I’m a young black guy doing Japanese music, so I often get the “you look like Jero” comment, and for a long time I was torn whether to do English or Japanese music.This CD is 7 songs in Japanese,  1 in English.

My Nijongo on the disc is pretty good, and my producers all backed me and motivated me to get these songs out, because they thought I have a place in the Japanese music market with these songs. The album is being received well, rave reviews/reception of the songs in concert too. I expect to get noticed, whatever tiny amount, and just help to internationalize Japan a bit more, thru music. Maybe also inspire other musicians to learn Nijongo while they are here and promote their music. Japanese, English,or whatever language they have fans in, here in Japan.I don’t care what anyone says, people relate better to music in their own language. All music is produced,or co-produced by me, all Japanese lyrics by my Nagoya/Kyushu writing team. I gave them a subject and they “ran” with it. We all have a voice and we all must have dreams. I’m happy with the way this project is progressing. By the time this article is published my new English disc will be out to accompany my Japanese disc. Best wishes to everyone, and don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Make the smart choice and live your dreams.”

You can contact the artist at aleycat30@live.com

Last time we examined Japan’s progress in the final decades of the twentieth century and it would probably be true to say that in many ways the country passed its peak after the turn of the millennium and is in decline. As in many countries a lot of the decay and corruption had been kept out of public view, and with a thriving economy most were content to leave the lid on the can of worms. But after the economic collapse of 2008 and the catastrophic tsunami of 2011 the true state of affairs was forced inexorably and horrifically into the open.

 Granted, with an ageing population problems are predictably around the corner and even though Japan still has one of the lowest unemployment figures in the world, jobs are getting harder to come by especially for school-leavers and graduates. Industry has become in many ways too competitive for its own good as companies vie to increase the range and quality of their products at each other’s expense. Just look around at the bewildering number of models of cameras, mobile phones, computers produced by each company. It is no surprise that profit margins are thinning and many manufacturers are going to the wall.

 The virtual collapse of the world’s financial system in 2008 was precipitated by the egregious practices of many banks and in particular the sub-prime swindle and selling of toxic debts as AAA guaranteed by a number of U.S banks. Buyers of these financial time bombs included many unsuspecting foreign investors, corporations and pension funds. Several big names went under in Japan as a result and the economy suffered seriously.

As the country was struggling to overcome this blow, disaster struck in the form of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima in March of 2011. The toll was horrific. The earthquake was unavoidable, the tsunami was unavoidable. The melt down and release of tons of radioactive material into the environment was avoidable. The nuclear industry and the government had for years colluded in profiteering at the cost of safety in the poorly run and poorly-maintained nuclear power plants up and down the country. Fukushima was one of the most vulnerable, and TEPCO (The Tokyo Electric Power Company) had even at the last minute refused to consider bolstering the inadequate safety procedures at the plant. And the disaster was covered up at the expense of the majority of local residents many of whom were subjected to high doses of radiation, whilst TEPCO was assuring the outside world and the nuclear industry that the situation was in hand. Even now there is inadequate monitoring and treatment given to the victims, and the full scale of devastation is being obfuscated, just as it was in Chernobyl, three decades previously. And, just two years on, the nuclear industry is back in full swing as if nothing had happened, with the complete backing of the government. The human toll has been unimaginable as uncountable numbers of people have had their lives devastated by this tragedy and will continue to suffer for generations. This is also quietly being forgotten as the frenzied excitement of the media in March 2011, with their epoch-making images on television day and night, gives way to routine sentimentality on successive anniversaries.

By dint of hard work, personal sacrifice and collective efforts the Japanese economy amazingly recovered, only to have another disaster to contend with, and again it was brought about by the enemy within. Mr. Ishihara, aka Mr. Tepco, the mayor of Tokyo announced that he would order the purchase of the ‘Senkaku’ islands (also know as the Diaoyu islands) in the full knowledge that this unprecedented move would cause considerable problems in relations with China, Japan’s major trading partner. The two countries had forged extensive trade links over several decades and a mutual dependence that enhanced both countries’ prosperity. Now trade is declining, the economy is declining and the leaders of the two countries are adopting more bellicose stances against each other. The ordinary people again take the toll of their leaders’ egos.

The Japanese education system appears to have remained largely conservative with the work ethic at its centre. Rigidity and linearity of thinking seem to be the cornerstones aimed at producing students who will make compliant and unquestioning employees. Many parents have bought into the ‘cram school’ ethos sending their children to further long hours of tuition in addition to their daily school curriculum and club activities. No wonder so many high school students fall asleep at their desks. Another can of worms whose lid is now forcing itself off is bullying at school. The education system here is dominated by bullying at all levels from the ministry of education down. The end and tragic result is that kids end up bullying other kids in desperation as their cries for help go unheeded and ignored by the adults in charge. Some serious re-think is urgently required.

As you may have noticed, I’m not painting a very positive picture as to the present state of affairs and prospects for the future. However, as with any nation, change can come from within and there is a growing section of the population, whose disenchantment with the system is very articulate. Many have the skills, intentionality and vision to challenge the old order to bring about a more humane society in which genuine co-operation can take its rightful place alongside a balanced lifestyle.

