JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION
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Seiharinokaze
The predestination of Calvinism that God unalterably from the beginning chose some people for salvation and others for damnation made its believers quite uneasy and they began to try to believe that they were chosen for salvation. Theirs is no more the Heavenly Father of Heaven of the New Testament but Yahweh of the Old Testament. In a way Calvinism is similar to Judaism in that they are lacking assurance that they are saved.
As a result they were compelled to follow a secular vocation in a sense of calling with much zeal which more often than not brought about their worldly wealth. And that hard earned money was also forbidden to be wasted meaninglessly. Thus they began to invest that money, which consequently boosted capitalism. That is to say, at some point the Calvinist rationale informing the "spirit" of capitalism became unreliant on the underlying religious movement behind it, leaving only rational capitalism. In essence then, Weber's "Spirit of Capitalism" is effectively and more broadly a Spirit of Rationalization.
Doesn't Calvinism share something with Judaism? The idea of "rationality" comes from something quite Judaistic and has brought about the present financial crisis, or even perhaps its end?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheProtestantEthicandtheSpiritof_Capitalism
Posted in: Aso says world religions can learn from Japan
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Seiharinokaze
Nobody promotes workaholism. Depopulation in the aging society of Japan with increase in social security allowance is in the background of PM Aso's remark. He suggests the necessity to prepare for a society where aged people can be accepted more readily as fork force.
Another factor is the present global economic crisis. It seems as if greed and mammonism deriving from Judaism is ruling the world. They convert the uncertain future into numerical values and put them through the alchemy of financial engineering. Optimum leverage for greatest profits is an act of rationality whereas by the sweat of your brow seems to be an act of expiation. So "To work is good. It’s completely different thinking from the Old Testament. We should share our philosophy with many other nations." is an irony though rather misleading on something prevailing in the world.
Posted in: Aso says world religions can learn from Japan
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Seiharinokaze
How about modifying the assertive message into more suggestive one such as "Use unrighteous wealth to make friends for yourself so that you may be saved in time of need" or something? And avoid black and yellow color scheme; those are colors for alarming rather than appealing as in the signs of road zoning and railroad crossing in Japan. Red and green may suit the season better. Also change the font of handwritten Ming-style into Hiragino gothic. And please don't use thumbtacks to pin up a poster in Ginza. Learn from Oriental Land Co, on how to win the hearts of the people by using Western software.
Posted in: Ginza
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Seiharinokaze
Christmas Eve is mostly an occasion for some young people still enthused in shallow dreams and libidos to date and mate and for children to have fun and eat cakes. For others in general, "Merry Christmas" sounds simply out of place and even silly at this busiest time of the year, though the melody of Jingle Bells was being played on the street this year with lyrics that promote sales of the year-end jumbo lottery.
Sorry to say the real big day is not coming on 25th over here. Christmas Eve is not king either. Standing ovation or victory lap or whatever is reserved for the Watch Night bell ringing to let the old year pass away and subsequent New Year visit to a shrine or temple. The feelings we have on Omisoka or the last day of the year might be comparable to what people in the West or Christendom feel on what Mr. Fields call the big day.
Posted in: A very Japanese Christmas
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Seiharinokaze
I'm sorry to say that the phrase "Merry Christmas" we see and hear at this season in Japan is not a seasonal greeting or anything related to religious feelings but more often than not a mere catch-phrase to promote seasonal sales. Carols are also mood music for it. Merchants become instant quasi-Christians at this season through Dec. 24 and quickly turn back into Japanese in time to urge us to buy more in preparation for A Happy New Year. This is a culture of polytheism and there is no only one absolute anything. So not necessary to replace "Merry Christmas" with anything else.
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
I am afraid that it is not out of context to argue about proof and validity on this issue. The article you referred to carried what a medic in the unit of the Japanese army had heard from the comfort women. He said that the women, many of them Korean. were forced into brothels to provide sex for soldiers, and that they were all tricked into going there. But the article didn't mention who tricked them actually. Was it the Japanese army? Does it by itself mean that the Japanese military tricked and forced them?
