China and even Korea have threads, but not Japan. So here it is.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/17/opinion/what-germany-can-teach-japan.html
QuoteTOKYO — Imagine a postwar Germany that had never managed to become friends with its neighboring countries. Imagine a Germany that, despite all the remorse it had shown for its belligerence during World War II, had been excluded from the European Union. Imagine, even, that this Germany had been excluded from NATO, because it had forever been denied the right to engage in a defense alliance.
On top of all of this, imagine the following: Your economy is in decline; a mighty, nondemocratic neighbor is increasing military spending while denouncing you as an aggressive, militaristic nation, even as it and other nearby countries are grabbing parts of your territory.
If it's hard to imagine such a scenario, just hop on a plane to Japan.
The comparison with my own country is certainly a compassionate reading of the new, assertive tone that Japan's government has adopted toward its neighbors. It's hard not to sympathize after speaking with the many Japanese officials I've met here, who say they have just one wish: that Japan, almost 70 years after the end of World War II, could become a "normal country" like Germany.
Normal? At first the idea sounds humble, understandable. But "normal" is a tricky concept: No country is truly "normal," even boring old Germany. And this desire comes at a time when being normal — including the right to militarize — may contribute to the spiral of mistrust underway among the major players in East Asia.
My conversations with Japanese officials and observers persuaded me that, for all the differences between the countries, there are instructive parallels between Germany's experience and Japan's current position — above all, that normalcy is not something that is granted; it must be sought out and earned.
Of course, there are good reasons that Germany and Japan followed divergent courses after the war. Japan has obviously had greater problems with coming to terms with its past: A foreign affairs official in Tokyo frankly told me the Japanese public was experiencing "apology fatigue" — something most Germans would never admit to, even if they felt it.
This is partly understandable. China is an undemocratic neighbor that has never seriously been interested in reconciliation; on the contrary, it uses Japan's guilty past — the massacre at Nanjing, the widespread enslavement of "comfort women" — to stir up its own neo-nationalism.
And then there is the simple fact of geography: Japan is an island nation, Germany has land borders with nine countries. You cannot take the train from Tokyo to Seoul as you can from Cologne to Paris.
The lack of strong cultural interaction is a problem, too: There has not been anything like the real-life social network of the Erasmus student exchange program for the Pacific region.
But for those precise reasons, if long-term peace is to be achieved, then someone has to take the lead on regional reconciliation. And there is no one more obliged than Japan to take on that burden.
Here is where the Germany parallel becomes instructive. Nobody expects Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to kneel before the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall in atonement, the way Chancellor Willy Brandt of Germany did before the Ghetto Uprising Memorial in Warsaw. But as Germany learned in its coming to terms with the past, the famed "Vergangenheitsbewältigung," strong symbols are sometimes more helpful than facts.
While some Japanese scholars may be correct to say that Chinese propaganda inflates the numbers of victims of Nanjing, the easiest way to unwind its effect would be to make an impressive, lasting statement of guilt. Germany has been accepted as a full and fairly normal member of the international community not least because of the persistence with which it has remembered the Nazi atrocities.
Another lesson from Germany: Withstand the temptation to blame others, even if you see good grounds for it. When I asked a Japanese official why his government didn't react to the proposal of President Park Geun-hye of South Korea to set up a committee for jointly developing history schoolbooks, after the Franco-German model, he said Tokyo had "not received any proposal from the Korean government in relation to this issue." If Germany had waited for a written invitation for reconciliation from France or Poland, my generation would probably still believe that we were surrounded by hereditary enemies.
Reconciliation takes bravery as well as generosity. And you must want it. Without it, a country's path to "normality" — perhaps best defined as earning and enjoying the trust of its neighbors — remains blocked. Reconciliation pays off, and a new normality is the reward.
The opposite, creating boogeymen and playing blame games, happened in Europe in 1914. Does East Asia really want to go sleepwalking down that path a hundred years later? Japan, more than any of its neighbors, has the obligation, with a gesture to its neighbors, to prevent that. Perhaps the best way to prove you are a normal country is to hold your nerve when things get rough.
I read this today and it was great to see a balanced article about Japan for once.
