Love of Nature

The whaling issue both inside and outside of Japan often seems to be as much emotional as anything else. I suppose that is something to be expected in the modern world. You have extremes on both sides of the issue---I have always been suspicious of Sea Shepard and also find much of the defense of whaling in Japan absurd as it is more of a nationalist/traditionalist argument* than anything based on science. You know, science that is peer reviewed and accepted outside of Japan.

I was at least somewhat suspicious about the Taiji dolphin kill as it has been reported to be depicted in the movie, The Cove. I haven't seen it yet, but figured it would be as much sensationalist as anything else. Perhaps I should withhold judgment until I do.

C. W. Nichols, who has been in Japan for decades, and who is a citizen, is someone whose opinions on matters of wildlife, wildlife management, and so on, I trust. He is no strict preservationist, has no Disneyland view of nature, is a hunter, a fisherman, and has professional experience in the conservation field.

He has written another column for the Japan Times in which he discusses the Taiji dolphin kill and whaling among other things:

I saw the kill for myself back in 1979 when I lived in that small Wakayama Prefecture fishing village for a year. I protested to the fishermen, to the Town Hall, and to the Fisheries Agency. Some years ago I published a book in Japan, with a chapter devoted to that slaughter and its extreme cruelty. I met the prefectural governor and warned him that the media would spread the Taiji kill all over the globe — and that Japan would be despised for it.

Nichols' arguments matter not to the nationalists defending these practices. I don't think anything does. The argument seems to be (as Nichols mentions in different words) that it is the world against poor little ol' Japan yet agin'. I have heard that from people, most recently when there was pressure to protect Blue Fin tuna. I never heard one single word of concern about the tuna population and the sustainability of the same level of fishing them. It almost seemed as if people thought the problem occurred because the rest of the world started enjoying tuna sushi and was eating all the tuna which by rights of tradition belonged to Japan.

But that's just from the folks I know. Perhaps others have performed some basic research on the issue to see if the official Japanese government position is solid, or maybe a just a little questionable. I mean, if you tell folks that Japan is the only country on earth with four clearly distinct seasons, nobody would accept that because in addition to the obvious silliness of the claim, finding the truth is just a google away.

*As for tradition, I agree with C.W. I have no problem with folks killing and eating wildlife as a part of tradition, unless doing so threatens the species. Minke whales don't fall into that category, as I understand it. But then again, even so, as far as whaling is concerned, the Japanese government position seems to be more nationalist than merely traditionalist.

Defective Toyotas the fault of foreigners

From the article Drivers in Japan unfazed by Toyota's global recalls:

"The cars being recalled in China and the U.S. aren't made in Japan. They were made there. Those kind of problems definitely won't happen in Japan," he [a Toyota owner in Japan] said.

Sorta like the made in Japan Mitsubishi trucks that had wheels falling off and crushing people a few years back?

(As many of the original links have disappeared, a small archive of stories on the Mitsubishi scandal are here.)

#%$&@ Only Japan has safe drinking water. $@#4%&

Swearing can make you feel better, lessen pain. I call Bull.

N-san: You can drink water from the tap in Japan. It's not like Europe and America.

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: What? Everybody says that! Where did you hear that? Did you read it in the newspaper? Where?

N-san: I don't know. (The most accurate statement he made all evening.)

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: Water is treated in the US, just as it is in Tokyo...

N-san: Yea, but I think that the basis level for bacteria is different for the US, Europe, and Japan...

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: So water in Japan has less bacteria?

N-san: I don't know. I am not a water expert.

(Possible reply, left unsaid: No, you are not. You are, however, beginning to sound like an idiot.)

A few minutes later, a return to quasi-religious, nationalist racialism:

N-san: I'm not talking about whether one country's water is safer than another's. Japanese water is soft and Japanese stomachs cannot tolerate hard water from overseas.

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: I grew up in a area with soft water. Japan is not the only country on earth with soft water. It varies by region and many other things. Besides, plenty of imported water is sold in Japan. It is mineral water. Japanese seem to drink it with no problem.

