Racial profiling had never struck me as a personal issue. I am a Japanese woman living in Japan after all, where less than 2 percent of the population is foreign....
...I was stunned by the officer’s blatant profiling of me... [she believes it was based on her being a bit taller than the average Japanese woman which led some of Tokyo's finest to suspect that she might be a non-Japanese.]
...“The same thing as in Arizona has been in place in Japan for a long time without much criticism,” says my cousin and lawyer Genichi Yamaguchi. NYT/IHT 7 July 2010 Op ed.
Ms. Makihara goes on to state that most Japanese don't know about the racial profiling that goes on as a rule in Japan and wonders just how much anyone would object.
She continues with some indications that Japanese may be becoming less willing to try to understand anything beyond Japan's borders. Some not-so-generous people would wonder how that would be possible since most of the past attempts to understand seem to be as much about reaffirming the uniqueness of the Japanese (or selling cars and radios) than a real attempt to understand others as humans of the same species.
Ms. Makihara plans to protest the next time that she is stopped that such behavior is racial profiling. I wonder how the couple of fellows from Down Under who occasionally write columns for the Japan Times in support of discrimination and bigotry would respond to Ms. Makihara. Would they explain that this is being done for her safety?
By the way, one of those fellows was writing a book about what the world could learn from Japan (the usefulness of discrimination based on race, ethnicity national origins?), but as eagerly as I have awaited it, I have not found it yet. Wonder what happened?
If that is not enough, the troublesome foreigner---oops! Can't say that as he's a Japanese citizen---Debito Arudou has penned another article at the Japan Times (perhaps to be rebutted by one of the above mentioned apologists for bigotry soon) concerning the long-time and apparently never-ending illegal refusal of service to non-Japanese by many hotels in Japan. Tyler Brule, when are you gonna visit one of those and let the well-heeled know about that kind of wonderful Japanese service?
(My understanding of the law in Arizona is that it is not nearly as broad as what exists in Japan now.)
Showing posts with label useful idiots. Show all posts
Showing posts with label useful idiots. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Friday, April 30, 2010
DPJ's Maehara shows himself to be an intellectual dupe; surges in polls
Japan Bashing, the term created by an American lackey and lobbyist for the Japanese government, Robert C. Angel in the 80s has made a comeback in the DPJ with Transport Minister Seiji Maeha:
"Should there be any Japan-bashing, that would not be positive for the American economy either," he said, referring to a possible extreme backlash against Japanese manufacturers, which he said had been avoided so far. Japan Times
Edited to add, knowing fully well this has nothing to do with the intellectual dupe's "Japan Bashing" theory:
Seiji Maehara, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, surged into second with 10.6 percent. Maehara, who is in an anti-Ozawa group within the DPJ, had just 4.9 percent support in the previous poll. Same JT article as directly above.
I sincerely apologize for being unfair to the dupe.
Why must I edit html to get blogger to format, to use the correct font, and to do about anything else? And even when I do, it ignores what I enter?
"Should there be any Japan-bashing, that would not be positive for the American economy either," he said, referring to a possible extreme backlash against Japanese manufacturers, which he said had been avoided so far. Japan Times
--------------------------------------------
I [Robert C. Angel]hoped to be able to discredit those most effective critics by lumping them together with the people who weren't informed and who as critics were an embarrassment to everybody else."...
...Angel, who says he is now embarrassed by his triumph, commented, "I view that modest public relations success with some shame and disappointment." And added, "Those people who use (the term) have the distinction of being my intellectual dupes." Wikipedia
In other unrelated news, PM Hatoyama's support has dropped to 20.7%, according to the JT.Edited to add, knowing fully well this has nothing to do with the intellectual dupe's "Japan Bashing" theory:
Seiji Maehara, minister of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism, surged into second with 10.6 percent. Maehara, who is in an anti-Ozawa group within the DPJ, had just 4.9 percent support in the previous poll. Same JT article as directly above.
I sincerely apologize for being unfair to the dupe.
Why must I edit html to get blogger to format, to use the correct font, and to do about anything else? And even when I do, it ignores what I enter?
Friday, February 06, 2009
Fantasies past
From a 1987 article. Oh, the memories of that era:
In 1984 the university's graduate school of business administration began offering a master of business administration degree combined with a master of arts degree in Asian studies. The aim was to fill a gap: Too few American college graduates can speak Japanese as well as offer a solid business background...
''I chose it because of claims that the equipment market is closed and I was skeptical,''...for example, that too many American companies have been slow in printing good instructions for equipment in Japanese...
