsible for the shootings. Obviously, it was a political shooting, I learned, as a politician was shot.

Sarah Palin doesn't seem to be the type one would want to answer the phone at 3AM to deal with a national crisis, and many have insinuated---or outright said---that she is an idiot. Whether she is or isn't, she is much smarter than many of her opponents and the attention-seeking, tattletale media: "Mommy, mommy, Sarah stuck out her tongue!" One of the few who seem to get Palin and her affect on supporters is Frank Rich of the NYT.

In an angry time when America’s experts and elites all seem to have failed, her amateurism and liabilities are badges of honor. She has turned fallibility into a formula for success. Frank Rich, NYT

He was talking about Republican opposition to her, but it applies across the board. (His article of today concerning the shooting and aftermath is good too).

During this controversy over violence-inciting military/firearms language being over-used, ABC news reported on a Weather Bomb which was about to "explode" over the eastern USA. Back in the day, we referred to these things as winter storms, which became weather events, which became "White Armageddon 1998," or the "OMG! We're All Gonna Die Fog Event of 1999." Stay tuned for continued coverage which consists of cute reporters standing outside in the snow and commenting on how cold it is with scenes of people who can't drive in snow crashing or getting stuck. Stock scenes will do fine.

Why do I feel better informed by The Onion


Snowy Conditions Proving Hazardous For Nation's Idiots

and Jon Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Veiled Criticism
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

and why do I wish we had Japanese versions?

End of editorial. Sorry, I mean rant. Editorials are the ones in newspapers.

*Anyone who has ever worked as a proofreader knows that if being obsessed with proper grammar is a sign of insanity, the world is doomed. Just for fun, see if you can let an error get through and then sit back and wait for the letters and e-mails. It's even more fun if you have an international readership from the US, England, Australian, New Zealand** and so on. (Must use "so on" and not "etc." etc is for use only in parentheses, but that's another fun topic which may depend on your style guide.)

**Speaking of poor English, Google spell check does not recognize "Zealand" of New Zealand as a properly spelled word.

EDITED: 5:52pm and again at 6:44 and 7:39.

Ahhhh. Finally something like autumn has arrived. No frost on the pumpkin, but except for Sunday night when I was hunting mosquitoes in the mansion, it has cooled enough and enough leaves have turned to make it seem like October back home.

Luckily for me, autumn brings learning opportunities and I needn't go to school to experience them. Why just yesterday a fellow as telling me about how Japanese enjoyed walking under under the canopy of ginkgo trees. Then he moved on to maples and how Japanese like the red leaves of those trees. I was both happy and confused as since I enjoy those things too, I am apparently turning Japanese. Except that I also enjoyed them before I came to Japan----as do most folks I've ever known. Except my for wife who often responds with something like, "It's just trees." I was worried that I might have confused my friend too, for when he mentioned Japanese liking maple leaves, I thought of the Canadian flag and said, "Oh, Japanese are like Canadians."

Then this morning I read some learned (?) discussion concerning the internationalization (or lack of) of Japan. I discovered that in addition to the many famous entertainers and athletes of non-Japanese background, there are also a lot of restaurants serving foreign cuisine in Japan. Now if that does not show internationalization, I don't know what does.

I was also educated that the UN Special Rapporteur on Racism who wrote the UN report about discrimination in Japan was apparently some sort of lackey for minority interest groups in Japan. These sneaky devils led him around for 9 days or so showing him only what they wanted him to see, and they, unlike some fellow from the government or perhaps even academia, had political interests at heart. Even worse, the Special Rapporteur could not speak Japanese and had to rely on his deceitful escorts. I am not sure if that is unusual, for I doubt that the fellow could speak Swahili if he went there on an investigation, but then again, this is Japan and we must apply different rules and standards here. Always.

I can not be sure what I should think of this until I consult an unbiased, unfettered by personal day-to-day experience person of letters who can explain everything to me in an abstract moonbeam sort of way that seems to have no connection to reality. I certainly cannot trust my own lying eyes as I am a member of a minority group with a vested interest in not being discriminated against.

