Xenophobia alive and well in Japan as racist books fly off the shelves

[alaungphaya]

Someone's been watching too much Fox News.

 

[tonyget]

they lost the war in the end and got crushed from the west.

They didn't lose in war, they were assimilated by those civilization they conquered

 

[somsak]

It was not a proposal, it was an invasion. Only proposal was inside Japan, from the military to the There was nothing good about it - there is no difference between losing sovereignty to a western nation or to an eastern nation, both are losing sovereignty. Indeed, Japan dealt more damage to Asia than almost any European country. You blindly cheerlead for war crimes and play down war crimes by certain parties - that is why you have a colonial mentality.

If reviving greatness of China requires Japan, can you forgive and forget?
I now back on the thread topic.
If China want to revive her pass glory, I teach you to win hearts and minds. Who is going to be in sinosphere culture if not Japan Korea Vietnam?. Yet among all mentioned, you only win Korean hearts and mind. If Japan decide to support you on Yuan banking system,,how much likelihood you will success? How r u going to win back VN and Japan hearts and minds?
Do you know how we lost Cambodia vassal state to france? France simply win the hearts and mind of Cam odian king. North Thailand was called Lanna, thid vassal state royal to Siam Bangkok because Siam Bangkok won her more territory. Do you see the Diaoyu/Senkaku being the same? Later Lanna was annexed to Siam. Do you see conflict between Japan and US?
With many China nationalist here in PDF, the talking about pride only divide us Asian. Exactly what Colonial master want! How many time do you need to see the trick? Us computer engineers must learn divide and conquer algorithically and count number of calculations.

Why cannot we repeat the trick back to our teacher? Conflict is everywhere even within family, find one and gives a play on it.
You better read Asean centrality. It is the codeword for magnetosphere Asean need to protect herself from US solar activity to harbor our independent. It is also protect SEA. states from China power as well. If Asean centrality exists, we r free from colonization both from North East Asia and super power.

It was not a proposal, it was an invasion. Only proposal was inside Japan, from the military to the There was nothing good about it - there is no difference between losing sovereignty to a western nation or to an eastern nation, both are losing sovereignty. Indeed, Japan dealt more damage to Asia than almost any European country. You blindly cheerlead for war crimes and play down war crimes by certain parties - that is why you have a colonial mentality.

If reviving greatness of China requires Japan, can you forgive and forget?
I now back on the thread topic.
If China want to revive her pass glory, I teach you to win hearts and minds. Who is going to be in sinosphere culture if not Japan Korea Vietnam?. Yet among all mentioned, you only win Korean hearts and mind. If Japan decide to support you on Yuan banking system,,how much likelihood you will success? How r u going to win back VN and Japan hearts and minds?
Do you know how we lost Cambodia vassal state to france? France simply win the hearts and mind of Cam odian king. North Thailand was called Lanna, thid vassal state royal to Siam Bangkok because Siam Bangkok won her more territory. Do you see the Diaoyu/Senkaku being the same? Later Lanna was annexed to Siam. Do you see conflict between Japan and US?
With many China nationalist here in PDF, the talking about pride only divide us Asian. Exactly what Colonial master want! How many time do you need to see the trick? Us computer engineers must learn divide and conquer algorithically and count number of calculations.

Why cannot we repeat the trick back to our teacher? Conflict is everywhere even within family, find one and gives a play on it.
You better read Asean centrality. It is the codeword for magnetosphere Asean need to protect herself from US solar activity to harbor our independent. It is also protect SEA. states from China power as well. If Asean centrality exists, we r free from colonization both from North East Asia and super power.

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

If reviving greatness of China requires Japan, can you forgive and forget?
I now back on the thread topic.

If China want to revive her pass glory, I teach you to win hearts and minds. Who is going to be in sinosphere culture if not Japan Korea Vietnam?

But Chinese never care if others want their culture or not. That's what you don't seem to get - China is not a missionary state. Those who listen will voluntarily listen, those who don't, oh well.

 

[conworldus]

Nationalism is easily confused with racism. Am glad that Japan, China, Russia and India all have nationalist ruling parties. No more BS western values as a cloak for looting of the planet by Western MNCs in the name of free trade, and bombing of half the globe in the name of democracy.

For Japanese, there really is no difference between nationalism and racism because Japan is a closed, homogeneous country. Even in China there are many ethnic minorities. In Japan, you have Japanese, or foreigners.

 

[Aepsilons]

There's a beautiful poem I'd like to share here as it is soul piercing and relevant.

"Ayamatamu
Koto mo koso are
Yononaka wa
Amari ni mono wo
Omoi sugoseba."

-Meiji Emperor


Translation:​

​

People in this society​

worry too much​

and overly cautious​

about everything. ​

We all make mistakes​

sometimes in our life. ​

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

But that's not Japanese society as a whole. Japanese society is based on the group. Why are you in the US, and not in Japan? Maybe it is because your unique view on life makes you part of the out-group and thus ostracized by the mainstream. How many Japanese psychology PHD students are there? Very few. That makes you unique, and Japanese society does not welcome uniqueness often.