...He found a difference between American and Japanese customers. Americans were satisfied as long as a product functioned properly, he said, but added that ''the Japanese users tore it apart and wanted to know what made it work.''(Wonder why?) NYT Archives 1987.
It seems that any time that the media starts proclaiming that there is a need for more university students to become proficient in a certain field it is time to avoid that field. Even if there should turn out to be a real need for the expertise---in this case there was not---by the time anyone graduates, there will be about 2 zillion other fools who fell for the same line and apply for the 37 real openings. Another fool won't be needed.
Let's see, in the 80s, there was a big future demand for people with knowledge of Japan and who could also speak Japanese, for lack of familiarity with Japanese language and culture was the reason that US (and other country's) companies had a hard time penetrating the Japanese market. It was all a misunderstanding on the part of stupid, arrogant, ill-mannered, and pushy foreigners. (Of course since many believe that non-Japanese cannot really understand Japan's uniquely unique, deeply mysterious culture, we should have questioned the point of wasting time studying it. Ask Edward Seidensticker.* )
In the late 90s in the US, the press was clamoring for the need for new IT professional. Then the Internet bubble burst, and suddenly there wasn't such a need. At least that field has recovered, mostly because it was a field in which a large number of people with expertise was and is and will be needed. Unlike Japanese Studies.
What will be the next hot field? Tax law specialists to help those who make US tax law pay their own taxes? Going nowhere.
*Seidensticker was a well-know Japanese-English translator, known for his translation of The Tale of Genji and Snow Country, among others. I particularly remember an incident he wrote about years ago. He was in a bar in Tokyo discussing the Tale of Genji with some of the patrons when one half-drunken sod asked him, "Yes, you translated it, but do you REALLY understand it?" implying, of course, that only a Japanese could really understand it. Seidensticker did not especially welcome that fool's comment. Edward had an attitude that many non-Japanese residents of Japan could sympathize with. Others would sympathize with the half-drunken fool and write absurd Japan Times columns defending bigotry.
In 1984 the university's graduate school of business administration began offering a master of business administration degree combined with a master of arts degree in Asian studies. The aim was to fill a gap: Too few American college graduates can speak Japanese as well as offer a solid business background...
During the three-year program, the participants study not only the Japanese language but also the culture and the economic and political history of Japan, in addition to completing the requirements for an M.B.A. program. Six months are spent in Japan, working for a Japanese company and completing a master's thesis.
''I chose it because of claims that the equipment market is closed and I was skeptical,''...for example, that too many American companies have been slow in printing good instructions for equipment in Japanese...
...He found a difference between American and Japanese customers. Americans were satisfied as long as a product functioned properly, he said, but added that ''the Japanese users tore it apart and wanted to know what made it work.''(Wonder why?) NYT Archives 1987.
It seems that any time that the media starts proclaiming that there is a need for more university students to become proficient in a certain field it is time to avoid that field. Even if there should turn out to be a real need for the expertise---in this case there was not---by the time anyone graduates, there will be about 2 zillion other fools who fell for the same line and apply for the 37 real openings. Another fool won't be needed.
Let's see, in the 80s, there was a big future demand for people with knowledge of Japan and who could also speak Japanese, for lack of familiarity with Japanese language and culture was the reason that US (and other country's) companies had a hard time penetrating the Japanese market. It was all a misunderstanding on the part of stupid, arrogant, ill-mannered, and pushy foreigners. (Of course since many believe that non-Japanese cannot really understand Japan's uniquely unique, deeply mysterious culture, we should have questioned the point of wasting time studying it. Ask Edward Seidensticker.* )
In the late 90s in the US, the press was clamoring for the need for new IT professional. Then the Internet bubble burst, and suddenly there wasn't such a need. At least that field has recovered, mostly because it was a field in which a large number of people with expertise was and is and will be needed. Unlike Japanese Studies.
What will be the next hot field? Tax law specialists to help those who make US tax law pay their own taxes? Going nowhere.
*Seidensticker was a well-know Japanese-English translator, known for his translation of The Tale of Genji and Snow Country, among others. I particularly remember an incident he wrote about years ago. He was in a bar in Tokyo discussing the Tale of Genji with some of the patrons when one half-drunken sod asked him, "Yes, you translated it, but do you REALLY understand it?" implying, of course, that only a Japanese could really understand it. Seidensticker did not especially welcome that fool's comment. Edward had an attitude that many non-Japanese residents of Japan could sympathize with. Others would sympathize with the half-drunken fool and write absurd Japan Times columns defending bigotry.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
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:
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:
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.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Big in Japan
A woman from Louisiana with a lot of extra money wrote a popular (in the US) and insightful book about avoiding made-in-China products by substituting much more expensive products made elsewhere. It's not that she is anti-China trade, as she still has not decided for herself whether trade with China is a good or bad thing. Nor has she stopped buying made in China products. She has, however, found that one can get paid for writing a book about such things and get a free trip to sell said book in Japan where the anti made-in-China theme is very popular. (Well, OK the anti made-anywhere-except-Japan theme is not exactly unknown, but the anti-China one is the current fad.)