But best of all, Diane Sawyer took ABC and Hot Stud Reporter David Muir to China investigate just how China is poised to overcome the US in every possible way pretty darn soon if we don't take hints from ABC news. ABC promised to have several of these reports on what China does differently than the US and what we should learn from it to keep from being surpassed in the next few weeks. Wonder if Diane and babe-magnet Dave took a listen to Joseph Nye below (or did any relevant research) before they flew over to China to give us the latest version of the 1980s Japan threat. Doesn't the ABC interview with Thomas Friedman sound almost word-for-word like what was being said about Japan 20-25 years ago?

Economic afterthought Japan.

Today's yen rate: ¥80.57/$1

Investors, having purchased enough pesos but having spare change left over bought a few yen as an afterthought.*

A few days ago, I was in a discussion with 3 fellows--2 in their 20s and myself and another guy in our 40s discussing the economy. The young fellows had a relatively poor view of the future of Japan, especially concerning the competition from China. I and the other old geezer (Japanese---him, not me) argued that their view of the Japanese economy was too negative. In fact, I mentioned---to the young whippersnapper's disbelief---that I thought at present Japan's economy was in much better shape than the US. This was off the top of my head as I hadn't exact figures, but I been led to believe this from watching and reading US news reports about the US economy. (9% plus unemployment is not encouraging, nor are the interviews with regular folk who have lost their jobs or homes, nor the prediction that I just heard that it would be at least 2011 before US unemployment dropped below 9%). We won't even mention the New Normal.

As my age group peer said, you can't let news reports on the economy guide your life, because they are almost uniformly negative.

I would not disagree with Fackler's report (previous post) as far as the feeling of malaise (ohhhh...I smell peanuts) and the negative view of the future that many have in Japan, but I almost dropped into depression after I read it for the first time. Geez. I knew that there were problems, but I didn't realize we were goners.

Then I began to hear and read things on the Internut written by folks who had been silly enough to have wasted large chunks of their lives specializing in Japan and economics. I found---being too much in a malaise to check Fackler's data myself---that much of his data was simply wrong.

For example, we know that Japan has been on a long downward spiral since the bubble burst back in 89 or so, except that it has not really been in a long downward spiral since '89 or so. Growth slowed after the bubble, but increased slowly until the US originated Lehman Shock of 2008. Japanese language students (university level) have actually increased in part due to the popularity of manga.* (By now I am sure that there are sources all over the web countering the NYT stats. But check around NBR for just a few.)

Anyone who denied that Japan has serious problems, economic and otherwise would be a fool. But to make the country look like a desolate basket case is no less foolish.

I am fortunate enough to be able to occasionally speak with a few fellows in high positions in a large Japanese corporation which is having a very difficult time due to the high yen, Chinese and European competition, high cost of raw materials, and other serious problems. They aren't "ordinary people" in the sense that they don't have to worry about their jobs unless the company goes bankrupt (which ain't very likely---I suspect Uncle Taro would step in), and they haven't given in to despair, nor are they anywhere close to giving up. Renho's "What's wrong with being number 2," pisses them off to no end.

Perhaps it's a generational thing, or perhaps it American optimism transferred to Japan. Perhaps it's hardheaded foolishness, but I don't think Japan is dead, dying, or willing to roll over and die, in spite of what seems to be poor political leadership. (I suppose I could say the same thing about the US.) I think what the anonymous poster on my previous post implied was right: The article was as much more about the US or where we fear it may be heading than it was about Japan.

6:37 pm: A late thought: I am not sure, but I believe it was John Dower in War Without Mercy, who said something like: The US swings between thinking that the Japanese are invincible supermen, or quaint, incompetent, Orientals who can do nothing right. Apparently, we are in the latter stage now.

*I realize that things ain't that simple, but people with money to protect, gain, or lose tend not to be total fools with it. But then again, we did have the subprime crisis....

**One of my high school classmates has a son in university studying Japanese. Why? Manga. MangaMan Aso was not a complete aho after all. My old Japanese tutor is now in the US getting requests from manga fans to study Japanese. I thought this stuff was a bit goofy, but in fact, it is no goofier than those of us who studied Japan in the late 80s early 90s thinking that it was the economic way of the future.

I admit that I have a bad taste left over for the NYT and MF after the vending machine costume article of a few years ago. Fact checkers my ass.

1730: As always, edited after posting.

