There's a perfectly innocent explanation.
Imagine, if you will, that the following was written about Tokyo instead of New York:
Almost invariably, after I have hustled aboard early and occupied one half of a vacant double seat in the usually crowded quiet car, the empty place next to me will remain empty for the entire trip...
...I can rule out excessive body odor or bad breath; a hateful, intimidating scowl; hip-hop clothing; or a hideous deformity as possible objections to my person...
...I can’t accept the bounty of an extra seat without remembering why it’s empty, without wondering if its emptiness isn’t something quite sad. And quite dangerous, also, if left unexamined... The Seat not Taken: NYT Opinion
Apologists and explainers, both Japanese and non-Japanese, would be all over the fellow explaining why the reason for this in the US is not the reason for such behavior in Japan. No, it would have to be tradition, innocent naivety, provincialism, or maybe zen.
And no, it need not be examined by the citizens of this special land.
Edited to correct nativity to naivety.
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Saturday, October 09, 2010
Thursday, October 07, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Back about 20 years ago (good lord I must be getting old, but no problem as I am still a spring chicken in Japan) James Fallows wrote in one of his books something along the lines of "Every white person in the US should spend some time in Japan to learn what it is like to be discriminated against."
The esteemed Dr. Laura, who is very familiar with the need for a sense of humor since someone with one awarded her a doctorate, has announced that she is quitting her radio show. She announced that just a short while after getting in trouble (and later sincerely---I'm sure---apologizing) for using the N-word repeatedly on her program. After listening to her broadcast, one could be forgiven for thinking that her use of the N-word is not the most troubling part of her bizarre, illogical rant.
I would not say that living in Japan as a non-Japanese---especially a white non-Japanese---is equal in the extent and history of discrimination that African-Americans face in the US, but maybe Dr. Laura should spend a little (a lot) of time living here not as a monied expat in a gaijin ghetto, but living among the hoi polloi. Maybe then the psycho psychologist would have some clue of what her caller felt. Of course had the trained expert actually listened to the caller, she might have had a clue without moving here.
Aug 23: As for the euphemism itself, the Washington Post has some thoughts.
Goggle/blogger spell-check does not recognize either hoi polloi or monied as words.
The esteemed Dr. Laura, who is very familiar with the need for a sense of humor since someone with one awarded her a doctorate, has announced that she is quitting her radio show. She announced that just a short while after getting in trouble (and later sincerely---I'm sure---apologizing) for using the N-word repeatedly on her program. After listening to her broadcast, one could be forgiven for thinking that her use of the N-word is not the most troubling part of her bizarre, illogical rant.
I would not say that living in Japan as a non-Japanese---especially a white non-Japanese---is equal in the extent and history of discrimination that African-Americans face in the US, but maybe Dr. Laura should spend a little (a lot) of time living here not as a monied expat in a gaijin ghetto, but living among the hoi polloi. Maybe then the psycho psychologist would have some clue of what her caller felt. Of course had the trained expert actually listened to the caller, she might have had a clue without moving here.
Aug 23: As for the euphemism itself, the Washington Post has some thoughts.
Goggle/blogger spell-check does not recognize either hoi polloi or monied as words.
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Blinky the bigot
cannot trust himself, for folks of foreign roots owe allegiance to their foreign ancestors. Where did the Japanese---whomever "the Japanese" are---come from? Is Blinky-the-bigot Ainu by any chance?Well, although Blinky was elected and has been re-elected governor of Tokyo by the citizens of this fine prefecture, we can't assume that just because he is a racist that everyone else is.
However, as Debito Arudou writes in The Japan Times: Last Gasps of Japan's Dying Demagogues, some are:
[Citing research from M. G. Sheftall of Shizuoka University---good god, A furriner! Who can believe him?] Ishihara's "Showa Hitoketa generation" (1926-1935) was "completely immersed, from birth until late adolescence/early adulthood, in prewar Japanese ideology at its most militantly militaristic, chauvinistic and xenophobic. It is unsurprising many never quite recovered from the trauma they suffered when their ideology was suddenly and catastrophically delegitimized in August 1945."
Arudou points out that the argument of the folks who opposed the partial foreign suffrage proposed by the DPJ that bakagaijin should naturalize if they want to vote is purely fatuous (he does not use those words) as folks of Blinky's ilk will never accept naturalized citizens as Japanese when they won't even accept people who have been here for generations as Japanese.
We can only hope Debito is correct when he calls these types a dying breed. I ain't so sure, at best I think that they are a diminishing breed as there will always be others to pick up the flag.
I have nothing against that old extremist that the citizens of Tokyo decided to have represent them. The fact that he is a well-known racist, misogynist/misanthrope, and all-around kook was not important enough to give them pause. I wish him no bad luck, but if he were to be hit by a freight train, I would not spend the night crying. (What a mean thing to say!)
Google spell check does not recognize delegitimized as a word.
Edited 1010pm
Friday, April 09, 2010
Arudou's speech to UN Special Rapportuer on Human Rights
I hope to have a new post once a week for the time being, and occasionally finish and post a few still relevant drafts:
...we are not officially registered — or even counted sometimes — as genuine residents. We are not treated as taxpayers, not protected as consumers, not seen as ethnicities even in the national census....According to government polls and surveys, we do not even deserve the same human rights as Japanese....Debito Arudou Japan Times.
A well-written speech, at least from my point of view. Will it make any difference? I will wager no and pray* (without faith) that I am wrong. Doubt I will be though since we've been reading and saying the same things for years and years and years. The fact is that the whole issue is not important enough to most citizens to care much about except for the occasional sympathizing with affected gaijin.** I think Debito's final paragraph says it all, especially the plea for help outside of Japan. Don't expect much inside.
