Donald Seekins comments

Posted in: Kishida tells South Koreans his 'heart hurts' over pain caused by occupation See in context

To establish firm ties with South Korea, Kishida needs to ignore the influence of ultranationalists in the LDP and other parties at home. Which he won't do, because it means political suicide.

Which is only one way in which Japan is stuck, because the Tokyo establishment cannot distance itself from the shadows of Nippon Kaigi and Yasukuni Shrine.

-3 ( +7 / -10 )

Posted in: Move aside, maid cafes — this Tokyo cafe has actors who pretend to be your friends See in context

Sad. I wonder when they are going to open a branch in Nara, where I live?

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

Posted in: U.N. expert urges Japan to sanction Myanmar junta See in context

It's no surprise that Japan's defense ministry is training Myanmar officers. Its conservative elites have a romantic view of Myanmar for historical, or pseudo-historical, reasons. During World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army helped establish the Burma Independence Army, which fought the British colonialists in 1941-1942. The BIA was led by Aung San, Myanmar's independence leader and father of Aung San Suu Kyi. They ignore the fact that Aung San switched sides in 1945 and supported the British campaign to liberate (or reoccupy) the country.

Japanese hardliners, who are still very influential inside this country's political establishment, like to say that if the IJA hadn't "liberated" Southeast Asia during the war, the region would still be ruled by European colonialists. This is pure rubbish.

The true legacy of the Japanese occupation in Burma is a brutal army that wages war ruthlessly against its own people in unending internal wars that have cost hundreds of thousands of lives over the decades and crippled Myanmar's ability to develop socially and economically.

-5 ( +4 / -9 )

Posted in: LDP wins 4 of 5 Diet by-elections See in context

After Japan defeated China in the First Sino-Japanese War, Li Hongchang and Ito Hirobumi met to work out treaty arrangements. Ito asked Li: "why is it that China can't carry out effective reforms?"

"We Chinese," Li replied, "are too fond of our old traditions."

Now the shoe is on the other foot, and it is Japan that refuses to change. The LDP victory is evidence of this. People vote for the party despite its repeated scandals and total lack of new ideas.

1 ( +14 / -13 )

Posted in: Japan approves Osaka as site of country's first casino resort See in context

It‘s gonna be amazing!

I mean the social problems.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Posted in: Gov't to approve plan for Japan's 1st casino resort in Osaka See in context

Gambling. With all its social problems, this is just what Japan needs. It will bring to Osaka the blessed trinity of gangsters, prostitution and drugs - not to mention the gambling addiction of people who probably couldn't afford it.

Nagasaki is next on the list of possible casino sites. For that city's sake, I hope they stop the project before it's too late.

8 ( +14 / -6 )

Posted in: ChatGPT developer meets Kishida; eager to open office in Japan See in context

I heard on the news last night that a Diet member (probably from the LDP) suggested that AI could be used to answer questions to the prime minister and cabinet ministers during parliamentary deliberations.

Does this mean Japan can replace all the politicians with AI?

Wow!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ramen manners debate: Should you put your used napkins into your bowl after you eat? See in context

I agree with falseflagsteve, above. Life is too short for all these silly rules. Japanese people pack their lives with all sorts or rules and regulations, reducing uncertainty to near-zero. And making their own lives miserable.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese gov't survey finds nearly 1.5 million living as recluses See in context

I still have bad dreams about my employment at a university in Japan. Back then, all the "harmony" with my fellow department members put me into a deep depression.

Japanese have succeeded in creating a society that is increasingly unlivable - even for themselves.

1 ( +19 / -18 )

Posted in: Nootbaar's pepper grinder move unwelcome in Japan high school tourney See in context

It always makes me a little sick to see Japanese high school baseball teams march out into Koshien like soldiers. Japanese baseball (at least on the high school level) is not about having fun, but learning how to conform and fit in.