Why do you ignore the fact that the military brothels were generally run by dealers and the women were recruited by them? If you call for any apology from Japan, you should take it up for fair discussion and make it clear who were really responsible. Otherwise it will not help improve relations in the true sense between Japan and South Korea. That's why I suggest that they might listen to what Prof. An Byonjik and others have to say.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
I am saying that if you urge a country to acknowledge something, you should provide proof that verifies it. Is there any one case in which a Korean women was proved to have been kidnapped and forced to provide sex service by the Japanese military?
You said it's only because Mr. Hata is a moderate right that he criticized the former JAFD head and that his expertise is in disguise of balanced one. Simply you do not want to accept him as a historian and you seem to criticize him mainly according to English Wikipedia which does not seem to be a fair account on him compared with Japanese Wiki. Is it your own judgement? Have you read any of his books?
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
I believe it dampens it if some heartfelt and overkind British parliamentarians urge us to acknowledge without any proof by repeating what North Korea says for a time that the Japanese military kidnapped and forced up to 200,000 women to work in military brothels.
So he is now "moderate" instead of "partial and unethical and somewhat biased"? The real difference, it seems to me, is your own attitude.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
Well it seems as if the aim of the comfort women issue is to alienate Japan from South Korea and dampen the image of Japan in the best interest of North Korea. Koreans might listen with a litter more open minds to what Prof. An Byonjik of Seoul University has to say. They tend to be too swayed by sensational image and emotion to try to see through proof and validity and some coolness what actually happened.
As for the Japanese comfort women, I am afraid the issue is unlikely to be discussed later. It's not a matter of opportunity but a matter of perception and facts. They don't think they were sex slaves as the British parliamentarians kindly argue for Korean women. Besides it's nonissue in anyone's interest either.
So you say that Mr. Hata's comment was partial and unethical because he got paid to appear on the media and criticized the former JAFD head's historical view?
Then were the experts also called and paid on the issue of comfort women by the Western media because they would say something favorable to them? Now I can see why Mr. Hata is rarely referred to among Japanese experts on this topic by them.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
It's you who asked about the documents that supported the statement that 60 to 70 percent of comfort women were Japanese. I assumed you think it important to consider that point too. I wonder why nobody says that Japanese comfort women who occupied a large percentage of them were sex slaves too being kidnapped and forced to do sex service just like "many Korean women"as you say.
As to Mr. Hata's appearance in Japanese media as a history expert, the point is why did those media pay him to say what he has to say?
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
Sorry, typo. It should read:
Hata estimated 40 percent of comfort women were those who applied from brothels within Japan, 30% were Japanese women living abroad who applied on the spot, 20% were Koreans and about 10% Chinese.
As for your criticism of Mr. Hata by referring to Wikipeida, does what's said in it negate the fact that still large number of comfort women were Japanese?
And then why was Mr. Hata who you think cannot see and perceive the history as it is often referred to by the media as some authority on the modern history of Japan, when former Japan Air Force head Tamogami was recently criticized for his view on history?
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
highhope
Japanese historian, Hata Ikuhiko estimated the number and racial component ratio in his book; Comfort Women and Sex in War : Shinchosha, 1999. (『慰安婦と戦場の性』新潮社 新潮選書）
Public documents that recorded passenger's purpose clarifies that many Japanese women passaged as comfort women. Hata estimated 40 percent of comfort women were from brothels within Japan, 30% were Koreans and about 10% Chinese. But as there were cases that were not recorded by the public documents still remaining, it's impossible to give a correct breakdown.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
Were they really? About 60 to 70 percent of comfort women were said to be Japanese. Why were they not mentioned? Why don't those campaigners investigate the human rights, justice and historical truths of such Japanese women too?
It also seems that they tend to confuse intentionally or not so called comfort women in general with victims such as of Semarang incident. War crimes and any crimes committed during the war should be condemned and Japan should and actually did apologize for them, but those specific cases should not be indiscriminately expanded to comfort women in general. They might as well be more careful in judging the practices conducted according to the regulation of licensed prostitution (公娼制度) that was legal until 1946 in Japan. Such rough incrimination rather smells incendiary and even political distancing Japan from Korea.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
PanPan houses were not for Japanese military but for GI's. Japan had surrendered. Defeated Japan set up those facilities on behalf of the invader.