*Are an agnostic's prayers answered?
**An innocent, neutral term that simply means gaikokujin. We know it is innocent and neutral because many people use it all of the time mostly, but no longer exclusively, for those of certain non-Eastern ethnic origin.
...we are not officially registered — or even counted sometimes — as genuine residents. We are not treated as taxpayers, not protected as consumers, not seen as ethnicities even in the national census....According to government polls and surveys, we do not even deserve the same human rights as Japanese....Debito Arudou Japan Times.
A well-written speech, at least from my point of view. Will it make any difference? I will wager no and pray* (without faith) that I am wrong. Doubt I will be though since we've been reading and saying the same things for years and years and years. The fact is that the whole issue is not important enough to most citizens to care much about except for the occasional sympathizing with affected gaijin.** I think Debito's final paragraph says it all, especially the plea for help outside of Japan. Don't expect much inside.
*Are an agnostic's prayers answered?
**An innocent, neutral term that simply means gaikokujin. We know it is innocent and neutral because many people use it all of the time mostly, but no longer exclusively, for those of certain non-Eastern ethnic origin.
Monday, December 08, 2008
Discrimination validated
by some fellow who wrote an article for the Japan Times last week. I read it and considered replying, but I honestly did not know where to begin. It was like reading Fujiwacko Masahiko's book of two years ago. One has to wonder if he is actually as silly as he seems.
Our explainer basically justified bigotry by claiming it was all made fine and wonderful by his view of "group accountability." Apparently, he thought that it was just dandy that public bath operators in Hokkaido could ban anyone who did not "look Japanese" as this was just a way of making a whole group (those who did not look Japanese) accountable for the actions of a smaller part of that group (Russian sailors).
Naturally the problem is also somehow related to the US because the US is/has been racist and this fact magnifies the feelings of injustice to Westerners. So, I guess we gotta assume that the non-western, non-Japanese who reside in Japan (as well as many Japanese) don't see a problem with it. Anyway, we can't hold it against Japan for discriminating based on "group" because 'merika and the west in general is racist whilst Japan's racial and other discrimination isn't racist.
In Japan, you see, group discrimination---bigotry---is evenhanded. If you ain't a "pure" Japanese, that's sufficient. Since the bath claimed that the reason that no non-Japanese looking person could enter was because some Russian sailors caused problems somewhere, and since Russian sailors are not Japanese then they could---at least until a Japanese court said they couldn't---discriminate against all who are not.
(This brings up the problem of which group must be held accountable for the actions of the mass-murdering Japanese in Akihabara last summer, or the guy who a few weeks ago stabbed 3 people, killing two, because he was supposedly angry that the government had killed his doggy when he was a child. All Japanese? All men? All Japanese men? All young pet owners?)
Our writer then equates the discrimination with the rules for female-only train cars during peak hours and finally makes the utterly bizarre, absurd claim that since this group accountability is a major reason that Japan is safe (prove that) if Japan abandons it, then Japan will become like the mythical US or other countries---unsafe, full of selfish criminals where one cannot walk the streets without being a crime victim. Japan will, in effect, become a foreign country.
I am not the first to write this, but if that is the case, then the US can become a safer country by openly (or secretly) and intentionally discriminating against groups of people whom those with power may assume (or simply claim) may be troublemakers. We should repeal the Civil Rights laws and go back 150 years to become "safe" again.
The case the apologist-for-bigotry-and-discrimination wrote about was the Otaro onsen case brought by naturalized Japanese citizen, Arudo Debito. Debito has posted the original article and a short response on his blog along with other responses.
The author of the article is putting the finishing touches on a book that is bound to become a classic on what the world can learn from Japan. Although topic sounds like a rehash of the 1980s books of this genre, there are things which folks elsewhere could learn from Japan. Whether or not those things could be adopted is another question. Let's hope, however, that excusing racism, bigotry, and other discrimination based on group membership is not one of them.
Our explainer basically justified bigotry by claiming it was all made fine and wonderful by his view of "group accountability." Apparently, he thought that it was just dandy that public bath operators in Hokkaido could ban anyone who did not "look Japanese" as this was just a way of making a whole group (those who did not look Japanese) accountable for the actions of a smaller part of that group (Russian sailors).
Naturally the problem is also somehow related to the US because the US is/has been racist and this fact magnifies the feelings of injustice to Westerners. So, I guess we gotta assume that the non-western, non-Japanese who reside in Japan (as well as many Japanese) don't see a problem with it. Anyway, we can't hold it against Japan for discriminating based on "group" because 'merika and the west in general is racist whilst Japan's racial and other discrimination isn't racist.
In Japan, you see, group discrimination---bigotry---is evenhanded. If you ain't a "pure" Japanese, that's sufficient. Since the bath claimed that the reason that no non-Japanese looking person could enter was because some Russian sailors caused problems somewhere, and since Russian sailors are not Japanese then they could---at least until a Japanese court said they couldn't---discriminate against all who are not.
(This brings up the problem of which group must be held accountable for the actions of the mass-murdering Japanese in Akihabara last summer, or the guy who a few weeks ago stabbed 3 people, killing two, because he was supposedly angry that the government had killed his doggy when he was a child. All Japanese? All men? All Japanese men? All young pet owners?)
Our writer then equates the discrimination with the rules for female-only train cars during peak hours and finally makes the utterly bizarre, absurd claim that since this group accountability is a major reason that Japan is safe (prove that) if Japan abandons it, then Japan will become like the mythical US or other countries---unsafe, full of selfish criminals where one cannot walk the streets without being a crime victim. Japan will, in effect, become a foreign country.