0 ( +13 / -13 )

Posted in: Kumamoto stumbles over plan to recognize foreigners as citizens See in context

This article doesn't seem to clarify what is meant by "citizens." No foreign person is a citizen of Japan in the national sense without having naturalized (like, for example, the famous literary scholar Donald Keene, who renounced his US citizenship to become a Japanese citizen). What Kumamoto seems to be trying to define is "citizens" of Kumamoto City.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: WHO fires Japanese director in Asia, accused of racist misconduct See in context

"Documents and recordings showed Kasai made racist remarks to his staff and blamed the rise of COVID-19 in some Pacific countries on their 'lack of capacity due to their inferior culture, race and socioeconomic level.'”

I wonder if Kasai is one of those medics who has family connections to the "Devil's Doctors" performing medical experiments at Unit 731 in northeast China? After the war, many of the Unit 731 "alumni" became prominent in Japan's medical establishment.

2 ( +7 / -5 )

Posted in: Ministry says files suggesting pressure on media were its documents See in context

"Asked by Konishi about whether she would quit as a Cabinet member and as a lawmaker if the documents are proven to be real, Takaichi, speaking at a Diet session on Friday, answered, 'Yes, I will.'"

No, she won't.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

Posted in: S Korean President Yoon expected to visit Japan in mid-March See in context

I doubt that Yoon's agreement with Japan will "stick." Thanks largely to Tokyo's cold and stingy attitude concerning its war crimes, South Koreans are outraged by any concession to their former colonizer.

-14 ( +3 / -17 )

Posted in: Japan’s school backpacks keep getting more expensive, so now parents can rent them See in context

The randoseru is yet one more bit of Japanese "tradition" that should be dropped into the dustbin of history.

4 ( +10 / -6 )

Posted in: Takaichi vows to quit as lawmaker if document on broadcasters proven real See in context

When I read about brave people in other Asian countries fighting for basic freedoms (e.g., Burma, Thailand, Hong Kong), it makes me sick and ashamed that Japan has politicians like Sanae Takaichi who are prominent in the LDP and are trying to turn "democratic" Japan into a fascist, authoritarian state.

She should quit . . . but probably won't.

3 ( +17 / -14 )

Posted in: Japanese firm got U.S. sanctions exemption to pay Myanmar military company: official See in context

News about Myanmar has just about disappeared from the media. While everyone is focusing their attention on Ukraine, it seems that Japan is quietly pushing economic engagement in the country once called Burma.

7 ( +7 / -0 )

Posted in: Sagawa, who killed woman, ate her flesh in Paris in 1981, dies at 73 See in context

Beneath the lovely facade of "Beautiful Japan" lurks some pretty awful nihilism.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan's 8th COVID wave could surpass previous wave's peak, say experts See in context

Another year of Covid. Sigh!

If we are going to live like human beings, we have to live with the virus. Even if there is a higher risk of getting it.

Life isn't simply about remaining (physically) alive. The lifestyle of a toadstool isn't human.

3 ( +6 / -3 )

Posted in: Psychedelics show promise in treating depression: study See in context

Japan doesn't need anti-depressants. To cure the illness, all people have to do is recite GAMBATTE KUDASAI! ten million times.

Never fails!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: NPO, citizens call for Japan aid for poison gas victims in China See in context

"When the Allied powers tried Japanese leaders for war crimes at the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, they considered filing charges over the use of poison gas by the Japanese army.

"But they eventually did not do so, and some believe this is because the United States sought to keep the option of using such gas after World War II."

America's deals with the devil in Japan after World War II (including full pardons for the members of the infamous Unit 731) make me ashamed to be an American citizen.

5 ( +7 / -2 )

Posted in: WHO director in Asia accused of racism, abuse indefinitely put on leave See in context

Shocking. But then again, just another example of a Japanese "heavenly bureaucrat" misbehavin'.

