Honor and loyalty
From a scene of the movie, “Gladiator”
In a prison cell:
Gracchus: And after your glorious coup, what then? You take your five thousand and… leave?
Maximus: Yes, I will leave. The soldiers will stay here for your protection, under the guidance of the Senate.
Gracchus: So, after Rome’s all yours, you just give it back to the people. Tell me why.
Maximus: Because that was a dying man’s last wish. I will kill Commodus. The fate of Rome, I leave to you.
Gracchus: Marcus Aurelius trusted you. His daughter trusts you. I will trust you. Give me two days, and I will purchase your freedom. And you, stay alive, or I’ll be dead.
I like everything about this movie, but this scene is one of my most favorites because it’s about “loyalty.” Maximus remained very loyal to Marcus Aurelius even after his death. Whenever I see this scene, I feel like it grabs my heart and squeezes it.
I am from a country which values (or used to) loyalty a lot. Japanese kamikaze pilots were very loyal and died for their country. They flew with a gas tank which had enough fuel to fly only one way, knowing that they wouldn’t come back to their country and they crashed into American ships during WWII. Many Japanese businessmen used to work for one company all their lives, pledging their loyalty to it.
Before I moved to the U.S., I didn’t expect loyalty to exist here. It’s not an insult, but I simply thought it was a Japanese thing. You never heard of American kamikaze pilots, did you? However, due to my husband’s job (he’s a U.S. naval officer), I have met a few people who place a significant value on loyalty and they take pride in it. There aren’t many, though.
One difference between Japan and the U.S. is that in the U.S., you choose how you want to live your life. There is no pressure on you to be loyal from society, your country, or anyone. So, in the U.S., people are loyal because they want to be or they choose to be. I find it very admirable when some people choose to live their life in a gracious way.
Nowadays, we meet so many people who think only about themselves—what I call the “What’s in it for me?” attitude. All they think about is what is favorable for them, and they don’t want to be any part of anything if they find they don’t get anything out of it. The reality is that people know what is right or wrong by nature. It’s a matter of having the strength to do the right things or not. Unfortunately, many people are not strong enough to do that. Besides, it’s human nature to have a hard time believing in something intangible. You cannot see loyalty, so it’s a very difficult concept for many people.
Loyalty is not only about people, but also about man’s loyalty to his profession, too. Let’s remember the accident involving the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy. Do you think the captain, Francesco Schettino, showed loyalty? Did he even care about the passengers whose lives were in his hands? Not only did he cause the shipwreck but he also left the ship while many passengers were still on board. Clearly he thought only about himself.
Why is loyalty important for me? It’s not only because of my culture. It’s because I see honor in the act of loyalty.
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49 Comments
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10
Akula
Once again I think Makoto will take a bit of heat over this one.
I haven't lived in the US so I can't be sure, but I suspect loyalty there works in a much different way than what she thinks.
In Japan too, I don't want to comment too much, but suffice to say, I have many times seen Japanese distance themselves from a group when their needs aren't being met within that group.
3
calm down
'father of a murdered son....husband to a murdered wife..' that's the stand alone scene Makoto !!
'Before I moved to the U.S., I didn’t expect loyalty to exist here. It’s not an insult, but I simply thought it was a Japanese thing.' How old were you when you moved there..10 ?
13
Maria
Well, if you're forced to be loyal, it's not loyalty, is it, it's slavery.
9
NetNinja
Makoto always speak your mind. You brought up an interesting point about Americans not performing Kamikaze moves. Please watch Patton. Patton said it best: The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other guy die for his.”
8
sillygirl
how about those in power in Japan - loyalty to their people? the past year alone shows she knows very little about her culture. these problems are the culmination of years of disloyalty to the people who live in Japan.
6
herefornow
Talk abouit overly-simplistic nonsense. Japanese men "pledged" their loyalty to a guaranteed paycheck and retirement, without ever having to do anything, other than grow old, so they got paid more. That is not loyalty in any sense related to honor. It is simply buying into the economic model that made Japan Inc. successful, because the companies did not want to be bidding for talent among themselves. And comparing that to a U.S. naval officer is insulting and I hope her husband told her that.
7
Laguna
Maria is right: forced "loyalty" is slavery, not loyalty at all. Also, Mark Twain said, "Loyalty to petrified opinion never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul" - it is the loyalty of a beaten dog to a cruel master.
It is often that bravery is displayed not in loyalty but in self-trust and its subsequent actions.