Being a very bright person, after a year of kinda, maybe not always buying made-in-China products and then writing her masterpiece, she shrewdly observed:
...that the affordability of Chinese products makes shopping amusing and goods disposable...
Being a very bright person, after a year of kinda, maybe not always buying made-in-China products and then writing her masterpiece, she shrewdly observed:
...that the affordability of Chinese products makes shopping amusing and goods disposable...
"It's too late to turn away because we cannot live without (We'll die?) Chinese goods," she said.
The Japan Times put this online with a straight face here.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
And I thought Edwin Reischauer was long gone
until I read this from 2002 CFR article:
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.
...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.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Oh, what a topsy-turvy world!
I just went down to the local 7-11 and I saw a new type of candy---CHOCOLATE HAMBURGERS!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!!! OH MY GOD!!! ONLY IN JAPAN!
How weird. How utterly unfathomable. How could anyone think up chocolate burgers? How could anyone think up candy in the shape of other food??? Oh, the mystery of the Orient. How weird and strange it is here. How weird and strange the people are. I think I can never understand them. Of course no westerner could possibly do so. It is too different. It is on a different plane. Logic does not apply. Chocolate hamburger candy. Eeeewwwww.
After I saw that, I was so confused that I went outside and started running around in circles hooting like an owl and I am not even a journalist out for the night in Roppongi. I may apply for a job as one though, either with the Financial Times----or should the FT find that I am not sufficiently confused by mysterious Japan---the Boston Globe.
Candy shaped like normal food. Wow. What will be next? Candy cigarettes? Little wax bottles of fake soda? Who knows? It could happen in weird Japan. Oh, wait. They had candy cigarettes and fake soda in little wax bottles in the US when I was a kid. Now I am even more confused. I may qualify for a top management position at the FT.
How weird. How utterly unfathomable. How could anyone think up chocolate burgers? How could anyone think up candy in the shape of other food??? Oh, the mystery of the Orient. How weird and strange it is here. How weird and strange the people are. I think I can never understand them. Of course no westerner could possibly do so. It is too different. It is on a different plane. Logic does not apply. Chocolate hamburger candy. Eeeewwwww.
After I saw that, I was so confused that I went outside and started running around in circles hooting like an owl and I am not even a journalist out for the night in Roppongi. I may apply for a job as one though, either with the Financial Times----or should the FT find that I am not sufficiently confused by mysterious Japan---the Boston Globe.
Candy shaped like normal food. Wow. What will be next? Candy cigarettes? Little wax bottles of fake soda? Who knows? It could happen in weird Japan. Oh, wait. They had candy cigarettes and fake soda in little wax bottles in the US when I was a kid. Now I am even more confused. I may qualify for a top management position at the FT.
The Mystery of the Orient
As I sat on the train at 630AM yesterday morning beside a guy who had his left index finger knuckle deep doing his annual nose cleaning, I began to once again ponder inscrutable, mysterious Japan. As he rolled some of his nasal contents between his fingers and flicked them on the floor, I was confused by what might seem to be a lack of manners despite the well-known fact that the Japanese are the most polite, well-mannered people in the universe. I then thought about a guy from Europe who asked me how there could be such a close relationship with nature in a country in which "they have done more to destroy nature than any other." He had just returned from a ski trip where there was blaring music all day, all over the ski resort.
I thought of last weekend when I went to the mountains myself to relax and enjoy nature and to get away from the noise, pollution, and man-made artificiality of Tokyo, and was followed on a mountain trail by some old guy with his transistor radio blaring full blast scaring every living thing away and destroying any thought of nature. I wondered how this could represent the mysterious close relationship with nature which is so invisible here.
I thought about my recent experience with the unhygienic food handling at the Denenchofu, Tokyo McDonalds and how McDonalds Japan has to date failed to respond to 2 complaints I made. I could not seem to connect this with quasi-mythical Japanese good service. The idea that" the customer is god" is hard to reconcile with this behavior. Perhaps there is another idea that the merchant is atheist. I dunno. It's all part of the mystery of the Orient.
