Ryu-1inOH comments

Back in France when I was a kid, Saint Seiya and Kimagure Orange Road were extremely popular - I know I feel old now :-). Someone liked KOR so much he opened the first manga store in Paris and named it "Madoka".

There's no guilt to be had in satisfying our inner otaku...as long as the soundtrack is good ;-)

Personal attacks on discussion forums are at most funny to watch, not to partake in :-)

You really believe your government will sided with Japan?

What I believe or not doesn't matter does it? I am just aware of my country's interests in the region. We of course will not take sides in the sovereignty dispute. Diplomacy is your friend ;-) But look what just came in :

http://nation.time.com/2012/09/30/big-u-s-fleet-nears-disputed-islands-but-what-for/

We do have to preserve our business interests, we're pragmatic too :-) I don't want to pay more than I have to for my iPad. But then, if I were working for the maker of iPads, I wouldn't be happy to see all of those cheap iPad copies on the shelves in my local store would I ? And well, while I try to keep abreast of events in South East Asia by reading the news, I do spend a few months per year in Tokyo both for business and pleasure. And no, my own company is not investing in China - we have an office in Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur instead - for the very reasons I mentioned.

Robert Abenz

LOL now that was quite the hateful tirade indeed :-)

Hate to burst your bubble but I am not Japanese - I am a national of one of the countries you said were not targeted and my host country is another one of those - and it might surprise you even more (not that I care) that a lot of the civilized world support Japan in this. And whether you noticed it or not, I only stated the issue in business terms; threat to intellectual property is considered a high risk and obviously it's not only Japanese IP that is at risk here. And no we don't depend on China for our tech; we only depend on them to manufacture it at a fraction of the cost so we can increase our margins :-) I guess that is the sacrifice we'll have to make to decrease our exposure huh?

PT24881 VW set up huge plants in China in early 80's, hence still command a significant market share

And what is VW's reward for that? I can buy parts made in China for my Touareg that cost 1/4 of the price VW sells them for. Of course the chances that they fail shortly after I put them on is high but I can afford to try it three more times.

That is a - not so hidden - cost of doing business in China that many businesses are now finding unacceptable. These are risks whether direct or not that factor into everyone's calculations.

cabadaje

The tradeoff between sovereignty issue & a few thousands of job loss for a brief period ?

That's how China is calculating right now. However, it may not be as brief a period as it thinks. Once lost, credibility is >hard to regain. Once companies pull out of a country, it is far more likely that it will fall faster than it would take for >companies to be convinced to re-invest in it.

That's exactly the point. The job of an insurance company is to balance risk and reward. Japanese insurance companies have of course determined that risk is overwhelingly high at this point and not about to subside in the foreseeable future. But other foreign businesses will come to this conclusion sooner or later. Their thinking is: "I might be next and while the rule of law (international trade laws) cannot be enforced then my risk is just as overwhelmingly high".

Except from

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120927a1.html

But the West — and the U.S. in particular — is new to dignity games à la Chinois. If it gets carried away and >presumes to talk down to the 5,000-year-old culture of the sages, the West could become the next object of China's >nationalist resentment.

Virtuoso: indeed. At one point they definitely needed - and most likely still do - the technology transfers, the jobs that came with it. Their current assumption is that they can do without the Japanese but of course, those underhanded tactics are spooking everyone. Knowing that most EU nations as well as the US were among the colonial powers that got territorial concessions from them at the turn of the 19th century, any of them could be next.

Elbuda: besides the energy reserves, look at where those islands are located, keeping in mind they will be needing more and more oil and that oil is transported from the Middle East.

so the 3rd season of sora no otoshimono hasn't come out yet :-/

Virtuoso: why would the Chinese goverment protect Japanese interests since they encouraged those protests. It simply doesn't make sense for insurance companies to provide coverage in China, the risks are ridiculously high. The French already learnt it at their own expense in 2008. The US are thinking they're one WTO complaint from being next.

Asking for money makes the whole thing sound like an extortion scam.

He compared the situation to that in Europe, where the fall of the Berlin Wall proved closure of sorts for Europe’s post->war division.

I fail to see the parallel. The fal of the Berlin wall meant the end of communism and the USSR. As far as I can tell the communist government in China hasn't gone away yet...

“I wonder,” wrote Park, “if this instinctive sadism in which pleasure is derived from such actions, still flows in the genes >of some Japanese. Even when countries engage in disputes, the presence or lack of values that call for treating an >adversary with decency represent the final thread that should definitely be maintained.”

Extremists will be extremists everywhere but this kind of over-generalization just reflects very poorly on the author and is indeed a total lack of judgement from the publication. Isn't that what the J-Cast News suggested? Why even spend time reading it in the first place?