The amount of times I see people online just taking the Chinese/Korean propeganda of an evil neo-militarist Japan at face value really irks me. Its particularly annoying since a big part of the reason this version of things is so widespread is that the Japanese, contrary to being evil masterminds, are really shit/indifferent to spreading their version of things.
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
Can you give me an example or two of this Chinese/Korean propeganda you're referring to? I'm not sure what that is.
Imagine a hot bisexual submissive woman.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on April 17, 2014, 07:26:24 AM
Can you give me an example or two of this Chinese/Korean propeganda you're referring to? I'm not sure what that is.
QuoteImagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
* This is a minor point which has only been an issue since the 80s.
* It doesn't contain the ashes of war criminals, only their names.
* The war criminals are a handful of people amongst 2.5 million. They don't have any special status amongst the millions- though there is talk of giving them this so as to stop people overreacting every time someone visits the shrine.
* Since the war criminals were added by the shrine the emperor (both of them) has made a point of not visiting the shrine. A far more meaningful stance than politicians visiting.
Its really much much more complicated than "Imagine the German chancellor visiting a monument for worshipping the Nazis"
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 05:02:52 AM
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
It was actually a minor scandal when Reagan visited Germany in the 80s, that he and Helmut Kohl wanted to commemorate the fallen of WW2 and chose to visit a soldier cemetery where not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members to the Waffen-SS had been buried.
My first reaction was : fuck this Japan doesn't need a thread.
but that was a very interesting article.
So Squeeze, your example of ant-Japanese propaganda is that the ashes of war criminals are located in the war dead shrine, and that the shrine only contains war criminals? :hmm:
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 05:02:52 AM
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
If exercising that freedom a certain way results in an arms race and political instability then I reserve the freedom to think using your freedom in such a way is counter-productive :P
Quote from: Syt on April 17, 2014, 08:13:02 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 05:02:52 AM
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
It was actually a minor scandal when Reagan visited Germany in the 80s, that he and Helmut Kohl wanted to commemorate the fallen of WW2 and chose to visit a soldier cemetery where not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members to the Waffen-SS had been buried.
Yes it was a scandal. And so it was not repeated.
The article's implication about Japan's isolation is also not true. Japan was a founding member of the G5. It is a major non-NATO ally, which is the highest status for a non-Atlantic/European nation. It could be a founding member of the TPP, except for the fact that it has raised a thicket of objections to basic trade liberalization measures. And that gets to another point - West Germany and later Germany made significant concessions and sacrifices to its own national interests to make European integration work. Other than providing very generous (albeit tied) foreign aid, Japan historically has not been willing to make those kinds of concessions. That is not so much a criticism - Japan deserves no blame for the peaceful pursuit of its interest - but it is another reason why Germany has made more progress in strengthening ties with others.
And yes it is true that Japan has had to deal with its "difficult" formerly Communist and now authoritarian neighboring power and former adversary. Just as Germany has had to deal with USSR/Russia. But Japan's issues with other nations are not limited to the PRC.
Quote from: Syt on April 17, 2014, 08:13:02 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 05:02:52 AM
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
It was actually a minor scandal when Reagan visited Germany in the 80s, that he and Helmut Kohl wanted to commemorate the fallen of WW2 and chose to visit a soldier cemetery where not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members to the Waffen-SS had been buried.
How many cemeteries only have Wehrmacht soldiers and no SS?
I'm in fact going to Japan next week. There are a ton of stuff about Japan that I want to talk about. Food, anime, sakura flowers, music, films. Why does it have to be this :weep:
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 10:37:01 AM
I'm in fact going to Japan next week. There are a ton of stuff about Japan that I want to talk about. Food, anime, sakura flowers, music, films. Why does it have to be this :weep:
The only of those topics that I can bear reading about (in relation to Japan) is food. So it should be this or food.
Although this topic is also dull. Who cares? Japan used to be rather evil and intent on conquering, enslaving, and raping, but these days it is a bunch of old people, and the young people they do have are thoroughly demilitarized. Even if they have nostalgia for the bad old days, they are no threat to anyone.
And such nostalgia is sublimated into pervy drawings of girls as Japanese warships.