What got me thinking of all this was a post on the blog Shisaku about an article by David Pilling in the Financial Times which Shisaku (aka MTC) calls "the worst essay on Japan published in a major newspaper in the last 20 years." That is quite a claim since the competition in the worst article category is so strong. (The full article no longer appears to be available to non-subscribers.)
I had tried not to read it as the first few lines told me what it was all about. What was surprising is that the "journalist" (?) who wrote it has been in Japan since 2002. Usually one loses the fantasyland view of the mythical uniquely unique Japan after a few years---at the latest. Apparently, it's different for idiots---sorry, I mean journalists.
I'm sorry, but I don't see what is so mysterious about Japan. Everything here is understandable and explainable just like anywhere else. There are reasons things are the way they are. It ain't magical. However, if you believe the nihonjinron mythology, then things do get confusing. As long as you understand that it is 99.99999% horse manure, and look at how things are instead of how folks like Edwin Reischauer and Masahiko Fujiwara claim them to be, the mystery tends to disappear.
What is troubling about this sort of nonsense is that it is written by someone who is supposed to be trained in fact-finding and observation. We are depending on people like this to tell us what is "really" happening in Iraq, or China, or France, or even our own country. It is very obvious that we have to take what they say with a huge grain of salt.
Anyway, I wasted a whole day thinking about it and was still thinking about it as I was being pushed and shoved unnecessarily on the train home while listening to two drunken old men shouting and giggling all the way. Ahhh....how uniquely polite. (Oh, yes, I know that there is an explainer excuse for this behavior that would let us know how this rude, impolite behavior is not really rude and impolite in Japan because the drunken old ojiisans were "outside" their group. To those folks I politely say "horse-poo, you silly boy--or girl".)
I thought of last weekend when I went to the mountains myself to relax and enjoy nature and to get away from the noise, pollution, and man-made artificiality of Tokyo, and was followed on a mountain trail by some old guy with his transistor radio blaring full blast scaring every living thing away and destroying any thought of nature. I wondered how this could represent the mysterious close relationship with nature which is so invisible here.
I thought about my recent experience with the unhygienic food handling at the Denenchofu, Tokyo McDonalds and how McDonalds Japan has to date failed to respond to 2 complaints I made. I could not seem to connect this with quasi-mythical Japanese good service. The idea that" the customer is god" is hard to reconcile with this behavior. Perhaps there is another idea that the merchant is atheist. I dunno. It's all part of the mystery of the Orient.
What got me thinking of all this was a post on the blog Shisaku about an article by David Pilling in the Financial Times which Shisaku (aka MTC) calls "the worst essay on Japan published in a major newspaper in the last 20 years." That is quite a claim since the competition in the worst article category is so strong. (The full article no longer appears to be available to non-subscribers.)
I had tried not to read it as the first few lines told me what it was all about. What was surprising is that the "journalist" (?) who wrote it has been in Japan since 2002. Usually one loses the fantasyland view of the mythical uniquely unique Japan after a few years---at the latest. Apparently, it's different for idiots---sorry, I mean journalists.
I'm sorry, but I don't see what is so mysterious about Japan. Everything here is understandable and explainable just like anywhere else. There are reasons things are the way they are. It ain't magical. However, if you believe the nihonjinron mythology, then things do get confusing. As long as you understand that it is 99.99999% horse manure, and look at how things are instead of how folks like Edwin Reischauer and Masahiko Fujiwara claim them to be, the mystery tends to disappear.
What is troubling about this sort of nonsense is that it is written by someone who is supposed to be trained in fact-finding and observation. We are depending on people like this to tell us what is "really" happening in Iraq, or China, or France, or even our own country. It is very obvious that we have to take what they say with a huge grain of salt.
Anyway, I wasted a whole day thinking about it and was still thinking about it as I was being pushed and shoved unnecessarily on the train home while listening to two drunken old men shouting and giggling all the way. Ahhh....how uniquely polite. (Oh, yes, I know that there is an explainer excuse for this behavior that would let us know how this rude, impolite behavior is not really rude and impolite in Japan because the drunken old ojiisans were "outside" their group. To those folks I politely say "horse-poo, you silly boy--or girl".)
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The history of fingerprinting legal residents in Japan
Just to refresh the memory of some who do not know that Japan used to routinely force all non-citizen residents to give their fingerprints every 3 years (In case them thar dastardly foreigners changed their fingers in order to do evil.) Kathleen Morikawa who was one of the original fingerprint refusers has written an article in the Japan Times on the history of this issue. It will not convince the naive who swallow anything as long as the government can say it's for security, nor will it convince the hopeless useful idiot class. It is a good, basic review of the issue. There was more to it than this, especially the forced fingerprinting of Korean residents in Japan. I have to admire the balls that it took to refuse (or ovaries). I wonder if push comes to shove, how many of us would do so again? And if we did, would it have any effect with the US actually pushing this sort of nonsense thereby making it easier for countries whose xenophobic leaders have no problem with discrimination to do so.
