Merry Christmas from PM Kan

Having pretty much given up on being able to do anything but embarrass himself, Kan has reached out to the Shintaro Ishihara's hard right party, tachiagare nippon ("Stand Up" or "Rise Up" Japan, intentionally mistranslated as The Sunrise Party in English*), in hopes of finding friends. Not that the DPJ doesn’t have a few of that flavor already, as some of its members signed the Washington Post ad of a few years ago supporting Shinzo Abe’s non-denial denial that the Japanese military was responsible for the forcing of women into sexual slavery in WW2. The logic of this move is not immediately apparent as even if Stand Up Japan joined with F**k Up Kan, the coalition would still not have enough of a majority to do anything. Considering Kan's track record of late, perhaps not being able to do anything is good.

*Meaning The Rising Sun Party?

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.

And Obama has called the US-Japan alliance "a cornerstone of world peace and security." Perhaps it means a bit more than Blinky's pout in the Senkaku dispute---the non-existent dispute which just may exist after all.

Who let the dogs out?

The Denenchofu/Okusawa areas of Tokyo are generally kept pretty clean. Garbage is taken away regularly and efficiently and people usually clean up their doggy doodoo. Occasionally though, one can step in a pile of smelly dog crap that someone missed, as I almost did today.

The Kokuminshinto, aka the People's New Party, an insignificant bunch led by the fellow who went got mad and resigned his cabinet post after 3 days on Friday, has put up new campaign posters emphasizing why the country needs watchdogs like the PNP and alpha male Shizuka Kamei. It's to protect the country by opposing permanent resident "foreigner" suffrage in local elections---naturally this would include PR of Korean descent---and to protect families from the damage that would occur should married couples be allowed to keep their separate surnames. (Non-Japanese and mixed couples may keep their family names when hitched, but they don't count anyway.) Alberto Fujimori, although originally a foreign dictator* who was later put in the hoosegow for killin' and stealin,' once ran as a member of the PNP while under house arrest in Chile. Alberto, a buddy of Blinky Ishihara, had been hanging out in Japan for a number of years prior to being arrested in Chile.

They are recruiting volunteers should anyone be interested. Phone number is on the blue poster. Can't see it? 03-3239-454X. I shan't post the last number, but anyone who could add 1+4 could figure it out. The e-mail address is on the poster too, should you prefer a more modern method.

Edited: For corrections/clarifications and a few additions, not the least of which is the sexy alpha male's mugshot. By the way, need I mention Kamei and his party want to roll back postal reforms?

Sic 'im Shizuka-chan!

*Dictator is too strong. He was merely an authoritarian president who was later convicted of various human rights abuses and other crimes. Wikipedia notes that, ironically, "there is no law banning participation in an election by someone under house arrest in a foreign country" in Japan. (Kamei conveyed Fujimori's "original campaign statements.") I guess that's much safer than allowing non-Japanese permanent residents to vote in local elections.

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

Weekend shot all to hell

The first Saturday in months that I have been able to relax without the help of shochu and I am dumb enough to turn on the TV and watch the news. What do I see?

I see documentary evidence that Neanderthals are still among us, for the new Tachiagare Nippon (Stand Up Japan!) Party was launched today (link in Japanese. Mistakenly [or not. See update at the bottom.] referred to as the Sunrise Party of Japan in English here). And there at the press conference among the other old, old, men---not necessarily in age, but in beliefs and ideas (?)---was Ol' Blinky Shintaro Ishihara himself. The fact that the fossilized bigot Ishihara is a part of the "new" party is all anyone needs to know about it. I understand that he may have even come up with the ingenuous name for the retrogrouches. Perhaps he came up with the idea because it reflects his infamous salute (he stood up and saluted like a Nazi) on top* of a SDF APC---or perhaps a tank---a number of years ago when he held a disaster exercise, part of which was to prepare Tokyo to defend against crazed, rioting foreigners.

This was a real news show, not a spoof, and these geezers apparently take themselves seriously. As I watched, I wondered who among my friends and acquaintances would support such a silly looking (and thinking) bunch. Then again, those who would snuggle up to these OGsans would not be friends with me.

Gonna need the shochu after all.

*Have not located an image yet. It was widely circulated at the time.

**Handsome likeness of Ol' Blinky from here. I hope that any female readers will be able to control themselves after seeing such a studly fellow.

Of course, I am not implying that the old goof is a Nazi.

