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Saturday, September 13, 2008

Belated response to "The Most Hilarious Comment I’ve Received to Date"

I've been busy with guests and other matters for the past couple of weeks, so haven't had time to respond appropriately to the post "The Most Hilarious Comment I’ve Received to Date" , which was written as a response to comments I initially made on a post entitled: "Why I like Japan so Much". Both posts were written by virgomonkey, who is the owner of the blog: "Waging a War on the Radical Right and the Radical Left". The blog, at least when I first found it, was meant to combat anti-Americanism. . .but may have expanded its "mission" since then.

My first response to the "Why I like Japan so Much" post was あんたあほちゃう?, which translates as "Are you an idiot?". I admit this response is knee-jerk and juvenile, but its also honest. Needless to say, the comment was not received well:

Mr. Nippon Blogger: Would you like to kindly elaborate as to why you think I’m a “dumbass” as you said so eloquently in Japanese?

It’s no wonder the Japanese treat you so badly over there considering the type of language you use so randomly. And if you get so offended by my writing, I think you have more things to worry about than how some stranger views Japan on a blog.

To live in one of the best countries in the world as Japan and have no other source of entertainment than calling random people assholes on the internet says much more about you than me.

Tell me your whereabouts in Japan. If so, I’d be happy to tell you some places to go or hang out that will relax you and give you some enjoyment to get your mind out of its whiny and miserable state.

virgomonkey continued her response in an email to me

Actually, if you've been reading my blog and even the post you were responding to, you'd see quite clearly that I mention what I dislike about Japan, what I like about Japan, what I dislike about America, what I like about America and so on. So, I am clueless as to where or how you get that I am seeing the world or issues with a black and white view?

Anti-Americanism is bigotry the way I see it. Anti-Americanism is not a person. So, if it is not an "it", than what pronoun do you suggest?

Mr. Expert on Complex Subjects, like I had mentioned in my disclaimer, I define Anti-Americanism MY WAY (subjectively). Can I not be subjective in my blog? Or do my views have to represent yours? Are you offended by views that differ from your own?

I see Anti-Americanism as having prejudicial feelings about the American people as a whole. Perhaps you see it differently. And I respect that. But how I SEE Anti-Americanism has nothing to do with seeing the world with a black and white view. :?

Don't you think if someone were to talk about [insert noun or adjective], they would define it first so that there wouldn't be any confusion? And if you were to read the literature written by other NON-AMERICANS, you will see that most people see AA as a form of bigotry and not simply criticizing a government.

Additionally, the Anti-Americans use the term "black and white" and "overly-simplistic" to define Americans. Can I not point out where their hypocrisy lies? Seriously, if you want to go after those that mindlessly label and look at things with a "black and white" perspective, you've got your work cut out for you regarding (since the term Anti-American offends you) those that blindly hate all Americans. ;-) Or do you just go after only those people who counteract their arguments and defend themselves?

The Japanese, generally, they ARE nice people and ARE nice to foreigners. That is truth. That is not an opinion. If they treat you like shit, it is well-deserved.

Perhaps you should think a bit more critically about your own black and white thinking before accusing others 'out there' of it.

You mean these people?

virgomonkey then went on to list a bunch of anti-American websites and facebook accounts.

So, I elaborated:

You talk about nation-states as if they were singular entities with personalities and traits. ‘Japanese’ do this, ‘Americans’ are like this, all the ‘anti-Americans’ say this. You even talk about anti-Americanism as an object that does things

“But this is what Anti-Americanism is all about. It’s mindless bigotry. It doesn’t listen.”

Anti-Americanism is an it?

Perhaps you should think a bit more critically about your own black and white thinking before accusing others ‘out there’ of it.

Its hard to believe such a small comment could generate so much text from virgomonkey, but it indeed did. So, in addition to the above diatribes, came a full blog post: "The Most Hilarious Comment I’ve Received to Date".

