Archive for October, 2010

Zip Line Doggy

A dog in Japan rides on a “Tarzan Rope” at a park:

The dog’s owners claim that she started riding the zip line on her own after observing family members having so much fun doing it.

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Kim Jong-il Looks at Kim Jong-un

Somebody at Japan’s NTV watched the North Korean state television broadcasts of Kim Jong-un’s first appearance at a National Assembly meeting and counted how many times Kim Jong-il looked in the direction of his son’s seat. The Dear Leader glanced at his son 27 times:

They have also noticed that the announcer for the DPRK state television news makes a point of looking straight at the camera when mentioning Kim Jong-un’s name. When reading the names of other party members, she looks down at her paper.

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Mark MacKinnon’s Wildly Sensationalist Article About “Rising” Nationalism in Japan

The Globe and Mail has printed a piece by Mark MacKinnon that claims right-wing extremism is “rising” in Japan:

Take the past week alone. Infuriated by a perceived Japanese climbdown in a dispute with China over an island chain that both nations claim, right-wingers tossed smoke bombs at the Chinese consulates in the cities of Fukuoka and Nagasaki. Another man was arrested with a knife in his bag outside the Tokyo residence of Prime Minister Naoto Kan. On Friday, a motorcade of 60 cars organized by a right-wing group briefly surrounded a bus carrying Chinese tourists in Fukuoka, prompting Beijing to issue a warning to its citizens about the dangers of visiting Japan.

No one was hurt in any of the incidents. But they highlight a tide of rising nationalism that is just one of the new social ills afflicting a country that 20 years ago was the richest and most stable on the planet. Two consecutive “lost decades” and a dearth of political leadership – five prime ministers in the past four years – have unmoored Japan.

He highlights the activities of a few right-wingers over the last week – a period of extraordinary tensions with China – as an example of the “new” and “rising” tide of nationalism in Japan. He ignores the fact that right-wingers have been carrying out those kinds of protests for decades, always resorting to threats and petty crimes when there are major flare-ups with China or Korea. If anything, recent years have shown the right-wing to be less violent than they were in the past: several decades ago they were stabbing and shooting people. But who cares about presenting an accurate picture of the situation when you can weave a good yarn about Japan returning to its militarist past as its economy and society crumble?

On Saturday, an estimated 2,700 rightists marched through Tokyo’s main shopping district, decrying the government’s perceived weakness in the dispute with Beijing and calling for Chinese and Koreans to leave Japan. Several smaller anti-Chinese and anti-foreigner marches took place again Sunday, with some in the crowd wearing military-style black uniforms and others waving the Rising Sun flag the country’s military flew while conquering nearly all of East Asia during the Second World War.

“If you are not tough enough to stand up for Japan, get out of Japan! We need to fight against China!” a member of the extremist Zaitokukai movement shouted through a bullhorn Sunday morning, his anger echoing through the high-end shopping malls and coffee shops of Tokyo’s Shibuya district.

MacKinnon writes that there were 2,700 protesters, uncritically taking protest organizers for their word about turnout to the event. Other media outlets have been more honest in their coverage, noting that the estimate was not independently verified.

But even if the protest in Shibuya did indeed have a turnout of over 2,700 people, it is misleading to present Zaitokukai members as typical representatives. There were surely many anti-Korean and anti-immigration people in that crowd, but the crowd only reached the size it did because it drew on a diverse mixture of groups that disliked the Chinese government. The crowd contained Pro-Taiwan independence activists, Pro-Uyghur independence groups, free Tibet groups, anti-N-H-K groups, and some other people who were just angry about the Japanese government’s weak stance in the recent crisis with China. MacKinnon almost entirely places the focus on Zaitokukai. He highlights the fears that other right-wingers have about Zaitokukai’s extremism without properly explaining that those other right-wingers are more numerous.

MacKinnon goes on to include this lovely sensationalist gem:

Another marcher switched targets when it was his turn at the bullhorn. “Throw illegal immigrants into Tokyo Bay!” he yelled to loud cheers from his fellow marchers and silent stares from shoppers who paused to watch the procession. If anyone disagreed with the sentiment, no one said so publicly.

I suppose we should conclude that a lack of onlookers willing to get into shouting matches with loud lunatics is a sign of the power of these “rising” nationalist groups?