Update: Kyodo/Japan Times is also calling the new party the Sunrise Party of Japan. According to that article this will be the official name in English. As usual, we make something sweet and innocent sounding for the foreigners and keep the real meaning for internal use.

On Second Thought

One cannot take the Toyota "scandal" at face value, for the thinking intellektual must be aware of the very real possibility that it is all a sneaky plot between the US auto companies and their lackey, the US gubbermint, to damage Toyota and regain market share for the troubled Big Three. After all, the parts in question, although made to Toyota's specs, have been linked to a US supplier which should raise suspicions about the quality problems inherent in the DNA of foreign-made products, as well as possibly sinister motives on the part of the foreign supplier.

It is not outside the realm of conspiracy theory that although Toyota may have made a few mistakes---like the domestic talents busted for drugs who are always tricked into using them by foreigners---the company may be the real victim here.

I eagerly await "Blinky" Ishihara and cohort's input.

Should have thought of that earlier

"We have just received a sharp verdict from Tokyo voters," Nobuteru Ishihara, LDP's acting secretary-general and head of the party's Tokyo chapter, said Sunday night. "We'd appreciate some time to stop (and think)." Asahi Shimbun

His daddy may get some thinking time too.

And it's already old news, but soon-to-be-ex-PM Aso has finally decided to hold an election at the end of August and to dissolve the Lower House next week.

Flu Panic Spreads as North Korea sets off nuke

THE TIMES OF NEW YORK

Unmasked residents, eyes pixelated in fear,

flee across the street after an uncovered sneeze
was reported in a local eyeglass shop.

TOKYO--Panic spread out of control in Japan today as it was announced that the unpredictable leader of North Korea had set off a nuke just days after Iran got in the headlines by testing a new missile. To add to the nuke fears, a shortage of masks in Tokyo and as far away as Nagano prefecture has caused many to flee in hysteria at the slightest hint of a cough or sneeze. Government officials have been in meetings since the detonation to determine if these combined panics are necessary or not. Reports that the WHO is considering revising its pandemic alert levels to eliminate Level 6 "Pandemic" and go straight to a Level 7 "Kiss your ass goodbye" are adding to the chaos.

Many Monday commuters were seen holding their breath to avoid being infected by either Swine flu virus or radioactive fallout from the North Korean blast. Due to the shortage of anti-Swine flu masks, only one person in Tokyo was spotted wearing the life-saving item.

Millions flee a station exit
gasping for air in a blind panic
after holding their breath for the
duration of their commute.


By noon Monday, the outspoken but harmless nationalist, Governor Shintaro Ishihara was seen mounting a tank in preparation to lead a preemptive strike against dangerous, criminally-inclined, rioting non-Japanese and little old ladies.

UPDATE: Tokyo--Prime Minister Aso announced that the elections scheduled for later this summer were to be postponed indefinitely. "We cannot afford to play politics as long as there are nuclear weapons and viruses on the planet," Mr. Aso reluctantly stated.

In a separate and entirely unrelated development, the Tokyo prosecutor's office announced an investigation into the DPJ's new leader Yukio Hatoyama over past claims that Hatoyama had contacts in terrorist organizations. Prosecutors vigorously denied any political motives when it was pointed out that it was the LDP's Kunio Hatoyama who had made those claims about himself while Justice Minister, not Yukio Hatoyama. A spokesman said that the charges were very serious and that Yukio Hatoyama had to be impartially, but thoroughly investigated to make sure that he was not Kunio Hatoyama.

Visiting Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman said that the Bush administration was responsible for all these problems.

Ima Loony, head of the NPO "Ethics in Eikaiwa Chain Schools" and Oi Bakero of "Reporters with No Standards" contributed to this article from under a blue tarp along the Tama River.

Blinky Ishihara's Japanese citizen buddy goes to the pokey

Blinky is blinking more rapidly today as news comes that his old friend and comrade, Alberto Ishimori, has been convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to 25 years in the slammer:

Former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori was found guilty of mass murder and kidnapping Tuesday and was sentenced to 25 years in prison, a rare instance of a former head of state being found guilty in his own country on human rights charges. LA Times.

Now how can this be explained? Is this criminal the usual dangerous foreigner with the criminal DNA common to the species, or is he Japanese? Will the Japanese media refer to him as a Japanese citizen? We'll have to watch for this---I missed the noon news. And what will ol' Blinky say? Talking about Mr. Fujimori will be "interesting".