Quote from: Tyr on April 17, 2014, 04:44:44 AM
TOKYO — Imagine a postwar Germany that had never managed to become friends with its neighboring countries. Imagine a Germany that, despite all the remorse it had shown for its belligerence during World War II, had been excluded from the European Union. Imagine, even, that this Germany had been excluded from NATO, because it had forever been denied the right to engage in a defense alliance.
Japan made friends with the countries that defeated them, they have no respect for the countries they conquered. :ph34r:
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on April 17, 2014, 01:15:55 PM
Quote from: Tyr on April 17, 2014, 04:44:44 AM
TOKYO — Imagine a postwar Germany that had never managed to become friends with its neighboring countries. Imagine a Germany that, despite all the remorse it had shown for its belligerence during World War II, had been excluded from the European Union. Imagine, even, that this Germany had been excluded from NATO, because it had forever been denied the right to engage in a defense alliance.
Japan made friends with the countries that defeated them, they have no respect for the countries they conquered. :ph34r:
I'm incompletely convinced that you are totally wrong. :hmm:
I adore Japan and will be spending a bit of time there in May :)
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 17, 2014, 02:13:31 PM
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Only to those who choose to give it mileage.
How's all that mileage we're getting out of the USS Arizona shrine every time we deal with Japan?
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 17, 2014, 02:13:31 PM
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Yeah. And the thing is, nobody pointed a gun at the Japanese PM for him to go :contract:
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 03:51:30 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 17, 2014, 02:13:31 PM
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Yeah. And the thing is, nobody pointed a gun at the Japanese PM for him to go :contract:
Are you sure? Intimidation and murder of prominent politicians is a tradition of post-Restoration Japan.
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 03:51:30 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 17, 2014, 02:13:31 PM
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Yeah. And the thing is, nobody pointed a gun at the Japanese PM for him to go :contract:
Well... extreme nationalists have assassinated politicians they disapproved of in Japan, though it's a while back.
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 03:51:30 PM
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 17, 2014, 02:13:31 PM
I swear that stupid shrine is the best thing that ever happened to the Chinese government. They are getting so much mileage out of it.
Yeah. And the thing is, nobody pointed a gun at the Japanese PM for him to go :contract:
And the thing is, no one pointed a gun at the head of the former Chinese Communist Party Head, Zhao Ziyang, to keep him in his house for the 15 remaining years of his life after he was overthrown in 1989 for supporting honest, accountable government. :contract:
Oh, wait! Someone did! His successor, the corrupt and repressive Li Peng. But you may not know about that, because successive Chinese PMs have held guns to the head of anyone who tries to admit that Zhao Ziyang existed. :contract:
You know he lives Hong Kong right?
I would like to visit Japan someday. Alas my days of youthful wandering were limited to Europe.
Maybe when I retire.
Quote from: Josephus on April 17, 2014, 06:03:41 PM
I would like to visit Japan someday. Alas my days of youthful wandering were limited to Europe.
Maybe when I retire.
Japan's a great place for a two-week vacation (crossing the pacific for less time than that is too much of a hassle IMO), and it's pretty family friendly too if that's a concern. I'd recommend trying to swing a family holiday.
I'll just order pocky and beat off to those schoolgirls as Aircraft carriers pictures.
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:25:33 PM
I'll just order pocky and beat off to those schoolgirls as Aircraft carriers pictures.
That will give you the Lettow experience of Japan.
Quote from: Jacob on April 17, 2014, 06:30:05 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:25:33 PM
I'll just order pocky and beat off to those schoolgirls as Aircraft carriers pictures.
That will give you the Lettow experience of Japan.
I'll wear my Col Sanders suit while doing so then. :)
Not news, but I stumbled on this site and had a mapgasm.
http://www.stat.go.jp/english/data/chiri/map/c_koku/2010.htm
In particular this one stood out to me as being of interest:
http://www.stat.go.jp/data/chiri/map/c_koku/mitsudo/pdf/2010.pdf
Its a shame it lacks labels, it would be nice to see what various spots are (on others too...). But it really shows you just how rural most of Japan is.
The East Asian definition of city is dumb.
Quote from: Tyr on April 19, 2014, 11:51:18 PMhttp://www.stat.go.jp/data/chiri/map/c_koku/mitsudo/pdf/2010.pdf
But it really shows you just how rural most of Japan is.