5
GW
Kamikaze & salary drones arent very good examples of loyalty, the former were often boozed up & on drugs & weren't exactly volunteers & one didnt have much choice back in those scary days, Mokoto-san it wud be good to remember how "loyalty" to the emperor was enforced on the people, & there were those nasty kempetai types to ensure the people were "loyal", those days insanity ruled not loyalty, maybe one day most Japanese will come learn that
And life time employment really only pertained to a few who worked at the larger companies & its only in the last 20yrs that some have come to realize they have been used big time!
8
Johannes Weber
Makoto-san is loves to simplify as always. What to do in a conflict of loyalty? Is someone in such a conflict - between family and work, between different loved ones (friends, family members) - less loyal or more loyal? The next step goes towards Olympus or TEPCO. Helping your superiours in their criminal activities is loyal for sure, but it is evil as well. And lastly, being loyal is often very safe and egoistic. After all, deciding against loyalty for the greater good means having responsibility for one's future, which could be destroyed easily as we see in the cases of many whistleblowers. There is an obvious clash of honour and loyalty. Please resolve that!
The capital difference between so-called "Japanese morals" and "western morals" is that western education points out that the individual is the bearer of responsibility who has to take her own decisions. And the individual faces judgement for her own choices. Whether judgement by society or divine judgement is up to the individual interpretation. As far as I'm concerned, most people with whom I interact on a voluntary basis are very loyal and have high moral standards. Indepenent of their cultural origins.
By the way, I wouldn't have called this loyalty on first thought. I'd have called Maximus' motives vengeance and friendship. Loyalty is a two-way street and the second direction seems to lack very often in Japan.
12
tmarie
Japanese kamikaze pilots were very loyal and died for their country.
You might want to study a bit more about them before you make them to be brave soldiers. In many cases they didn't want to but were forced to and were threatened if they didn't. They were young kids who were told that they would embarrass their family if they didn't do what they were told. That isn't loyalty. That is a government and country brainwashing and blackmailing the young.
1
It"S ME
Agree with Tmarie.
Very few volunteers among them and they only had enough fuel to hit their targets and were declared as KIA before they even took off.
3
albaleo
Makoto, you might have done well to look at some of those old yakuza movies featuring Takakura Ken to see that notions of loyalty are fairly universal. In the usual plot, our hero is taking refuge with another yakuza group (often in Shikoku if I recall), and carries a debt of honor to the leader of the group he is staying with. But this leader is a nasty guy who gets up to some vile behavior in our hero's eyes. But recognizing his debt of honor he says nothing and goes through a long period of "gaman" (usually the middle hour of the movie), until, as Popeye would say, he can't takes no more. That's when honor takes precedence over blind loyalty, and he dispatches about 30 or 40 henchmen on his way to killing the bad guy. You can see similar themes in the "dollar" movies with Clint Eastwood.
"Clearly he thought only about himself." I wish I were as sure as you about that. Perhaps he knew he could do nothing to help his passengers, and only put himself in danger if he stayed on board, causing more problems. Perhaps he understood that he would be reviled for leaving his ship, but considered staying alive to look after his family was a more honorable thing to do.
3
JapanGal
He did not cause the ship wreck. He was ordered to change course.
12
iceshoecream
Like everything else according to you (Makoto). Seriously, when are you going to understand that loyalty or any other behaviors, conducts, values, etc. are NOT a Japanese thing? These are humans'.
4
JapanGal
He did not cause the ship to collide with the rocks. He was ordered to do the change in direction from his command center. It is on line. Please read about it.
8
bicultural
Makoto, ever heard of "hiropon?" I think that gave the kamikaze pilots more courage than the concept of loyalty. Also, you mention that loyalty is a very difficult concept for people to understand, but not for you?
4
Hategobo
I give my loyalty when you have earnt it, I dont give loyalty by divine right. It doesnt come with the job, and loyalty should go both ways.
8
tkoind2
Loyalty is only as admirable as the cause it serves. Too much of our world is driven by loyalty to misguided ideas and evil purposes.
The Kamikaze are a perfect example. Young men, forced by society and pressured by a concept of loyalty and duty to kill themselves for a war already lost and the egos of generals too insensitive and too proud to spare the nation further suffering.
Loyalty must serve a positive purpose or it risks becoming vanity and pride, two deadly human weaknesses. Loyalty must be that which protects goodness, and shows compassion and love for others. Otherwise national loyalty, religious loyalty, ideology or other "Loyalties" can become tools of destruction and evil.