]]> http://www.ranmagazine.co/history-of-japan-part-6-%e5%8a%9b/feed/ 0 http://www.ranmagazine.co/the-army-that-isnt-an-army-just-a-team/ http://www.ranmagazine.co/the-army-that-isnt-an-army-just-a-team/#comments Wed, 01 May 2013 13:05:44 +0000 Aaron Krall http://www.ranmagazine.co/?p=3419 JSDF ARTICLE

“WE’RE TOTALLY NOT AN ARMY, SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS”

Part 2: The Army That Isn’t An Army, Just A “Team”

In August of 1894, not even thirty years after the nation finally opened its ports and began to modernize, Japan entered the race of global colonization by invading Manchuria and successfully taking Korea, formally a vassal state of China under the Qing dynasty. Japan had just become the dominant force in Asia, and because China had leased a portion of the coastline to Russia for their warm water port, Port Arthur, they were going to have to prove it. As surprising as it was for everyone to see Japan defeat China, the surprise was significantly greater when Japan proved victorious over Russia in September of 1905. The rest of the world was forced to reassess this island nation that had not been taken especially seriously until the moment it became the first Asian country to defeat a European country.

Japan was pleased with its victory and new regard as a world power, but resentful of how the Treaty of Portsmouth, the formal conclusion to the war (fun fact: international tough guy Theodore Roosevelt moderated the treaty and was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize), played out for them. While they did gain a great deal, they were forced to give up China and Korea and did not get a war indemnity, which would have been a very large sum of money, from Russia. The Japanese public was not happy about this, and the frustration lead to the Hibiya riots and political upheaval. Relations between Japan and the US and Britain began to break down, although Japan nevertheless sided with the allies in WWI. Twenty years later, though, despite its still fledging industrial capability, it declared war on the United States.

After WWII came the seven year occupation by the United States, and once Japan regained its independence it immediately formed the Japan Self Defense Force and created its defense policy. The Basic Defense Policy has, among other points, a policy concerning a need to “avoid becoming a major military power that might pose a threat to the world.” Then came Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution which states

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) To accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

Under this article, Japan would not allow itself to have an army or to wage war of any kind. Even when urged to develop one, both by the government and other countries, the public backlash to rearming and to war in general was so intense that the idea was abandoned. Being the only nation in the world to have experienced a nuclear attack, Japan early on stated its abhorrence to nuclear weapons and determination to never possess them or an army (Japan does not have any nuclear weapons and no desire to get any, but it is considered “nuclear capable” as Japan is believed to be capable of easily constructing one if there were a radical shift in politics). And technically, despite having the seventh largest military budget in the world and having the most technologically advanced military equipment in Asia, it still doesn’t have an army.

The JSDF is called 自衛隊, or “Jieitai”. “Tai” is translated most often as “team” or “group”, with no verbal indication of a military. The men and women in the JSDF are officially called自衛隊員, or “Jieitai-in”, with the “-in” meaning simply “member”. There is never any official reference to them as “soldiers” in Japan, because Japan doesn’t have an army and thus cannot have any soldiers.

One must remember, up until WWII Japan had a pretty good winning streak. For the previous 1500 years it had been fighting only itself usually, so there was always someone around to say “hooray I won”. Then it defeated China, defeated Russia, and annexed Korea. It became a major player in the world scene, and when WWII rolled around it was a war unlike any the earth had ever seen; it was a war that Japan lost. The trauma of the war and of the nuclear attack that finished it brought out extreme pacifism in the populace, so much so that all clubs, schools, and societies associated with the military and martial skills were eliminated. Teaching martial arts of any kind was forbidden. These were not rules imposed upon them by the US, they were imposed upon themselves by themselves. No more wars, please.

The JSDF remains, on paper, what it was at its inception: an extension of the national police force. There is no army, navy, or air force; there’s the Ground Self-Defense Force, the Maritime Self-Defense Force, and the Air Self-Defense Force. So anti-militarization was the public that for a long time, tanks were referred to as “special vehicles”. The government had to assure at each step of development, that control of the armed forces was in civilian hands. Even so, challenges to the JSDF’s legitimacy (because c’mon, you’re not fooling anybody, that’s not a “team” that’s a damn army right there) were made all the way up to the 80’s. Japan really did not want an army, and it certainly did not want to fight anymore.

To this day, the JSDF has never been militarily active on foreign soil. Soldiers–rather, members–have been deployed to assist in administrative duties and the like, but never in a combat capacity. Until, that is, 2004 when Japan sent troops to assist in the reconstruction of Iraq, a decision that was very controversial. It was the first time troops had been deployed anywhere that wasn’t expressly for UN peacekeeping or administrative purposes. The JSDF is explicitly a Self-Defense force, meant to be used only to defend Japan, a goal to which the situation in Iraq did not seem related at all.

While there, the forces were forbidden to fire upon Iraqi insurgents unless fired upon first. That rule is in effect whenever JSDF forces go anywhere outside of Japan, which is very rare.

These days, however, North Korea has grown more and more antagonistic and has threatened missile launches — although their capability to do so with any degree of success is doubted — and China has risen to become a power that can perhaps even challenge the US. With two enormous armies right across the water, one of which under the command of a diminutive madman’s son, who may, for all we know, be twice as crazy, Japan has one again begun cautiously raising the subject of the JSDF’s role. Now with China and Japan arguing over the Senkaku Islands and China determined to protect its claim on them, with force if need be, those conversations have grown slightly more urgent.

While no one has really spoken on it, the other powers in the area, including the US, are watching. Nervously, perhaps, because as luck would have it all the major powers in the area — China, North and South Korea, Russia, and the US — have been victims of an unprovoked Japanese attack within the last 100 years. Those wars were the result of Japan suddenly realizing it had advanced weapons and people trained to use them.

I do wonder, though, if Japan’s sudden aggression at the end of the 19th century was a result of the nation looking out into the world and seeing colonization and its accompanying horrors happening all over the globe. Had it instead seen relative peace, seen the world powers respecting weaker nations’ borders and sovereignty, would it have acted differently? I feel that it’s very possible that Japan simply looked out into the world and thought “It’s like that out there? Shit, we can do that.”

