Posted on 11/20/2005 7:55:12 PM PST by neverdem
TOKYO, Nov. 14 - A young Japanese woman in the comic book "Hating the Korean Wave" exclaims, "It's not an exaggeration to say that Japan built the South Korea of today!" In another passage the book states that "there is nothing at all in Korean culture to be proud of."
In another comic book, "Introduction to China," which portrays the Chinese as a depraved people obsessed with cannibalism, a woman of Japanese origin says: "Take the China of today, its principles, thought, literature, art, science, institutions. There's nothing attractive."
The two comic books, portraying Chinese and Koreans as base peoples and advocating confrontation with them, have become runaway best sellers in Japan in the last four months.
In their graphic and unflattering drawings of Japan's fellow Asians and in the unapologetic, often offensive contents of their speech bubbles, the books reveal some of the sentiments underlying Japan's worsening relations with the rest of Asia.
They also point to Japan's longstanding unease with the rest of Asia and its own sense of identity, which is akin to Britain's apartness from the Continent. Much of Japan's history in the last century and a half has been guided by the goal of becoming more like the West and less like Asia. Today, China and South Korea's rise to challenge Japan's position as Asia's economic, diplomatic and cultural leader is inspiring renewed xenophobia against them here.
Kanji Nishio, a scholar of German literature, is honorary chairman of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, the nationalist organization that has pushed to have references to the country's wartime atrocities eliminated from junior high school textbooks.
Mr. Nishio is blunt about how Japan should deal with its neighbors, saying nothing has changed since 1885, when one of modern Japan's most influential intellectuals, Yukichi Fukuzawa, said Japan...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The difference is that far more often than not, the Japan bigotry is institutional and found in places that would not be an old shame, but are newly erected edifices. See the Japanese Museum next to the Yasukuni Shrine's discussion of the Rape of Nanking, which says that the Japanese were essentially keeping the streets safe. Naw, they weren't slaughtering half the population and raping the other half, they were just stopping muggers, I guess...
And this, as well as the textbooks that minimize Japan's WWII crimes, have been put up in the last ten years. It ain't just some random comment in a manga.
I think it's Japan's proper role to limit its neighbors' adventurism, so I support arming Japan to the hilt, xenophobia or no. Between the US, China, and Russia, any renewed Japanese ambitions of empire are similarly constrained.
I would have thought that modern Japanese were not as nationalistic or fascist as their warlord forefathers of 50+ years ago.
Thanks for the ping!
Ipersonally like Anime. Ghost in a SHell,Vampire Hunter D, Cowboy Bebop, Princess Mononoke just to name a few.
I could never understand how during WWII, tiny Japan kicked China's behind, and used them as lab rats. Unbelievable.
Superior tactics and weaponry will always trump sheer numbers.
A lot of Chinese and Koreans are depraved. They're called communists...
I think any person has the right to self defense in any fashion they see fit. However, nations do not...they are armed at the superpower's sufferance, and its convenience. I think it inconvenient to extend the right of nuclear self-defense to nations that have declared war upon other nations in the last century by sneak attack or by civilian-killing terrorist stalking horses. Japan falls solidly into the the former camp. And if you expect the rearmed Japanese to be controlled by other regional powers, you are simply building up another enemy to be figured in. I don't think that's good long-run strategy, advancing the military might of a people who think they're culturally superior to others, if you intend to STOP wars. Maybe if you want to START them, sure.
>Japan never changed.
Yep, that's what I was saying.
The Japanese have always been racist and exclusionary. The only reason they haven't been attacking other countries in the last 60 years is the absolute ass kicking they recieved from the US when they crossed us last.
The Japanese are far and away the most sensible, responsible, and civilized people in the region. Pretending there is equality of worthiness among nations, some of which support mad dictators, others of which appease them, others willing to stand up to them, is moral blindness not sense.
Japan is morally better than China today. China could change that tomorrow, but hasn't. Japan is morally better than Korea today, though Korea is much closer and basically civilized, though weak-kneed. Those are just facts, and we should not expect them to escape the notice of the Japanese themselves.
Agreed. Its the subtle moments that really make it shine as a horror film, and not the tired, old jump-out-at-you formula that most horror films adopt.
It's a bit embarrassing to hear the present day West called civilized.
"I would have thought that modern Japanese were not as nationalistic or fascist as their warlord forefathers of 50+ years ago."
Any warlords from 50+ years ago are mostly dead. But modern Japanese aren't somehow actively pacifist as a result. Pacifists are not a majority in the circles that are running the country, from what I can see. The same families own the keiretsu that did during and before WWII, and most of the same men who owned them during WWII did afterward, too, just as Krupp still kept his works after being declared a war criminal in Germany. Sure, the academics are more pacifist than they used to be, and publically, Shintoism has certainly toned down its militarist bent. But it's still there.
Plenty of Chinese people refer to Japanese as ghosts or foreign devils. Plenty of Korean people refer to Japanese as Jok-bali, it's the national pasttime for both China and Korea to enjoy beating Japan at things. And for some reason people sort of dismiss it as humorous racism or friendly--if racist--competition because of regional history. But it is heartfelt, not some sort of game. When Japanese refer to all foreigners as gaijin instead of gaikokujin, however, it's just as bad, only we blithely assume it's just 'foreigners' they mean, not 'outside the race.' And don't get me started on sangokujin or Shina. There is an ingrained superiority in these cultures and a deep shame they are NOT currently superior that Americans cannot understand and don't fear as they should. American academic PC feeds this shame and this superiority as these cultures feel put upon and consider themselves deserving of reparation.
I don't subscribe to the moral blindness or moral equality stuff. I think it's reasonable to say that a typical dude from China isn't any more nuts than someone from Japan or Korea. The major difference between these countries is whether there are a disproportionate number of loonies in positions of power and how much it matters.
Thanks for the ping!
This has been an interesting thread.
"However, I am an American and I KNOW we are the greatest country in the world."
Amen to that! I say that as a proud German/Irish/American.
Great thread all, really fascinating. The kid still wants the hubby and me to watch "The Ring" with her (the remake, but maybe we could switch it to the original). She wants to know if it is "actually as scary as it seemed" to her. Don't know why I'm included, I'm scared of everything!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.