This author too often confuses the romantic view of the past with the reality of the past. You forget that many of the Kamikaze went to their deaths because they knew that to refuse would be dangerous, if not deadly, for those they love. At least here we agree that such devotion to family to die rather than put them at risk, is a high and pure thing. But the men who required this loyalty were monsters and those boys who died purely for the vanity and pride of those leaders are simply tragic stories where loyalty became something wrong and tragic.
4
Sarcasm321
Yes, be loyal to your grave! Your corporate masters, governments and military leaders will love that... Wake up, please!
3
gaijinfo
Those dudes who crashed into the world trade center were a pretty loyal bunch.
People in the U.S. who you think aren't loyal to one company may indeed be more loyal to their families, as they are always looking out for the best financial deal for themselves, unlike Japanese who get on the treadmill and never get off.
Yea, right. That's why things like religion never took much hold in ancient societies.
Incorrect reasoning. If they were truly loyal, and not forced on pain of death to take on those missions,(thereby removing any romantic notion of chosen loyalty) they would have flown with a full tank so as to cause more damage.
8
Blacklabel
This is really an oversimplification of the whole idea of loyalty. As others have said, the kamikaze should not be romanticized, they were REQUIRED to do what they did. No different from the Japan of today where people do things that are required of them whether they want to or not. People have no voice to express their individual needs and their individual vote for their leaders counts for nothing. Misguided loyalty to an Emperor who they thought was a god, whose voice they had never even heard until after their country was destroyed and their families and friends decimated.
I wonder how your American naval officer husband feels about kamikazes who killed past generations of Navy men as a part of their "loyalty". Misguided loyalty to a country, a cause or a person has led to most of the evil that we have seen in our lifetime and throughout history. Why were there no American kamikazes? Because Americans would have seen the uselessness of the whole idea and would have said "hey, there has to be a better way than THAT".
9
Friendly Cove
Those three lines did it for me. So, she thought there was no loyalty in America because there were no kamikaze pilots. Astounding logic. She then goes on to say..
Wow. Talk about painting everyone with a single brush. People may not overly show or even share the same things you value, but it does not mean that what they feel strongly about is wrong or inadequate. People are people. No two people are the same whether we are talking about two Japanese, two Americans or whomever. Obviously JT is using this stuff to generate more site hits. Well done on that. As for the sweeping generalisations made in every piece by this author, no so impressed.
2
tmarie
I don't know why anyone is surprised by the misguided comments of her notions of kamakazi and the like. So many locals here think like this it is shocking. I'm shocked that someone who likes highly of themselves and considers themselves to be educated thought loyalty was only a Japanese trait.
5
KingBasil
Many Americans have done pretty wild and near suicidal things to acheive victory. Most of the men of the Doolittle raid survived, but it was very risky. Robert Klingman used his propellor to take down a Japanese plane. Shugart and Gordon requested to be inserted to cover a crash site in Mogadishu in 93, but could have stayed in the safety of their own helicopters. They both died. And so many other stories.
These men were loyal to their country to be sure. But they balanced that with the simple but intelligent idea that dead men cannot help their country after death. There is almost no way one act of suicide can match years of service. If your goal is actually to die along with your enemy, even though you have the option of living, or you are not directly saving lives, 99 percent of the time you are dumb as a brick. Heck, the kamikaze did not even cause that much damage for their losses! When the Japanese came up with a jet powered kamikaze craft, you know what the Americans called them? Baka!
About the only loyalty I have is to principles, and I view that as the only loyalty word having. I am not loyal to America or any country or person. When any of the above parts with a principle, I part with them a little. When you have integrity, determination and brains, you don't need loyalty. And only a small minded, short sighted and probably evil person would expect it from such a person. And so, I take the belief that Americans have no loyalty as a compliment, because most people are not talking about principles when they say that, but rather to people and country.
And last, I don't think most kamikaze did what they did out of loyalty at all. More like coercion and brainwashing laid on them by a very stupid facet of Japanese society at the time that the Japanese finally got the sense to kill off for good.
And honor? Was it even discussed? I would define honor as loyalty to principles. Loyalty to men is stupid. Loyalty to country is questionable at best. Only loyalty to principles is pure and intelligent, and I call that honor.
-4
gyouza
Guys, she openly admits that she is a blogger writing what she feels, not a journalist or a political activist seeking to drive home a point. JT did start by mentioning these posts as a copy of her blog but that seems to have gotten lost now.