The Great Exaggeration

A few weeks ago (Oct 16), the increasingly irrelevant and soon-to-be-an-afterthought like the rest of the dead-tree press New York Times published yet another controversial Japan article by the unflappable Martin Fackler.

On first read, without even looking into the data Fackler and the Times provided, it smelt of overkill and predictably included required specialized Japan story jargon such as "Godzilla." It has been analyzed and criticized quite a bit* by folk who know a hell of a lot more about that floating world known as economics than I.

But those critics are most likely clueless. After all, the NYT has fact checkers who would not allow inaccurate and/or overwrought nonsense through in anything other than an editorial.

In answer to these whining nitpickers who "object to exaggeration" especially in the publication that they believe to be "the last bastion of reliable journalism" (giggle-giggle Fackler's NYT?) , the Public Editor(s) published a response. Apparently, the biggest problem was the use of the word Godzilla, and calling Japan an "afterthought." Other than that it was all hunky-dory, I guess.**

The Regional Editor for East Asia, Kyle Crichton (no known relation to the Japan expert Michael Crichton***), agrees that Japan is an "afterthought" because the "Japanese economy is no longer a source of anxiety in Washington or anywhere else." Compare that to the 80s when Godzilla was buying up the US and you will understand like Kyle does.

Hmmm. Regional Editor for East Asia. (Note to self: Disregard all NYT reports from East Asia.)

Another Public Editor for the Times, Arthur S. Brisbane, acknowledged the problem Fackler faced of how to "bring alive" Japan's economic decline for a "wide audience." Since Martin was for some unknown reason unable to include homeless ninja in the article to bring it alive for the masses, he was left with Godzilla and selected interviews with ordinary people. The story was a tremendous success according to Art, for it was a page one story in the paper version and reached the top of the most e-mailed list. Wonderful!!!! Congatulations!!!! That is certainly more important than accuracy when one talks about success for the New York Times!!!! Whooo Hooooo! You go Gray Lady!!!

I feel for these guys. I remember the good old days, just 12 or so years ago when newspapers did not have to take time out to respond to riffraff. Back in those days, they never had to admit any weaknesses at all, except for an incorrect address or misspelled name. A simple "We stand by our story" was all that was required, no matter how obviously flawed, absurd, or insane.

Oh, the name of the article? Carrying the Facts too Far. What does that mean I wonder? How can you carry facts too far if they are facts? Is that sort of like exaggeration? And isn't an exaggeration sorta like inaccurate or even untrue to some degree? No problem, it is a Japan story after all.

*A check of NBR's Japan Forum (link in Japan Links) will give a taste.

**So as not be accused of carrying the facts too far, I have to say that they were responding to a reader who complained about the use of those terms and who had expected "at least a passing resemblance to the truth."

***Sorry, that was uncalled for. A cheap shot. Very childish of me.

1055PM: Edited

No objections voiced as Japan turns extremist

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.

Ex-newsman spills the beans

I have always like Fridays. I usually only have to work at things I enjoy. I can look forward to a either an Yebisu black or an Asahi "The Master" Pilsner* for lunch. Even Precce, the world's most overpriced, never-stock-a-new-item supermarket, has some early weekend food out. And the little old lady who seems to stand out in the street in front of her house every day, all day, very pleasantly bowing to and greeting everyone who walks by makes the run-em-down-and-let-god-sort-em-out, sidewalk-hogging young princesses of the Denenchofu private Junior High for girls tolerable for an hour or so.

I also have a little more time to leisurely check out other blogs. Today, I discovered the answer to the question that I have had for years---no, nearly 2 decades: Why do journalists, authors, even bloggers, write so many stories about an inscrutable, uniquely-unique, fantasyland Japan that few people who know the country (at least the Japan I live in) recognize?

The answer is that there are guidelines for Japan-related writing, a sort of a style-guide for the Japan as Disneyland crowd.

Our Man in Abiko has the until now well kept secret here. That explains it all.

Japan writer's required image of busy
crossing in front of Shibuya station

*As yet unexplained, why does Japan's version of Miller Lite, Asahi Super Dry, sell at the same price as the vastly superior Asahi "The Master" Pilsner?

