Politics

Korean Ultra-Nationalists Lobby Virginia: Demand Textbooks Use Korea-centric Geography (“East Sea”) @SenDaveMarsden

For the last several years, South Korean ultra-nationalists have been lobbying publishing companies and governments around the world, demanding that “East Sea” replace or be written alongside “Sea of Japan” in maps and books. They are angry about how people in other countries call the sea to the east of Korea by a
“pro-Japanese” name.

Although there are mountains of historical evidence that show widespread international use of the name predates Japan’s opening to the world in the 1850′s, these Korean ultra-nationalists insist that Japanese imperialists are responsible for the name.

As an alternative, they suggest that the entire world adopt the translation of their Korea-centric term for the sea: “East Sea.”

Their misinformation campaign appears to have gained some ground in areas of the United States with large ethnic Korean populations. Several days ago, they tried to trick the state of Virginia into requiring the use of “East Sea” in its textbooks. Luckily, the State Senate rejected their plan.

As reported by Korea’s Arirang News:

The Senate’s Education and Health Committee voted down the legislation 7 to 8, brought to a vote by Democrat Dave Marsden representing a constituency with a large Korean-American community.

The bill was strongly opposed by Republicans who called the measure “micromanagement” and raised concerns over possible strife and disorder that could arise from the legislation.

Korea argues that historically the more common name for the body of water between Korea and Japan is “East Sea” and NOT the “Sea of Japan.”

If you live in Virginia and would like to express your displeasure with Senator David Marsden’s blatant pandering to foreign ultra-nationalists, contact him via Twitter, Facebook, or his website.

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Adult Video Ads Uploaded to Japanese Politician’s YouTube Account

Somebody hacked the YouTube account of LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida and put up ads for Russian camgirls:

The video has already been taken down, but caused much consternation when it was discovered early in the morning on Jan. 30.

According to Nishida’s representatives, it is believed that someone hacked into Nishida’s YouTube account — which the Diet member uses to post videos related to his political activities on his website — and posted the obscene material.

Screencaps and backup videos are available via 2channel aggregate blogs (maybe NSFW – although women appear to be fully-clothed).

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Japan’s Inability to Make Decisions / Kevin Maher Strikes Back

Remember Kevin Maher, who lost his position in 2011 as director of the U.S. State Department’s Office of Japan Affairs after American students told the Japanese media that he had called Okinawans “masters of manipulation and extortion” who were “too lazy” to farm fruit?

Now that he’s no longer employed by the U.S. government, Maher has been strongly denying the accuracy of media reports about his remarks and criticizing both the Japanese government and the Obama administration. He’s released a book in Japanese, called “The Japan That Can’t Decide“(決断できない日本), and it’s supposedly been selling pretty well.

He’s also found an audience in America. Here is a video (1 hour 35 minutes) of Maher giving a speech about the main ideas of his book at the Heritage Foundation, one of America’s most influential right-wing think tanks:

At the beginning of the speech, Maher gives his side of the story about the students and his remarks about Okinawa. He states that the media reports were based on notes taken long after his actual speech and implies that the students had political motives. He also says that the State Department offered him a position in Australia after his dismissal from service in Japan, but he refused to accept “hush money” from them. He wanted the freedom to speak freely to the public.

A Heritage Foundation blog post has summarized his critical views of Japanese politics:

Japanese officials have become so fraught with indecision, he said, that Japan is mired in a perennial policy stalemate. Maher identified several reasons for this situation, including a consensus-building parliamentary system that empowers small minorities to block major decisions, a loss of confidence among politicians resulting from Japan’s lost decades of economic stagnation, and an aversion to taking risks and assuming responsibility.

Maher blamed Japan’s consensus-building approach and emphasis on domestic political concerns for the ongoing stalemate over the planned U.S. military realignment on Okinawa, particularly the Marine Corps Futenma Replacement Facility. Japan has passed the buck on implementing the previously agreed-upon plan of relocating Futenma’s air assets to Camp Schwab, transferring 8,000 Marines to Guam, and reducing the burden on the local population.

Maher emphasized that Japan’s populace and political leadership must take security issues more seriously—a weakness underscored by the meager 1 percent of GDP spent on defense. Maher condemned proposals to relocate Futenma’s helicopters off Okinawa, noting that Marine Corps units must constantly train with integrated air, ground, and logistics assets. In his words, “if they don’t train together, they die, and we will not sacrifice Marines’ lives for Japan’s domestic political concerns.” Japan must simply wake up to its security environment and understand why U.S. Marines on Okinawa are essential to peace and security in the Pacific.

