Rosie's Shukugawara comments

This won't be popular with the Nojinron and Japanophiles here, but there are historical reasons for this:

There are, in fact, mixed feelings about Japan in Taiwan for historical reasons, especially among the older generations.

Taiwan was a colony of Japan from 1895 to 1945 for its resources and geopolitical strategy.

It is the only country in Asia where the imperial forces did not rape, murder, experiment on, and torture its citizens on a large scale.

Japan did a lot to advance Taiwan at the time.

However, Japan did commit some cultural erasure and exploitation of Taiwan and its people.

Much of Taiwan’s agricultural output was redirected to Japan, often at the expense of local food needs.

Indigenous lands were confiscated and redistributed or controlled by Japanese authorities.

Taiwanese were recruited (sometimes forcibly) as laborers, especially during World War II.

From the 1930s, Japan began an intense push to erase Taiwanese identity and turn the population into loyal Japanese subjects.

Mandarin and Taiwanese Hokkien were banned in schools and official settings.

Japanese became the sole language of instruction and public life.

Taiwanese were pressured or forced to adopt Japanese names under the Sōshi-kaimei (創氏改名) policy.

Local religious practices, including Chinese folk religions and ancestor worship, were suppressed.

People were forced to participate in Shinto rituals and visit state-established shrines.

Taiwanese history was erased or rewritten from a Japanese imperial perspective.

Schools taught that the Emperor of Japan was divine, and that Japan was the rightful ruler of Taiwan.

Traditional clothing, festivals, and ceremonies were discouraged or prohibited.

Japanese dress and customs were promoted as superior.

> GaijinjlandToday  07:21 am JST

Be nice if police officers here would resort to alcoholism to deal with stress like cops in other countries.

lol

There are nearly 200 countries in the world. Are they all more stressful than Japan?

Why are you making excuses for this guy? Hiding something? :

Both our kids have it, so I'm trying to stay away.

OssanAmericaToday  12:28 pm JST

taekwondoToday  12:01 pm JST

Only in Wakayama, not all of Japan.

The nationwide eating of whale meat in Japan only began after WW2, when the US encouraged it because people were not getting enough protein.

Another famous fallacy that anti-whalers believe.

Whaling itself, documented, goes back to the Heian Period (AD 794–1185).

Large scale Whaling started from Wakayama in the 1570s and spead to other parts of Japan. German physician Philipp Franz von Siebold wrote of the whaling he saw in Nagasaki in his work "Nippon (1832-1852).

There are Kujirazuka, mounds honoring whales that go back to the Edo Period (1603-1868) found in Wakayama, Nagasaki, Kochi, Osaka, Yamaguchi, Chiba, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Kumamoto, Kagoshima, etc.

The first steam powered harpoon-gunned whaling ship built in Japan was in 1899, and the technology was all from Norway.

When WWII ended the US had been supplying the Pacific Islands with canned meat (ie; SPAM) but when GHQ realized that Japan still had a sizeable operable whaling fleet, they directed Japan to resume whaling operations as a protein source.

So no, whaling in Japan did not start after WWII.

Yes, but a few isolated periods in specific areas don't constitute a long-standing tradition of eating whale meat. It only became widely consumed across Japan after World War II.

It's a pretty weak argument for continuing whaling since 99% Japanese people don't eat whale meat. It only supports a few hundred jobs and relies on taxpayer money to stay afloat.

Sack the lot of themToday  07:11 am JST

Very brave girl. Sadly, most victims never tell anyone.

This happened to a family member in Tokyo when she was 7, and it destroyed her trust in men for life.

She never told anyone until she was in her late 30s.

Who downvotes someone expressing sadness for the victim and sharing a similar experience?!! wtf

When will people realize that external factors are rarely the true cause of suicide? The decision to take one’s own life comes from within. Instead of focusing on changing the world, society should prioritize helping individuals build self-compassion, self-care, self-respect, and self-love. It’s like trying to prevent fires by restricting access to buildings instead of improving fire safety measures.

Didn't this happen a few times last year too?

Kids at that age should not have a smartphone. A dumb flip phone is fine for contact.

Start at a more mature age like 18. That's what we plan to do anyway.

TamaramaToday  07:28 am JST

You know you live in a very safe city when this makes headline news.

??

Explain