N-san: Yes, it's very soft.

Later, somehow forgetting that he had just lied and said that he did not mean that one country's water (Japan's) is safer than other country's water:

N-san: OK, I want to see you go to some developing country like India or China and drink the water.

That was one of the rare occasions that I got openly pissed at a Japanese friend or acquaintance. You know, the usual thing is to go along to get along. Only a fool would challenge another's religious beliefs, and I made that mistake.

Thank goodness I was able to come back to reality and have a decent discussion with my Colleague From Down Under (Actually I have several from there, but this guy is "special.")

After watching to This Week with George Stepon-what's-his-name on ABC (US):

CFDU: I see Obama is in trouble now, his poll numbers and such going down...

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: Well, that's nothing unusual.

CFDU: Yea, he has to fight with Congress now and all the special interests that they are beholden to. Makes you wonder if communism or socialism isn't better.

Exasperated Blogging Imbecile: ......(No reply. I have known CFDU long enough to know that he hasn't any knowledge of any of these systems in any detail or even much in historical perspective, so there could not possibly be any debate on the merits of one system versus another. And I certainly didn't wanna get the man started on his 9/11 conspiracy theory again.)

$&#@*. $&¥@#. SOB. BS. Effing BS. Feel no different. Still in pain.

I am going to just sit in my little dark room and play computer games, rave about my Mac---I love my Mac--- and never go out again.

Why am I researching this? The average water hardness in Japan is 60. (Basically meaningless as it is the average for the whole country.) In the US, depending on region, it ranges from 0-60 (low) to 250 (high). Don't know about other countries, but I'd guess a variance between some degree of softness and of hardness is not rare.

N-san attended high school in Canada, apparently survived the drinking water there, so most of our conversation was in English. The conversation with my "Special" Colleague From Down Under was also in English, but a special light version we reserve for him.

What you say?!!

Published in the NYT and it is not some sort of idiotic fantasy-world pap like some of the recent stuff has been. I'll have to read and reread this to make sure that I am not dreaming as it seems to make some sense. Not that it will make any difference...

...in view of the deepening quagmire in Japan’s domestic politics, U.S. policymakers may need to scale down their ambitions for the role they wish to assign Japan. More than 60 years after World War II, Japan is still generally isolated in the Asian region. It remains heavily dependent on the United States for its defense and the health of the U.S. economy for its growth — not a positive state of affairs for U.S. policymakers trying to cope with rising regional powers and economic difficulties of their own...

...mounting voter frustration in Japan with an unresponsive political system leaves the door ajar for nationalist politicians and policies...A must read at NYT

The authors go on to state that the 60-year old contingency scenario for Korea is no longer adequate and that perhaps the security relationship with Japan should be "multilaterized." Someone shut these guys up before they influence US policy to move past the 1950s. Fortunately though, US foreign policy does not change until change is forced.

Maybe I am just a bit too sensitive to the rants of the nationalists, but methinks the door is a little more than ajar already.

(Speaking of NYT nonsense, I have never been to Norway and know nothing about it, but I'll just bet that this is oversimplified goofiness.)

As I await the end of summer, which by temperature standards of my home would be around late October in Kanto, (meaning it is what I would call summer-like in Tokyo until then) I am trying to focus on trips to the mountains that I plan for the fall and winter. I am hoping to be able to go to areas sufficiently remote that I don't have a noisy bunch of grannies and grandpas destroying any sense of nature with transistor radios blaring, talking and giggling in voices loud enough to wake the dead, or even the types I see on TV who as soon as they reach a cleared, leveled, and perhaps even concreted viewing platform of an official scenic view scream "sugoiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!" repeatedly. This rules out much of anything that does not require camping or travel by car.