MacKinnon even tries to make it look like Japan is riding a wave of xenophobic nationalism that will put it on a path to become a new Nazi Germany:

As in Europe 80 years ago, blame for the country’s troubles has fallen on foreigners. The No. 1 target is ethnic Koreans who live in Japan (Zaitokukai is the Japanese acronym for the group’s unwieldy formal title, Citizens’ Group That Will Not Forgive Special Privileges for Koreans in Japan), followed by the Chinese. A liberalized immigration system, which pundits across the spectrum agree is desperately needed to help deal with a rapidly aging population, is considered too sensitive to touch for any politician concerned about keeping his job in the next election.

“There are of course some similarities with the fascist and Nazi movements. Those who join Zaitokukai are the jobless and the underemployed, those on the periphery of the established society. They’re disheartened, and they have a lot of frustration,” said Gemki Fujii, a right-wing intellectual and author. However, he said that Zaitokukai is doomed to remain a fringe group because few Japanese admire the group’s abrasive tactics.

But the xenophobia that Zaitokukai helps spread via the Internet and its street demonstrations appears to be taking hold in Japan, which has a long tradition of isolating itself from the world. Racist comments about the country’s ethnic Korean and Chinese citizens are startlingly common, while other foreigners – including some long-term residents of Japan – say they also feel increasingly unwelcome, and complain of police harassment and rules that prevent non-Japanese from renting homes or gaining professional tenure.

MacKinnon dismisses Mr. Fujii’s reasonable assessment with vague claims about how more extreme nationalism “appears to be taking hold in Japan.” He tops it off with assertions about how foreigners now feel “increasingly unwelcome” in Japan, introducing readers to problems like housing discrimination and harassment from police. He doesn’t provide any numbers or even quotes from sources to back up his claims about the situation being any worse than it was years ago.

MacKinnon also mentions the existence of right-wing and revisionist history books being sold at bookstores in Japan as evidence of Japan’s new “rising” nationalism. He does not inform readers that the same bookstores also contain plenty of accurate history books from major publishing houses. It is noted that right-wing history books would never be sold in Germany, but the article does not remind readers that Germany has laws restricting freedom of expression that would make it illegal for right-wing groups to publish the kind of niche history denial books that are published in Japan.

In countries that respect and preserve freedom of speech and expression, extremist fringe groups are allowed to hold loud public protests and publish and sell offensive books. Post-war Japan has always had extremist groups – some on the right, and some on the left. This country has had right-wingers driving around in sound trucks and holding loud protests for many years.

Groups like Zaitokukai have used YouTube to make their protests more visible, but how does that make them important or influential? MacKinnon mentions Zaitokukai’s self-proclaimed membership of over 10,000 people – as if that number should impress us in a country with a population of 127 million people. Even the supposed turn out of 2,700 people at last week’s anti-China protest is not significantly larger than anti-nuclear weapons or anti-base protests regularly held by left-wing groups in Japan. There don’t appear to be any numbers backing up the idea that MacKinnon’s ominous “black sun” is “rising” over Japan.

To argue that there is a “rising” tide of right-wing extremism in Japan, one must produce credible evidence that they are increasing in numbers and influence. MacKinnon’s article doesn’t contain a shred of credible evidence to support his bold assertions. I think it would be fair to say that this article is nothing more than sensationalist garbage.

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Bethune: Sea Shepherd is Dishonest & Morally Bankrupt

New Zealander Pete Bethune has quit Sea Shepherd after finally realizing that the radical animal rights organization is incredibly dishonest, immoral, and stupid:

Pete Bethune has blasted Sea Shepherd and its leader Paul Watson, describing them as ‘dishonest’ and ‘morally bankrupt’.

Pete Bethune resigned from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society in an open letter on his Facebook page today; he says he can no longer represent a group that deliberately misleads and lies.
“It’s gradually dawned on me how bad they are, every month there’s another big lie floating around,” he wrote.

[...]

Bethune now says he was directed by Sea Shepherd admiral Paul Watson to deliberately sink the Ady Gil after it was hit by the Japanese ship.

“It was done for PR purposes and after the sinking I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone about it and I wasn’t even allowed to visit Ady Gil,” he says.

“This is Ady Gil’s boat and I’ve got to keep it a secret from him.”

Sea Shepherd expelled Bethune during his trial in Japan but later retracted their comments saying they had done so to help his case. Bethune says that too is lies.

“And it didn’t assist my trial at all; the lawyer said it portrayed me as dishonest,” he says.
Bethune says senior Sea Shepherd personnel routinely lie and conspire over serious matters and his resignation letter points out many of these.