....Well, it was a long, hard slog but we finally got fingerprinting abolished. I am now of the "obasan" generation, and what do you know? My prints are in demand once again and down in Kanto the old, yellow index-finger balloon of the 1980s protests has been resurrected.
One would have to be utterly devoid of a sense of humor not to find something ridiculously ironic about all this. As an American, it is all the more ironic as the recent actions of my own government have created the atmosphere that has allowed Japan to so easily reintroduce mandatory fingerprinting.
What can we learn from the experiences of the past 25 years, aside from the fact that without constant vigilance the rights we fight so hard to win can be very easily lost? Full article.
But every country does it or might maybe do it. It's for security. It's ok.
....Well, it was a long, hard slog but we finally got fingerprinting abolished. I am now of the "obasan" generation, and what do you know? My prints are in demand once again and down in Kanto the old, yellow index-finger balloon of the 1980s protests has been resurrected.
One would have to be utterly devoid of a sense of humor not to find something ridiculously ironic about all this. As an American, it is all the more ironic as the recent actions of my own government have created the atmosphere that has allowed Japan to so easily reintroduce mandatory fingerprinting.
What can we learn from the experiences of the past 25 years, aside from the fact that without constant vigilance the rights we fight so hard to win can be very easily lost? Full article.
But every country does it or might maybe do it. It's for security. It's ok.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A tale of 2 Japans
Many courageous Japanese World War II veterans, historians, teachers, and others of moral conscience are frustrated and penalized when they attempt to inform an apathetic Japanese public....
...Does the Japanese Government intend to deny the documented war crimes until the last victims and witnesses finally die off? Yes, because the Japanese view themselves as innocent victims of WWII. Culturally, Japan believes that its victimhood is more relevant than the unpublicized evils inflicted upon millions who suffered under its cruel military rule.
Japan's response to the outraged cries of survivors and astonished historians echoes the comic’s retort when caught in the act: "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" But no laughs are found in this insult to truth. Full article here.
From Ron Wulkan, the author of a new novel about Japan. What distinguishes this writer from most is that he was a military policeman during the Occupation and he worked with Japanese who had witnessed or participated in war crimes. Because he was interested in Japan, some fellow soldiers called him a "gook lover," which he took as the title of the book. His interest in Japan appears not to have become a mindless acceptance of everything Japanese like so often seems to happen. Instead his book is "a pro-Japanese, pro-Asian, but anti-Imperial Japan novel."
On the other hand, Ms. LaVel Daily, an ikebana expert, was recently awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan. In a newspaper interview with the Houston Chronical she was asked:
Q: We did fight a war with Japan. How does that square with the civility of the people you describe?
A: I must say, I was young enough that I didn't know very much personally about that war, but I was in Japan about three or four days after 9/11. When they learned I was from the United States, they expressed extreme grief. I was in Japan when the newspapers and television showed Japanese military boarding transport aircraft to go to Afghanistan (for a support role). I've always felt the Japanese were our friends and supported the United States, totally.
From this answer and others during the interview, one can guess that she is a very deep thinker. Forgot to answer the question though. Didn't personally know about the war, you see. Never read a history book either, I suppose. And certainly does not want to say anything that she thinks might offend certain folks (Abe, Aso, and assorted LDP et al nutjobs and emperor worshippers) in Japan. Something implying some kind of guilt on Japan would do that.
Which person do you think is more honest, accurate, knowledgeable, and thoughtful when it comes to Japan, the WW2 vet or the ikebana teacher? Which person do you think really has the best interests of Japan---and the rest of the world---at heart?
...Does the Japanese Government intend to deny the documented war crimes until the last victims and witnesses finally die off? Yes, because the Japanese view themselves as innocent victims of WWII. Culturally, Japan believes that its victimhood is more relevant than the unpublicized evils inflicted upon millions who suffered under its cruel military rule.
Japan's response to the outraged cries of survivors and astonished historians echoes the comic’s retort when caught in the act: "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" But no laughs are found in this insult to truth. Full article here.
From Ron Wulkan, the author of a new novel about Japan. What distinguishes this writer from most is that he was a military policeman during the Occupation and he worked with Japanese who had witnessed or participated in war crimes. Because he was interested in Japan, some fellow soldiers called him a "gook lover," which he took as the title of the book. His interest in Japan appears not to have become a mindless acceptance of everything Japanese like so often seems to happen. Instead his book is "a pro-Japanese, pro-Asian, but anti-Imperial Japan novel."