I have been able to get completely away from humans only once in the last year when I went to the Nikko area and found an obscure trail leading to the top of one of the more popular mountains there. I never made it to the top as I did not have a real map, but a printed puzzle written by a clown with no sense of scale nor idea of how to make a map. (Real maps useful for doing any serious hiking or climbing are hard to find. I understand that they are or were available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, but I have not checked yet.)

Decent English books on aspects of nature concerning Japan are tough to find. Decent does not include books with the standard "mystery of the Orient" slant to them. There are magazines in Japanese concerning mountain climbing (actually hiking) that are somewhat useful in getting an idea of where to go. Otherwise, like most other magazines, their main focus is on selling readers stuff they don't need.

One book that I recently bought is The Green Archipelago by Conrad Totman. It concerns forestry in pre-industrial Japan and is one of the very few in English that I have been able to find. In fact, I have not been able to find much in Japanese beyond the simplistic either, at least in any bookstores. Even if I could, it would be a challenge for me to read it and get as much out of it as I could one written in English.

Oh well. Forget that. Manga-Man Aso is seen by some as angling to slither into the prime minister slot. There is the answer to Japan's problems. And don't worry, about some of his and his supporter's statements in the past. After all, nationalism is not an issue in Japan, yet.

Words of Wisdom?

As usual, the anniversary of Japan's surrender was marked with a number of ceremonies. And, as usual, the right-wingers had a nice gathering at Yasukuni. Even some of Fukuda's cabinet showed up in order to keep thier and the LDP's extreme right credentials in order.

This is nothing new and just goes to show that some of the nutjobs will never change. Fortunately, we have a young generation of non-Japanese (and Japanese) who will put things into the proper touchy-feely, lovey dovey perspective with deep and thoughtful observations:

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old Canadian visitor to Yasukuni...said Japan and its neighbors must "understand and acknowledge one another's traditions and beliefs" to overcome diplomatic tensions.

"I can understand where both sides are coming from," he said of the dispute over visits by politicians to Yasukuni Shrine, but added that Japan's neighbors might be better off if they avoided overreacting and viewing the visits as diplomatic statements and instead "accept it for what it is."

All those mistaken foreigners (and the Japanese who marched in anti-Yasukuni protest Friday) should show more patience and tolerance for the rightwingers of Japan who are visiting Yauskuni in innocence and purity.

Manga Man Aso. More of the same.

Since PM Fukuda reshuffled his cabinet, many of his new appointees---who are retreaded old geezers who haven't had a new thought since Christ was a child---have been attempting to return his kindness.

Manga Man Aso, the guy who thinks that the secret to getting foreigners to "understand" Japan's foreign policy (it has one?) is to explain it via comic books; the guy who would like make Japan a country that rich Jewish people would want to move to, has compared the LDP's opposition to Nazis. (Also here and here.)

It's good that we have folks like Aso who speak what could be referred to as their mind. That way, folks can get a better idea of what these semi-fossilized relics really think. Then we have to ask ourselves how they get elected and reelected again and again. After all, this is a democracy and someone, in fact a large number of someones, must support them. Entertaining these ancient ones might be, but you have to wonder what they would do if they had the full power and free reign to move the country their way?

This is the same Aso whose family business used Korean slave labor during WW2 when Japan was Nazi Germany's ally. (Did Aso's family object to that alliance?) This is the same Aso who said those with blue eyes and blond hair weren't trusted in the Middle East but Japanese with yellow faces could be, thereby displaying among other things his beyond shallow knowledge of the region. This is the same Aso who could be in line to become prime minister should the Japanese public continue to allow the LDP to dominate the post-war government. At least we'll know him.

Nationalism (narrowly defined) isn't an issue in Japan, revisited

Tobias Harris has a post on Observing Japan concerning the editorial of the same title (except for the "narrowly defined") published in the Japan Times recently. Mr. Harris believes things may be a bit more complex than the author of the editorial claims. Perhaps even the word "nationalism" may have broader and deeper meanings.

For an even more thorough discussion on nationalism and its various forms in Japan, see Nationalisms of Japan by Brian McVeigh.