Tokyo to have the world's biggest phallus

No, not Blinky Ishihara, but an even bigger dick.

Somehow I missed this, but I just read about it on the Japan Economy News and Blog. It will be called the Tokyo Sky Tree. How imaginative. And beautiful. This is how Japan will retake the economic momentum in Asia from China.

Yukio Mishima

A DVD of the 1985 movie: Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters is being released in the US. I have read a few of his books and was never a great fan, although I did like The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea. He was one of Japan's more famous writers and our hero, Blinky Ishihara, was a friend. Some folks also admire him for his fascination with death and I am not talking about Japanese.

Along with the DVD, his film "Patriotism" in which he played a soldier who killed himself will be released. I read that article and remembered a very short film of his which one of my professors had suggested that I watch when I was in college. He did not suggest it for the artistic value, but so that I could get some idea of the fanaticism that existed in some parts of the Japanese military in, and prior to, WW2.

I did a search and found "Yukoku." Below are 4 clips from YouTube. They aren't matched exactly, but I believe most of the film is included. Be warned, it is bloody.

1---http://youtube.com/watch?v=DqUmmMocMqo&feature=related
2---http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=_DtumtCQ0gk&NR=1
3---http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=vsbftwFKjIA&feature=related
4---http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ1cSiL_cUw&feature=related

3 July: Edited to add a link to the NYT article concerning the DVD release.

"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.

In another huge shock---at least to me---a resolution has passed recognizing the Ainu as indigenous people and admitting that they have been discriminated against by the government. If this resolution is followed up with effective action, it will be a big change for Japan.

It's not the first surprise, as Japan has also signaled that it will sign the Hague Convention with regards to abducted children. It this occurs and laws are passed and upheld to ensure that Japanese parents can no longer openly abduct children involved in overseas custody battles, then it will be another huge, huge change.

I won't be holding my breath until these good intentions show actual results, but it is encouraging to see this. No word from the rightwing yet, as far as I know. Blinky, where are you?

Another of Blinky's Follies?

Ishihara's Shinginko bank has been sinking under the weight of bad loans, so recently he and the Tokyo Assembly decided that taxpayers should bail him out.

Another one of his brilliant ideas is to move the Tsukiji fish market to a new, highly toxic site. Why worry about contaminated food from China when we can provide our own. Of course that may be a little exaggerated because the site will be cleaned up before the market is moved and everything will be OK in the end. Ishihara is no blithering idiot, after all.

The Japan Times reports:

In studies conducted from February to April, the metropolitan government detected benzene, which can be a cancer-causing agent, at up to 43,000 times the legally acceptable level.

It also found that the groundwater of part of the site contained benzene at 10,000 times and cyanogen at 130 times the acceptable level.

Off for Golden Week?

If you have an hour or so, you might want to listen to Arubito Debito's speech at the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Japan. He discusses his new book Handbook for newcomers, migrants, and immigrants to Japan, as well as other issues which should be of interest to anyone of any nationality---including Japanese---in Japan. He even mentions ol' Blinky Ishihara, without whom no discussion of discrimination would be complete but he also discusses much more and talks about why immigration is vital for Japan.

Interestingly Amazon Japan search brings no results for the title, or either author. I have e-mailed them to find out why. Amazon US will receive the next if the answer is not believable.

**2:17pm: Amazon sent me a link. Note that it is in Japanese (I had searched in English for an for a book primarily targeted at non-Japanese---how silly of me).**

Problems for Blinky Ishihara?

What could it be? The Chinese? Koreans? All non-Japanese? Women? The African-American men in Guam? Which of Blinky's nemisis are causing trouble?

In 2005, our courageous bigot started a bank because the other Japanese banks were in a mess and reluctant to hand out money to just about any fool who asked as had been the practice during the Bubble. In 2008, our bigoted genius' bank was mired in its own mess due to bad loans. Blinky denied any responsibility saying that it was the fault of the incompetents whom he appointed. He was even able to get the Tokyo Metropolitan ASSembly to approve a taxpayer bailout of his idiocy.

Now Blinky will likely escape any serious personal liability for this as he seems to be as slippery as Slick Willie was, but with only about half the sense.

Japan's Financial Services Agency said it will investigate ShinGinko Tokyo Ltd., the unprofitable lender founded by Tokyo's government in 2005.

The FSA, which announced the probe yesterday on its Web site, didn't provide any details. Bloomberg.