"Japan will become one more nation in which the individual is to be feared. That is an outrageously high price to pay for the occasional racial, national, generational or gender-driven slight."
The case the apologist-for-bigotry-and-discrimination wrote about was the Otaro onsen case brought by naturalized Japanese citizen, Arudo Debito. Debito has posted the original article and a short response on his blog along with other responses.
The author of the article is putting the finishing touches on a book that is bound to become a classic on what the world can learn from Japan. Although topic sounds like a rehash of the 1980s books of this genre, there are things which folks elsewhere could learn from Japan. Whether or not those things could be adopted is another question. Let's hope, however, that excusing racism, bigotry, and other discrimination based on group membership is not one of them.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Thank god
For a while there, I was beginning to think I was all alone:
Over a summer dinner, a Japanese colleague shook his head at the yet unsolved gunshot murders of three supermarket clerks in Hachioji in 1995.
Live in Japan? Don't you know exactly how Thomas felt? Have you not been in the exact same conversation yourself?
Just as I have been trying ignore this kind of "thinking" and live in a fantasy world Japan where it doesn't exist... Some do, why not me too?
*There was also the fellow who used a shotgun to commit mass murder earlier this year, but perhaps that doesn't count since he did not simply shoot his victims in the back of the head.
Over a summer dinner, a Japanese colleague shook his head at the yet unsolved gunshot murders of three supermarket clerks in Hachioji in 1995.
"It had to be a foreigner that did it. No Japanese would commit a crime like that."
"Hello?" I knocked on the table. "Look at me, please." Was not his dinner mate a foreigner too? And might not foreigners be offended by such an indictment?
The man squirmed and said he meant to emphasize the "gun." Japanese crooks would never be so cruel as to shoot people in the back of the head with a gun.
Right. They might ram a car into a crowd and then knife everyone in sight, a la the killing spree in Akihabara this year. Or like child-abductor Tsutomu Miyazaki, they might drink their victims' blood*...Thomas Dillon in the Japan Times.Live in Japan? Don't you know exactly how Thomas felt? Have you not been in the exact same conversation yourself?
Just as I have been trying ignore this kind of "thinking" and live in a fantasy world Japan where it doesn't exist... Some do, why not me too?
*There was also the fellow who used a shotgun to commit mass murder earlier this year, but perhaps that doesn't count since he did not simply shoot his victims in the back of the head.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
A great sense of humor
In a new report to the United Nations, the government outlines the situation of ethnic minorities and foreign residents in Japan, claiming it has made "every conceivable" effort over the past several years to eliminate racial discrimination....
...The government has long held that Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law, makes any antidiscrimination legislation superfluous, a point reiterated in the report.
...The government has long held that Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law, makes any antidiscrimination legislation superfluous, a point reiterated in the report.
"Japan has taken every conceivable measure to fight against racial discrimination," the report's introduction says, later adding that apartheid is unknown in Japan...Japan Times
Are we talking about actual apartheid or legal, open discrimination often encouraged and supported by the government if not originating from it?
Just a few weeks ago, I was talking to a woman who had just recently married a guy from Europe. She was shocked* to discover that the landlord of an apartment they wanted to rent refused because he was a non-Japanese. She was able to get another apartment after finding an additional guarantor (2 in total) that the landlord required because her husband not Japanese. The first landlord refused to rent because he claimed to have rented to a non-Japanese before who did not pay the rent. Therefore, anyone who is not of the pure Japanese blood is untrustworthy.
Her husband is fluent in Japanese (JLPT 1 fluent---also in actual non-test usage) and intends to get Japanese citizenship as he believes that this will help him get a better career. She is skeptical, saying "He's still just a white boy."
What kind of idiots and liars are coming up with this nonsense to BS the UN? Does anyone on earth actually believe it? (Yes, many apologists do, or want to. Others excuse it because it is not as open as in country A, B, or C.)
12:25 *She was not shocked because non-Japanese are discriminated against in housing and other areas, but because she and her husband were being refused housing even though the rental agreement would have been in her name.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
"Will Americans vote for a black man?" I've been asked this question by foreigners of various origins a dozen -- or maybe three dozen -- times since the U.S. presidential campaign began for real in January. Now we have the answer: Yes, Americans will vote for a black man. Which means that it is time to turn this rather offensive question around: Will foreigners accept a black American president? Anne Applebaum. The Washington Post.
An interesting question. I wonder if there will be a Nakasone/Ishihara-type comment from one of the old retro-gummers in government and if so, will that person be able to explain it away as a misquote, mistranslation, or a lack of understanding on the rest of the world's part?
Also a short BBC article on a UN special rapporteur's 2005 remarks on racism in Japan. and another related BBC article from 2004 here.
An interesting question. I wonder if there will be a Nakasone/Ishihara-type comment from one of the old retro-gummers in government and if so, will that person be able to explain it away as a misquote, mistranslation, or a lack of understanding on the rest of the world's part?
Also a short BBC article on a UN special rapporteur's 2005 remarks on racism in Japan. and another related BBC article from 2004 here.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Ministry of Justice Human Rights hearing
Somehow, the Ministry of Justice in Japan and the term "human rights" don't seem to fit well together, but Debito Arudo at Trans-Pacific Radio writes of a MoJ sponsored Human Rights meeting he attended earlier this year. Seems the right-wing nutjobs attended and were able to disrupt the meeting with little to no interference from the MoJ bureaucrats running the show. Even more interesting is what happened as the meeting ended which shows exactly how many Japan---and non-Japanese view discrimination in Japan:
The last straw was when one of the attendees referred to a famous Korean born to a Comfort Woman as a “bastard child” (shiseiji). Our side demanded the representative from the Ministry of Justice do something. It was within his ministry’s mandate to silence hate speech. He remained silent.....