Perhaps the editorial writer should take a look at both the Harris post and most especially McVeigh's book. Could be educational. And perhaps the nearly non-existent nationalism which isn't an issue actually does exist in many forms.

The news is reporting that the US will relist South Korean ownership of the disputed Takeshima Islands. This will certainly peeve the nearly non-existent, nationalists.* Others may be concerned that this could damage US-Japan relations. (The US said that this represents no change in policy but a reversal of its week-long listing of the islands as belonging to no country.)

It seems that some folks are always concerned that certain US actions will damage the relationship.

Let's imagine that this tempest-in-a-teapot---or something that was actually serious---did damage relations. Severely. Japan then refuses to cooperate with the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Japan reduces all military/security cooperation with the US. Would that irreparably harm either country?

Would it be bad for the US to no longer be seen by other countries in the region as moving toward a Japan-centered Northeast Asia policy? Would the US once again be viewed as a positive that acts as a stabilizing force between potential military rivals such as Japan and China instead of being on team Japan? Would the US actually have to rethink its 60 year-old policy that US bases (and the mostly one-sided Security Treaty) must be maintained in/with Japan until hell freezes over no matter how the world changes?

Would it be bad for Japan if it no longer supported policies just because Boy George---or whoever follows---insists that if it doesn't Uncle Sam will get mad? Would the right-wingers really be able to realize their fantasy of a re-armed Japan? Would Japan even be able to afford rearming with all of the other problems it is facing now? Would the nationalists (who don't really have much influence, or perhaps don't even exist) be as willing to use that force as some of them irresponsibly claim? If they were, would the Japanese public rise up and vote them out of office as it has throughout history?

Just a few poorly thought-out questions. Of course, I didn't even consider the possibility of damaged relations spilling over into trade. Anyway, I am sure that as the now long dead Senator Mike Mansfield said, (paraphrasing) "The US-Japan relationship is the most important in the world, bar none."

*We can in part judge the presence of nationalism (narrowly defined) in Japan by how much it spends on defense---around 1% of its budget. This is much less than other countries in the region. Japan is in a very unstable part of the world with potential war zones (Korea and Taiwan) nearby, and yet Japan still only spends such a minuscule amount on defense. This, among other things, shows a lack of nationalism. It just isn't an issue!

Oops!!! Wonder if the fact that the US is providing security for Japan influences that lack of defense spending and lack of concern by the public with defense/foreign policy issues? Naaaah...

Edited at 2300. I should have read MTC's Shisaku post on the relisting of the Takeshima Islands before I posted the above. Maybe so, but I really wanted to rant about nationalists who don't really exist to any extent in Japan, a country with little or no (narrowly defined) nationalism.

North Korea off US terror list

North Korea has submitted its nuclear declaration as required. Japan was earlier assured that its kidnap victims would not be forgotten by the US (like they were forgotten by the Japanese government until Koizumi met with Kim Jong Il). Some may consider this a good sign, a solid step forward for Northeast Asia and the rest of the world. But let's not celebrate yet because somebody may feel a bit left out.

How will Japan react since it has been critical of any move to delist North Korea? More specifically, how will the right-wingers of the LDP's Abe/Aso crowd react? Has the US done Japan wrong? Is Japan a victim here? Inquiring minds want to know.

On to Yasukuni, Children

The government Friday declared null and void a 1949 state-imposed ban on public schools organizing field trips to Tokyo's war-related Yasukuni Shrine.

Nothing wrong with that, after all this is a free country. What business does the government have in telling schools and school children what to say, do, or think?

A recent controversy over the shrine focused on a restriction of freedom of expression after some 40 LDP lawmakers held an unprecedented preview of Chinese director Li Ying's award-winning documentary "Yasukuni" in March.

Following the preview, which was widely taken as effective censorship, several cinemas that had initially decided to screen the film canceled it for fear of possible intimidation by rightwingers.

Well, unless one thinks in a way which offends the nutjobs.

