The sinister balloons of nationalism
Veteran Japanese politician and recent politically-motivated arson attack victim, Koichi Kato, has warned a group of assembled foreign journalists that Japanese militarism and nationalism is on the rise. In his speech to the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo, Kato likened Japan’s morally detached youngsters to helium balloons floating on air currents;
“Even in the slightest breeze they will all start floating in the same direction,” the one-time prime ministerial candidate said.
“And if there is a nationalistic mood that takes over the country, all of these balloons will begin to drift in a very strong way along this current.”
The newspaper story can be found here, and no surprise that this was reported by the Sydney Morning Herald/Melbourne Age’s Deborah Cameron, whose articles frequently take a negative view of Japanese politics. She continues in her story to outline such ominous signs of the rising tide of neo-nationalism in Japan as “foreigners being targeted by police in anti-crime crackdowns.” Since when was this a new phenomenon?
During a recent visit to Tokyo by Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, Cameron missed the substantial positive outcomes of his meeting with Taro Aso instead choosing to focus in her write-up on the fact that Downer is the son of a POW held in a Japanese camp while Aso’s family had used POW slave labour during the war. Tellingly, none of the other major Australian dailies carried a story along these lines and it seems that while Downer himself has long since moved on from the issue, Deborah Cameron has not.
l need sme 1 in nottingham who has a studio l wann becme fam 
perfeckt 10:10
i love all that is hello kitty but pandapple is so cute
WOLF! WOLF!
Seriously, I will be concerned when I see those black nationalist vans surrounded by crowds of interested people. I currently have no fears about “evil nationalism” in Japan, because at the moment those same vans generate little or no interest.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:22 amI have a vision of a sky full of Col.Blimp’s gently floating away like the Floyd’s inflatable runaway pig.:shock:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonel_Blimp
http://www.batterseapowerstation.org.uk/floyd.html
Oh dear..let’s “lighten up” a bit (groan):roll:
August 31st, 2006 at 6:35 amIron Duke : Andrew Cornell (Fin Review) was equally negative when he was a Tokyo Correspondant so I suppose Deborah’s just plodding along in a rich tradition of japan-bashing (batsungu ?)….:neutral:
August 31st, 2006 at 9:59 amSorry!! Iron Chef not Iron Duke (great pub though – all the same):lol:
August 31st, 2006 at 10:02 amWhile I don’t see actual (honkakuteki) imperialism or militarism appearing in any form in Japan, I think it is fair to say that Japanese thinking — in general, that is — does indeed display a shocking amount of linear extremism. You get a lot of “well, if it isn’t white then it must be black.” Here’s what I mean:
Take the so-called “yutori kyoiku” education policy. The thinking was, if you recall, that back in the 1980s there were a lot of suicides among school children. One of the major causes was determined to be the great amount of pressure the kids are under to “get good grades.” So, what is the solution? Give them “yutori kyoiku” in which some of the curriculum load is reduced and replaced with the now famous (infamous?) “sougou gakushuu jikan” in which kids learn “life skills” by engaging in such things as visiting the local old folks home or playing games in English.
OK, so now that we’ve cut the kids some slack for a bunch of years, what happened? Yep, grades are suffering (according to a string of various studies). So, what’s the solution? Get rid of the odious “yutori kyouiku” and replace it with good ole fashioned Three R’s: reading, ‘ritin’ and ‘rithmatic.
So, what do we have in Japan? We have a false dichotomy: EITHER the kids learn “life skills” in a more relaxed and nurturing atmosphere OR they have the screws put to them so that they keep their grades up.
Yes, this is a generalization, but not a gross or distorting one.
So, what is the link to militarism? I think there is the POTENTIAL danger (note the qualifier) that some simple-minded politicians (is there any other kind?) will get the notion that doing away with the last 60 years of SDF and all the restrictions that go along with it (this is just one example, mind you) means “yippee! last one in the military aggression pool is a rotten egg!”
This is all theoretical. I don’t see Japan invading Korea or anyone else. There is no motive for anything like that.
