Japan Bloggers on the Princess Masako Controversy
One of the biggest Japan-related news stories at the moment is the case of Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne, an unauthorized biography of Japan’s crown princess written by Australian journalist Ben Hills. As a result, the Japan blogosphere has been abuzz with commentary on the issue. Here are a few of the best posts I’ve recently read on this topic:
Jun Okamura writes that “journalists should be held to the same standard as the rest of us”:
“An investigative reporter wades into an issue about which he is singularly unequipped to tackle. The language and the culture are totally alien to him. He is forced to rely on sources that are willing to talk to him in his native language. Undeterred, he publishes a book to underwhelming reviews. The book, perhaps inevitably, is reportedly riddled with errors, which will be duly corrected in the translation into that language, with the author’s consent.
[...]
A decent human being would have acknowledged any errors and apologized for them, and explained that they would be corrected in the upcoming translation and any future editions of the book. The author instead lashed out at the complaint, claiming that he had nothing to apologize about. As far as media reports go, he has not yet acknowledged any wrongdoing.”
Durf comments on the comparing of this case to Iris Chang’s Rape of Nanking. He also offers an opinion on Jun Okamura’s article:
“…he was being held to those standards, and the Japanese version of the book was going to be an improvement on the flawed English one. But then he went on TV and made an ass of himself, which is apparently reason enough for the government to get involved in making pronouncements on which books are and are not worthy. I don’t see it. It’s a waste of effort when you have that fleet of black trucks out there to do the publisher-pressuring job for you.”
There is also some good commentary over at Tokyo Mango:
“I haven’t read the book, so I don’t really know where I stand on this. I wouldn’t be surprised if Hills pulled one of those dirty journalistic moves that lack cultural and professional integrity that has made my profession among the top 5 most hated professions in the world, but I also
wouldn’t be surprised if the government is overreacting in a desperate attempt to thwart any badmouthing of the Imperial family….[...]
Either way, I bet now that the book has gotten so much attention, it’s going to sell pretty well and Hills is going to be happy in the same way OJ Simpson was happy when he wrote If I Did It.”
Judging from what I’ve read in news articles and what these well-informed bloggers have written, it sounds like Mr. Hills has made quite a few errors in his book and doesn’t seem to care about honestly admitting them to the Japanese press. After all, there’s no better way for him to sell thousands of copies of his book in English speaking countries than to have the hundreds of English language news publications pick up his story of being pressured and censored by Japan’s angry right-wing conservatives (many of whom he apparently condemns in the book as being responsible for Masako’s stress). Even if this doesn’t get a publisher in Japan, its English edition is going to be selling like hotcakes due to all this press coverage. Way to be a jerk, Ben Hills.
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James,
Going back to the theme in one of our earlier posts about the Gaijin Hanzai book, I wonder if any of these bloggers who have criticized or commented on the book have actually read it?
I’m curious about the book, but I have yet to hear what any of the factual errors actually were. I think that was one of the author’s main complaints in that he received nothing but a rant from the Japanese government, which didn’t have any specifics about what was wrong with it.
I’m sure the book on Princess Masako has some errors. Every book published has errors. However, the author’s basic premise that the princess has basically been bullied into depression by the Imperial Household Agency is an opinion I pretty much agree with. She has been under a tremendous amount of pressure to produce a male heir. It seems that most Japanese people feel the same way too.
Regards,
Ron
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Ron:
I haven’t read the Masako book so I have no idea how many errors the book has, but the imperial household does point out the one leper-visiting error in its letter. If he isn’t even willing to admit the existence of that error, it doesn’t reflect well on him. It would be nice if Kodansha had released a list of all the errors he had agreed to have them correct, so we could see how large they were. Don’t get me wrong, I also think its likely that the Imperial Household Agency bullied her into depression, but if a journalist wants a book on the topic to be taken as a serious professional work, he should at least be willing to admit that there were a few small errors in the original version that needed correction…
I think there’s a bit of a double standard from the media and whatnot.
Let’s just assume for one minute that the book is rubbish….the Japanese media and government are all up in arms about it, right?
But, the Gaijin Ura File magazine gets NO mention from the Japanese media whatsoever?
Now, even if the book allegedly insults Princess Masako or writes about her in a not so savoury manner (I haven’t read the book in question; I can’t say for sure), still I get the impression that the Japanese media thinks it’s inappropriate to insult the members of the royal family, but it’s perfectly acceptable to insult any non-Japanese (via blood and/or citizenship) via a racist magazine.
Hmmmm….what a hypocrisy.
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What does it matter? All this controversy just keeps selling books. The book’s ranking on Amazon has gone through the roof. When I checked a few weeks ago it was selling sod-all.
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I havent read this book and probably wont. If its selling well in Japan, my worry is that its being bought by all those “high level” English students whose greatest joy is being able to come in and harangue us for somebody elses lack of knowledge…”Hoh! You Aussie/American /English/Westerners, you cannot the understanding to Japan culture. Ho, ho, ho!”
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Its about time the imperial household ,pointless institution was
abolished.
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I read the book and I am in full sympathy for the Princess. I do not see why the author has to apologize to he Japanese government as the persecution of the princess by the rpyal adminsrators are evident! Evem the empress was subjected to their bully!
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