Another mystery: Why does Adobe Lightroom 3 occasionally refuse to watermark photos. Answer: Who cares, just don't buy version 4 until it has been out for 27 years and the bugs are semi-worked out. Ruined my #*#$% Friday fixing Adobe's buggy crap.

Bring in the clowns

I made a mistake.

No, I didn't make a mistake when I went out for an early lunch by expecting people who were walking down the sidewalk-less street not to try to force me to into traffic because they didn't want to give me any room. I ain't that dumb.

No, it wasn't a mistake I made a few days ago by not responding to the fellow who informed me that "Japanese don't like to make mistakes. It's both a strong point and weak point of Japanese culture." I did not bother to ask which nationalities do like to make mistakes, because asking such a question would have been a waste of time.

No, the mistake has not been because I have rarely bothered with the predictably simplistic responses of my associates about the Senkaku Island dispute. No surprises there.

My first mistake of the day was to turn on my fine Victor flat-screen TV, wait 5-8 plus seconds for it to load garbage (including spam!) before I could change channels, reduce volume or do anything but curse the day I first saw it.

But the real mistake was to watch what is jokingly referred to as "news" in the US. CBS news in particular.

For this morning CBS' Katie Curic, who is being paid millions of dollars for something, explained to the world what the US could learn from the Japanese education system.

"First thing in the morning, Japanese children bow to their teachers. It's a small gesture that says a lot, reports CBS News correspondent Celia Hatton. "

But wait! It gets even more simplistic and irrelevant to education in the US. Many Japanese would likely call it simplistic and irrelevant to education in Japan.

And ineffective teachers aren't fired or sidelined -- they're given extensive retraining, explains the president of Japan's teachers' union.

"It's impossible for someone to get through the system who is incompetent," said Yuzuru Nakamura, president of Japan's Teachers' Union.

I need to check the definition of the word "incompetent." So do many Japanese who would disagree with Mr. Nakamura. Look at English language teaching in many schools. Remember the stories about JET a few months ago, where one Japanese English teacher used his JET assistant only to read from a book in order to teach pronunciation? Isn't there something deeply wrong with that?

Several years ago, a teacher who repeatedly made racist comments about a student of mixed heritage was retrained and reinstated after 6 months. On the other hand, I have heard of the case of a teacher who, in front of his students admitted to smoking marijuana while in university overseas, was put on administrative duty and banned from ever teaching a class again.

How could any of this be applied in the US? No wonder nobody in their right mind watches that garbage anymore.

Wonder if Katie and friends would be interested in looking at TV news in Japan for lessons US TV news could learn?

Well, at least I did not watch ABC and info hunk David Muir pose, mug, and primp for a story mainly about himself.

Edited 3PM

Ozawa, the Pinko Commie

It seems that the esteemed Washington Post published an idiotorial on the DPJ contest on Saturday. We don't know who wrote the piece, but I suspect that person may actually be a Ozawa mole sent to the Post in order to prove Ozawa's statement that Americans are "simple-minded." (WTF do we keep talking about monocellular? Is this the equivalent of goofily literal "Honorable teacup" type translating?)

[Ozawa] in his current incarnation he is less friendly to the U.S.-Japan alliance, and more attracted to China's dictatorship, than most Japanese leaders...Washington Post

Thank goodness we still have Old-School news media like Rush Limbaugh and talk radio, The Washington Times, and the editorial page of the Washington Post to keep us informed. I had never heard nor read anything from Ozawa that indicated he was "attracted to China's dictatorship." Unfortunately, the Post provided no links to check out that assertion.

Things do not bode well for the DPJ and the US government in the future no matter who wins if Japan in any way rocks the "alliance" boat. Where is "Change" Obama??????

Why am I always the last to know? More here and here.

By the way, isn't the Post's online site one of the worst of the "newspaper" sites on the web?

The world's worst headline

Honda-driven Japan motors past Cameroon in World Cup opener

Japan Times via Kyodo News Service

Freelance journalist Takeharu Watai has a problem

Ironically, on the day that Japan was awarded the number 3 spot on the Global Peace Index (previous post) based partly on "High levels of freedom of information," the controversy raised by the cancellation of the showing of The Cove made the Japan Times again.