But how about this: the new Japanese army (not SDF), stationed in the US-led coalition occupied Iran (just imagining now…) is fired upon by unknown forces. They return fire (as is their right under new, Japanese army rules of engagement), inadvertently hitting the “friendly force” of the South Korean army stationed just a few kilometers away in a neighboring zone. The South Korean government goes berserk, the Japanese government calls for calm, a very sticky and tension-filled international pie-throwing contest ensues at the UN, South Korea withdraws its ambassador to Japan in an act of protest, Japanese nationalistic feelings are roused, public opinion in Japan goes against South Korea, etc etc etc. You get the picture.
Pure fantasy? Maybe (I bet Ampotan would say so:smile:. But maybe not.
August 31st, 2006 at 10:26 amGreat comment Kudan – I’m humbled. (back to the T-shirt’s for me…> )
August 31st, 2006 at 10:54 amKudan: In the scenario you suggest, what exactly would Japan have done that’s wrong? Friendly fire fatalities happen.
September 2nd, 2006 at 10:18 amWhat I am pointing out is the danger — well, the potential danger — of Japan revising the Constitution so as to allow its “army” to engage in fire-fights, for example, as part of a UN or US-led coalition force.
I don’t think anything I pointed out in my admittedly fantastical scenario is “wrong” per se.
I do think, however, that a rise in Japanese nationlist sentiment and along with it a rise in anti-Korean sentiment, as I mentioned at the end of my scenario, is a real danger. It is the sort of “nationalism” that is insidious: you don’t know you’ve become a hard-core nationalist until it’s “too late.” Look at the current situation in the US vis-a-vis “terrorism.” People sit by while President Bush increases the power of the executive branch way beyond any previous administration and arguably beyond what the US Constitution allows. (Just in case JP wants to delete the reference to the US, please replace said reference with the following: “This kind of insidious extremist thinking is in evidence in other countries; it is not unique to Japan.”)
I don’t think Japan is becoming anything like what it was in the 1910s – 1945 period. I think there are new potential dangers, however remote, and that it is prudent to discuss them.
September 2nd, 2006 at 12:19 pm1. Why is it a “danger” to amend the Constitution to allow firefights in UN action? Why would it be a danger to allow Japan to amend the Constitution to permit even a standing army–which South Korea certainly has, along with universal conscription.
2. Why are you worried about UN firefights when all UN troops seem to be able to do is get involved with scandals, i.e., child prostitution rings (both Kosovo and Africa)and do anything possible to keep from having to pull a trigger?
3. I don’t understand what you mean by “nationalist sentiment”. How does this differ from what would be considered patriotic anywhere else? What signs are there that Japan today has a problem with extreme nationalism beyond what could be found in any country, including Europe and particularly China?
3. I suggest you do some reading of the history of the American Civil War before you start talking about Bush and “way beyond any previous administration”. Reading about the powers Lincoln assumed would take your breath away.
4. You’re right about my opinion. This is pure fantasy.
September 2nd, 2006 at 6:31 pmI agree with Ampontan, and would like to add that the sort of nationalism that Kudan describes has never imn history, as far as I know, come about incrementally or insidiously. It happens when the government is weak, being hammered and is unrepsonsive, and happens suddenly. There is no slippery slope towards extreme nationalism. The thought that suddenly a democreatic government says, “Aha. You’ve let us pass one law too many. Now we’ve got you!” is fantasy.
September 2nd, 2006 at 7:49 pmYeah, like I said in my original post, I was just sort of engaging in a thought-experiment. I didn’t know about Lincoln. I’ll read up on that. Thanks!
I think the major point I wanted to make — and it seems I didn’t do a very good job of it — is that I observe (see my example in the education system) a lot of what I call “linear extremist” thinking in Japan: everything seems to be an “either-or” choice. That strikes me as:
a. scary, and
b. a potential for danger if some of the retrictions Japan has felt itself under for the last 60 years were removed.
I’m stretching things, I know. Both Ampotan and ghoti make good points. Thanks!
September 2nd, 2006 at 8:16 pm