The AFP also had a story about him, in which focus was placed on his view of the Kan Administration’s weak response to the Fukushima crisis:

Maher said that the US government was privately terrified over the unfolding crisis. He accused Japan’s then prime minister, Naoto Kan, of evading responsibility and trying to pass the problem over to the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co.

“I remember sitting on a task force many a time thinking, ‘Who the hell is in control in Japan?’ The government’s not doing anything. Kan made one trip and flew up and got in the way and came back,” Maher said.

Maher said that he watched in horror as he saw television footage of a sole helicopter dropping water on the stricken plant.

“Is that the best Japan can do?” Maher said. “Frankly what happened is the US government called in the Japanese ambassador and said, look, you have to take this stuff seriously. We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Maher said that the United States was even looking at whether it would have to evacuate some 100,000 Americans, although it soon became clear that Tokyo was not in harm’s way.

Maher thinks that in the early days of the crisis, there was nobody at the government level who wanted to take responsibility for the Fukushima crisis. The Kan Administration wanted it to be “Tepco’s problem” instead of the government’s problem. This was “irresponsible” behavior. After about March 16th, the crisis management increased greatly.

Some of the points he makes in the speech:

• The scandal about his alleged remarks took place was top news the day before the earthquake/tsunami. After March 11th, newspapers on the mainland devoted their attention to the gigantic disaster. But the Okinawan press supposedly thought Maher’s scandal was more important, and gave it more attention than the disaster.
• The Okinawa base issue is just like the issue of hold-out houses in the middle of Narita Airport: Japanese politicians try and fail at consensus-building, so a small minority can spoil policies that should help the entire country.
• When Japan Airlines Flight 123 crashed in 1985, Japanese SDF helicopters could not send down rescue crews because it was dark and they lacked night vision equipment. The American military offered assistance, but were rejected. As a result, injured survivors died while rescuers waited until sunrise. Maher thinks that bureaucrats turned down the American offer because they thought that it would take too long to build a consensus for its approval.
• Because Japan’s crisis management system relies on consensus-building, it basically has no effective means to deal with a crisis. (He doesn’t know how one would translate the idea of OBE into Japanese.)
• Japan needs to understand that “not deciding is deciding.”
• The real problem is that politicians do not want to take responsibility for tough decisions. If you build consensus before making a decision, everyone is responsible for it. But if you have to decide something without consensus, you’ve got to take responsibility.
• People in America who tell the Japanese to “put aside” the North Korea abductee issue are wrong. If American citizens were kidnapped by Cuba, America would probably go to war. How can you tell Japan to just ignore such a problem?
• Japan and America should not ignore the fact that China is a “totalitarian dictatorship.” China is a “real threat” to Japan.
• The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force should aquire nuclear-powered submarines to counter China’s growing naval strength.
• Japan needs to face security issues head-on and make the difficult decisions that need to be made. This involves explaining the necessity to the Japanese public.
• The relocation of Futenma Air Station to Henoko is the best solution available. Unfortunately, it will probably not be implemented. (But the security relationship between America and Japan is still functioning well. )
• Keeping Futenma’s helicopters near the other Marine bases on Okinawa is vital for their training. And adequate training is a matter of life and death to the marines. Unlike the Japanese, they face the realistic possibility of being sent to a war zone. (Unnamed Democrats criticized him after he said this to Hatoyama’s advisors in 2010.)
• Noda has the potential to be a stronger leader than Hatoyama or Kan. But it is difficult to look forward and predict how things will turn out.
• Japan needs to restart most of its nuclear reactors. Otherwise, electricity shortages will seriously damage the economy.
• The population is declining because many people aren’t optimistic about the future of Japan.
• He isn’t criticizing traditional Japanese culture. Japanese politicians in the 1950′s and 1960′s knew how to make decisions. Japan’s current problems are brought on by a lack of confidence, possibly due to economic stagnation.
• “The Japanese people deserve better politics.”

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Yoshiko Noda? International Media Still Screwing Up Japanese Prime Minister’s Name

When Yoshihiko Noda became Prime Minister of Japan in August of 2011, I made a blog post noting how many English language articles and tweets failed to properly spell his first name. For people unfamiliar with Japanese names, it can be hard to remember the second “hi” in the middle of Yoshihiko. Without that extra syllable, Noda’s first name becomes a female first name.