Anyway, my 1.08 yens worth is that she is wrong about Schettino.
Yes he did. To the most important thing in his life - himself!
6
zichi
They were like all Japanese military during WWII, brain washed young men who lost their lives for no reason of justice, because of a select few, power hungry old men who wanted to rule Asia, maybe the world?
I spent several years in the navy, military. Captain Francesco Schettino was a coward by the standards of sea life.
3
USNinJapan2
I thinking a glaring fact the author overlooks is that unlike in Japan, in the US (the West in general) loyalty is earned.
1
KingBasil
That highly depends on what you mean by "earned". Plenty of people in the west become loyal to a guy just because he has money or a high position. In their minds, he "earned" loyalty by virtue of money or position.
Overall I would say the long-standing position on earning loyalty is better in the west than in Japan, but not THAT much better that you can just say "loyalty is earned" full stop, and walk away all smug.
2
Nicky Washida
I am really interested to know how Makoto feels about the whole kamikaze image now, having read the posts above and seen the reality and the truth laid bare for her, as opposed to the romanticized image she has held on to for so long. It must be pretty tough reading.
1
Tyler Vandenberg
8
Tyler Vandenberg
We have Military Men and Women dying in wars that most of them don't even know the reason we are there, the reason you don't see many is b/c you don't open your eyes..... "You never heard of American kamikaze pilots".... Michael A. Monsoor Master-at-Arms Second Class Saved the lives of his fellow SEALs at his sniper position by diving on a grenade, Paul R. Smith Sergeant First Class Held the enemy at bay allowing for the wounded to be carried out, died in the process, Ross A. McGinnis Specialist Saved the lives of four soldiers by diving on a grenade while inside HMMWV (Humvee), Jason Dunham Corporal Fought hand-to-hand with the enemy and hurled himself on a grenade to protect fellow Marines...........
The Difference is Kamikaze pilots died for their government....... I could turn it back on you right here, Have you ever heard of a Japanese soldier jumping on a grenade to protect his brothers in arms, I'm sure it happen, but it doesn't fit into the romantic idea of loyalty in Japan, "giving your life for the sake of Japan" so all we hear about is the Kamikaze pilots.... I'm not going to explain the American view of loyalty, those 4 names above have already explained it more then I ever could.
8
atadoi
Where do these people come up with this kind of nonsense?
7
tmarie
Ignorance is bliss isn't it Nicky? I have no idea how many times I have heard this from locals. You know what is brave and loyal? People like my grandfather who lied about his age so he could go to war and fight for his country and freedom. People like him who suffered through the war, watched friends and family get killed and then came home and told the horrors of the war and what was really going on and how he hopes no one ever has to go through and see what he saw. But he never regretted going and would have done so again if it was for the country and the people. That is brave and loyal. Forcing young boys to fly to their death and then try and paint them as heros and white washing the history of a nation because they feel they can is not. That is cowardly.
0
Nicky Washida
Well said tmarie. Those three words sum it all up: Ignorance is bliss. And God bless real heroes like your grandfather who fought for freedom so that we could be sitting here today shooting each other down on the internet! It gets messy at times but at least we are free to do it!
2
tmarie
There are plenty of men (and women) like my grandfather. Sad though that she thought it was only the Japanese who could be loyal.
3
atadoi
Please somebody put this Makoto person in a room with the people tmarie is referring to and make her read this "Honor and Loyalty" out load. She probably wouldn't even last 4.5 sentences before somebody stood and knocked some sense into her.
6
Blair Herron
Loyalty of Kamikaze and Japanese business men are totally different.
Japanese business men are loyal to their company. It's true as I see in the recent event of TEPCO and mainstream media companies. TEPCO employees hide any kind of information possible. They knew huge tsunami would hit the plants but it would cost tremendous amount of money to build a barrier, so they decided to ignore it. Their main concern is company profit, not endangering millions of people. Very loyal to their company.
Japanese mainstream media do not broadcast anything that would hurt their company profit. Those kisha-club journalists (mainly attached to government ministries and industries, and their members generally belong to major newspapers, broadcasters and wire services) intentionally avoid tough questions at TEPCO/government press conference. They are hoping to preserve their portion of the $120 million TEPCO lays out annually in media advertisements. Their concern is company profit, rather than giving accurate information to the public. Very loyal to their company.
If there aren't many loyal American businessmen like TEPCO and Japanese media, that's good then.