....It almost came to blows. Even then, no security was called, and nobody was asked to leave. The meeting was brought to a close a half-hour early.
But here’s when it got really interesting. I was about to leave when one of disrupters actually came up to me with a smile and a friendly tone of voice. He turned out to be an assemblymember from Hino City, near Tokyo, and was quizzical as to why I was here.
After all, this is his view: White people in Japan have it good here because of Japan’s inferiority complex towards them. So discrimination cannot happen towards them. It only happens towards the lesser peoples of the world, and they’re only here taking advantage of the Japan we Japanese built up. They shouldn’t be here asking for anything. Therefore I as a superior Caucasian should have nothing to complain about.
I have seen and heard this attitude a lot. Several years ago, after Shitaro---oops, how childish of me---Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara went into one of his bigoted rants about the Chinese and (shockingly) it was covered by the foreign press, a Japanese apologist wrote to the International Herald Tribune and explained it away because Blinky was talking about Chinese. Not Americans (synonymous with white folks in Japan, though many will tell you a few repressed minorities live there as do the rich Jews who control the country). Therefore, there should be no problem for white folks since it was the Chinese who Shit (hand slipped, sorry) Shintaro was insulting and demeaning.
The last straw was when one of the attendees referred to a famous Korean born to a Comfort Woman as a “bastard child” (shiseiji). Our side demanded the representative from the Ministry of Justice do something. It was within his ministry’s mandate to silence hate speech. He remained silent.....
....It almost came to blows. Even then, no security was called, and nobody was asked to leave. The meeting was brought to a close a half-hour early.
But here’s when it got really interesting. I was about to leave when one of disrupters actually came up to me with a smile and a friendly tone of voice. He turned out to be an assemblymember from Hino City, near Tokyo, and was quizzical as to why I was here.
After all, this is his view: White people in Japan have it good here because of Japan’s inferiority complex towards them. So discrimination cannot happen towards them. It only happens towards the lesser peoples of the world, and they’re only here taking advantage of the Japan we Japanese built up. They shouldn’t be here asking for anything. Therefore I as a superior Caucasian should have nothing to complain about.
I have seen and heard this attitude a lot. Several years ago, after Shitaro---oops, how childish of me---Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara went into one of his bigoted rants about the Chinese and (shockingly) it was covered by the foreign press, a Japanese apologist wrote to the International Herald Tribune and explained it away because Blinky was talking about Chinese. Not Americans (synonymous with white folks in Japan, though many will tell you a few repressed minorities live there as do the rich Jews who control the country). Therefore, there should be no problem for white folks since it was the Chinese who Shit (hand slipped, sorry) Shintaro was insulting and demeaning.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Rightwing nutjobs go ballistic
An Australian journalist wrote a book supposedly exposing some of the details, good and bad of Princess Masako's life in the Imperial family. The book isn't said to be very good, in fact it is more or less a regurgitation of things found in the press, or speculation, according to some of the reviews I have read.
However, since he had touched on the Imperial Family in a less than worshipful way, it has agered the right wing extremists, who as is their usual way of handling these things, have threatened violence toward the publisher and author. Naturally, one can expect the Japanese authorites to take action against these thugs. AHAHAHAHA. Just joking.
"I have had death threats. They were saying things like, 'Die white pork!' They were quite racist,"
Hills' biography has ....drawn the ire of the Japanese government...
The new publisher reported:
"Just now, two black cars with ultranationalistic slogans on them are parking (next to) the building where my company address is. They are shouting hysterically, 'Stop the publication of Princess Masako' with huge loudspeakers," the e-mail said.
"Policemen are just watching them and let them do as much as they want to do. This is how your book is getting more and more popular in Japan before being published," Kitagawa said. From The Japan Times Online: 'Princess Masako' author, Tokyo publisher threatened
Racism in Japan? "Police" officers who do nothing? A government which not only allows this, but in effect supports and encourages it? Who'da thunk?
However, since he had touched on the Imperial Family in a less than worshipful way, it has agered the right wing extremists, who as is their usual way of handling these things, have threatened violence toward the publisher and author. Naturally, one can expect the Japanese authorites to take action against these thugs. AHAHAHAHA. Just joking.
"I have had death threats. They were saying things like, 'Die white pork!' They were quite racist,"
Hills' biography has ....drawn the ire of the Japanese government...
The new publisher reported:
"Just now, two black cars with ultranationalistic slogans on them are parking (next to) the building where my company address is. They are shouting hysterically, 'Stop the publication of Princess Masako' with huge loudspeakers," the e-mail said.
"Policemen are just watching them and let them do as much as they want to do. This is how your book is getting more and more popular in Japan before being published," Kitagawa said. From The Japan Times Online: 'Princess Masako' author, Tokyo publisher threatened
Racism in Japan? "Police" officers who do nothing? A government which not only allows this, but in effect supports and encourages it? Who'da thunk?
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Abe campaigns with the bigot Ishihara
Rightwing revisionist Abe campaigned for the LDP with the well-known racist and bigoted governor of Tokyo, Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara. This was apparently to make sure that all the extremist voters were covered. Well, perhaps that's going too far. After all, the citizens of Tokyo elected Ishihara 4 times, and one could never say that there was any racism/bigotry/nationalism involved. After all, such things don't exist in Japan.
It seems unlikely that this will work though, for the citizens seem to be more concerned about money issues and the continued scandals under Abe and the LDP than they are in Abe's "Beautiful Country." (Some may be shocked that money is important to people here as it is everywhere else except Fijuwara's neo-bushidoist dreamworld and in a few socialist/Marxist fantasies).