Was Japan just attempting to mimic the western cultures with which it had finally come into contact, trying to keep up with what it saw as the primary sport of powerful nations? Is that still the primary sport, and if so, does Japan have a right to play along?

“WE’RE TOTALLY NOT AN ARMY, SERIOUSLY YOU GUYS”

Part 1: A History of Violence

When westerners who have neither lived in nor had much intimate contact with Japan offer simple descriptions of the Japanese people, most of them turn out to be unfair or inaccurate caricatures garnered from movies, television shows and (shudder) anime. If one were to gather these adjectives into a list, you’d see things like “stoic”, “obsessed with honor”, “inscrutable”, “ninjas”, “good at math and the sciences”, “not especially good at basketball”, etc. We’ve all heard them. At some point in our lives, long before we came to this lovely island with its complex people and culture, we probably held similar opinions. But one description of the Japanese you rarely, if ever, hear from westerners is “warlike”.

Indeed, most westerners, including those that live here, would laugh off such a suggestion. It’s not hard to understand why it’s met with such incredulity. If you’re reading this, then you must live in Japan and thus are well aware of the Japanese tendency to avoid confrontation. You’ve no doubt experienced it first-hand. I recall ten years ago, during my second trip to Tokyo, my brother and I were on an escalator at Tokyo station. We were standing on the right, as is typical in the US., and were about halfway down the ridiculously long escalator when some young Chinese women we had been chatting with yelled from the top floor to “move to the left”. We looked behind us and saw an incredibly long line of Japanese people patiently waiting for the two idiot white people to get out of their way so they could walk down the escalator and get to their jobs. No one had said even so much as “sumimasen”.

In the US, in some cities, we would have been knocked to the ground and trampled almost immediately, nevermind receiving a polite request to move aside. But this is Japan; how often do you see a fist fight that didn’t involve foreigners somehow? It is very rare to see two japanese men truly taking swings at one another, and this is a country that definitely enjoys its drinking (this is a uniquely Japanese trait, by the way; when I arrived in South Korea three years ago, I was under the impression that the locals were of the same mind. They are not. A drunk South Korean man needs as much provocation as a drunk Australian to take a swing at you: very little). Given this cultural peculiarity, it is difficult for westerners to see the Japanese as especially warlike or violent. But a casual look through their military history reveals a strong affinity, or at least a tendency, to make war upon their neighbors and more often upon themselves. As far back as the fourth century CE Japan was fighting with Korea and China. That in and of itself is not so strange; over in Europe at that time the Roman Empire was still stomping around the continent and losing battles to the Visigoths, one of two brands of Goths around at the time. By the time Japan foolishly became involved in a dispute between two Korean kingdoms in mid-sixth century CE (after all, when has getting into a land war in Asia ever been a bad idea?), the Roman Empire had split and the Western Empire had been lost to the Ostrogoths, the other brand of Goths, after a series of brutal battles (the Visigoths had moved further west, taking control of what we now call France and Spain and Portugal, eventually losing it when the Muslim armies arrived and kicked the dogshit out of them in roughly 700 BCE).

It was in the Nara period (710–794) that what would become the typical feudal warrior of Japan was born, and it was in the Heian period (794–1185) that he learned to put a sword through someone’s face with style. There were battles all the time in this period, at the start usually concerning the succession of the Chrysanthemum Throne, and later for really any reason at all. Land dispute? Battle. Political dispute? Get your sword. Shift in your clan’s influence? Come at me, bro. It’s Tuesday and it looks like it might rain? All out war.

For the next seven hundred years or so Japan had an emperor while the real power resided with the shoguns. Shogunates, which were essentially military governments, where the only real players in Japanese politics for a good seven centuries. Before this time, while everyone was still willing to fight everyone else just because a dog farted at the wrong time, they would all unite to fight off an invader. Now, however, they had become so good at fighting that they weren’t afraid of anyone trying to invade, so there was never any reason to unite in (relative) peace. As such, during the Kamakura period, with the exception of the Mongol invasion of the 13th century (had Japan known how far the Mongols had conquered by that time, they probably would have united so fast they wouldn’t even bother to decide what colors to wear), the military conflicts were all internal.

That mongol invasion, it should be noted, woke Japan up to how to really fight a battle. Never mind protocol, never mind rules of single combat — just get out there and put your sword, spear, arrow, or bare fist into the other guy’s guts before he does the same to you. While the samurai of this time were familiar with using a bow while mounted on a horse, the Mongols were so good at this that the Japanese no doubt took a few lessons from them when they weren’t being stuck full of arrows or sliced to pieces by the same screaming horde that had stomped its way across half the globe. The Japanese were experienced at war, certainly, but the Mongols were the Mongols; at this point they had literally conquered the majority of Europe and Asia. It would take an act of god for a tiny island off the coast of China to thwart them. Fortunately for Japan, that is exactly what happened. Twice.