This seems to be a text-to-speech engine plugged into the translation engine and a character recognition engine. I thought Google's was only a translation engine? And I'm not even sure Google's was among the first available for free...

I am going to sound like a broken record but some people seem to believe that there is only one interpretation of history, the one they were taught or the one they learnt in their own books when they were kids - or later. It never occurred to them that other people might have a different point of view and that that different points of view might have some truth in them. I consider it a duty to be loyal to my host country (the US) but need to point out that even in the WWII winning camp, many allies do not agree with the interpretation of some facts appearing in US history books. Now on the issue of the islands, it seems a few facts have been established, among them that Japan used a process that was legal to acquire them back in 1895, that the US returned them under Japanese administration in 1972 and that the maneuvers China is executing are what countries would do to stake a claim EXCEPT the disgraceful and underhanded tactics consisting in stirring up their brainwashed masses.

Although the US won't say it openly - not that openly - it is in our interest to defend Japan in this conflict. You don't have to take my word for it though, check this article out for cross reference

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/24/world/asia/24navy.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&ref=asia

Little excerpt, quote from admiral Willard leader of the US Pacific Command

“Of particular concern is that elements of China’s military modernization appear designed to challenge our freedom of >action in the region,” the admiral said.

NeverSubmit

France is supporting the Islamists in Syria for as a Geopolitical power play, it has nothing to do with purported >humanitarian reasons.

Trust me I don't have any illusions there. But the agenda is not different from other western powers including the US. Syria's regime is backed by Iran and that has to be the main issue.

Ask the Algerians how humanitarian the French when the Algerians rose up against French rule.

Guilty :-) I don't think they're denying their colonial past and will agree with you when you mention 'torture' in Algeria. Not too different from concepts like Guantanamo Bay etc right? They too have difficulties looking upon it. But I believe they're conscious of the problem. You have to recognize the FLN were not choir children either. At one point they used to slit their own people's throats by the dozen per week just for having a 'western education'

Do you really think that the leaders of France lose any sleep over the suffering of people in Syria. I don't buy it for a >second. Especially since they more than happy to pay for the mercenaries and jihadis to go into Syria to cause havoc >and bloodshed.

I'm not that naive :-) But then again, not very far from us backing the talibans/mujahedeens in Afghanistan against the Russians is it? Or everyone backing Saddam Hussein against Iran at one point (what was the point in turning against him afterwards?).

detlef langer

Yes, we've heard it, we've learned it, we've been fed it over and over again - but why are we always being treated as if >we hadn't?!

You've certainly got a point and I somewhat agree with you there. Most of the adults in their 40s, born 10/20 years after WWII ended definitely know and sometimes just agree with you when reminded and do not push the discussion any further. I've got to say the younger generations definitely do not want to know - I remember some TV programs where they interviewed university grads after a speech made by some holocaust survivor. I will explain my point.

But you definitely ARE responsible for the way you handle the history of your nation. And this, in my opinion, goes for >today's Germans as well as for today's Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, British, French and whatever nation comes to >mind.

I totally agree. There is a duty to remember so as to not repeat the errors of the past. But the burden can be very heavy to bear, espcially when the prescriptor - and here is my point - hasn't done their own due diligence and uses it as an excuse to bear a grudge and push other agendas. If whoever tries to give morale lessons to Japan took the time to reflect upon their own past history and deeds, they wouldn't take that condescending attitude when doing it and it might go through a bit better too.

ubikwitSep.

Because France used to be the colonial power in Syria, and they have been the most vocal Western power supporting >the rebels, which include an increasing number of the same type of radicals they are excluding from France.

Hypocrisy in that?

I'm not going to defend France there. I'll just say they're dealing with the same contradictions most western powers are dealing with. They're backing the rebels against Assad because he's a dictator who doesn't hesitate to violently repress the opposition. After all, we all need to stay somewhat consistent and they realize that transition to a more democratic society in the Middle East sometimes means the election of Islamist parties that comprise more radical factions. How different is it from us backing the Talibans against the Russians in the 80s? And I still don't think it is a contradiction with enforcing the laws of the Republic at home.

Maybe some of you don't realize but after the Schengen Agreement was signed and implemented, European countries are virtually without borders except for the ones with non European countries. You can drive from one country to another without realizing it. There is something to be said about their ability to move forward and China and Korea pulling continually pulling Japan back.

Um. My bad, I did not realize you were referring to some factions among the rebels

Not quite. Their position on Syria has been the same as the US and the rest of the EU. China and Russia are the ones blocking any attempts at a UN resolution against Syria.