The East Asian definition of city is dumb.
uhhhhhhhh
Tyr--How exactly do you define rural, brother?
That looks like a person driving through rural Japan would never have to calculate how far to the next gas station to me.
Most of the blue areas are mountains.
Whats the issue? There's loads of blue there.
I posted because usually think of Japan and they think of it being a super crowded place, a nation of Tokyo.When acutally its one of the more rural developed countries. I can't find the actual numbers anywhere but I recall only a few obvious places like Finland being more rural.
I was thinking of adding to my last post that it would be nicer if they would use old municipality borders. Or even if they could somehow use grid squares. Most of these municipalities have quite a dark coloured centre but are surrounded by mountains. A pink dot in a sea of blue.
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934666.html (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934666.html)
People think Japan is crowded because it is crowded. Greater population density than the UK(and 10x that of the US).
Quote from: Peter Wiggin on April 20, 2014, 12:56:21 AM
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934666.html (http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934666.html)
People think Japan is crowded because it is crowded. Greater population density than the UK(and 10x that of the US).
That's the country taken as a whole. Tokyo is really freaking crowded. National population density doesn't mean too much with anything other than the smallest of countries
True but the lowest category even shown there is "<50". Many NA maps will typically have "1-5" and "5-10" gradients. Look up Wyoming's pop density. Or Canada. It doesn't even matter which province. :P
There are literally three places to get gas between Reno and Salt Lake. That's an 8 hour drive. Two of those places close at sunset, and only one of them has diesel.
Well yes, of course it doesn't compare to the US, Canada or Australia or the like, they go beyond being rural and into the land of being empty :p - the other day I saw a rather cool map of the US that highlited census districts with no inhabitants, it was rather bright.
Compared to much of Europe though Japan is very rural.
It has plenty of places with well under 50 per square km, I don't know if there's anywhere as low as 5 though.
The map shows that Japan is mountainous, that's all. I don't think anyone finds that revelation shocking.
Japan has about 14% of its land in urban areas, compared to 8% for England and Wales, 28% of Germany, 13% for France, 9% for Spain, and 20% for Italy.
See http://www.demographia.com/db-intlualand.htm (http://www.demographia.com/db-intlualand.htm)
Seems like Japan would fit into the middle range for Europe.
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:31:47 PM
Quote from: Jacob on April 17, 2014, 06:30:05 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:25:33 PM
I'll just order pocky and beat off to those schoolgirls as Aircraft carriers pictures.
That will give you the Lettow experience of Japan.
I'll wear my Col Sanders suit while doing so then. :)
The string tie is what makes the ensemble.
Quote from: PDH on April 20, 2014, 03:10:59 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:31:47 PM
Quote from: Jacob on April 17, 2014, 06:30:05 PM
Quote from: Ed Anger on April 17, 2014, 06:25:33 PM
I'll just order pocky and beat off to those schoolgirls as Aircraft carriers pictures.
That will give you the Lettow experience of Japan.
I'll wear my Col Sanders suit while doing so then. :)
The string tie is what makes the ensemble.
The Asians love the fried chicken.
Quote from: MadImmortalMan on April 20, 2014, 12:27:20 AM
That looks like a person driving through rural Japan would never have to calculate how far to the next gas station to me.
That's probably true of any place in Europe and we're not just a giant megacity.
Quote from: grumbler on April 20, 2014, 01:05:09 PM
The map shows that Japan is mountainous, that's all. I don't think anyone finds that revelation shocking.
Japan has about 14% of its land in urban areas, compared to 8% for England and Wales, 28% of Germany, 13% for France, 9% for Spain, and 20% for Italy.
See http://www.demographia.com/db-intlualand.htm (http://www.demographia.com/db-intlualand.htm)
Seems like Japan would fit into the middle range for Europe.
Hmm, something is messed up in these numbers.
http://www.tradingeconomics.com/japan/rural-population-percent-of-total-population-wb-data.html
The earlier ones fit with all I've heard and what I've observed, but no way there was such an actual change in 2011 :hmm:
I can only guess it's down to the looking at the last census counting people living in a "city" as urban and huge numbers of villages uniting into cities in name only in the mid 00s.