-9 ( +11 / -20 )

Posted in: Kishida shaken as list of lawmakers linked to Unification Church grows to 20 See in context

The really weird thing is that the Moonies make special efforts in Japan to target people whose ancestors had in some way done bad things to Koreans. This supposedly would include things like: Hideyoshi's 16th century invasion of Korea, Japan's brutal colonization of the country during 1910-45, Korean forced laborers in Japan and the "comfort women." With (perhaps) the exception of the first, Abe and his rightwing political clique have strenuously opposed redress of these historical issues.

Yet he cultivated close ties with the Unification Church. It is a little like Hitler (secretly) supporting some Jewish organizations before World War II.

It's bizarre. Sick.

-7 ( +5 / -12 )

Posted in: Role in Japanese war machine made Hiroshima, Nagasaki A-bomb targets See in context

The big problem with the annual observations of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan is that they leave out the historical context. We see innocent Japanese school children getting up in the morning, getting their bentos from their mothers and going off to school. Then, they are annihilated. No mention is made of the Chinese schoolchildren who died in Chongqing, Wuhan or Shanghai. Or Nanjing.

If the Japanese military had possessed the atomic bomb, I doubt that humanitarian considerations would have stopped them from using it. All of northern China would have been radioactive.

-6 ( +10 / -16 )

Posted in: Charges dropped against immigration officials over Sri Lankan woman's death See in context

Impunity for Mandarins, harsh penalties for everyone else. In other words, KANSON MINPI, or "worship officials, despise the people."

Some things never change.

1 ( +8 / -7 )

Posted in: Japanese society begins to grapple with microaggressions See in context

One of the micro-aggressions that constantly bothers me is the use both in print and conversation of the word "foreigner" by Japanese to refer to non-Japanese, rather than "expatriate" or "foreign resident." Foreigner in English has a very strong nuance of disdain, exclusion and dislike (e.g., "there are too many foreigners in this town"; "you can't trust foreigners"). Whenever I see the word or hear it, I have a twinge of dislike. I know this might seem too sensitive, but when you are living here (a "foreign resident"), the resentment builds up.

We could at least start talking about this.

0 ( +9 / -9 )

Posted in: Biden urges N Korea to right 'historic wrong' of abductions of Japanese See in context

President Biden's meeting with the abductee families is simply a dog-and-pony show meant to please his Japanese hosts. The Japanese right has been using the issue of the abductees to cover over their colossal blunder in 2002, blowing up over the issue after Kim Chong-il made the significant concession of allowing five of them to visit Japan and apologizing. If Pyongyang-Tokyo relations had stayed on track, Northeast Asia might be much more stable and peaceful than it is today.

I feel sympathy for the abductee families, but they are being used as chess pieces by the government to get support for their hawkish policies against North Korea and China. Which of course pleases Washington.

5 ( +8 / -3 )

Posted in: Tokyo Olympic film debuts in Japan; headed next to Cannes See in context

Can't we just forget about the Tokyo Olympics? The apparatchiks in Tokyo put the people of Japan at risk last summer by holding these meaningless games. Covid cases reached a record high while Japan Inc. celebrated the "Olympic spirit"!

The 2021 Olympics are a classic case of KANSON, MINPI," or "revere officials, despise the people."

1 ( +4 / -3 )

Posted in: Kill Japan's elderly? Cannes film probes chilling idea See in context

Japan, like many if not most "developed" countries (including my country, the United States), values (economic) pragmatism over human dignity. In the end, what counts is the bottom line, although in "Plan 75" this grim reality is sugar coated. Perhaps old people being pressured to be put to death in Japan would be told "living at your age is selfish; just think of other people!" If the State took this line, I'm sure many people would choose to go along with it, i.e., "I shouldn't cause trouble for other people."

Everyone in this society is supposed to be "happy," with a smile on their face. But the "happiness" they embrace is empty.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

Posted in: Musk warns Japan will cease to exist if birthrate continues decline See in context

Who cares what Elon Musk says? He's just a rich guy with a motor-mouth.

I doubt that any Japanese couples are going to say: "let's have three-four-five kids. Because Elon Musk said so!"

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

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