On the other hand, Ms. LaVel Daily, an ikebana expert, was recently awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan. In a newspaper interview with the Houston Chronical she was asked:
Q: We did fight a war with Japan. How does that square with the civility of the people you describe?
A: I must say, I was young enough that I didn't know very much personally about that war, but I was in Japan about three or four days after 9/11. When they learned I was from the United States, they expressed extreme grief. I was in Japan when the newspapers and television showed Japanese military boarding transport aircraft to go to Afghanistan (for a support role). I've always felt the Japanese were our friends and supported the United States, totally.
From this answer and others during the interview, one can guess that she is a very deep thinker. Forgot to answer the question though. Didn't personally know about the war, you see. Never read a history book either, I suppose. And certainly does not want to say anything that she thinks might offend certain folks (Abe, Aso, and assorted LDP et al nutjobs and emperor worshippers) in Japan. Something implying some kind of guilt on Japan would do that.
Which person do you think is more honest, accurate, knowledgeable, and thoughtful when it comes to Japan, the WW2 vet or the ikebana teacher? Which person do you think really has the best interests of Japan---and the rest of the world---at heart?
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Another whining foreigner, James Fallows,
who was one of the so-called "revisionists" to the E. O. Reischauer et al sugar-coated version of modern Japan in the late 80s and early 90s when he wrote for Atlantic magazine (he still does) visited Japan over Thanksgiving. Unlike some of our resident apologists, he did not especially appreciate Japan's new policy even if America does it too. My god, does he not know that if the USA does it, right or wrong, that it provides justification for everyone?
Japan's way of ushering in the Thanksgiving holidays has been to institute mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of all foreigners entering the country. Let me put this bluntly: this is an incredibly degrading, off-putting, and hostility-generating process. The comment is not anti-Japanese: when the U.S. does this to foreigners, it's wrong and degrading too (as many people, including me, have pointed out over the years). But Japan has just ushered in this procedure, and they deserve to take some heat for it....
....It’s one thing, and wrong enough, for the U.S. to apply similar measures in the panicky, immediate, “we’re for anything that is called ‘anti-terrorist’ ” mood of the 9/11 aftermath, which is when the U.S. began discussing similar “biometric” measures. It’s even worse to do it six years later, after a chance for cold deliberation about the prices society is and is not willing to pay to keep itself “secure.”
I learned of this from debito.org where I often find similar interesting material.
Japan's way of ushering in the Thanksgiving holidays has been to institute mandatory fingerprinting and photographing of all foreigners entering the country. Let me put this bluntly: this is an incredibly degrading, off-putting, and hostility-generating process. The comment is not anti-Japanese: when the U.S. does this to foreigners, it's wrong and degrading too (as many people, including me, have pointed out over the years). But Japan has just ushered in this procedure, and they deserve to take some heat for it....
....It’s one thing, and wrong enough, for the U.S. to apply similar measures in the panicky, immediate, “we’re for anything that is called ‘anti-terrorist’ ” mood of the 9/11 aftermath, which is when the U.S. began discussing similar “biometric” measures. It’s even worse to do it six years later, after a chance for cold deliberation about the prices society is and is not willing to pay to keep itself “secure.”
I learned of this from debito.org where I often find similar interesting material.
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Useful Idiots pt 2: The anti-democratic (baka) gaijin
In the recent debate over Japan's new fingerprinting law for tourists, residents, and permanent residents, a few non-Japanese seem extremely offended that a non-Japanese resident, permanent resident, or even visitor exercises his/her right---even in Japan for now---of free speech or peaceful protest.
Many of these non-Japanese claim to be Americans from the US. Yes, the same US that promotes democracy and free speech rights throughout the world? (OK, in some cases it is more lip service than much else when US interests may not match its ideology.) I wonder if these folks, Americans or not, hold the same beliefs about non-US citizens in the US. (Or non-citizens in their home countries.) For example, does that mean that one who is not a citizen in the US has NO right to say anything no matter what actions the US government takes that affects them? Would these same folks expect their spouses who may be permanent residents of the US to passively accept everything the US government does in the name of "security"? Would these folks also insist that all Japanese residents of the US also keep their mouths shut or leave? Have non-military Americans actually become such a frightened, quivering crowd?