The criticism I offered (albeit with little tact) suggested that virgomonkey makes a mistake by discussing nation-states and their entire populations as if they were individual actors. For example, in the post I initially responded to (Why I like Japan so Much), virgomonkey states that:
Japanese people don’t bring politics (they are generally not political people) into the mix when meeting foreigners and welcome them with an open heart.
Later, she writes:
The Japanese very rarely make mistakes and put forth an incredible amount of pride in their work. The same applies to the way Japanese treat their food. In the US, people like cheap and fast especially because of our crumbling family structure over here where mom and dad are overworked and too exhausted to think about real food. In Japan, the people prefer QUALITY and NATURAL INGREDIENTS as opposed to the triple processed crapola you can find in the states.
Both of these statements are gross generalizations and their veracity is questionable. What, for example, is the basis for making a statement such as "The Japanese very rarely make mistakes and put forth an incredible amount of pride in their work"? One could find measures for these things, but not on a scale that makes it appropriate to make a statement about "the Japanese". Also, how does virgomonkey know that people in Japan prefer quality and natural ingredients, or that moms and dads are overworked in America but not Japan? The ludicrousness of these broad generalizations was the gist of my criticism.

I could go on, but I'll leave it at the above couple of examples. Also, to be fair, at the end of her post, virgomonkey did write the following:
Anyway, this is just MY personal experience. Yours may have been different, so please spare any knee-jerk incoherencies in my comment section.
However, it's from this very statement that I think virgomonkey should use greater caution in her use of meaningless generalizations about "the Japanese" (whomever those Japanese may be). In other words, for virgomonkey's statements to hold any water they must be contextualized within HER personal experience to reflect the diversity of the Japanese nation and its various people. Notice also that even in this sentence she's already taken the liberty to label any criticism she disagrees with as "knee-jerk incoherencies".

Now, on to virgomonkey's post, "The Most Hilarious Comment I’ve Received to Date" directed specifically at me. Basically, instead of addressing my criticism, virgomonkey creates a straw-man argument that she can easily 'knock-down' through an ad hominem attack on me. Using a set of pre-defined terms (no, virgomonkey, I wasn't too lazy to read them) that you can find in her glossary, virgomonkey sets out to charaterize me as a moralist out to defend what she labels "anti-Americanism". Essentially virgomonkey wants to make me out to be a "multicultural elitist", which is another of her pre-defined terms that you can find in her glossary.

Virgomonkey begins by calling me the "PC police". However, my criticism had nothing to do with political correctness. Rather, it was directed at virgomonkey's extreme overgeneralizations and the factual flimsiness of her arguments.

She goes on to misrepresent my questioning of her generalizations about anti-American discourseS (yes, there are more than one) as a sign of my support for these kinds of notions and ideas. Virgomonkey then goes on to link me with the Westboro Baptist Church, white supremicists, and anti-semites. This is an amazing leap of (il)logic to say the least. Yet, it works to virgomonkey's advantage because she can now masquerade herself as a crusader against the, as she puts it, "sheeple who blindly attack the American people".

Having now set me up (like a straw-man) as a hateful bigot along the lines of white supremicists and such, virgomonkey feels confident that she can push me over easily. Hypocrisy is her tool of choice. In other words, she attempts to criticize me for what I criticized her for. Since she's using my criticism perhaps she realizes--deep down somewhere--that it had some legitimacy. In her attempt to expose me as a hypocrite, virgomonkey used the following section of text from my post "日本のサンバ:浅草 Samba in Japan: Asakusa Festival":

And in his carefully written and balanced blog, he stereotypes the Japanese. You can find one example here.

For those who don’t know samba, most of the outfits are quite skimpy and t-back bottoms are the norm. Also, for those who don’t know–Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan. Anyway, the whole thing was almost too much to take. Some of these lecherous folks had arrived at the wee hours of the morning to secure a good spot for their ass hunting. What surprised me most was that there were quite a few older women getting in on the action too (apparently they sell the photos to websites and magazines–yuck).

These perverts were totally unabashed in their quest for bum shots. Good god all mighty.

First of all, I have never characterized my blog as being carefully written or balanced, but thanks for the compliment, sarcastic as it was.

Second, virgomonkey never points out where exactly I am stereotyping Japanese people, she simply tosses the quote out and says, "Hypocrisy at its finest, might I say?" Well, you MIGHT say, but you might also actually say what's hypocritical about this passage. In this particular post I was recounting an personal anecdote, never do I generalize about or characterize Japanese people as a whole. "Some of these lecherous folks. . .", I say, or "these perverts", referring specifically to the people I saw first-hand, not to the Japanese people as a whole. Virgomonkey might be able to make a case out of the sentence where I state, "Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan", but even here I'm only stating that within the country these kinds of people exist, which they do--something even virgomonkey verifies with her reference to "touch men" (I didn't even limit the gender, because I saw women doing it too).