I'm surprised that Makoto grew up and educated in Japan. As many posters here said, they were not loyal but they were threatened. The pilots, their family, the community, the whole Japan were threatened by the military regime. There were military policemen everywhere, listening to everybody's conversation in the neighborhood and if they found someone talking anything against the military regime, they were put in prison. When a young man received 赤紙(call-up paper), the neighbors say "Congratulations" to the family. If they said something like, "OMG. That's terrible. I'm so sorry.", they would be put in prison.
Even being brainwashed is doubtful. A number of kamikaze pilots flew away actually came back, saying there was an engine trouble or whatever excuse they could think of. They were just simply scared and couldn't do it. But those pilots who returned never got away with it. They were told to fly again in a couple of days. (I heard "hiropon" didn't work very well. It was only an energy drink.)
I always doubt that Japanese were brainwashed to be loyal to the country during WWII. After the emperor declared war defeat and Douglas MacArthur came to Japan, what happened to Japanese people, especially young women is that they sent fan letters to MacArthur saying, "You are such a handsome man. I fell in love with you in the first sight." Things like that. Kids loved candies that American MP gave them.
I bet Makoto studied history in Japanese school, but she must have been busy memorizing all those dates and yeas like いい国作ろう鎌倉幕府( the exact year of establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate is 1192)
0
Olrik
There is no doubt that the men of the IJA and IJN were very, very brave, but it was the nature of some of the atrocities they committed against innocents that blemished their record...
7
MaboDofuIsSpicy
when i think of loyalty i think of all of us posters that come here every day and share our thoughts.
5
tkoind2
The author of this article consistently misunderstands her own country's history. It is sadly another demonstration that the eduction system here fails entirely to deal with the very realities of Japanese history. Which is sad, because there is so much for Japan to be truly proud of if people bothered to take an honest look at their past.
Second, the author consistently misunderstands western culture making the same kind of assumptions that I would expect to hear from someone who has never been abroad or who is quite nationalistic. I am not sure how that is possible for someone who have lived abroad to maintain. But clearly it is possible given these articles.
The simple realities are, the values that some people try to claim as unique to Japan are as prominent in other cultures around the world, no matter where you are. Loyalty, courage, devotion and yes even the capacity to Gammon are universal human traits and not remotely unique to Japan.
Equally the capacity for insanity, like those who devised the Kamikaze as a method of fighting a war, is also universally human illustrating a global pan cultural capacity for war, violence, murder and destruction.
If the author really wants to discover the pearls of Japanese culture, she should forget nationalistic nonsense like some of her claims and focus instead upon something truly positive. Such as the capacity of people to overcome the mainstream and to do good in the name of loyalty and devotion as so many Japanese individuals did in resistance to the militarist government during the war period.
3
Ayler
I loyally read Makoto's insights. They always give me a chuckle or two.
-4
Uwe Paschen
Middle English: from Old French onor (noun), onorer (verb), from Latin honos, honor. A very old debate which the ancient Greek and Romans as well as the ancient Chinese already tackled long before Japan came about. In the case of Antony and Cleopatra for instance both killed them self for different reasons, yet both to claim their honour. Antony prepares to meet Caesar in battle, he determines that he “will live / Or bathe [his] dying honour in the blood / Shall make it live again” (IV.ii.5–7). Here, he explicitly links the notion of honour to that of death, suggesting the latter as a surefire means of achieving the former. While Cleopatra’s death, which was her means of ensuring that she remains her truest, most uncompromising self, is distinctly against Rome and taking the victory away from Rome by not submitting and there for upholding her honour. The Germanic, the Roman and the Arabic officer and leaders believed that it was their duty to commit suicide when faced with defeat in war and that such would save their honour. This believe generated a psychosis of sorts forcing those soldier to battle relentlessly and without mercy nor common sense. Creating a lot of injustices and indiscriminate killing which in turn cannot be honourable what so ever. We glorify soldiers which are nothing more than legalised mass murderers rather than glorifying the peace makers and keeper which would generate more dialogue and compromises and which would be in the spirit of the democratic ideals we believe in. To get back to the famous story of east meets west. In Antony and Cleopatra, honour seems less a function of Western or Eastern culture than of the characters’ determination to define themselves on their own terms. Both Antony and Cleopatra secure honourable deaths by refusing to compromise their identities. At least so they believed. Honour is subjective and all to often used to brain wash people into doing stupid things see the Fascist era of Spain, Italy, Germany and the Japanese regime of that same era. It was madness, inhumane and criminal and still we dare to call those acts honourable? Remember that honour ends with-our (the spelling honor is American).