If not, why do they demand non-Japanese residents passively accept everything the Japanese government says? Do they expect less of Japan? Do they assume that Japanese citizens cannot deal with free speech or peaceful protest? Or do they just want to go along to get along and be a nice, passive, smiling subject in the mistaken belief that everyone---even Ishihara and the nutjobs in the soundtrucks---will like them and call them good little (baka) gaijin?
I would assume if one does not like free speech that instead of telling others who are practicing free speech to leave, that they could themselves leave and go to one of the nearby countries which do not permit free speech. Then they could be happy living under a government in which they must accept without question everything they are told to do in the name of security.
And they could still be (baka) gaijin.
Many of these non-Japanese claim to be Americans from the US. Yes, the same US that promotes democracy and free speech rights throughout the world? (OK, in some cases it is more lip service than much else when US interests may not match its ideology.) I wonder if these folks, Americans or not, hold the same beliefs about non-US citizens in the US. (Or non-citizens in their home countries.) For example, does that mean that one who is not a citizen in the US has NO right to say anything no matter what actions the US government takes that affects them? Would these same folks expect their spouses who may be permanent residents of the US to passively accept everything the US government does in the name of "security"? Would these folks also insist that all Japanese residents of the US also keep their mouths shut or leave? Have non-military Americans actually become such a frightened, quivering crowd?
If not, why do they demand non-Japanese residents passively accept everything the Japanese government says? Do they expect less of Japan? Do they assume that Japanese citizens cannot deal with free speech or peaceful protest? Or do they just want to go along to get along and be a nice, passive, smiling subject in the mistaken belief that everyone---even Ishihara and the nutjobs in the soundtrucks---will like them and call them good little (baka) gaijin?
I would assume if one does not like free speech that instead of telling others who are practicing free speech to leave, that they could themselves leave and go to one of the nearby countries which do not permit free speech. Then they could be happy living under a government in which they must accept without question everything they are told to do in the name of security.
And they could still be (baka) gaijin.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
Useful Idiots
Supposedly, Lenin came up with this---or something similar in Russian---to refer to Westerners who believed in the communist system and excused (or denied) the police-state terror he was imposing on Russia at the time. Of course Japan is nothing like that and the Japanese government is imposing nothing at all like the police state of those times.(I am not being sarcastic here.)
However, for decades there have been plenty of apologists/ "useful idiots" who will swallow/excuse/explain apologize for anything that Japan does. E.O. Reishauer in some his writing and claims seemed to be one of the most useful. If anyone recalls the 80s during the bubble years and the trade friction between the US and Japan, Eddy was running around claiming that the problem was mainly that of Americans misunderstanding Japan---not because Japan was protectionist. (Especially see early editions of his comedy The Japanese.) Later, in one of his last TV appearances, he went on PBS (?) to defend Hirohito at a time when historians were first beginning to challenge the old claims of Hirohito's naiveté and innocence concerning WW2 were less than perfectly accurate.
The Japan Times online has a few folks whom some might accuse of being "useful idiots" who wrote in concerning the new fingerprinting law similar issues. Many seemed to believe any claim that it is for "security" is unquestionably valid and that it will be successful at providing security just because the government says it will. Others appear to agree that non-Japanese (including themselves?) are the sort who do have innate criminal tendencies and should be watched closely.
But my idea of the near perfect apologist, and if I may, the most "useful idiot" for his response to an article about the widespread use of security cameras in Japan goes to:
B. Panagouliashy: Why is it every time I read or listen to foreigners in Japan rant on about the change in Japanese security precautions it's all about them? Japan is trying to protect and serve its own citizens.
(Two reasons: 1) You don't read much; 2) Just a guess...because foreigners are the ones who are targeted by many of these "security" precautions? Japanese aren't being fingerprinted, photographed, or constantly called criminals or potential terrorists, because there are no Japanese criminals or terrorists? It is wonderful that Japan is trying to protect and serve its own citizens. How about legal residents? Protecting them by targeting them because they are more likely to be terrorists and criminals? Prove that one.)
Panagouliashy continues:
Another point in Mr. Hassett's article was about the police detaining a Canadian for numerous days. There is a drug problem in Japan now. A large percentage of foreigners proliferate the drug trade, either by being consumers or selling. This is a fact.
(Uhh...the Canadian was held for nearly 3 weeks and released as he was the wrong guy. His only crime was that he was a non-Japanese and so the cops decided he must have been the non-Japanese they were searching for. Pangouliashy thinks that his arrest was justified---after all he claims "a large percentage of foreigners proliferate the drug trade." I wonder, what that percentage is? Are a large percentage of users and dealers also Japanese? Should the nearest Japanese be arrested and held anytime a Japanese criminal is being hunted? Is Pangouliashy volunteering? After all, how do we know that he/she is not involved in drugs since he/she is obviously not of Japanese origin. OK, I am assuming that based on the name, but why not? The mere possession of a foreign-sounding name is, in itself, suspect.)
