not to be controversial... but
the fact that such a substantial amount of Japanese poeple deny their government’s historical discrimination against Chinese and Korean citizens, their use of “comfort women”, and even participation in (or rather, its initiation of) the Nanjing massacre/genocide is deeply concerning
i bring it up for having read this article and seen coverage on NHK News
the gist of it is that an artists work was pulled from an exhibition for referencing, even in such a gentle and unnassuming depiction, a comfort girl (or ‘ainfu’) — aka, a woman during wartimes (often Korean or Chinese, for Japanese troops) who was taken (mostly against their will) as sex workers / sex slaves by soldiers during wartime (not only by Japanese troops; this was a practice used by cultures across the world for thousands of years, of course. Women being treated and objectified through history as “comforting” sex objects is by no means exclusive to Japan)
right-wing politics and imperialist attitudes in Japan are something that have really fascinated me over the past few years, as a subject matter — while studying animation in college i even focused on it in my presentation on post-WW2 effects on Japanese media and the extremeties of politics on each side
and this? this is not encouraging. Not one bit.
i’m at least happy to report that it seems as though Japan is seemingly leaning towards the centre-right scale of politics at the moment as far as its general public goes. The general public seems open and gentle towards foreigners, even those who belong to cultures they have historically been hostile towards, or who have been hostile towards the Japanese...
but i have to take note of those opinions that are discriminatory
in my literal first five hours in Tokyo, in the early hours of last wednesday, i went out to get some food after my long trip from Scotland
and i met a man (his name was Tanaka), a relatively well-practiced English speaker, who was asking what drew me to Japan. I cited its historical significance, my curiosity over the isolation of its culture, so on and so on. Then he asked me what places in Japan i would like to see most of all. I stated my usuals — Tokyo was one of the last places i intended to stay, i’m just here for the Tokyo Game Show. The places i would really love to visit for the richness of their cultures and their histories and landscapes, are Osaka, Fukoaka, and (above all else) Kyoto...
then i mentioned Hokkaido...
“Hokkaido? Why Hokkaido?”
“not only is the island beautiful, but the culture of the Ainu people is incredibly humbling,” i say,
“their traditions are deeply immersed in a certain type of respect for nature and coexistence.” This is something i relate to, with my religious practices, as a history lover and pantheist. “I would love to have some insight into how they live in the modern age, in a rapidly evolving Japan”
now to the best of my ability im gonna quote this... as accurately as i can remember, Tanaka goes on to tell me;
“You do not want to meet Ainu. They are like savages in American cowboy movies, and they are very dirty. You should stay in Tokyo. People here are clean, and we are more proud to be Japanese.”
now that outlook didnt impact me IMMENSELY, since i’m so foreign to this culture, to these politics, to this social climate, even with my past research... But it did stick with me and it made me think a LOT, considering the fact that i know how disheartening, unsettling, and even frightening it feels to be outcast and labelled as “savage” and “dirty” and “unpatriotic”, as a left-leaning, mixed-race Scotswoman with a Diné (Navajo) native-american name
now going back to that article?
there are Japanese who are so deeply in denial of the historic war crimes committed by their troops between WW1 and WW2, that there is a minority who are even willing to send death threats to artists for simply acknowledging the existence of the victims of these crimes
*** One of the faxes it received read, “I will bring a gasoline container to the museum,” which drew associations with the recent deadly arson attack on a Kyoto Animation Co. studio, according to Omura.
( i would also like to briefly acknowledge my deepest regrets and support for Kyoto Animation’s studios; Hearing about the fire that day was devestating — and if it was devestating for me, i cannot begin to imagine how the friends and families of the victims must be suffering from the aftermath )
if this paragraph doesn’t speak VOLUMES about the state of right-wing extremism in Japan, i really, truly do not know what could. Yet somehow, the world is... unsettlingly quiet, in its acknowledgment of Japan’s political climate.
That silence is directly affecting the basic rights of Japanese artists, the depiction and integrity of Japanese history, and by proxy, the freedom of speech of artists reflecting on the history of Japan and its relative cultures, and its neighbouring countries
this breed of nationalism, whether originating in Japan or anywhere else... it has to be recognised, and approached with caution
that’s all i got tonight, folks...
#tw_slavery / #tw_rape / #tw_sexual assault / #tw_genocide