Ichiro Ozawa's Democratic Party may be poised to win:
“If we fail to win a majority and allow Abe’s administration to survive, it means democracy will never take root in Japan,” Mr. Ozawa said Saturday. From the Japan Times. Full article here.
Huh? Japan is not a democracy? How 1980s.
It seems unlikely that this will work though, for the citizens seem to be more concerned about money issues and the continued scandals under Abe and the LDP than they are in Abe's "Beautiful Country." (Some may be shocked that money is important to people here as it is everywhere else except Fijuwara's neo-bushidoist dreamworld and in a few socialist/Marxist fantasies).
Ichiro Ozawa's Democratic Party may be poised to win:
“If we fail to win a majority and allow Abe’s administration to survive, it means democracy will never take root in Japan,” Mr. Ozawa said Saturday. From the Japan Times. Full article here.
Huh? Japan is not a democracy? How 1980s.
Monday, June 11, 2007
TV 4 and gaijin
Kanto area channel 4 did an update on the murder of Lindsay Hawker this morning. The reporter on the case who is sort of a Gerado Rivera-type repeatedly referred to gaijin while occasionally adding the suffix san. This despite the fact that broadcast guidelines supposedly prohibit the use of this derogatory term. There is nothing one can do about this as it simply reflects the mindset of many in Japan. Forget political correctness, racial discrimination itself is still legal in Japan. And look at who has been re-elected as the mayor of Tokyo twice despite being an open bigot/racist.
The police still have not caught Ms. Hawkers killer (Ishihashi).
(The use of the term gaijin, does not, however, make the user a racist. Its use is widespread, even among Japanese who live in other countries who may call the citizens of that country gaijin. Japanese tend not to use it in front of a non-Japanese, and many believe it would be rude to do so. It is so controversial apparently, that Wikipedia has rewritten its page and pretty much eliminated its discussion on the controversy. No citations, they claim. They also cannot find citations that support the fact that Chinese are called Chukokujin. Would not a Japanese-English dictionary suffice?)
The police still have not caught Ms. Hawkers killer (Ishihashi).
(The use of the term gaijin, does not, however, make the user a racist. Its use is widespread, even among Japanese who live in other countries who may call the citizens of that country gaijin. Japanese tend not to use it in front of a non-Japanese, and many believe it would be rude to do so. It is so controversial apparently, that Wikipedia has rewritten its page and pretty much eliminated its discussion on the controversy. No citations, they claim. They also cannot find citations that support the fact that Chinese are called Chukokujin. Would not a Japanese-English dictionary suffice?)
Friday, June 08, 2007
Foreign Workers in Japan
One of the funnier things we can read about or hear about is how Japan is going to use foreign workers to make up for the population decline due to the rapid aging of society. Wouldn't hold my breath for that. Some of the old retro-grouches would starve first. The only chance for it to happen would be to import low-skilled, poorly educated people and watch and control them carefully.
The Japan Times recently published an article about foreign scientists who came to Japan and actually believed that they were going to be treated as intelligent, professionals with valuable skills. AHAHAHAHA. Guess they sort of forgot to put their research skills to work on investigating Japan before coming. Or they believed what they were told by the employers. April Fool all year round.
...internationalization of the workforce is often linked to the notion of the erosion of national identity, a well-polished political foil tied emotionally to the fanciful idea of Japanese racial and genetic homogeneity... (This sounds racist or at least racialist. Couldn't happen in Japan, as there is no racism here.)
...The numbers of both female and foreign scientists employed at Japanese universities are "extremely low" relative to other member countries of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the government admits (see job.yomiuri.co.jp/news/jo_ne_05041103.cfm ). However, despite the government's statements to the contrary, many government initiatives actively prevent the integration of foreign scientists into the Japanese research and university environments....
...The emphasis is on the short-term turnover of a small number of researchers, and there is no provision for long-term integration....
Pesky Japan-bashing baka gaijin. Causing trouble for pure Japan. Poor Japan, victim yet again.
FULL ARTICLE at Japan Times Online, by Peter Osborne. (Pesky foreign rabble-rouser.)
The Japan Times recently published an article about foreign scientists who came to Japan and actually believed that they were going to be treated as intelligent, professionals with valuable skills. AHAHAHAHA. Guess they sort of forgot to put their research skills to work on investigating Japan before coming. Or they believed what they were told by the employers. April Fool all year round.
...internationalization of the workforce is often linked to the notion of the erosion of national identity, a well-polished political foil tied emotionally to the fanciful idea of Japanese racial and genetic homogeneity... (This sounds racist or at least racialist. Couldn't happen in Japan, as there is no racism here.)
...The numbers of both female and foreign scientists employed at Japanese universities are "extremely low" relative to other member countries of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the government admits (see job.yomiuri.co.jp/news/jo_ne_05041103.cfm ). However, despite the government's statements to the contrary, many government initiatives actively prevent the integration of foreign scientists into the Japanese research and university environments....
...The emphasis is on the short-term turnover of a small number of researchers, and there is no provision for long-term integration....
...one eminent senior Japanese scientist at Osaka City University acknowledges, "It is unfortunate for research and students that it is almost impossible to keep good foreign scientists in Japan."
...The only other employment option available to foreign scientists who persist in pursuing their research objectives after JSPS funding is withdrawn and who cannot find work at a university is to become an employee of a Japanese scientist who works at a college/university and can use "kakenhi" grants (Japanese government research funding) to provide a salary for the foreign scientist. Employed via this method, foreign scientists find that despite the fact that they might produce world-class research, they are outside established Japanese university bureaucratic procedures, excluded from university decision-making processes and are politically powerless within the university because of the position of subservience they must assume in order to be able to continue their research. This employment avenue is the road to inequality and discrimination... (In Japan? NOOOOoooooo!)...Brian Budgell is a Canadian scientist, resident in Japan for the past 15 years and currently an associate professor at the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at Kyoto University. Here he recalls his introduction to the university five years ago.