2
andrewfx51
@Blair Herron
I think that you stand by your latter statement. The way history is taught in Japan varies greatly with many other countries in the world.
Makoto
I hope you read the comments on your posts (apart from the blatantly rude ones), and understand why people are sometimes (often) offended by what you write. Loyalty is not a trait that is unique to Japan - as Blair Herron, Tyler Vandenberg et al have pointed out. In fact, the recent corporate scandals (Tepco, Olympus) indicate that loyalty is a trait that is lacking in Japan.
You may aruge that these action are out of loyalty to employers - not so. It is about face, mentsu, "面子". Olympus was obliged to be loyal to its shareholders - yes, the delaying the release of bad news in the short term may maintain share prices, but often delays the inevitable: eventually there is too much to cover up. Tepco had obligations to power users and citizens living near power plants - obligations that they didn't live up to.
"I am from a country which values (or used to) loyalty a lot. Japanese kamikaze pilots were very loyal and died for their country. They flew with a gas tank which had enough fuel to fly only one way, knowing that they wouldn’t come back to their country and they crashed into American ships during WWII. Many Japanese businessmen used to work for one company all their lives, pledging their loyalty to it."
Many workers at manufacturers in the Western world were equally loyal - hard to believe I know! Many are now wards of the state, requiring government support, or taking minimum wage work to survive.
"Before I moved to the U.S., I didn’t expect loyalty to exist here. It’s not an insult, but I simply thought it was a Japanese thing."
It is insulting, and shows a lack of education on your part. That isn't meant to be an insult to you personally, more an indictment of the Japanese education system Read: "The Red Badge of Courage" "All Quiet on the Western Front" "A Farewell to Arms" - See "Saving Private Ryan" "Bridge over the River Kwai". Better yer, watch the new Christian Bale movie "The Flowers of War". Watch all of it. Then come back and talk about loyalty.
"One difference between Japan and the U.S. is that in the U.S., you choose how you want to live your life. There is no pressure on you to be loyal from society, your country, or anyone"
I disagree.
"...the “What’s in it for me?” attitude..."
Can you be more specific? Maybe people come across with this attitude have families/dependants to support?
1
tmarie
I would love to see the reaction of her husband's coworkers if she dare made such comments to them and how their former "comrades" are viewed by an "educated" Japanese women.
4
bernardoids
The number of cheating spouses I have met in Japan makes me wonder how deep the loyalty goes.
Alibi-ya & hostess bars anyone?
5
hatsoff
Oh dear. This article is so simplistic:
Really? Now come on, we can be more profound than that can't we?
So how does that explain the fact that humans have believed in gods of all sorts since the beginning of time? Horoscopes? Blood types dictating the personality?
Erm, why are you taking people out of the equation when citing this as an example? It was ALL about the people. This confuses professional responsibility with loyalty.
Are you saying it's good or bad to have a free choice of being loyal? Also, your inference here is that in Japan people have no choice in being loyal - is that really loyalty? Really?
Here's a test for you, let's see if you're loyal:
Your husband plans to walk off the top of a cliff. He asks you if you want to walk off with him. If you say yes freely, are you being loyal? If you say no, but he forces you, are you being loyal? You can't have it both ways, can you?
Sadly, this is the essence of the thing. You are the sum of your own narrow experience and paint the world accordingly. I don't mean this personally, but surely you cannot be surprised at the responses here.
2
Serrano
"I simply though it ( loyalty ) was a Japanese thing. You never heard of American kamikaze pilots, did you?"
That wasn't loyalty, that was brainwashing / coercion.
14
choiwaruoyaji
Imagine if I said:
Before I moved to Japan, I didn’t expect kindness to exist here. It’s not an insult, but I simply thought it was a Western thing. You never heard of Japanese Mother Theresas, did you?
3
NetNinja
@Choiwaruoyaji Ouch, it's rare that I see someone on JT pull the trigger.. Such a nice crowd here always but yeah choiwaruoyaji really shot that one down.
I always support a person who speaks their mind and Makoto is a brave one to post this. Unfortunately it only cements my belief that Japanese still believe themselves to be the divine race and that Westerners are devoid of such qualities. And it's pretty much looking down on another society.
I'm sure she won't stop writing and I hope she doesn't. All those little Freudian slips will keep coming.
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