Full Japan Times article here.

And I thought Edwin Reischauer was long gone

until I read this from 2002 CFR article:

...China and Korea in particular have taken great exception to the textbooks’ handling of Japan’s atrocities in Nanking and the treatment of the issue of “comfort women” from Korea, China, Indonesia, and the Philippines. It is important, however, to keep this issue in perspective: historical accounts are subjective, and every country teaches revisionist history to some extent...

...Sounds like words right out of the mouths of some of the extreme rightwing here---many push this very view. Everyone does it, so if Japan pretends it did no wrongs in the war it's all just fine, just a different interpretation of history.

Prime Minister Koizumi’s visits to the Yasukuni Shrine have also raised concerns that Japan is becoming too nationalistic. It is important to bear in mind that while Yasukuni Shrine houses class-A war criminals; it also holds the remains of Japanese citizens who have died in the service of their country since the 19th century, much like Arlington National Cemetery...

Yea, it's just another Arlington. The Japanese rightwing argument again.

Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo, has been regarded as a staunch nationalist because of his strong, offensive remarks concerning immigrants. However, Ishihara does favor a U.S. alliance because he recognizes that Japan cannot defend itself alone right now...

That ain't all Blinky has said, but our author couldn't be bothered with anything too controversial. And Ishihara is considered a nationalist "because of his...remarks concerning immigrants"? Was that a joke?

...The nationalist movement in Japan does not have to gain widespread popularity for it to gain widespread influence. If some of the views put forth by this movement become popular enough, they could garner enough backing to influence the Japanese government...

Has it not had widespread influence for years? Does it not hold the LDP by the gonads? It did in 2002 when this article was written and it does now.

Japan currently does not have any fascist leaders poised to come to power, but there are some politicians with nationalist tendencies who are popular enough to warrant U.S. attention. A study of political history suggests that the United States should be concerned and should definitely keep this movement on its radar screen.

Ahh, a strong, decisive conclusion. Who would have thunk of that if the author, Eugene A. Matthews, hadn't told us. Perhaps this was a briefing for Little Bush.

This reminds me of Reischauer's 1977 (?) "classic": The Japanese. You read it and couldn't always say that this or that was entirely wrong or untrue, but you knew it was pure sugar-coating---anything less than attractive being sweetened up and explained/excused away.

The full Council of Foreign Relations 2002 article is here.

Buying friends

Is this a surprise?

Solomon Islands Prime Minister Derek Sikua confirmed what had long been suspected: Japan bought support for its so-called "scientific whaling" program in the International Whaling Commission (IWC).

Buying influence is about the only way that Japan can have any influence anywhere. Hardly a shock. Article here.

There is Japan and there is foreign and no other distinctions

Oh, there might be a Japan and then an America in some ways---often people actually mean the US when they talk about the West or foreign, but generally there seems to be no distinction when it comes to foreign. One barely read a single article, either in English or Japanese where this sort of myth, does not exist:

Though this may sound trite, many critics have said in the past that the major difference between Japanese and foreign artists is their approach to their creative process. To put it bluntly, Japanese artists are often super-organized where many foreign ones have celebrated being messy. Western artists find this "process over product" philosophy awe-inspiringly "Zen" and ritualistic. JTOnline by MANAMI OKAZAKI.

So, Chinese and French and Bangladeshi artists are all the same, but Japan and only Japan is unique. Uniquely unique. Notice how "foreign" morphs into "Western" at the end. And of course, the Westerners are all fascinated by the Zen-ness of it all. Interestingly, all of the Japanese artists interviewed for the article disassociated themselves and their art from Japan or Japanese-ness. Okazaki, using unnamed and mysterious "many critiques" as the source, came up with the dichotomy between Japan and all else. And notice this: The article is about Japanese artists in New York, but in the end it is still the non-Japanese who are "foreign."

Must resist the urge to vomit. Must.