In the report, it appears that at least one rightist wanted the movie to be shown. His opinion was countered by a defender of freedom, a man in a profession in which one would assume would demand "high levels of freedom of information," freelance journalist (meaning under/unemployed?) Takeharu Watai said:

freedom of expression should be observed in monitoring the government and other authorities, but he has a problem with inflicting freedom of expression on Taiji's fishermen, indirectly criticizing the movie crew's filming methods. Japan Times

One cannot properly respond to that without inflicting some rather vulgar freedom of expression on Watai's opinion.

All atwitter

It's not the first I have heard of this little tidbit, but some fellow up in Abiko Twittered the Economist take on the slush fund for the buying of "journalists," commentators, and similar scam artists. Damn, Twitter is useful sometimes. Gives me more time to write my next post too...

(Best to check both article links as they have different perspectives.)

edited 1130pm

Let's laugh at the funny non-native speakers 2 NYT

A Sampling of Chinglish (Foreigners Speak Funny English! NYT post below) reached #1 on the NYT most popular e-mailed list earlier today. At one time some thought the NYT to be a newspaper with some standards. NYT readers might even had assumed themselves to be better informed, more educated, and of higher class than some gal who reads the local rag. This e-mail list certainly brings that into question, but then again maybe folks were e-mailing it to show the effects of a newspaper desperate for readership.

Imagine if a US politician, especially a Republican or someone from the Tea Party, had made fun of the language of non-native speakers or some other group. Imagine the holier-than-thou, snobbish editorial we'd have read in the NYT.

Here's a link that shows funny non-native speakers mangling the written language from a different perspective. (Thanks to Dave and another commenter)

4:45pm Edited to add: And here's a hint of how it feels to be on the receiving end.

Foreigners speak funny English! NYT

Warning: I cannot prove the part below about the movie poster. You'll have to take my word for it until I can, or just assume me crazy. If anyone else remembers it, or knows a link to the poster, I'd appreciate it if you let me know.

Ahahaha. This is so funny. I knew we were overdue for an article in a major US newspaper about the hilarious and funny English non-native speakers in East Asia use. Oh, ha, ha! LOL! Yee Haw! (I liked photo number 10 the best as it shows that even the most basic rules of photography---hold the camera still when you take a shot and use an adequate shutter speed---no longer apply to photos published by the Times.)

I guess that it is a symbol of Japan's dwindling influence (how can little to no influence dwindle?) in the world that it was not a target this time of the talented multilingual geniuses at the NYT. Of course it's all innocent, because yesterday the Times published a piece on Shanghai try to untangle "Chinglish" or some such thing. I shan't bother to link.

There was a US movie called Black Rain when I was in college. It starred Michael Douglas as your stereotypical corrupt NYC cop and his partner who came to Japan (the perfect country of the future back then) and got all involved in a culture clash. The rough, corrupt, screw-all-the-laws-and-rules ways of Americans meet the polite, rule/duty bound, alien and inscrutable Japanese. The opening scene over Osaka (never been to Osaka, but I doubt that it appears so otherworldly from an aircraft) set the stage for the rest of the bizarre movie. In the happy ending however, the surviving American departed Japan a little more introspective and maybe even a bit less corrupt, while we were left to ponder just how corrupt the American had made his Japanese partner.

Some movie posters at a local Pullman, Washington video store had Black Rain written in both English and katakana.* How international! Unfortunately, they had written the katakana backwards so that it actually read kurabu nurei(?)---or perhaps nurei kurabu? Don't remember exactly as I did not take a picture. Bahaha. Ain't it funny how those English-speakers mangle Asian languages?

*They were not locally made---I am pretty sure they were supplied by the studio. I can find no examples online either.

**Edited: 1126pm

I have continued to search for the poster on the Internet, but as of yet have not found it. Really, I am not that crazy yet. My wife remembers it too. However, we could both be crazy.