Anyway, I apologize for taking so long to make a simple point, which is that virgomonkey has an agenda--it's laid out clearly on her blog--anyone who doesn't agree with that agenda, she attacks and labels as being elitist. If virgomonkey had responded in any substantive way to my criticism I wouldn't have taken the time to respond to her post, but since she felt compelled to spew on in an ad hominem diatribe characterizing me as some sort of racist, anti-American, anti-semite, anti-gay "doorknob", I felt a thorough response was appropriate.

So, keep up the good fight virgomonkey. God bless and do America proud.

Warmest Regards,

Your most multiculturalist of elitists, Nippon Blogger

Thursday, September 4, 2008

In Japan: more pets than kids

This blog post from Engrish.com explains that pets now outnumber kids in Japan.

Guess kids take longer to housebreak.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

日本のサンバ:浅草 Samba in Japan: Asakusa Festival

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/images/photos2008/nn20080831a4a.jpg

Saturday was the annual Asakusa Samba Carnival, held in Asakusa, Tokyo. Click here for a Japan Times article describing the event.

I attended the event in 2005 with my wife, who danced samba at the time and was a participant. I have to say I was thoroughly disgusted with the whole thing. The dancing was fine (I've always been amazed at samba in Japan--everyone is quite dedicated). The disturbing thing was the number of chikan (perverts) lining the streets to take pictures of asses.

For those who don't know samba, most of the outfits are quite skimpy and t-back bottoms are the norm. Also, for those who don't know--Japan is quite famous for chikan, and for odd-varieties of chikan. Anyway, the whole thing was almost too much to take. Some of these lecherous folks had arrived at the wee hours of the morning to secure a good spot for their ass hunting. What surprised me most was that there were quite a few older women getting in on the action too (apparently they sell the photos to websites and magazines--yuck).

These perverts were totally unabashed in their quest for bum shots. Good god all mighty.

Anyway, good job to all the participants. And, watch your asses!!!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Ministers to switch to hybrids; rest of the world responses by not really giving a shit

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/82147225.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=17A4AD9
FDB9CF19368FFB0B613D6DEB0119740C87B6AECB55A5397277B4DC33E

An August 27th Japan Times article reports the following:

Environment Minister Tetsuo Saito proposed Tuesday replacing all official cars for Cabinet ministers with next-generation automobiles, such as hybrids, by the time the Kyoto Protocol expires in 2012 as part of efforts to cut green house gas emissions.

He told a news conference after presenting the proposal at a ministers' informal meeting that other Cabinet ministers gave their approval.

According to the Environment Ministry, six out of 13 official cars for Cabinet members are already next-generation automobiles.

This is great, but does it really deserve a news article? I understand that Saito and other ministers are trying to drum up some good publicity, but that doesn't mean the Japan Times has to play along.

Why must we make so much out of such a commonsensical move towards reducing carbon emissions? In my opinion this kind of lauding only serves to belittle the real lifestyle changes that are needed in order to reduce carbon emissions. If simply switching to hybrid vehicles deserves a mention in the newspaper, what do you get for cutting your home electricity use in half? . . .an encyclopedia entry?

Monday, August 25, 2008

Lightening, blaze claim temple hall in Kyoto

The Japan Times reports that the Juntei-kannon-do (准胝観音堂) hall of Kyoto's Daigoji (醍醐寺) temple was destroyed by fire on the night of August 23rd. (Click here for the original article).
http://www.sanspo.com/shakai/news/080825/sha0808250550004-n1.htm

According to Daigoji's official website the Juntei-kannon hall was originally built in 866. However, like most temples in Japan, it has been destroyed and rebuilt--probably several times--and the current structure dates from 1968. Daigoji was registered in 1994 as a UNESCO World Heritage site.


The Japan times reports that:

According to the police, two monks staying near Junteido hall, where the statutes of Kannon were placed, spotted the fire at around midnight.

Because the hall is located in a mountainous area, cell phones do not work there. They had to walk down to the nearest phone to call the authorities.


It's been a crazy year in Japan for lightening. Mainichi Daily News reports that Tokyo has seen the most lightning in July in 50 years (article here).