After god came down from the heavens to blow the Mongols off the island and into the sea, and then did it again because Mongols apparently need to be told twice, Japan returned to normal. Which is to say, it concerned itself primarily with acts of violent death for about 50 years. During this time, the early Muromachi period, weapon smithing was greatly improved and the katana was invented, becoming the primary weapon of the samurai (before it had been the bow). Battles became bigger and strategies became more complex. Finally, united under the Ashikaga shogunate, there was relative peace for almost a century before shit once again hit the fan. The Sengoku period (commonly called in English “Age of the Country at War”, which only hints at the amount of conflict) saw the collapse of any kind of central government, be it Imperial or Shogunate. Warlords called “daimyos” arose, ruling smaller territories and fighting constantly for more. Over a hundred such warlords fought back and forth for a couple centuries or so, with territories changing back and forth rapidly and wouldbe emperors being murdered almost as soon as they had their first thought toward uniting anything bigger than two banks of a river. It was at this time that the Japanese took war and raised it to a science; cavalry charges and foot-soldiers and sieges were introduced and some of the largest battles of the pre-modern world were fought here, on this little island off the coast of China.

So it went until Nobunaga, then Hideyoshi, and finally Tokugawa rose to prominence with Tokugawa eventually being awarded the title “shogun” and becoming ruler of a united Japan. There was a brief battle with Korea during Hideyoshi’s career, which ended with Korea building their first navy of any kind and using it thrash Hideyoshi’s navy so badly that the Japanese still don’t like to talk about it, but not much international involvement at all besides that. After Tokugawa took control, there was a period of peace for over 250 years.

That peace ended abruptly when Americans showed up in Tokyo bay and demanded that Japan let them in, else they huff and puff and bombard Edo with the most advanced artillery rounds on the planet and turn it into a smoking ruin. Edo complied, but was still wary of opening its ports to all kinds of foreigners. During this period, the transition from the Tokugawa era to the Meiji era, chaos and violence were everywhere — there was no clear heir to the Shogunate and no one knew who was going to become leader of Japan, so it was generally agreed by all that the role was up for grabs. Some worried if Japan would even still exist after the barbarians were allowed in. A nobleman named Ii Naoske, who cared little for fighting and was much more interested in tea ceremonies (at which he was apparently a master), took a look at how the Europeans had carved China into pieces and decided that between fighting them militarily or allying with them economically, the latter was significantly preferable. He convinced everyone (almost everyone, rather) to see the sense in this and was able to persuade Japan to open its ports. He would later be assassinated for this and other “betrayals”, but he is still remembered as a man that kept Japan from turning into a European or American colony. His homestead and his castle, by the way, can be found here in the Kansai area in a small town called Hikone. It’s about a half hour from Kyoto off the coast of lake Biwa.

After the chaos and confusion of the transition, during which the final internal war in Japan was fought between Imperial forces and the last of the Shogunate armies, Imperial forces found themselves and Emperor Meiji in charge of a Japan with gates opened to the wonders of European technology; technology such as trains, but more importantly, weapons.

It didn’t take long for Japan to start buying weapons from Europe and America, which it then reverse-engineered before going on to build modern weapons of its own. At the same time, Japan had cast its vision over the new world to which it had just been introduced and saw the major powers of the world, many of whom were friendly to Japan now that the nation had decided to play ball, invading less powerful countries and claiming territory for their own Empires. I like to imagine Japan seeing this colonization, taking note of its own growing collection of modern weapons, and turning its gaze to the giant land mass just across the water while rubbing its chin thoughtfully.

The foods that are in season here during this time are especially delicious. My favourite fruit, the strawberry, is available in abundance. Japan currently has the largest production and consumption of dessert strawberries in the world. No surprise there. No matter where you go you will see something with strawberries in it during this time. I prefer to eat them fresh when they are really ripe and juicy, and without condensed milk. They are high in vitamin C, fiber, and potassium. Strawberry farms throughout Japan offer strawberry picking during this season. For an admission fee of around 1,500 yen per adult, you can eat as many as you like within a limited time. What could be better?

In keeping with the season, there are foods made from cherry blossoms. I was surprised and intrigued to see cherry blossom ice cream for the first time some years ago. It’s a very delicious springtime treat. It was nice to eat cherry-blossom sorbet at a recent Chunichi Dragons game at the Nagoya Dome. You can even buy cherry-blossom noodles and udon in some stores.

A vegetable that now gets added to my shopping basket during this time is bamboo shoot. It is a very versatile vegetable that can be made in soups, tempura, stir fries, and rice.  During this season you can also go bamboo shoot harvesting throughout Japan, which is almost mandatory for Japanese people. The bamboo shoot is low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol. It is also a good source of dietary fiber, protein, vitamin B2 and B6, potassium, copper, and manganese. A bamboo shoot harvesting trip is definitely something to experience during this season.

In spring my taste buds start craving fresh salads, and the daikon radish is one of those vegetables that’s lovely when shredded and mixed into a nice leafy salad with tomatoes and cucumbers. When cooked, daikon is usually boiled in soups, stews or hot pot (nabe) dishes. It is the most popular ingredient in the oden hot pot. Daikon also makes Japan’s most popular pickle, takuan. During the harvesting season, daikon hanging from farm houses in preparation for pickling is a common countryside sight.

Daikon is one of many cruciferous vegetables linked in studies with successful cancer prevention. Daikon contains several great antioxidants associated with fighting free radical damage, a known cause of cancer. Research has also shown that daikon juice helps prevent the formation of dangerous chemicals and carcinogens in the body and helps the liver process toxins. It is also high in vitamin C. It is believed that daikon helps the body to burn fat, though this has not been proven. Whether it helps to burn fat or not, the daikon radish is extremely low in fat and cholesterol, but dense with nutrients, making it a great addition to any effective weight loss program.

In late spring the asparagus is another one of those vegetables to be enjoyed. It is one of the lowest calorie foods available: only 23 kcal/100 g. This is due to its virtual lack of fat and very low carbohydrate content. However, it is among the vegetables highest in proteins and packed with vitamins and potassium. Eating it has been proven to help with kidney disorders, but it should still be eaten in moderation because of its significant stimulant effect on the kidneys.