Oops. Someone (or everyone?) is nuts

I missed it, but then again, I miss everything anymore, in part because I am trying to type Japanese on a computer. Great fun. I somehow end up with weird kanji all over the place (forgot to hit return every after nearly every word), or forgetting a double consonant or a long vowel and since the computer is not nearly as smart as my stupid Canon Wordtank G90 electronic dictionary, it is not smart enough to guess or give me reasonable choices. No, it will give me every rarely used kanji in the dictionary, while the simple very commonly used kanji that I am looking for is at the bottom of a gadzillion character list. (#$%& It cannot even list the effing kanji for tsuishin---P.S. How effing rare is that?*) On second thought, it is just like my Wordtank.**

Anyway, the Washington Post in a Monday Idiotorial discovered that Yukihisa Fujita is a September 11 conspiracy theorist and decided this somehow meant that the DPJ was anti-'merican or sumtin' like that there.

Well, (to use an overused and long out-of-date expression, "Duh!") Good god man, (Lee Hockstader) even I knew that Fujita was a bit whacked on the September 11 conspiracy a year ago. What kind of "reporter/editorialist" does that make Lee? And how does that make the whole gubberment anti-US? Damned Reds.

Better discussed at the usual suspects here, here, and also here. (I very strongly recommend avoiding the first comment on the latter if you have eaten recently. My opinion on that is irrefutable, so STFU.)

*No wait, it found it on the fourth or fifth try of entering the same word. No wonder Fujita believes in nutty conspiracy theories---anyone forced to type much in Japanese will soon be nuttier than a fruitcake. And I have being doing it a lot recently...)

**Great piece of 1990s-level technology. I understand, from the Internut, that it does not have all the kanji (huh?), but only the ones that Japanese aren't likely to know. To test that theory I once entered 一. To my amazement it was in the dictionary! Apparently, most Japanese do not know that most basic character. What has the education system come to?

Emotional Americans still over-reacting

I guess. What I had thought would become another exaggerated retro-80s Car War battle, seems to have died down in the States into more or less "normal" for a corporate scandal involving defective products and consumer deaths. Whereas it may not have been a coldly logical calculation of risks associated with the defective accelerators/software/electronics or whatever (which as of yet doesn't even seem to be possible in this case) the public, media, and political reaction to the whole thing seems pretty much as expected. There were a few grand-standers, some groups with other agendas other than safety, but overall, it's about what I'd expect.

However, some disagree: "I find they (American people) are overreacting, compared with recall issues triggered by American car manufacturers. Toyota reigned as No. 1 ahead of GM, so to Americans, Toyota may be a nuisance," said Daisuke Oku, a 33-year-old civil servant. Japan Times

I don't have the coldly rational view of America that Oku does, but I'd guess that he is absolutely full of it. It's just possible that listening to four people race to their death in a Toyota that does not do what a car is supposed to do correctly---stop and go---could cause a reaction. Maybe even an overreaction. However, (ad nauseam), if the same thing had happened in Japan with a foreign product, we can be sure that the media, the public, and the government would react calmly, rationally, and with no anti-foreign bias*.

Less-informed people might even suspect that listening to such an accident involving folks whom one has no real connection with (not in my group!) 10,000 miles away via a translated recording would have less impact---provided Oku or most folk in Japan had even had the opportunity to hear the audio.**

....some have criticized the Japanese media for self-censorship...(same JT article)

Well, duh. Would this be new? Could we not just assume this until evidence shows otherwise---or has there been some recent change in that the norm is not self-censorship?

The Washington Post or possibly NYT had a story yesterday, which I cannot find now, that reported that some Japan-based suppliers for Toyota were cutting ties because Toyota was squeezing them to constantly cut costs. This was apparently something new and shocking to the reporter. The fact that such a decades old common practice is new and shocking to a reporter should be shocking to his/her editors and readers.

Apparently, Toyoda made a good impression with his apology before congress (and we got to read a number of explanations about Japanese apologies, weeping, bowing and so on. It's all about culture, you know...) Good. That's hopefully another step to finding and solving the problems, and Toyota will have learned a lesson that many corporations seem to have to learn and re-learn. And the usual suspects in Japan can go back to assuming that Toyota---and Japan by extension---is just a victim with little or no responsibility. It couldn't be helped....

*Warning: sarcasm.

**I have not seen nor heard the tape broadcast on Japanese TV because I have not been able to watch much news lately, what with the ice scrubbing events (curling?) in the Olympics 25 hours per day. I have not spoken to anyone (Japanese) who has seen it or is aware of it either. That does not mean it has not been broadcast, however, for since it was a critical catalyst in initiating the investigations, any media organization which ignored played do that tape, would simply be untrustworthy incompetents or propagandists.