"On my first meeting with the head of school and the head of my division, I was informed that I was 'not a doctor in Japan' and that I would be assigned to teaching English. I was told to forget about research. This was quite different from the position that I had been led to believe I would hold. However, for the sake of my children, I could not suddenly resign.
(My God! Was he lied to? Deceived? No, Japan is special. That stuff only happens in foreign countries.)
"In the intervening years, every request to the school for research support, and every request for 'kakenhi' (government grants) has been denied...
Pesky Japan-bashing baka gaijin. Causing trouble for pure Japan. Poor Japan, victim yet again.
FULL ARTICLE at Japan Times Online, by Peter Osborne. (Pesky foreign rabble-rouser.)
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Quick Japan news
SOS stickers going up in every car: ("JR East took the move after an incident last summer on the JR Hokuriku Line in which a man managed to rape a woman in a train because none of her fellow passengers alerted railway personnel.") From the Japan Times. Bushido?
Have today's Japanese lost their empathy? (Call to a suicide counciling hotline: "What do you think you are accomplishing by sitting there?" some have shouted. "Why don't you stop wasting your time on this useless counseling!" and ...."the percentage of Japanese who said it was important to help one another was the second lowest among the 18 countries surveyed."Is this new? Has Japan moved up a notch?) A hand-wringing editorial about them thar' ornery youngsters and others by the Yomiuru Shimbun.
University student arrested for abandoning newborn baby. Mainichi Daily News.
Woman stabbed to death in front of her Tokyo Home. Mainichi Daily
Japan promises it won't export toxic waste to the Philippines. Mainichi Daily (How thoughtful! "Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have urged the senators to reject the pact because of a provision allowing the trade of articles "which are fit only for disposal," as well as scrap and waste from manufacturing or processing operations.")
Foreign students can't start ekiden. Asahi News. Discrimination, racism in Japan?? NOOOOO!!!!
They have a real good reason for keeping non-Japanese out of the All Japan High School Ekiden Champonships. It's to make the race interesting for Japanese. If ya can't beat 'em, cheat!! Keep 'em out. Ware ware Nihonjin!! Damned baka gaijin anyway.
Baby found in garbage collection site. Asahi News
UN criticizes Japan on sex slaves. Foreigners are such a nuisance. Forbes.
I am confused. Wasn't long ago when we were hearing how dangerous non-Japanese in Japan are, but it seems nearly all the crime and nasty things done are done by Japanese!!!Perhaps foreigners should be afraid of Japanese.
Have today's Japanese lost their empathy? (Call to a suicide counciling hotline: "What do you think you are accomplishing by sitting there?" some have shouted. "Why don't you stop wasting your time on this useless counseling!" and ...."the percentage of Japanese who said it was important to help one another was the second lowest among the 18 countries surveyed."Is this new? Has Japan moved up a notch?) A hand-wringing editorial about them thar' ornery youngsters and others by the Yomiuru Shimbun.
University student arrested for abandoning newborn baby. Mainichi Daily News.
Woman stabbed to death in front of her Tokyo Home. Mainichi Daily
Japan promises it won't export toxic waste to the Philippines. Mainichi Daily (How thoughtful! "Environmental groups such as Greenpeace have urged the senators to reject the pact because of a provision allowing the trade of articles "which are fit only for disposal," as well as scrap and waste from manufacturing or processing operations.")
Foreign students can't start ekiden. Asahi News. Discrimination, racism in Japan?? NOOOOO!!!!
They have a real good reason for keeping non-Japanese out of the All Japan High School Ekiden Champonships. It's to make the race interesting for Japanese. If ya can't beat 'em, cheat!! Keep 'em out. Ware ware Nihonjin!! Damned baka gaijin anyway.
Baby found in garbage collection site. Asahi News
UN criticizes Japan on sex slaves. Foreigners are such a nuisance. Forbes.
I am confused. Wasn't long ago when we were hearing how dangerous non-Japanese in Japan are, but it seems nearly all the crime and nasty things done are done by Japanese!!!Perhaps foreigners should be afraid of Japanese.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Japan plays the race card
Nothing unusual though. Any criticism of Japan, valid or not, sooner or later is answered with charges of racism, at least when it involves Americans. In the past, many of these charges were expressed in English by western apologists for Japan.
Congressman Mike Honda who is the author of the resolution calling on Japan to expresslu and officially apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery to entertain the Japanese military is of Japanese ancestory. He is no being accused of being a racist, but since race is one of the most important things about people to many in Japan, some think that he should not criticize Japan in any way. (Yes, a huge percentage of folks here consider the Japanese to be a separate race.) He has also been accused of being a Chinese agent---most likely by the nutjob rightwingers here.
The resolution was also drawing sometimes surprising reaction in Japan, making Mr. Honda one of the most famous American congressmen in his ancestral land and riling Japan’s conservatives. They have accused a bemused Mr. Honda, 65, of being an agent of a Chinese government bent on humiliating Japan on American soil. During one television interview, an announcer asked Mr. Honda how he could back such a resolution when he has a Japanese face.
“I told her I could have a black face, a brown face, a white face — I could be Mexican, I could be Indian — it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Honda recalled. From the New York Times by Norimitsu Onishi here
I can't believe that he really expects Japan to apologize for the sex slave issue or any other atrocity/war crime it has been found to have committed. The trend is very strongly in the opposite direction. It is trying to deny more and more of what it did. This year, the government ordered school textbook publishers to remove references that the Imperial Japanese Army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit suicide during the invasion there. Unfortunately for the nutjobs in power, many survivors who have Japanese faces say otherwise.