The fruits and vegetables that are in season in Japan now should be thoroughly enjoyed.

According to almost any common metric, Japan is a safe country.  It does not, however, exist outside of the realm of violence.  People get drunk and fights happen, sexual assault is almost a social institution, and as social inequality increases so do the number of asocial, predatory attacks.  Acknowledging that sexual assault and rape often go unreported while murders are underreported (due to the police intentionally misclassifying them), the idea that Japan is truly safe begins to seem like a cocktail of myth and reality.  That people accept this idealized version as true is a problem in itself since it leaves them, and society as a whole, unprepared to deal with ugly realities when they arise.

In the last few years, sudden attacks, characterized by extreme levels of violence and disregard for human life, have increasingly become part of the cultural milieu.  These occurrences have many worried that, beneath the placid exterior, Japan’s social system is crumbling.  A sleeping commuter bludgeoned into a coma by a 16 year-old wielding a hammer; a bus hijacked by a schoolboy with a kitchen knife; a girl in elementary school decapitated by her box cutter wielding classmate; a stabbing rampage in Akihabara that left 10 injured and 7 dead; the nature of violence in Japan is disturbing and personal.  To ignore it is to increase the likelihood of finding oneself among its victims.

Violence is never just physical, so purely physical preparation is insufficient.  The emotional and psychological aspects of violence must be addressed.  Those who engage in predatory violence do not recognize rights or rules or cheating.  They are concerned only with tactics, odds, and resources.  They will use charm, deception, fear, surprise, weapons, and superior numbers to get what they want.  They will hit you when you are at your weakest and use every advantage available to them.  You are not a person to them.  You are a resource to be exploited for money, a sense of power, or a release from personal torment.  It will happen closer, faster, more suddenly, and more powerfully than you can imagine and reacting will not be enough.  You must be proactive.  Luckily, this same strategy will help, not only with predatory violence, but with violence in all its forms.

There are a few things you need in order to be effectively proactive.  First, know that there is no such thing as random violence.  People always have reasons for what they do and they will give off cues as to what is about to happen.  As a result, awareness is a necessity and the greatest self-protection tool that you possess.  This includes self-awareness, awareness of your attacker(s), and awareness of your environment.  It must also encompass awareness of your reason for protecting yourself.  This reason can’t be trite or commonplace.  It needs to be visceral and evocative.  It needs to be something that will keep you going when you have every reason to give up.

You should also be aware of your ‘Go’ buttons; the times when you have no choice but to act.  For example, you should never allow an attacker to move you to a secondary location.  Nothing good can come from allowing such an attacker more private time with you.  It is better to fight for your life where there may be witnesses.  Other ‘Go’ buttons may include when an armed attacker is distracted or puts down his weapon, in order to save your own life or someone else’s, or to prevent a rape from occurring.  These moments of action must be decided on and internalized.

You will also need to be aware of your goal.  This goal may simply be to survive or escape, but it could be to protect someone else or to prevent something undesirable from occurring.  Your goal will dictate the best strategy to employ, your strategy will highlight appropriate tactics, and your tactics will help you to determine what techniques will be most useful.  Without a goal, everything else lacks grounding and there is a much greater chance that you will act inappropriately or ineffectively.

The second big thing is initiative.  You have to be able to act decisively and determinedly.  What you do is less important than how you do it.  Hesitancy and indecisiveness only give your attacker more opportunities and will telegraph any actions you do decide to take.

The last big requirement, and the one most often overlooked, is permission.  Most well-socialized people will go to great lengths in order to prevent being rude or making a scene.  This is what allows others to take advantage of them.  If something feels wrong, you must allow yourself to take action.  Say something.  Remove yourself from the situation.  Prepare for what’s coming.  If you’ve never hit another human being with violent intent before, you will likely find the biggest obstacle is a psychological one.  We have spent so many years being conditioned to fit in with civilized people that we can easily forget how to be animals when it’s necessary.

Often, denial is so comfortable because we are more concerned with protecting our egos than our lives.  Those who believe it can’t happen to them are often so shocked when it does that they are frozen in denial and unable to respond.  The physical damage resulting from such inaction pales in comparison to the psychological.  The best thing you can do is to educate yourself.  If you’re interested, some of the best material available (and much of this article’s content) comes from Tony Blauer, Richard Grannon, and Rory Miller.  Men or women who would like to take self-protection classes please e-mail: jointhemawb@gmail.com.

DON’T ASK WHY!
The first example of the difference in education “styles” occurred shortly after he started school back in Japan. About 1 month after school started, his parents received a letter from the school instructing them to instruct their son to stop asking “why” questions during class. Basically, the letter said that their son was asking too many questions and was a disruptive influence in the classroom.

“WE”, NOT “ME”
My student’s first major “social” adjustment was the necessity of being aware of, and thinking about, the “feelings” of others. He spoke of becoming physically ill due to the stress caused by having to “learn” to restrain himself from speaking or acting “impulsively”, how he had to constantly reign in his “normal”, natural “impulses, and instead, reflect on how his actions might potentially “hurt” someone. Essentially, he said, his initial response was to become almost paranoid about speaking or “participating” in class.

NOT JAPANESE
As he had spent 5 of his first 8 years living abroad, he hadn’t been exposed to a “typical” Japanese childhood, and therefore hadn’t learned Japanese fairy tales or been exposed to Japanese “children’s” TV shows. He was “marginalized” in class by teachers for his “ignorance”. “All Japanese know this story. All Japanese know about this character. What’s wrong with you?” It is assumed by Japanese teachers that everyone in the class comes from a similar, identical background, and those who don’t are “different”, are “outsiders”.