The LDP and the thugs of the right

A woman takes the stage and says: "We are committed to rebuilding a proud Japan, where the prime minister can openly worship at Yasukuni. We will devote ourselves to speeding the day when the Emperor too can worship here."

As she rejoins the spectators and the familiar chords of "Kimigayo" groan from the speakers, two young protesters shout anti-Yasukuni slogans. The protesters are hauled away from the stage, beaten by ultra-rightists and chased from the shrine as an enraged old man repeatedly screams at them to "Go back to China." The two men, who are Japanese, are then arrested by the police.

That woman politician was of course Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Tomomi Inada, today widely seen as the main critical force against the movie [Yasukuni] and a leading historical revisionist....

"Politicians know that when they, say, make pronouncements about these issues that we will take action," says Yoshisada Takahashi, who heads a Tokyo-based ultra-nationalist group.

It goes on and on. Abe was a stooge of the right who became Prime Minister. Aso awaits his chance after the more moderate Fukuda. Of course not all of the return-to-the-past rightists are LDP members. Former LDP member and now Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara is another of the rightwing crowd and not only because he dislikes immigrants, women, and about everything else. (See the article to learn just a little more of Ishihara.)

David McNeill has a piece in the Japan Times about the "politicians who flirt with fascists" to attempt to stop the showing of the Li Ying documentary, Yasukuni. That attempt may be failing as at least 20 theaters have decided to show it in spite of the risks. Article here.

Li discusses the film and his reasons for making it here.

...It was a shock. It left me shaking. I couldn't believe it. I felt like I was standing on a battlefield. It was a shock to experience such a scene, here in Japan so many years after the war. That people still feel a sense of honor and pride toward such a scene, it's unthinkable...

Both articles provide a strong refutation of the 2002 Eugene A. Matthews article in the CFR below.

Tokyo Gov't blinks for Blinky

The news is a bit old, but "Binky" Ishihara's masterpiece of incompetence, Shinginko Tokyo Bank, has been sinking into a cesspool of non-performing loans. It sort of seems like the loan officers were approving loans without much concern for the creditworthiness of the applicants. This is what used to happen back in the bubble days.

Blinky has denied any personal responsibility, but so far he has not blamed it on the Chinese, or the US, or other non-Japanese. He blamed it on the folks he picked to run the bank. How could it be his fault if they were idiots?

Anyway, in the face of public opposition---So?---the Tokyo Metropolitan ASSembly has approved a ￥40 billion bailout of the bank. Strangely, even small businesses which Blinky claimed the bank was to help say that it is "not useful." But WTF cares what the public thinks? Not Blinky. Not the Tokyo Metro ASS.

Interestingly, or not, Blinky has claimed to be a buddy of Dick Cheney. That could explain a lot, including the blinking. "Don't shoot Dicky. We are hunting peasants. Shoot them, not me." (Sorry, the birds are actually "pheasants." My error.)

Article here.

MangaMan is tanned, rested, and ready

Now that it once again seems possible that the U.S. election will revert to folks advocating doing the same old thing over and over and expecting different results, Japanese politics may become interesting. Fukuda is a bit boring and although there are rumors that he is actually doing something, what that something is isn't noticeable unless all the new paint in your world has dried and you've nothing else to do except pay attention to him and his crew.

There is a post on Observing Japan about the comic book man and noted right-winger Taro Aso prepping himself for the prime minister spot after Fukuda fades away. (Well, old LDP leaders never die and also seem to never really fade away. Nakasone is still around in some role.) Taro has come to the conclusion that Japan needs a spine. Well, no doubt it could use one (and Uncle Sam could assist by withdrawing the supposedly evil, crime-prone U.S. military that the Japanese media so loves to hate, and by tearing up the Security Treaty) but the question is: What would getting a spine mean for Japan? Pretending it was a victim in WW2 and denying any wrong-doing? Insist that the women used as sex slaves during the war by the Japanese military apologize to Japan? Asking Korea to repay Japan for all the infrastructure it built during Japan's 35 year occupation of the country? Being more aggressive in its territorial disputes with China? Acting on "Blinky" Ishihara's idea from a few years ago to attack North Korea? Taking Abe's Beautiful Country ideas to the extreme?

Oh, MangaMan would be quite entertaining, infuriating, and everything else one would expect from a man who thinks that Japan could gain international understanding for its foreign policy through comic books. It has a foreign policy other than selling Japanese products or angering its neighbors?)