The Japanese Uyoku

Interesting… all true, but this is a little dated.

Most of these groups rise and fall like the tide within Japan. They are just basic people caught up in mob mentality. I doubt the Emperor will survive another 100 years, though they seem strong, their biggest rally was 100,000. Compare that to the population of Japan.

However, if you see that prick on the streets looking for “Bad Gaijin” kick his ass for me please.

An interesting set of videos (or rather, one long video chopped up). About 17 years old now (made in 1990) and it’s interesting to see what has or has not changed. People are still over-worried about Foreign Criminals, for example. And the Right Wing still cruises around in soundtrucks with the acoustic qualities of a recycled Soviet cement mixer filled with chainsaws.

I always get a kick out of venerable old gentlemen lauding The Japanese Spirit and Japanese Tradition and complaining about Western Ideals while wearing Western suits (especially Versace ones). Their knowledge of history is somewhat at odds with the facts, and it seems to me they are very like their heroes the Meiji revolutionaries in the way they will cherry-pick whatever suits them. They use the emperor as their symbol precisely because of his voicelessness – he can be shaped to anything they desire. If a fanatic Emperor-worshipper wants to think that an Imperial Rescript is invalid simple as he doesn’t like its contents – well, he does. And is about the same as those radical Catholics who repudiate Vatican II: a true follower of the Emperor (or the Pope) would accept anything he does, even if it clashed with their own values. I also have no doubt at all that an even scarier video could be made about the American far right: at least these guys didn’t constantly invoke religion (save for a bit of Meiji-era Shinto mythology and some talk about the divinity of the Japanese and the Emperor) and damnation and hell and the lord baby jesus….

Never mind about those lame gaijin on the newer post – these guys are the REAL otaku. Only with more violent tendencies.

That first gaijin-crime-buster was weird. He seemed to like anyone who made an effort to learn the language and fit in, which makes me wonder if he is more anti-multi-culture (I apologise for using the word ‘culture’ to describe anything that happens around Roppongi) rather than anti-gaijin as such. Be interesting to meet him actually.