The New Zealand Herald has a Bethune vs. Sea Shepherd counterclaim list:

WHAT SEA SHEPHERD SAYS
* The Ady Gil sank while being towed to port after a collision with the Shonan Maru No 2.
* Bethune broke Sea Shepherd’s non-violence policy by bringing a bow and arrow on board the Ady Gil.
* Bethune’s initial expulsion from Sea Shepherd during his Japanese trial was a ploy to encourage a more lenient sentence.
* Bethune’s false testimony to Japanese authorities reportedly led to the issue of an arrest warrant for Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson and his addition to Interpol’s “Blue List”.
* Sea Shepherd supported Bethune as an anti-whaling activist but wished to “quietly” dissociate itself from him.

WHAT PETE BETHUNE SAYS
* He was asked by Sea Shepherd to scuttle his boat after the collision.
* He was given permission to take the bow and arrow on board, then criticised by Sea Shepherd when arrows were found by the Japanese.
* His expulsion from Sea Shepherd hurt his case in court.
* His testimony followed legal instruction.
* He still “loved” Sea Shepherd but felt the organisation was too dishonest for him to stay.

And here’s an old video of Paul Watson acting tough in front of the media and saying he is captain and will take responsibility for what happens under his leadership, even if that means going to court:

[Hat tip to M. Tanaka]

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Kan Meets Wen (Without a Translator)

Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao have met and talked for the first time since the recent mess over the detaining of a Chinese trawler captain who rammed two Japanese coast guard ships near the Senkaku Islands:

PM Kan announced to the media that he met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (温家宝),
while both men are in Brussels, Belgium to attend the ASEM meeting. According to another report by The Asahi, the meeting took place at chairs in a corridor outside the room of a working dinner for 25 minutes. The N-H-K reported that the Chinese premier’s entourage included at least one Japanese-relation specialist so that they seemed to have expected such a meeting to occur, although it is not clear which side made the move to have such a meeting.

Mr. Kan seemed to be pleased to be able to tell the Japanese media members accompanying him on the trip that he told the Chinese premier that the Senkaku Islands are clearly a Japanese territory and also that both of them confirmed that the current situation is not desirable and it is important to address all issues with the already agreed upon spirit of maintaining戦略的 互恵関係 (mutually benefitting strategic relationship).

A lot of people are seeing this as a sign that Sino-Japanese relations are improving, and that things will soon be back to normal.

The most surprising thing about the meeting between Kan and Wen was the fact that the Japanese delegation was unprepared for such a meeting. Prior to the ASEM meeting there had been a lot of discussion in the Japanese media about how there might be a chance for Kan and Wen to meet on the sidelines of the summit. However, Kan and his advisors were apparently so pessimistic about the chances of meeting Wen that they didn’t even feel the need to include a single China experts or translator in his entourage:

…a senior Foreign Ministry official said Kan was not accompanied by any Chinese experts–even an interpreter. The 25-minute talks were held with Kan relying instead on an English-speaking interpreter.

Despite the impromptu nature of the hallway talks, Kan was pleased to get a chance to clear the air with Wen.

“We had a natural, normal conversation,” Kan said to reporters later. “It was just like, well, shall we sit down?”

China had previously scotched suggestions that the two leaders should meet in Brussels. Bilateral ties have chilled following last month’s collisions between a Chinese trawler and Japan Coast Guard patrol vessels off the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture.

Kan had hoped to break the deadlock by holding talks with Wen. But China’s uncompromising approach to the standoff had given Japanese officials little room for optimism that the talks might take place. Consequently, the head of the Foreign Ministry’s China and Mongolia Division was not with the prime minister at the meeting.

The talks even caught some government officials off guard.

An official accompanying Kan reportedly was “astounded” that the two leaders had simply agreed to meet on the fly.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry official in charge of Japanese affairs at the Asian bureau–who had worked at the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo for years and is an expert on Japanese affairs–interpreted from Japanese into Chinese for Wen.

Critics of the DPJ will of course use this yet another example of how the ruling party are bumbling amateurs in the field of international relations. Opposition lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi has got himself on the news this morning by giving the media some nice soundbites of him questioning the crisis management abilities of the Kan administration.

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Snoop Dogg: No Money Up Front, No Japan Tour

Rapper Snoop Dogg has posted a YouTube video to inform his Japanese fans that several shows in Japan have been called off because he hasn’t been paid the money he was promised:

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