Unique love of nature: Japan

To show how much the country loves and respects nature, Japan is going to kill up to 50 humpback whales. Normally Japan has hunted minke whales which could arguably be repsonsible as the evidence suggests that minke are not threatened or endangered. Of course, if it is true that Japan has to use that meat for pet food and allows a lot to go to waste in warehouses, then there is no possible justification or excuse.

But now they have gone to humpbacks as threatened months ago during the IWC meeting when Japan went into a pout because it could not get its way. Ahhh, but those without the genetic connection to, love and respect for nature that in part of Japanese DNA don't understand. Poor Japan. A victim of foreign misunderstanding again. And anyway, they hunt kangaroos in Australia, so its ok for Japan to kill humpbacks.

Reuters story here while it lasts.

Remember: Tradition, real or not, home-grown or recently imported, explains and excuses everything in Japan.

Japan sends warning letter to US

threatening to damage relations if the US congress passes a resolution by Mike Honda asking Japan to clearly and sincerely apologize to former sex slaves. Japan, of course, denies government/military responsibility. They are threatening that they will stop cooperating on Iraq and take other unspecified (anti-US) actions. I wonder if the US will have the balls to respond in kind to Japan? Note that this is after Japanese government officials have been running around, obviously lying, and saying the resolution would have no effect on US-Japan relations. More Abe/rightwing honesty?

I have not found any reference as of yet in the major US newspapers, but the South Korean Chosun Ilbo has a story HERE.

There was and is absolutely no chance in hell that Japan will issue an official apology for this. However, one hopes that it makes news enough in the US to alert people to what the nutjobs are up to here and to make people a bit more cautious about becoming overly close to Japan as an ally in the region. The Japanese rightwing is itching for trouble with the US in order to further its nationalistic goals.

This is fantasy on my part. Most Americans are paying zero attention to this issue. It only perks up when some of the rightwingers do things like place an ad in the Washington Post denying history. But the threat by Abe and his helpers (those who have not resigned nor committed suicide yet) to somehow cause problems in Iraq might get a little mileage. If it comes to it, can we not at the very least say to Abe: "You remember the six-party talks with North Korea? Remember your little problem there? Well, we don't. And they are now five-party talks. UN Security Council seat? Good luck with that. See if you can buy it."

27 July 2007: Amazingly, I have found no reports on this anywhere else. None of the major US online newspapers carried it. Is it not accurate? Why would US newpapers not find this newsworthy?

Japan Times on Fujiwara

Andrew Rankin has reviewed Fujiwara's comic book The Dignity of the Nation for the Japan Times entitled: A question of dignity or a cause for embarrassment. He begins by stating the deliberate similarity of the title of Fujiwara's latest to a nationalist pamphlet issued by the WW2 era Japanese government in which asserted the superiority of Japanese culture. (Just like Fujiwara does in this hack job.)

He has the same worry I do:

"Rather worrisomely, "The Dignity of a Nation" was one of Japan's top sellers in 2006..."

and

"It is depressing to hear an intellectual who has spent several years in Europe and America regurgitate the old myth about Japan being the "only country to have four distinct seasons."

"You can listen to most of Fujiwara's other ideas for free at any noodle stand in Japan." All quotes from his review in today's Japan Times. Read the full review HERE.

I think Rankin was a bit soft on the silly old doofus, but obviously he didn't want nor need to waste much time on every idiotic thing Fujiwara wrote.

Abe's "beautiful country": Nationalism from above

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to cast off the post-World War II order and transform Japan into "a beautiful country" filled with pride and confidence. This is the slogan of his premiership. It is as if he believes that Japan has sunk into a state of moral degradation since 1945, and is in need of salvation. It is almost as though he wants to turn back the clock to 1945 and start anew. he is concerned less about guilt over Japanese aggression during World War II than about the shame of not having dealt with the consequences of defeat.

....Abe seemingly yearns to erase the period altogether as he denigrates reason and elevates emotion as the path to making Japan whole and authentic again. (This fits well with Fujiwara's view.)