BY the way, Onishi has written numerous articles this year critical of Abe and Japan's distortions and denials. Its lies. He has a Japanese face too. Does that mean he is not really Japanese? Is there, or is there not a tradition and acceptance of free speech in Japan. Only if you are a rightwing nutjob.
Congressman Mike Honda who is the author of the resolution calling on Japan to expresslu and officially apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery to entertain the Japanese military is of Japanese ancestory. He is no being accused of being a racist, but since race is one of the most important things about people to many in Japan, some think that he should not criticize Japan in any way. (Yes, a huge percentage of folks here consider the Japanese to be a separate race.) He has also been accused of being a Chinese agent---most likely by the nutjob rightwingers here.
The resolution was also drawing sometimes surprising reaction in Japan, making Mr. Honda one of the most famous American congressmen in his ancestral land and riling Japan’s conservatives. They have accused a bemused Mr. Honda, 65, of being an agent of a Chinese government bent on humiliating Japan on American soil. During one television interview, an announcer asked Mr. Honda how he could back such a resolution when he has a Japanese face.
“I told her I could have a black face, a brown face, a white face — I could be Mexican, I could be Indian — it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Honda recalled. From the New York Times by Norimitsu Onishi here
I can't believe that he really expects Japan to apologize for the sex slave issue or any other atrocity/war crime it has been found to have committed. The trend is very strongly in the opposite direction. It is trying to deny more and more of what it did. This year, the government ordered school textbook publishers to remove references that the Imperial Japanese Army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit suicide during the invasion there. Unfortunately for the nutjobs in power, many survivors who have Japanese faces say otherwise.
BY the way, Onishi has written numerous articles this year critical of Abe and Japan's distortions and denials. Its lies. He has a Japanese face too. Does that mean he is not really Japanese? Is there, or is there not a tradition and acceptance of free speech in Japan. Only if you are a rightwing nutjob.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Another sadistic murder of a British woman by a Japanese
Several years ago, a young British woman was murdered and her body dismembered and dumped by a Japanese man. Another young British woman who had been teaching English has been found dead in a bathtub filled with sand on the balcony of an apartment of one of her students. Mr. Tatsuya Ichihachi (Ichihashi?) is being sought by the Japanese "police." Strangely, he was in the apartment while these pros searched it, but ran away when they found the body. The cops, it is said, "tried" to grab him.
What is it about Japanese men that make them murder British women? Is it genetic? Is it something in Japanese society? Is it bushido? (SARCASM!)
I think it is necessary for young British women to be aware of the fact that should they visit Japan, there is a chance that they will be murdered by a Japanese man!!! (SARCASM!) English teachers should take note too that student who is so kind and polite may murder you! Don't go to their apartment alone. Nova, the eikaiwa school denied reports that the man was a student. So one must be cautious of all Japanese men. To be really safe, you need to be cautious of all Japanese-looking men. What if he were a crossdresser? Better be careful of all Japanese-looking people period! I do think that only a Japanese could do this kind of crime. Of course this is not racist.
(Yes, in case you don't get it, I am doing to Japan what many in Japan do with crimes by non-Japanese.)
Oh, on a related story about Japanese worry over "foreign" crime:
In a 2006 Cabinet Office survey, 84.3% thought public safety had worsened over the past 10 years, with the largest number (55.1%) putting this down to "a rise in crimes by foreigners visiting Japan."
It appears Japan is a quite dangerous country. You can't trust anyone.
(Nobody really knows what happened to this unfortunate young woman except that she was murdered. Sarcasm aside, this does point out that one cannot accept everything that one reads about Japan being the safest country on earth or any of the other myths. Unfortunately, many people do.)
What is it about Japanese men that make them murder British women? Is it genetic? Is it something in Japanese society? Is it bushido? (SARCASM!)
I think it is necessary for young British women to be aware of the fact that should they visit Japan, there is a chance that they will be murdered by a Japanese man!!! (SARCASM!) English teachers should take note too that student who is so kind and polite may murder you! Don't go to their apartment alone. Nova, the eikaiwa school denied reports that the man was a student. So one must be cautious of all Japanese men. To be really safe, you need to be cautious of all Japanese-looking men. What if he were a crossdresser? Better be careful of all Japanese-looking people period! I do think that only a Japanese could do this kind of crime. Of course this is not racist.
(Yes, in case you don't get it, I am doing to Japan what many in Japan do with crimes by non-Japanese.)
Oh, on a related story about Japanese worry over "foreign" crime:
In a 2006 Cabinet Office survey, 84.3% thought public safety had worsened over the past 10 years, with the largest number (55.1%) putting this down to "a rise in crimes by foreigners visiting Japan."
It appears Japan is a quite dangerous country. You can't trust anyone.
(Nobody really knows what happened to this unfortunate young woman except that she was murdered. Sarcasm aside, this does point out that one cannot accept everything that one reads about Japan being the safest country on earth or any of the other myths. Unfortunately, many people do.)
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Victory declared in getting a racist magazine
off the market. However, it was done mostly by non-Japanese. Strangely, although many claim that there is no racism in Japan (HAHAHA a joke?), it seems the Japanese media doesn't give a gave a damn.
There is some indication that the Japanese police may have been closely connected with the article. It seems to fit their policy/beliefs as it pertains to non-Japanese.
Japan Focus has an excellent article on this story describing in some detail about the racism in that magazine, the racist view toward non-Japanese, the Japanese media's reluctance to cover anything smacking of Japanese racism (Japanese are not racist because there is no racism in Japan---except the racism of non-Japanese who criticize anything about Japan), and how the mostly non-Japanese worldwide used the internet to embarrass the dealers (except Amazon Japan which viewed the sale of the magazine as a free speech issue) into removing the magazines.