30%ish puts it towards the top of the range compared to Europe
For some interesting light news, Japanese drivers suck, but...
http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/04/21/japanese-driver-fails-to-stop-at-a-yellow-light-turns-herself-in-to-the-police/
Quote
Japan is one of the safest countries in the world, so it is no surprise to hear that the majority of the Japanese population are law-abiding citizens. How law-abiding are the Japanese? We could pull up some statistics and numbers for you, but we believe that you internet-savvy Rocketeers are more than capable of finding such information online. Here's a little incident that may be slightly unusual, but just goes to show how serious some Japanese are when it comes to keeping the law.
A driver in Oita Prefecture surrendered herself to the police because she beat the yellow (or amber, if you live in the UK) light at a traffic junction. It wasn't even a red light. More details after the break!
Traffic regulations may differ slightly from country to country, but the general understanding that green means "go", red means "stop", applies more or less everywhere. In places where the yellow (or amber) light is used, it usually signifies that the traffic light will soon turn red and drivers should slow down and stop at the intersection if you think you can't make it across in time.
Recently, a woman thought to be in her forties to fifties approached the Oita Prefectural Police at their Chuo Branch, saying, "I have regrettably violated the traffic regulations so please issue me a ticket." The station staff were baffled by her request since they had never met a driver who turned themselves in requesting for a traffic ticket.
After questioning her for details, it turned out that the woman had been on the road and as she was driving across a traffic intersection, she looked up at the traffic light and realized that it had just turned yellow, but she proceeded to drive straight past it. Feeling guilty for not stepping on the brakes then, she immediately turned herself in to the police thinking that she had broken the law. The staff explained that "as long as you entered the intersection while the traffic light was still green, it's not an offence".
The police commented that, "if only everyone could drive with such caution, there would be no accidents." However, some netizens had different views on the matter:
"Having a high level of awareness is great, but it would had been more dangerous if she had abruptly braked there. Don't beautify the incident."
"She's too serious."
"She's so strict with herself, I'm more concerned if she's psychologically sound."
"Even if what she beat was a red light, if there wasn't photographic evidence they wouldn't be able to penalize her."
"I wouldn't want to drive behind her...Then again, there are so many drivers in Tokyo who stop their cars anywhere and everywhere, and taxi drivers who accelerate at the yellow light, sometimes even driving straight through a red light, I wish they would learn from her attitude of following the regulations..."
While I think that the woman's honesty is certainly commendable, I don't have a driving license, so I wouldn't be in the best position to comment on who is in the right or wrong. What do you think, drivers? Enlighten us non-drivers on the right driving etiquette, just in case we might feel inspired to pick up driving someday!
I always run yellows
I don't see how this one incident actually speaks to underling the point the article raises in the first paragraph.
Note that tyr self-identifies as part of the problem that the brave men of the Japanese Restoration Party are working so tirelessly to amend
Bad drivers? Inability to read a map?
Assuming he means dirty foreigners and not people who are secure in their gender identity, it applies equally to both.
Quote from: Lettow77 on April 21, 2014, 01:21:34 AM
Note that tyr self-identifies as part of the problem that the brave men of the Japanese Restoration Party are working so tirelessly to amend
They're against people going through yellow lights now? Seems a bit small for them.
Small for them? Hashimoto just got done losing a grinding, wasteful conflict to enforce green spaces in elementary playgrounds.
Quote from: Razgovory on April 21, 2014, 01:40:34 AM
Bad drivers? Inability to read a map?
That's Asians all right. Plus the turn signal stays on.
Chinese and Japanese relations take a positive step forward;
QuoteA Chinese student is the subject of serious internet backlash after attempting to order "cooked sushi" at the famed three Michelin-starred Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo. According to Rocket News 24, 23 year-old Chuhan Lin took to Weibo, the popular Chinese social media site, to complain about the service and the food at the esteemed sushi counter after she and her four friends showed up 40 minutes late to the dinner and then canceled the rest of their order. The group found the raw fish "hard to swallow." The diners then asked "to switch to 'cooked sushi' ... to go." The internet was not happy with the group's actions: In response to Lin's story on Weibo there was much outrage with some Chinese commenters even going so far as to call her a "national disgrace."