IT’S AN ILLUSION
On field trips, students are given opportunities to “decide” something, like which hiking trail to take. His experience has been that, should they not choose the “right” trail, they are encouraged to re-think their choice. Basically, the teacher has already decided the itinerary, which they should ideally “choose”. The unspoken message is that the students aren’t able to make wise choices, and leaving those decisions to elders or superiors makes perfect sense. Being sensitive to their superiors thinking ensures that things move smoothly, and “choosing” to “make” (i.e. follow) the “best choice” shows your (social) intelligence.
Recently, all the students at his school were given a “survey”. They were encouraged to offer their suggestions on how to make their school experience better. My student took the request seriously and wrote, at length, how he thought things could be made better. The next day he was summoned to the principal’s office and “encouraged” to re-think some of his opinions and suggestions.
My student’s experience in elementary school in America was that, mostly, school was “fun”. The class size was limited to 24 students, his classmates were of diverse ethnic backgrounds, and the classroom experiences were enjoyable. The end-of-year party was particularly memorable as there were “organized” but not “structured” activities for the students. There was an element of “controlled freedom”.
Similar “events” in Japan haven’t been fun. He pointed out his schools website, with lots of pictures, taken at the various events, of happy, smiling faces. His comments were that the events are organized and structured to look like fun, but there is little joy in participating. Participation is a duty, accompanied by strong social pressure, and the primary motivations are competing against other classes and “winning”, doing “better” than the year before, and not letting your “class/team” down.

Last year, they had to rehearse a “surprise” farewell party for the senior class at his school. In Japan, there are no surprises!

IT’S THE PROCESS, NOT THE RESULTS
Japan if famous for a concept called “do” (the way of). The seminal book “Bushido” speaks of the legendary “way of the warrior”. Sado (the way of tea), kado (the way of flowers), kendo (the way of swords) are examples of Japanese “do”. My student, and his classmates, are intelligent, creative, curious kids. They are often frustrated by the “do” system.  A math class experience demonstrated interesting aspects of “the way” of math.
On a recent math exam, several students arrived at the same, correct, answer, but their answers weren’t acceptable, as they failed to use/demonstrate the proscribed method.
Essentially, it wasn’t whether you could figure out the math problem, it was whether you could figure it out “the right way” that mattered. Furthermore, my student observed that any students “arguing” their point with the math teacher would only result in their grades being further lowered. In other words, do things the “right way”, and don’t debate “the way”.
Furthermore, in math class, some problems are ignored. The teacher simply explains that the process to solve that particular problem will be taught in juku. My student’s response was that it was obviously unfair, and further reinforced the role jukus play in the Japanese education “system”.
Alex Kerr’s book “Dogs and Demons” quotes a former Education minister’s response to the question “why are there two education systems in Japan, the “public” system and jukus?” His response was “the education system is to make Japanese people Japanese.”

IT’S THE SYSTEM, NOT THE INDIVIDUAL
One of the oldest questions in the sporting world is to decide what “philosophy” the team will have. Essentially, there are two, opposing approaches: one is to have a “system” and recruit talent to fit the system; the other is to recruit the best talent available and develop a system to optimize the expression of that talent.
One of the annual, decided events at elementary schools in Japan is the autumn undokai, and the formula for the undokai is decided. One of the activities at my student’s undokai is a large, human pyramid, usually 4 rows high. My student participated in such a pyramid, with 109 boys arranged in 4 rows. Each row obviously has certain requirements. During one of the practice sessions for the event, one of the boys broke his leg. From my student’s perspective, the teacher went out of his way to place the entire blame for the “accident” on the boy. The boy had failed to follow the proper process and therefore, his leg was broken. There was no sympathy for the boy, nor were there any questions asked about his suitability for the task assigned to him.

TEACHERS ARE AFRAID
My student was involved in a fight with another student. My student’s parents were notified. The teacher asked my student’s parents for “permission” to say that they were angry at the other student. His parents declined to give the teacher permission.  Without the student’s parents’ permission, the teacher nevertheless told the other participant in the fight that my student’s parents were very angry and disappointed in the combatant’s behavior. Basically, the teacher didn’t want to take the responsibility for berating the other student.  The teacher was only the messenger, and you don’t shoot the messenger.

SHIPPAI WA SEIKO NO MOTO (Failure teaches success)
One of the enduring images in western culture is the mean, heartless, merciless drill sergeant, who’s responsibility is to “whip boys into men” in a short period of time. Militaries worldwide, elite sports programs, gangs and other cultures have codified different forms of “acceptable” verbal and physical abuse as being “necessary” and “effective” in bringing out the best in people, creating loyalty, obedience and dedication to a common “good”.

The December 23^rd suicide of a Osaka high school senior, an elite team captain in an elite sports school, was attributed to the physical and verbal abuse he received at the hands of his coach.  It is alleged that this type of abuse had been going on for a considerable time but was ignored due to the success the team achieved-the ends justifying the means.

Japan is an enigma. Much has been written about the complexity of Japanese society. The contrasts that exist between the routes to achieving academic success (juku, test based culture), sporting success (physical and emotional abuse, the “do” system) and cultural success (a “molding”, obedience and conformity driven school system) combine to produce the Japan we live in, but don’t quite understand.  Japan is, to me, a homogeneous mosaic, with the educational system “making people Japanese”, while also allowing for and conditioning people to “accept” their various, sundry and different societal roles and duties.