Unbelievable! Shocking! Flabbergasting!

This has actually been published on a major website:

Analysis of an Apology: A Japanese thing?

The apology from Toyota President Akio Toyoda is being interpreted by the U.S. media as a uniquely Japanese thing...

...The media... ...is often trying to make Japan out to be a mystical place where everyone lives by some ancient samurai--or Buddhist, take your pick--code. In short, a special, inscrutable culture that defies understanding...

...What I learned in my 10 years in Japan is that the Japanese culture is different of course but not nearly as different as unwitting Americans make it out to be...

The author, Brooke Crothers, does have the advantage of actually having lived here and knows something about the country. It sounds like the same Japan I live in and not the fantasyland version I read about so often. The world must be coming to an end.

Thank you CNET and Brooke Crothers. One of the best short articles I have read on Japan in years. A must read even if he is simply stating what anyone who lives here (or who has actual knowledge of Japan) already knows.

(He specifically mentioned the ABC news report in which it was stated that by bowing in apology it was somehow samurai-related---sort of like offering his head. Oh yes, of course. And everything I do is cowboy-related.)

Edited at 11:25 and 11:59pm

Don't let the door hit you in the a** on the way out

Sad to see some US news organizations leave Japan, reportedly because Japan seems less relevant now, but the fact that TIME is leaving should not cause weeping, wailing, and the gnashing of teeth. Here could be just one reason why nobody should become depressed.

Full Disclosure: The person who writes this blog despises TIME magazine. It is far, far, too dumbed-down and pandering even for him.

Fads, The Setting Sun, Old Media

Back in the late 80s/very early 90s when Japan was believed to be an economic "threat," many in the US began to panic and read such trash as Japan as #1, Theory Z, and From Bonsai to Levis in misguided hopes of imitating Japan. It was common knowledge that people needed to study Japan and its language for the 21st century would belong to Japan and "the East."

Back then many folk who believed such media inspired myths majored in Japan Studies, East Asian Studies, and so on, thus suffering the cruel fate of being naturally selected out of the desirable-employees-with-useful-skills pool. Smarter, more mature people would often ask, "What are you going to do with that?"---a question that some of us are still trying to answer 20 years later.

Now we seem to be discovering a new area of must-have knowledge: China. This is the first country/area specific requirement for success since the dire need for people with Middle Eastern language skills just after 9/11. Wonder how folks with those degrees are doing?

One of the smart moves China is making is that it is actually assisting US public schools to teach Chinese:

The Chinese government is sending teachers from China to schools all over the world — and paying part of their salaries. At a time of tight budgets, many American schools are finding that offer too good to refuse. NYT

Clever use of soft power on the part of China and something that I cannot recall Japan doing during its 15 minutes of fame. Japan did fund a lot of Japan-related university chairs and promote other important things such as tea-ceremony demonstrations, but did nothing similar that I can recall for anyone outside universities. Oh, wait, I forgot---Toyotas! About all I can remember is taking the Japanese exam for the Monbusho scholarship* at the Japanese consulate in Seattle in 1990 or 91. After the written test, I had an oral interview with your stereotypical unbelievably arrogant bureaucrats, one of whom who asked if the test had been difficult. I foolishly and honestly answered yes, to which one of the expert test-takers replied "Do you know that all Japanese study English for 6 years?" WTF was I supposed to do with that?

Alas, the already minimal value of any Japan-related knowledge---let alone "expertise"---seems to have plummeted to the level of JAL stock. The country ain't even worth reporting on:

Major foreign media outlets are leaving Japan in droves, ... ...observers note that Japan is also losing its appeal as the most newsworthy country in Asia...

...While financial difficulties are a key reason for the foreign media's retreat, the government is also at fault for not extensively opening up news conferences to foreign reporters...Japan Times

Hmmm. Yukio, wasn't the DPJ supposed to do something about the press clubs? Well, don't worry. Take your time. Would next June be too soon for you to make a decision?