The restaurant's respected octogenarian owner Jiro Ono also wasn't so pleased with the group's behavior and apparently asked them, "Is sushi served cooked in your country?" He added, "If you can't handle raw food, you should have informed us when you made the reservation!" To which Lin supposedly responded, "Who knew!?" Perhaps she and her friends should have taken the time to do a quick internet search of the restaurant, which is the subject of the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, before making the notoriously difficult reservation.
Following the incident, Rocket News 24 writes Lin ranted on Weibo: "If we were Abe! If we were Obama! Would he dare to show such an attitude?" President Obama and the Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe dined at Sukiyabashi Jiro last month. It's probably safe to assume however that they knew the restaurant served raw fish. According to Rocket News 24, Lin posted to Weibo again the next day writing that following the internet scolding, she returned to the sushi bar to "apologize for her earlier behavior." Ono was apparently quite kind and told her "to visit them again when she has acquired a taste for sushi." Aside from Lin's Weibo posts, there appears to be no other proof of the incident however, which means it's possible she really could just be trolling everybody super hard.
http://eater.com/archives/2014/05/12/internet-vilifies-student-for-ordering-cooked-sushi-at-sukiyabashi-jiro.php
:lol:
This wasn't true Jiro, it was his son's restaurant. But still, reservations have to be made months in advance and it costs well over 100 dollars a head. For this ignorant girl to then go on like this...ah Chinese new money. But big kudos to the Chinese for smacking her down.
Hope its real anyway.
I hate these guys. They are the reason I find it so difficult to make reservations at some Japanese restaurants.
:yuk:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/12/world/asia/osaka-mascot-cull/index.html?hpt=wo_t2
QuoteJapanese cuteness overload could result in mascot cull
By Euan McKirdy, CNN
May 12, 2014 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT)
(CNN) -- In the face of an army of cartoon characters, some Japanese officials are concerned the public is facing a cuteness overload.
Mascots, known locally as yuru-kyara ("loose" or "relaxed" characters), are ubiquitous in Japan, and are used to promote everything from soap, food and train lines, to regions of Japan and even prisons. They come in every conceivable shape and size, including some downright bizarre creations, and are often conceived of and designed by amateurs, a fact that is often all too apparent.
But despite the oftentimes amateur nature of some of these beloved characters, it's safe to say that Japan is truly enamored -- or obsessed, to quote one editorial -- with these guys.
Noriko Nakano of the Japan Local Character Association told CNN by email that the Japanese have a long-lasting, deep emotional bond to "non-human" characters, with roots buried deep in an ancient polytheism.
Deaf composer admits faking work
Manga master paints 'real' characters
With these noble antecedents, a generation of cute characters, with names like Hikonyan and Barysan were born.
And these characters turned out to be perfect for promoting local regions.
"In an era when local governments are in need, (many have) considered a strategy of including emotional warmth and therefore creating 'local characters'," Nakano said. "I had noticed that, for selling local products, it isn't possible to increase the name recognition (if) there is no 'face' to the municipality."
Bona fide celebrity
Hence the rise of the regional character, some of whose fame has spread far beyond their territorial boundaries.
You don't, for example, need to go to Kumamoto Prefecture to bump into Kumamon. The Japanese region's mascot is a bona fide celebrity throughout the country, and appears on everything from promotional posters advertising his home prefecture and household goods like chopstick holders, to a 100 million-yen ($982,000) gold figurine, made by a Tokyo goldsmith.
Kumamon is the current undisputed king of the mascots, as his YouTube offerings make clear. He's also the most visual symbol of the character wars that Japan's prefectures -- akin to states -- are involved in.
Osaka is no exception. Perhaps surprisingly for the city that was the gritty inspiration for "Blade Runner," Japan's second city is as cute-obsessed as the rest of the country, if not more so, with some 45 Osaka-themed mascots plying their trade in the city.
But this town might not be big enough for all of them. According to the Osaka's local government, some of the city's cartoon representatives may be stepping out of the limelight, sidelined in favor of the chosen one, the city's Moppi, as Osaka's "core mascot."
"The prefecture has too many mascots," the Asahi Shimbun quoted Osaka Governor Ichiro Matsui as saying. "People do not know what they are promoting or what policy they are trying to raise awareness of."