But given even as little as a week and a half to get away, that’s what I did. In the early years I was going back to America about twice a year. Boston, Washington DC, NYC, New Orleans, someplace new every time I went back.

Then I discovered Asia. For a while there it seemed like every expatriate in Japan was spending his spring vacation in Thailand. One night I even met a girl of the night in Patpong with whom it turned out I had more than one mutual friend from Nagoya. Needless to say, we didn’t do business together. My standards are low, but I do have some. Anyway I preferred Malaysia. Hong Kong. Bali. Singapore. And later on, China and Vietnam.

Then, in the mid 90s when I had a little more money, I discovered the capitals of Europe. London. Rome. Paris. Amsterdam.

I loved being out of Japan. Leaving and coming back were depressing, though. Komaki Airport was a smoke infested environment, first of all. Salary men smoked in line at Customs, even. And the first 15 or 20 times I flew into Komaki Airport I got searched—every single time for 10 years I got searched. They even made a big show of it. It was like a rite of entry for me. And every time I returned to Japan I got the blues. Riding on the bus from Komaki to Nagoya Station made me sick to my stomach. Finally it got to the point that returning was so hard on me I just stopped leaving.

Then one day in a doctor’s office I was looking at a magazine. I saw a photo of a beautiful black castle. I thought it was pretty cool. And in those days, when a guy went to see the doctor, waiting for an hour or two was de rigueur, so I spent the time reading the article. Actually going to see the castle seemed out of the question—I was still of the mindset, not uncommon then, that traveling to Iceland was cheaper than traveling anywhere in Japan for a night or two—but my curiosity was aroused. I learned that the castle was in Matsumoto. I learned that Matsumoto was only two hours from Nagoya Station. I decided to go.

And Matsumoto Castle turned out to be the most stunning building I’d ever seen. And it still is. I go there often. Once or twice a year. I get a room. About 40 dollars. I walk around the castle a couple of time. I have dinner someplace. I have a few beers. I sleep. Then in the morning I get up and I do it all again. And it’s because I did it the first time that I learned to love traveling in Japan. It’s because I went to Matsumoto Castle that day that I’ve since been almost everywhere else in this beautiful country, too.

This list is selected for relevance, accuracy, importance, fairness, readability and entertainment value. The last two of these have knocked a good number of scholarly works out of contention. We’re not interested in academia for its own sake here. We’re not interested in big words either. We’re not even interested in big sentences. We’re interested in big ideas.

And for us non-Japanese living and working in Japan, the biggest idea we have to deal with every day is that extra large elephant loose in the tatami room. I’m talking about World War II, of course, or The Pacific War, as they call it here.

There’s a reason why Japanese find it difficult to talk with non-Japanese about the war. And the reason is simple. Among Americans, for example, those who have any awareness of the Pacific War at all only see it as a sideshow to a much larger event that lasted less than four years and was followed by unprecedented good times.

To the Japanese it was an all-consuming exercise in futility that lasted an entire generation. It started in 1931 and ended in 1945. But not really. In June of 1946 a radio program called Missing Persons began airing in Japan. Its purpose was to locate missing persons and reunite families. This program continued to run till March 31^st, 1962. The last Japanese soldier to surrender was Lt. Onoda Hiro. That happened in The Philippines in 1974!

 What Japanese people think about when they think about the war and what non-Japanese people, especially Westerners – gaijin – think about are two different things. And I think that disparity is exactly what lies at the source of the strange distance that Westerners so often feel between themselves and Japanese people when they try to interact.

I don’t believe it’s possible for a Western resident to fully understand his position here, why he is regarded how he is regarded, or why he is treated the way he is treated without an understanding of the war, what it did to Japan, how it has framed the current Japanese mind-set, and how that mind set effects us gaijin. Accordingly, this list begins with the war, and much of it is focused on the years of its aftermath. I’m aware that several million things happened here before World War II, and I know all of those things had a hand in forming contemporary Japanese society, but it’s those chaotic years of the war and its aftermath that have most informed the Japanese people we deal with everyday.

Much that is esoteric and trivial is left off of this list, including Nicholas Bornoff’s Pink Samurai: The Pursuit and Politics of Sex in Japan, though I loved the book, and sex, of course, is normally among my favorite topics.

Here is the list:

The Makioko Sisters by Tanizaki Junichiro (Edward Seidensticker translation)
This is a novel, but a great one. It’s set during the early years of the war – tempered hope walking hand in hand with an impending feeling of doom. It’s translated by one of the best J/E translators ever.

The Chrysanthemum and the Sword by Ruth Benedict
Highly influential. Highly criticized. Written from a distance during the war, it remains the source of much of what we believe about the Japanese. It has also influenced what the Japanese believe about themselves.

The Rising Sun by John Toland
The one essential account of the Japanese war, written from the Japanese perspective. One of the best war books I’ve ever read. It won the Pulitzer Prize

At Dawn We Slept by Gordon W. Prange
The attack on Pearl Harbor. Well documented from both sides of the affair.

War Without Mercy by John Dower
It was a racist war, plain and simple.

Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman and the Surrender of Japan by Tsuyoshi Hasegawa
How the war ended. This is the latest version. Make your own decisions about the bomb and what if . . . If you want to talk about that with your Japanese friends go ahead and try, but you should at least be informed.

Black Rain by Ibuse Masuji (John Bester translation)
Another historical novel, this time set in Hiroshima at the end of the war. Heartbreaking. But not maudlin. This is how the Japanese—almost every one of them—see it.

Embracing Defeat by John Dower
It was from this book that I learned about the radio program, Missing Persons, along with much else. I think this is the single most important book on this list. It’s another Pulitzer Prize winner.