What I'm saying is that no one should be pointing fingers; we're indeed all guilty one way or another. I spent a few years in England and during that time was traveling to Germany regularly for work. While there I talked with many people and candidly asked what they thought about being litterally drowned with reminders of the holocaust. Their reaction was the same as people in that situation all over the world: "we don't want to know; we are not responsible for what the previous generations did"

Amtrak issued the RFP :-)

JaneM Some foreigners say that Japan deserved the A-bombs but remember that the bombs killed civilians and only a few IF >ANY of the imperial soldiers who committed the war crimes. So just like every other country which actively took part in >WWII Japan suffered because of the millions of civilian lives lost during and at the end of the war. Millions of people >who never committed any crime suffered in so many ways during and at the end of WWII

Very well said. As many posters have pointed out, just as Japan might be somewhat hesitant to look upon a darker past, Korea might have the same problem and the US are not immune to it either - do we even realize it? The 4th Geneva Convention (1949) addresses that: "parties to a conflict often would resort to "intimidatory measures to terrorize the population in hopes of preventing hostile acts, but such practices strike at guilty and innocent alike. They are opposed to all principles based on humanity and justice."( comments from the ICRC)

I don't believe anyone is in a position to give morale lessons until they've been able to look upon their own past

chooch

Another country telling another country how they should deal with their criminals?

This is not strange nor is it uncommon. Human rights are things that we arrive at when we are advanced and >prosperous enough to begin taking the rights of the common human into consideration. It is like a Maslow's Hierarchy >of Needs that applies to a country.

Much agreed. To be more precise, it is in continuity with the 'unalienable rights' of man to 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness', enshrined in both the Virginia Declaration of Rights and the Declaration of Man and Citizen, from the American and French revolution. And of course it is in continuity with the one adopted by the UN after WWII in light of the crimes committed by Nazi Germany.They're trying to stay consistent with their ideals and preaching them to others. But they too, as someone else pointed out, have their own skeletons to hide, like the Algerian independance war. They too have problems looking upon their past. Who are we to talk, we have our own Guantanamo Bay and our Korean comfort women. Look at it this way: this is not a Chinese-style 'don't go to Yasukuni shrine' but more like a friendly reminder.

michikokadaSep. 28, 2012 - 02:33AM JST

If we face the truth and focus on business not feelings, we will admit both China and Japan get hurt and let's not >debate which gets hurt the most.

I very much agree with you but I believe one mistake that was made on the Japanese side has been to consider that the other side will behave rationally and professionally. As we've all seen, the tactics used were anything but rational, professional or even legal. My company for example has an office in Tokyo - that I frequently visit - from which we run most Asian operations and another engineering office in Malaysia and Australia but we made the conscious decision not to put our nose in China.

kazetsukaiSep. 28, 2012 - 01:17AM JST

You have NOT been keeping up with the actions and rhetoric by the Iranians and now most of the radicalized Muslim >world.

If you mean that for the people who think Iran is just a poor small nation bullied by the US I would definitely have to agree. No one is looking down on their civilization or history. We are all aware of the accomplishments of the Persian empire. What we are extremely wary of is state-sponsored terrorism. I know Hezbollah has morphed a lot and Asia don't hear from them that much. At the same time Iran have had much more moderate presidents than the current one but one can't forget who has real power over there - the ayatollahs. If you want to have a much more current facts, look at what the Syrian regime is doing and consider the fact they are backed by Iran. You also need to consider the region's geopolitics. The UAE will never let Iran get a nuclean weapon without getting intot he race themselves. This would mean a race to nuclear armement in the Middle East and I guess you guys can figure what would happen next.

RichardPearce: I can only guess that you're referring to South Africa and the abolition of apartheid. While I don't think anyone in the West condoned the practice of apartheid, I'm not sure the man you're referring to was calling for South Africa to be 'wiped off the map' like a certain president of Iran. I was probably too young to follow all of Mandela's speeches though so I wouldn't venture many guesses there. But for people who have lived through that period in Western Europe - I don't know if you have - it is difficult to forget the bombings in the metro system killing dozens to hundreds of civilians. I would liken that to 9/11 in the US at a lower scale.

Some people on this forum are wondering why many western powers are trying to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon. I will venture a guess: not only because their president swore the destruction of Israel but also because Iran is a known sponsor of many extremely virulent terrorist organizations back in the 80s. Just look up the history of Hezbollah. Growing up in Europe I have vivid memories of a series of bombings in Paris whose authors were determined to be a Tunisian group also backed by Iran.

Don't kid yourself. These Japanese companies are in China foremost is to make money for themselves

They are businesses. Their job is to make money; they are not caritative organizations. But you can't deny that the host country doesn't benefit from the technology transfer as well as the jobs. It's supposed to be a win-win situation.

What doesn't help Iran is having a president who only swears by the destruction of one of its neighbors (Israel) everytime he opens his mouth. And this person wonders why there is suspicion? The ultimate red line for Israel is when Mossad declares that Iran is close to having a nuclear weapon. At that time it's not a matter of credibility but a matter of survival for Israel.