...Nationalistic bombast is what we are getting from the political class. Rather than nationalism welling up from the people, we are witnessing the emergence of nationalistic politicians who are rather hawkish on foreign policy, especially on matters of security, notably towards Asia. This is a wave of resurgent nationalism from above....

This is an extraordinarily interesting article by Masaru Tamamoto. Full article on ikjeld.com

Fujiwara, Masahiko

AKA Ol' barcode head (barcode is what Japanese call those guys who are bald on top but let their hair grow long on the side then comb it over the top in the belief that nobody will know) has had his intellectual masterpiece (AHAHAHAHAHA) translated into English. I just got a copy, and frankly I have given him too much credit in the past based on some partial translations of it. I am actually stunned that anyone could take it seriously. A third grade kid would know better I would assume.

I haven't read it all, but the first few chapters are spent with a unbelievably weak, shallow attempt to refute ration, reason, and logic. One way he attempts to do this is to set up a straw man argument that logic can explain everything and solve all problems, and then attacking it. The first question one would ask is "Who said this was true? Who believes this?" He doesn't say, but he implies that this is what the West believes. (From what I have read so far, it appears he truly believes this.) We are all like Mr. Spock.

In the forward, he humorously states that these are his beliefs, and he believes he is right and everyone else is wrong. OK, no problem there, at least he admits what the rest of us deny. The question I have is why did this book become so popular in Japan when in later sections he opposes any rights/freedoms at all except for the right to criticize leaders and rejects democracy in favor of a dictatorship of the elite. (Yes, dictatorship. If they make all decisions and tell everyone what to do, no matter how benevolent, is it not a dictatorship?)

He believes the elite---I have only skimmed the later chapters so far and haven't a clear definition of who he means by elite---should govern. And naturally, as before when he said something about saving the world through bushido, he believes that he has something here that the world can learn from.

I plan to read this over the next few days and check some of his facts, many of which are very, very questionable, if not obviously wrong on first glance.( There are no footnotes/references for his assertions/facts anywhere in this book which should tell us something, although this is not unusual in these types of books written in Japanese for Japanese.)

Please forgive any spelling or grammar errors. As Fujiwara said, Americans can't write English because in English classes we only learn typing. (I never knew that. My English teachers were all radical nuts who taught English grammar, spelling, composition and that kind of stuff. But this is Japan. If it is written in a book by a guy with a PhD in any subject, it has to be true. Cannot doubt nor debate it. Especially if he has a barcode on his bald head.)

We must once again be "Japan the proud, Japan the different," Masahiko Fujiwara.
Has it ever not been? Has it ever truly been "Japan the humble, the same as others"? In action and core beliefs as well as in tatemae (window dressing) words?

Japan may quit IWC

Deja vu all over again. In the 30s Japan quit the League of Nations because the rest of the world didn't see fit to give Japan what it wanted in China. This began the collapse of the League. (It did not really collapse, but soon Japan's allies---Nazi Germany and Italy followed it out which certainly made the League less than relevant in preventing WW2.) Japan may take the same route with the International Whaling Commission since buying votes and issuing threats to increase its whaling more if it didn't get its way haven't worked.

Whale meat is not popular here, it is the nationalistic aspect which appeals. Japan as victim yet again! The government is trying to promote the consumption of the meat, but it doesn't seem they have been successful. There have been reports that much of it goes to waste in storage or is used to make pet food. They recently tried to get the few villagers who hunt whale declared indigenous hunters---like the Inuit. A few years ago, it tried to stop the Inuit and other indigenous people in remote areas from hunting since Japan couldn't. It reminds one of a spiteful 2 years old. If I don't get my way, I won't play.

I am personally undecided on minke hunting. From what I have read, it is sustainable and Japan and others should be able to hunt some as far as I am concerned. But when I see this type of action, along with its money politics, bandwagon logic, and spiteful temper-tantrums, I don't have much sympathy for Japan's position.

Story from Bloomberg HERE