Sunday, August 24, 2008

Family Mart goes "eco". . .sorta

In an August 20, 2008 article the Mainichi Daily News reported that the convenience store chain Family Mart with begin building around 1,000 stores using wood materials. The logic is explained in the article:
Wooden structures can cut down CO2 emissions in the process of construction from 81 tons to 33 tons per store compared to steel-framed stores.
Not sure where those numbers come from, but I'm skeptical of how one can trace CO2 emissions through the process of materials construction. Plus, 1,000 stores is a fraction of the new stores built by Family Mart each year (see the graph below, taken from Family Mart's website)

Of course none of these very VOCAL moves on the part of corporations towards being "eco-friendly" seem to be very sincere. Actually, they may be sincere, but only if the "eco" in "eco-friendly" is taken to mean "economically", rather than "ecologically". For example, later the article reads:
The chain also estimates that it can reduce its construction expenses by over 3 billion yen as it costs about 12 million yen to build a wooden store, compared to about 15 million yen for a steel-framed store that could cost more in the future due to a rise in material prices.
Moreover, I wonder where the wood is coming from. . .probably not Japan; domestic wood is definately not "eco-friendly" (economically friendly that is). And, though foreign wood is economically friendly, it is most definately NOT ecologically friendly. No amount of "eco-friendly" convenience stores can overcome the damage of heavy deforestation abroad.

But, I will remain hopeful that Family Mart (and other chains) will make me eat my words.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Don't call me gaijin, whitey


The blogosphere has been buzzing recently with reaction to Debito Arudou's asinine column Once a 'gaijin', always a 'gaijin'.

Showing a dizzing level of intellectual dishonesty--or perhaps just plain stupidity--Arudou likens the word "gaijin" (written 外人, which is short for 外国人, meaning "outside country person") to the "n-word" in English. He writes:

Question: "What do you call a black man with a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Harvard who works as a brain surgeon at Johns Hopkins, earns seven figures a year, and runs one of the world's largest philanthropies?"

Answer: "N--ger."

Hardy har. Now let's rephrase.

Question: "What do you call a white man with degrees from top-tier schools who has lived in Japan for more than two decades, contributes to Japanese society as a university educator, is fluent in Japanese, and has Japanese citizenship?"

Answer: "G--jin."

I don' t know if Arudou was up against a deadline--perhaps the hot summer got to him--I'm not sure, but his sloppiness in dealing with a potentially enlightening subject is astounding.

Take, for example, this next quote:

Nobody who knows I'm a naturalized Japanese citizen calls me a gaikokujin anymore — it's factually incorrect. But there are plenty of people (especially foreigners) who don't hesitate to call me a gaijin, often pejoratively.

Thus gaijin is a caste. No matter how hard you try to acculturate yourself, become literate and lingual, even make yourself legally inseparable from the putative "naikokujin" (the "inside people," whoever they are), you're still "not one of us."

Let's look at the logic here. "Nobody who knows I'm a naturalized Japanese citizen calls me gaikokujin anymore. . ." Who are 'nobody'? Japanese? foreigners? I ask because in the next line he says "plenty of people [not nobody] (especially foreigners) who don't hesitate to call me a gaijin. . ." I guess Arudou is trying to make a point about the distinction between 'gaikokujin' and 'gaijin', but it's muddled.

Next, Arudou talks about the struggle to acculturate (a word I'm uncomfortable with anyway. . .how do we 'acculturate'?). No matter how hard you try, says Arudou, "you're still 'not one of us'". Didn't he just say that "especially foreigners" pejoritively call him 'gaijin'? Who or what, exactly, is Arudou threatened by? He seems to want to talk about Japanese notions of homogeneity, but references foreigners use of the term 'gaijin'.

Finally, I find it hard to reconcile Arudou's argument with the respect that I often feel from Japanese. Even though I'm a 'gaijin' people consider my social status when addressing me and interacting with me. Moreover, even people who don't know my particular social status (which isn't anything special by the way) will add 'san' to 'gaijin' (gaijin-san) when addressing me; a sure sign of no ill-intentions.

Arudou's knee-jerk reaction to the term 'gaijin' is trivial at best and extremely damaging at worse. I only wish he didn't have such a prominent public platform with which to broadcast his myopic assessment. It's a disservice to those who are not familiar with the history of Blacks in America, not to mention those who are the carriers of that history, to liken the word 'gaijin' to the 'n-word'--the comparison is dishonest and doesn't hold any water.

Link to Arudou's original column.

Link to responses to the column.