Second place goes to someone who, of course, does not live in Japan, but "visits" a lot from Singapore (no, not ex-PM Lee Kuan Yew), but a Mr. or Ms. Soon Hock:
Japan should be allowed to do what it deems best for its country.
(Anything goes. Summary executions?)
There are pros and cons to this unwelcoming fingerprint policy. Japan's reasons — minimizing crimes and terrorist attacks — are valid reasons and the end results speak for themselves.
(What end results??? It just started. Or is Soon Hock telling us that the end justifies the means?)
Not an apologist, but the question must be answered:
Giko Jayashi: Why is this (fingerprinting and photographing) system only for foreigners? Is it that no crimes are committed by Japanese citizens? (Yes, that is the reason.)
The full article which includes statements by others, who like Giko Jayashi are not so willing to uncritically accept everything the government says here.
However, for decades there have been plenty of apologists/ "useful idiots" who will swallow/excuse/explain apologize for anything that Japan does. E.O. Reishauer in some his writing and claims seemed to be one of the most useful. If anyone recalls the 80s during the bubble years and the trade friction between the US and Japan, Eddy was running around claiming that the problem was mainly that of Americans misunderstanding Japan---not because Japan was protectionist. (Especially see early editions of his comedy The Japanese.) Later, in one of his last TV appearances, he went on PBS (?) to defend Hirohito at a time when historians were first beginning to challenge the old claims of Hirohito's naiveté and innocence concerning WW2 were less than perfectly accurate.
The Japan Times online has a few folks whom some might accuse of being "useful idiots" who wrote in concerning the new fingerprinting law similar issues. Many seemed to believe any claim that it is for "security" is unquestionably valid and that it will be successful at providing security just because the government says it will. Others appear to agree that non-Japanese (including themselves?) are the sort who do have innate criminal tendencies and should be watched closely.
But my idea of the near perfect apologist, and if I may, the most "useful idiot" for his response to an article about the widespread use of security cameras in Japan goes to:
B. Panagouliashy: Why is it every time I read or listen to foreigners in Japan rant on about the change in Japanese security precautions it's all about them? Japan is trying to protect and serve its own citizens.
(Two reasons: 1) You don't read much; 2) Just a guess...because foreigners are the ones who are targeted by many of these "security" precautions? Japanese aren't being fingerprinted, photographed, or constantly called criminals or potential terrorists, because there are no Japanese criminals or terrorists? It is wonderful that Japan is trying to protect and serve its own citizens. How about legal residents? Protecting them by targeting them because they are more likely to be terrorists and criminals? Prove that one.)
Panagouliashy continues:
Another point in Mr. Hassett's article was about the police detaining a Canadian for numerous days. There is a drug problem in Japan now. A large percentage of foreigners proliferate the drug trade, either by being consumers or selling. This is a fact.
(Uhh...the Canadian was held for nearly 3 weeks and released as he was the wrong guy. His only crime was that he was a non-Japanese and so the cops decided he must have been the non-Japanese they were searching for. Pangouliashy thinks that his arrest was justified---after all he claims "a large percentage of foreigners proliferate the drug trade." I wonder, what that percentage is? Are a large percentage of users and dealers also Japanese? Should the nearest Japanese be arrested and held anytime a Japanese criminal is being hunted? Is Pangouliashy volunteering? After all, how do we know that he/she is not involved in drugs since he/she is obviously not of Japanese origin. OK, I am assuming that based on the name, but why not? The mere possession of a foreign-sounding name is, in itself, suspect.)
Second place goes to someone who, of course, does not live in Japan, but "visits" a lot from Singapore (no, not ex-PM Lee Kuan Yew), but a Mr. or Ms. Soon Hock:
Japan should be allowed to do what it deems best for its country.
(Anything goes. Summary executions?)
There are pros and cons to this unwelcoming fingerprint policy. Japan's reasons — minimizing crimes and terrorist attacks — are valid reasons and the end results speak for themselves.
(What end results??? It just started. Or is Soon Hock telling us that the end justifies the means?)
Not an apologist, but the question must be answered:
Giko Jayashi: Why is this (fingerprinting and photographing) system only for foreigners? Is it that no crimes are committed by Japanese citizens? (Yes, that is the reason.)
The full article which includes statements by others, who like Giko Jayashi are not so willing to uncritically accept everything the government says here.
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