The Clash: U.S. – Japanese Relations Throughout History by Walter LaFeber
Exactly what the title suggests. This story starts well before WWII and ends well after it. Full of things you probably didn’t know, but probably should. A lot that’s in this book came as a surprise to me.

Sazae-san by Hasegawa Machiko
This charming comic strip appeared in 1946 and ran till 1972—the entire post war period, really. It tells the whole story through the eyes of Sazae-san and her family. She was a left leaning liberated woman often considered shocking in contemporary society—she even talked back to her husband. Every Japanese person knows Sazae-san. She’s Japan’s answer to America’s Blondie Bumstead.

Tokyo Year Zero by David Peace
I loved this book. It’s an historical novel based upon a series of murders at the end of the war. The author is an Englishman. The research is brilliant, and so is the writing.

The Master of Go by Kawabata Yasunori (Edward Seidensticker translation)
Written in 1951 but set in 1938, this is the Nobel Prize winner’s last novel and his best. It’s one of the most sublime stories I’ve ever read. Ostensibly based on a game of go, it’s about change and what is lost when something else is gained. This is by no means the novel that Kawabata is known for. But it should be. This one was also translated by Edward Seidensticker. Maybe he should have gotten a Nobel Prize, too.

The Wages of Guilt by Ian Buruma
How the Japanese have dealt with their own responsibility for the war, and how the Germans have.

The Inland Sea by Donald Ritchie
The best travel book about Japan that I know. Donald Ritchie came to Japan during the Occupation, and he’s still here. He’s a compassionate but earthy, non-academic writer with a lot to say about Japan.

You Gotta Have Wa by Robert Whiting
Baseball, baby! A great read. Most of it’s about the foreigners who played here in the early years. American author, David Halberstam, has said of this book, “What you read is applicable to almost every other dimension of American-Japanese relations.” Another worthwhile read by Whiting is Tokyo Underworld: The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan.

Doraemon created by Fujiko F. Fujio
This is another comic strip, now moved aggressively into TV and film as a Japanese media franchise. Since 1969 every Japanese childhood has begun with this witty robotic cat, and the popular culture is overflowing with references to him.

The anatomy of dependence: The key analysis of Japanese behavior by Doi Takeo (John Bester translation)
About the Japanese by a Japanese psychologist. Don’t get involved in a personal relationship here before you read this book.

Japanese Society by Nakano Chie
About the Japanese by a Japanese sociologist. The group society. The inner group vs. the outer group. And the importance of the relative positions of any two individuals in the hierarchic society. Don’t settle into a job here before you’ve read this book.

Kurusu by Robert Smith
There have been three or four seminal studies of small Japanese villages by foreign anthropologists. This is the best of them. I was so taken by this book that I went to find the village in Shikoku. I went to the village office, and this being Japan, it took them a while to find anybody who even knew about the book, but once they did find the right guy, of course, I got the grand tour. It was cool.

Shadow Shoguns: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Political Machine by Jacob M. Schlesinger
If you don’t understand how Tanaka Kakuei happened, you don’t understand Japan.

The Enigma of Japanese Power: People and Politics in a Stateless Nation by KarelVan Wolferen
If Japan feels like a ship without a rudder most of the time, there’s a reason. This is a must read for anybody with any interest in Japanese politics. Great research.

Lost Japan by Alex Kerr
A very personal and sensitive look at the rapid pace of change in post-war Japan by another long time foreign resident. Full of nostalgia and regret. Beautifully written.

The Weight of the Yen by R. Taggart Murphy
The Japanese bubble. When the circle of land within 25 kilometers of Tokyo Station carried a higher price tag than all of California. If you weren’t here in the 80s you missed it!. Tells about the bubble, what happened to it, and how it affected both Japan and America. Not as heavy a read as the title sounds.

The Secrets of Mariko by Elizabeth Bumiller
There are lots of books written about Japan by gaijin who spent about a year here. Some of them are fun, but very few have any value beyond that. This one does. It’s my favorite of them all. The author follows a typical Japanese housewife and tells her typical yet poignant story.

Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan’s Next Generation by Carl Taro Greenfield
This book doesn’t describe where Japan has come from so much as where it is now. This is the Japan that you see every day, though you may not quite know what you’re looking at.

The Couch Potato’s Guide to Japan: Inside the World of Japanese TV by Wm. Penn
This book, too, was written by a long-time foreign resident. It’s an invaluable sociology lesson in front of the boob tube, and immensely more interesting than it sounds.

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Murakami Haruki (Jay Rubin translation)
I arrived in Japan in 1988 and everybody was reading Murakami’s Norwegian Wood. A year and a half ago everybody was reading his IQ 84. And during the years in between, everybody read six other of his novels. He is easily Japan’s most well recognized author. I don’t like him as much as I wish I did, and to be honest – full disclosure here – I haven’t read this particular book, but I have it on authority from a trusted friend who has read every book Murakami has written that this is by far the best of them. I believe him. Of the Murakami books I have read, I liked Wild Sheep Chase best. At any rate, born in 1949, Murakami is a child of the occupation, and his is Japan’s quintessential post-war voice.

Japan’s Modern Myth: Language and Beyond by Roy Andrew Miller
This selection is only for those who have learned the Japanese language well. It explains why they may have even more trouble communicating with Japanese people now, rather than less. Unfortunately, it’s a difficult book to read. It’s academic, dense at times, and always angry. Professor Miller is a grump. This is quite likely because he’s been so disparaged in many linguistic circles. But nevertheless, he’s right.