The boycott and removal of the magazine from shelves of course, is not much of a victory. The ideas, beliefs, bigotry and racism that allows this kind of stuff to be published openly and freely is the problem. That most here do not recognize---or can't admit---that there is widespread racism---or at least racist beliefs among the public---and openly racist politicians and government officials is THE main problem. It's good that there was a small victory. However, since the Japanese-language press ignored the issue, there will be no debate, no reflection, no nothing by the Japanese public.
You've seen the 3 monkeys at the Tokugawa Ieyasu shrine in Nikko? Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? We might say that is still very much alive in Japan.
The rather clueless editor of the bigot rag responded to all the criticism:
He added that translating nigaa as "nigger" was "unfair", as the term is merelyJapanese street
Hmmm. The "N word" has none of the emotive power in Japanese that it does in English? Probably not to the Japanese. Might be to others who hear it and don't understand that there is no racism in Japan.
A good rebuttal of Saka's absurd defense is at debito.org
Wanna see the whole book? A scan of it is available here for free.
There is some indication that the Japanese police may have been closely connected with the article. It seems to fit their policy/beliefs as it pertains to non-Japanese.
Japan Focus has an excellent article on this story describing in some detail about the racism in that magazine, the racist view toward non-Japanese, the Japanese media's reluctance to cover anything smacking of Japanese racism (Japanese are not racist because there is no racism in Japan---except the racism of non-Japanese who criticize anything about Japan), and how the mostly non-Japanese worldwide used the internet to embarrass the dealers (except Amazon Japan which viewed the sale of the magazine as a free speech issue) into removing the magazines.
The boycott and removal of the magazine from shelves of course, is not much of a victory. The ideas, beliefs, bigotry and racism that allows this kind of stuff to be published openly and freely is the problem. That most here do not recognize---or can't admit---that there is widespread racism---or at least racist beliefs among the public---and openly racist politicians and government officials is THE main problem. It's good that there was a small victory. However, since the Japanese-language press ignored the issue, there will be no debate, no reflection, no nothing by the Japanese public.
You've seen the 3 monkeys at the Tokugawa Ieyasu shrine in Nikko? Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? We might say that is still very much alive in Japan.
The rather clueless editor of the bigot rag responded to all the criticism:
He added that translating nigaa as "nigger" was "unfair", as the term is merely
Hmmm. The "N word" has none of the emotive power in Japanese that it does in English? Probably not to the Japanese. Might be to others who hear it and don't understand that there is no racism in Japan.
A good rebuttal of Saka's absurd defense is at debito.org
Wanna see the whole book? A scan of it is available here for free.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
U.N. Rep responds to Japan's assertion of homogenuity
A few days ago Japan's Education Minister, Bunmei Ibuki (who is in need of education himself), made the bizarrely inaccurate and false claim that Japan is a homogeneous society.
The U.N. special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia responded:
"There is no such thing as pure blooded or a pure race. Where do the Ainu fit in to Japanese society? Or the Chinese and Koreans?"
"I am absolutely shocked at his remark. Here is the education minister, the person who in charge of educating Japan's children about their history, saying something that is so outdated."
I am shocked that he is shocked. I would assume he would have a lot to respond to about Japan. I guess since he is in Japan now, he was able to see and hear about Ibuki's comment directly.
One would not likely see many European politicians get a free pass for bigoted and racist comments the way Japan's leaders do. Perhaps nobody expects any better of them.
Have not as of yet heard much domestic criticism of Ibuki's remarks. That may change since a U.N. representative has commented on them. Or it may just be ignored by the Japanese language press and of course Japan's elite.
Abe agrees with Ibuki as this is in keeping with his vision of a "beautiful country." I assume that means a Japan with no non-pure Japanese defiling it.
The U.N. special rapporteur on racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia responded:
"There is no such thing as pure blooded or a pure race. Where do the Ainu fit in to Japanese society? Or the Chinese and Koreans?"
"I am absolutely shocked at his remark. Here is the education minister, the person who in charge of educating Japan's children about their history, saying something that is so outdated."
I am shocked that he is shocked. I would assume he would have a lot to respond to about Japan. I guess since he is in Japan now, he was able to see and hear about Ibuki's comment directly.
One would not likely see many European politicians get a free pass for bigoted and racist comments the way Japan's leaders do. Perhaps nobody expects any better of them.
Have not as of yet heard much domestic criticism of Ibuki's remarks. That may change since a U.N. representative has commented on them. Or it may just be ignored by the Japanese language press and of course Japan's elite.
Abe agrees with Ibuki as this is in keeping with his vision of a "beautiful country." I assume that means a Japan with no non-pure Japanese defiling it.
Abe's Beautiful country to kids: Screw you too!
Reversal: Nine kids with Japanese dads not citizens from the Japan Times.
Abe's "Beautiful country." Oh well, does the fact that Japan will not recognize many children of Japanese men and non-Japanese women as citizens of Japan actually surprise anyone?
"Presiding Judge Hidetoshi Somiya said the law is justified and does not interfere with the children's constitutional right to equality...."
Abe's "Beautiful country." Oh well, does the fact that Japan will not recognize many children of Japanese men and non-Japanese women as citizens of Japan actually surprise anyone?
"Presiding Judge Hidetoshi Somiya said the law is justified and does not interfere with the children's constitutional right to equality...."
"...The nine plaintiffs, between the ages of 7 and 13 and all born in Japan, have Philippine citizenship and live in Tokyo and Chiba, Saitama, Kanagawa and Aichi prefectures with permanent residence status..."
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