But back on the the topic, they or dealers didn't recruit women for any "patriotic duty" to serve J-army. They were not offered but recruited and employed as "prostitutes". Brothels were officially approved and institutionalized in those days. So they contract with private dealers and had them manage the facilities also in the areas where the Japanese army stationed. Nobody denies the existence of comfort stations. They object to the allegation that the Japanese army "kidnapped and forced" up to 200,000 women to work for sexual services for the military. Gross propagation by Koreans and the media strangely sympathetic to them.
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
Prof. An Byonjuk 安秉直 of Seoul University who did an in depth survey on comfort women in 1990's said that there is no data (neither witnesses nor physical evidence inasmuch as he could find) to certify that Japanese army kidnapped and forced women to work in military brothels, questioning why it was necessary in the first place to force women for the work in the days when women were quite often sold into bondage of private brothels to help their parents out of financial distress. Why Koreans (and the Wester media) ignore him?
Though they were recruited and managed in the more or less similar process, comfort women were obliged against their will to provide sexual services for the Japanese army therefore very painful and emotive issue whereas so called prostitutes were not so in providing service for private people. How could Japan be reconciled to such recognition? Or rather I tend to suspect that not improving relations between Japan and South/North Korea could play an important part in keeping the stand-off involving security in the Far East?
Posted in: Japan should acknowledge sex slaves' pain: British MPs
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Seiharinokaze
frankthedm
>I enjoy many of Miyazaki's works, but he is a god blasted tree hugger. While Mononoke Hime was a very good film, San is a literal posterchild for ELF style Ecoterrorists.
Though San is against humans and their civilization that takes over the forest for their own interest, Shishigami (Forest Spirit) himself does not seem so instantly vengeful; he even lays to rest the ecoterroristic leader Okkoto Nushi who began to decay due to his rage over the destruction of the forest. The message here seems to be that it's your rage and hatred rather than your enemy that will destroy yourself.
Miyazaki's eye does not condemn one-sidedly Lady Eboshi the leader of exploiters of the forest, who though seemingly callous actually cares about the welfare of her people. It even seems somewhat sympathetic to her. Everyone has his/her own god blasted logic and way of life which are undeniable and compelling as long as we live. Could such a viewpoint be any sublation to the belief that most of the troubles in the world are due to the multi-ethnicity and the like?
Posted in: Animator Hayao Miyazaki worries about children's future
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Seiharinokaze
I would rather tend to suspect what he suggests is that we should enlarge the trading market of CO2 credits as part of the efforts to find a way out of the present financial crisis. Trading of CO2 credits, as some people argue, is just another "derivative" contrived by using the financial engineering and scapegoating all of a sudden a substance which is necessary for photosynthesis and is constantly swapped between greenery and air. Royalty seems to be a laudable publicity for British national strategy with an authentic touch. Even though it's perhaps not a becoming remark for a prince to say outspokenly that financial crisis is more important than global warming, he may or may not be aware that tsunami of credit crunch worldwide is going to strike us all irreversibly.
Posted in: Prince Charles says global warming more important than financial crisis
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Seiharinokaze
Used to listen to Miyuki's songs. Or read the last ten chapters of the Tale of Genji. But I came to know that a familiar national poem Iroha-Uta tells an all-time truth for more than 1000 years:
We shall never allow ourselves to drift away intoxicated, in the world of shallow dreams.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroha
Posted in: What is the best way to deal with unrequited love?
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Seiharinokaze
Going for a ride downstream used to symbolize that the bride is determined never to go back with her tsuno or jealousy always hidden under the white hood.
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Seiharinokaze
Shugakuin is great. But it's not "shakkai" but "shakkei".
Donald Keene-san might say that the quintessence of Kyoto's subtle beauty can be found in places associated with Higashiyama culture. Zen gardens and wabi-sabi sensibility and so forth. But I personally prefer temples of Shingon-shu. Go to Jingo-ji temple and sit in Kondo (the main hall) there smelling the burning incense and hearing the chorus of cicadas. It's enough to make you feel temporarily hidden and escaped.
Posted in: Escape the tourist mobs among Kyoto's hidden palaces