Anyway, this ain't exactly new. The US media has been reducing overseas staff for years. The article was inspired by the recent decision of TIME magazine to close its Tokyo branch, but I personally have never considered TIME as actually being part of the non-tabloid press. My wife bought me a subscription to it in 2002 or 2003 and it was so brown-nosing to the region (and Apple) that I attempted to cancel it.

And the NYT, and others sure, to follow are going to start charging for their online articles? I guess they'll have to in order to survive, but why on earth would anyone pay to read something about Japan that is even more disconnected and ridiculous than some of the stuff written by journalists who are actually here?

*I did not get the graduate scholarship as my Japanese was not good enough. Seems that a bizarre combination of grammar-translation and audiolingualism is not a good way to acquire a language, something that had been known for 30+ years to everyone except the Japanese language professor at my university. I was damned good at reading the texts and memorizing blocks of language for exams though. Never have used any of that in Japan.

Edited for corrections at 2200

Speaking of sweet

I have been about as surprised that the now official scandal involving Ozawa has resulted in arrests as I was to learn that caramel is sweet.

There had been talk that Ozawa might step in as PM before this summer's upper-house election if Hatoyama proves to be not up to the task, but I am sure that such a possibility has nothing to do with the prosecutor's decision to pursue this case. Some might assume that the purity-and-light party, the LDP, might be behind this in some way, but we know that cannot be true. All such cases are thoroughly and fairly investigated and then successfully prosecuted no matter who is involved. This is a country of laws, not men, that is governed by the elected representatives of the people, not faceless, unaccountable-to-the-public bureaucrats. The timing is a mere coincidence:

The 150-day regular Diet session convened Monday with the money scandals embroiling Democratic Party of Japan Secretary General Ichiro Ozawa and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama expected to snarl efforts by the ruling bloc to pass budget and other bills...

"We need to implement policies that protect the livelihood of our people, especially considering our current economic situation," Hatoyama said. Japan Times

(Not so fast Y, the only policies which could achieve those goals are the ones of the LDP which were just about to show results when you came in and spoiled it all.)

I will admit, however, to a bit of residual belief that the LDP and their buddies in the bureaucracy will never be truly defeated for any more than a temporarily spell at best. Not that I think many are fooled by what is going on, but months and months of "scandals" and a continuing poor economy has to take a toll. The good news is that we can be confident that the fair and impartial media will cover the stories with at least as much skepticism toward the prosecutors as it will toward Ozawa and the DPJ.

1242: Same JT article: Irony defined: "The supplementary budget is important, but to restore political credibility we ask that intense deliberations be conducted on the issue of politics and money," LDP Diet Affairs Chief Jiro Kawasaki said.

Washington Post solves Futenma

Having campaigned against the corruption of 50 years of rule by the Liberal Democratic Party, Mr. Hatoyama also has been dogged by his own fundraising scandal. Polls show his approval rating has fallen from more than 70 percent to less than 50 percent in just three months. Like the Japanese public, the Obama administration has not concealed its exasperation. The president and other senior officials visiting the country have repeatedly called for an "expedited" resolution to the base dispute. Washington Post editorial

Having been on vacation, I somehow missed the unconcealed exasperation of the Japanese public. Is it because of the Futenma issue? I even wonder just how exasperated the Obama administration is since:

"People tend towards the hyperbolic because that makes for more interesting cocktail conversation and better stories. I wouldn't exaggerate things," one administration official close to the issue told The Cable.

I have to admit that I don't understand the point of the Post editorial---it reads like an editorial in the Japanese press except the schoolmarmish tone of "must" and "must not" is missing. I think it means that even though Obama and the Japanese public are exasperated to tears with the wildly unpredictable Hatoyama, the Futenma issue should not be allowed to damage the alliance to the point where the smaller coalition parties get their wish and kick all US troops out of Japan. This, of course, is a real danger right up there with the alien invasion threat. Then there is the threat posed by folks like Ozawa who go to China and work on improving ties instead of staying in Japan and visiting Yasukuni like the Old Schoolers. But the key point is in the last sentence--something which no other person on earth has thought of:

Japan's nascent two-party system is a democratic achievement, not a diplomatic nuisance; give it a little time to find its course. (Washington Post)

We need a kinder, gentler Obama. This is why I read the Post.

Tweaked slightly at 1058