Nearly every article these days manages to spell his name correctly, but there are still a few every week that refer “Yoshiko Noda.” Here are some I spotted recently on Google News:

Patti Domm of CNBC (December 27, 2011):

“The two countries announced Sunday that they would start direct trading their currencies, instead of using the dollar as intermediary. The move is part of a financial agreement between the two countries following meetings between Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda and Chinese President Hu Jintao.”

Tania Branigan and Justin McCurry of the Guardian (December 20, 2011):

“In Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said prime minister Yoshiko Noda had ordered government officials to improve measures to collect information on North Korea’s moves, sharing it with the US, South Korea and China, and to be fully prepared for unpredictable circumstances.”

The Voice of Russia (December 20, 2011):

“In a telephone linkup on Monday Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda and President Barack Obama pledged to press for a nuclear-free North Korea and prevent Kim’s demise from having a negative impact on the much-needed stability on the divided peninsula.”

Sharla Torre Monvel-Cohen of Guam Buildup News (December 12, 2011):

“In a political move that some expect will weaken Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda‘s leadership and further complicate progress on a controversial plan to build a U.S. air base on Okinawa’s remote eastern coast, Japan’s Upper House approved censure motions against two members of his cabinet.”

And finally, even the English language newspapers in Japan have done it. Here is a quote from Takao Yamada of the Mainichi Shimbun (December 25, 2011):

But the government’s planned timing of this process — spring and summer of next year — coincides with a critical time for Prime Minister Yoshiko Noda‘s cherished consumption tax bill. Can the government handle two such massive issues at once?

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Internet Poll: Japanese Select Ideal Leaders

The Sankei Shimbun recently published the results of an online poll that asked Japanese people to select who they thought would be great or terrible leaders.

I have translated the ranking into English and added Wikipedia links for reference:

Who would you consider an ideal leader?

1. Sakamoto Ryoma
2. Oda Nobunaga
3. Tokugawa Ieyasu
4. Junichiro Koizumi
5. Toru Hashimoto
6. Konosuke Matsushita
7. Masayoshi Son
8. Takeshi Kitano
9. Kakuei Tanaka
10. George Tokoro
11. Hiromitsu Ochiai
12. Isoroku Yamamoto
13. Steve Jobs
14. Shintaro Ishihara
15. Toyotomi Hideyoshi

Who do you not want as a leader?

1. Yukio Hatoyama
2. Naoto Kan
3. Ichiro Ozawa
4. Tsuneo Watanabe
5. Yoshihiko Noda
6. Oda Nobunaga
7. Adolf Hitler
8. Politicians
9. N/A
10. N/A
11. Recent Prime Ministers (of Japan)
12. N/A
13. Kim Jong-il

The Sankei is a right-leaning newspaper, and the results may reflect the political views of its readership. Nonetheless, the people on the ideal list also enjoy mainstream popularity in Japan. Sakamoto Ryoma and Oda Nobunaga can also be found at the top of TBS television’s 2007 History’s 100 Most Influential People” ranking and its 2006 “Favorite 100 Historical Figures” ranking.

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Kim Jong-il Dead: Japan Reacts With Caution

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il has died. The Japanese government has reacted by holding some national security meetings:

As the central government’s information gathering operations moved into top gear, the Japanese leader held a telephone conversation with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the foreign ministry said.

Japan will also be in close contact with China and the United States concerning the issue, government officials said.

A series of emergency meetings between Noda and his key security advisers convened Monday, following Noda’s receipt of the news.

The Japanese government’s response has been one of caution. Prime Minister Noda doesn’t want to do anything that might cause trouble, so he’s just saying he hopes that the situation remains peaceful. Will North Korea be stable under the leadership of the young Kim Jong-Un? Will the new regime be more receptive to Japan’s demands for information about abducted citizens? Nobody is really sure what will happen next.

It has also been a hot topic for users on Japan’s largest bulletin board site, 2channel. Here are a few ASCII art images that have been posted on threads about the news story. As you might guess, their reaction was a little bit different from the official government response.

Beer mugs raised in celebration of Kim Jong-Il’s Demise:

Somebody’s holding a festival:

A Tamori-like character finds that his studio audience is very happy about Kim Jong-il’s death:

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