 

[Aepsilons]

But that's not Japanese society as a whole. Japanese society is based on the group. Why are you in the US, and not in Japan? Maybe it is because your unique view on life makes you part of the out-group and thus ostracized by the mainstream. How many Japanese psychology PHD students are there? Very few. That makes you unique, and Japanese society does not welcome uniqueness often.

Every East Asian society, I'm assuming that you're Chinese from my observation of your positioning in many threads, espouses all members to excel to the best of their ability. This is seen in the veracity of Chinese, Japanese and Korean students' performance . Uniqueness defines personal strength, and creativity which adds and contributes to the dynamic of the group.

There are innate strengths of East Asian Culture and society, but one thing that I do not like is the prevailing xenophobia is some segments of the population, this must be dispelled.

We live in the 21st century in a globalized world , and there must be a culture that emphasizes understanding, interoperability for the sake of mutual development. And despite some minor obstacles, I remain optimistic.


Best,

 

[FairAndUnbiased]

Every East Asian society, I'm assuming that you're Chinese from my observation of your positioning in many threads, espouses all members to excel to the best of their ability. This is seen in the veracity of Chinese, Japanese and Korean students' performance . Uniqueness defines personal strength, and creativity which adds and contributes to the dynamic of the group.

There are innate strengths of East Asian Culture and society, but one thing that I do not like is the prevailing xenophobia is some segments of the population, this must be dispelled.

I am a very old member, so my ID pre-dates this version (and the last version) of PDF. I have simply not posted for years, and probably will take a long break at a random time. There is an interesting Japanese group dynamic that does not exist for Chinese that I've always found fascinating - the concept of what is accepted, why it is accepted, how do we think about problems, etc. I am not a social scientist, rather physical scientist, but I still like to observe people, read books and think about relationships.

In Chinese society, the concept of in-group and out-group are much less important, and the concept of social barriers is much lower. People can simultaneously be in many groups (i.e. writers, athletes, gamers, etc), and the groups are not rigid - people can enter and leave easily.

In Japanese society, the concept of in-group and out-group are very important, and it is vital to someone's social life to find their "group" (i.e. athletes, businessmen, otaku, etc). Groups are rigid and members conform to a certain set of expectations. Those who can't find their "group" become NEETers and social outcasts.

 

[Aepsilons]

I am a very old member, so my ID pre-dates this version (and the last version) of PDF. I have simply not posted for years, and probably will take a long break at a random time. There is an interesting Japanese group dynamic that does not exist for Chinese that I've always found fascinating - the concept of what is accepted, why it is accepted, how do we think about problems, etc. I am not a social scientist, rather physical scientist, but I still like to observe people, read books and think about relationships.

In Chinese society, the concept of in-group and out-group are much less important, and the concept of social barriers is much lower. People can simultaneously be in many groups (i.e. writers, athletes, gamers, etc), and the groups are not rigid - people can enter and leave easily.

In Japanese society, the concept of in-group and out-group are very important, and it is vital to someone's social life to find their "group" (i.e. athletes, businessmen, otaku, etc). Groups are rigid and members conform to a certain set of expectations. Those who can't find their "group" become NEETers and social outcasts.

Interesting observation of Japanese and Chinese society. The core of Japanese culture is, indeed, Confucian with the mingling of native Yamato superstition (in the form of Shinto). You see because of the Confucian culture that infused itself and helped to define Japanese early civilization, we value the Confucian concept of "Harmony". The concept yields to the assumption that social and national harmony is a result of Heaven's own equilibrium.

Through the centuries , the concept of Harmony was justified to engage in military conflict in Japan to preserve the Honor and Harmony of the Emperor's command. A pretext that the ruling Lords greatly exercised to acquire power and influence , to the chagrin of the Emperor. The Senggoku Jidai is the physical manifestation in Japan's quest for harmony.

During this period, Bushido became relevant because it reiterated the Confucian lit of wisdom yet at the same time espoused strict adherence and loyalty to one's Lord. An offshoot of the Confucian concept of Obeisance. Bushido remained ingrained in the psyche of Japanese, thus it explains how foreigners view the Japanese concept of group loyalty and perfection.

I will also say that your observation of groups and dichotomy between Japanese and Chinese expression is due in part to the natural reality. China is vast, composed of many cultures, minorities , and has a history of interaction with various foreign peoples in it's borders. Japan is an Archipelago. Tho we have regional differences and regionalism as there are stark differences from a native of Honshu to one from Kyushu to one from Hokkaido to one from Ryukyu, to one from Shikoku -- but we are less diverse compared to China.

I think that it is important to appreciate differences of opinion, so long as they are fair and considerate of the good of the group.

Let me also express that there is a stark dichotomy between the older generation of Japanese as to the younger generation , which is more accepting, open to thinking outside the box. I think this is healthy for the nation. And when I return to Japan, I look forward to contributing.


Thanks for this interesting dialogue.

My Regards,