Used sparingly
Overkill and dilution of brand identity has meant that other stalwarts of the city, such as the kushiyaki-inspired Kushitan, designed to resemble a deep-fried Osaka delicacy, may soon be surplus to requirements. While the plan is not to kill the characters off -- such barbarism is clearly beyond the pale -- they will from now be used only sparingly, if at all.
Instead, the focus is being put on the narrow, bird-like shoulders of Moppi, who designed in the 1990s to resemble one of the prefecture's native avian species. There are plans to work on the Moppi brand, perhaps pairing him up with a Mrs. Moppi, and even having the lovebirds produce offspring. These characters, officials say, can help promote women's and childrens' issues.
Not everybody is in favor of the cull, including the prefecture's vice governor, who said "respective departments devoted their energy to creating their mascots, and each mascot has been loved by department officials... I hope such situations will be taken into consideration."
However, while there are dissenting voices, the benefits of honing one's yuru-kyara image to one or two distinctive faces makes sense, especially in modern Japan's crowded mascot marketplace.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on April 17, 2014, 09:07:30 AM
Quote from: Syt on April 17, 2014, 08:13:02 AM
Quote from: Monoriu on April 17, 2014, 05:02:52 AM
Imagine a German chancellor visiting a shrine that contains the ashes of Himmler, Goring, Heydrich etc. He has the freedom to go, of course. But others also have the freedom to dislike him for that.
It was actually a minor scandal when Reagan visited Germany in the 80s, that he and Helmut Kohl wanted to commemorate the fallen of WW2 and chose to visit a soldier cemetery where not only Wehrmacht soldiers but also members to the Waffen-SS had been buried.
How many cemeteries only have Wehrmacht soldiers and no SS?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neue_Wache
Germany doesn't really do formal shrines to the fallen on the german side. The Neue Wache (in old east berlin) commemorates the victims of war and dictatorship. Their war memorials are usually more like this
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.schwarzaufweiss.de%2Fdeutschland%2Fberlin-reisefuehrer%2Fimages%2Fberlin2007-0071.jpg&hash=114fd725a6e995640ba881033042a6b375e48550)
The Kaiser Wilhelm Kirche in Berlin
and
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.allmystery.de%2Fdateien%2Fpr22998%2C1198494959%2Cruine-frauenkirche1967.jpg&hash=08984ce991ef440c2e4341229d99c611a5b7c910)
The Frauenkriche in Dresden (until it got rebuilt after the fall after much acrimony)
Only Soviet soldiers get memorials in germany (not western allied ones afaik), this one in berlin tiergarten
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ft2.ftcdn.net%2Fjpg%2F00%2F34%2F39%2F43%2F400_F_34394378_8HcHg5Egluoxn6mB8JOBPZqBnDVqJ68H.jpg&hash=83b07d66ec54c89e2431f5a8fd206697a1144d95)
The poles and russians bulldozed the tannenberg denkmal after ww2, which was the german equivalent for the fallen in ww1.
The big differnece between Germany and Japan here is that Germany culturally emotionally and legally took as much of a break with it's nazi past as possible while japan has maintained some level of continuity between the pre and post ww2 societies. Do note the japanese are just as pacifist as the germans. The japanese do live in a worse neighborhood with less reasonable neighbors.
The Yasukuni shrine is dedicated to everybody who died in the service of the emperor. The perpetual chinese desire to be insulted (and to benefit from the placating that must be done afterwards) and nutjobs like Mishima has prevented the shrine from being quietly forgotten as as japanese version of the Cenotaph or any other shrine to the unknown soldier.
QuoteThe big differnece between Germany and Japan here is that Germany culturally emotionally and legally took as much of a break with it's nazi past as possible
Pravda informs me, that fascism is actually on the rise in Germany.
http://english.pravda.ru/society/stories/12-05-2014/127554-fascism_europe-0/
QuoteFascism experiencing rebirth throughout Europe and the world
Many Germans have been increasingly interested in the persona of Adolf Hitler, The Telegraph wrote. Today, the Germans are interested in the Fuhrer more than ever before, since the defeat of the Third Reich during World War II, a recent study said. However, even without this study, it is clear that fascism in Europe is experiencing a rebirth.
The research conducted by a group of German media monitoring specialists provided a multitude of facts testifying to the growing interest that many Germans have in the history of Nazism and Hitler. The study also pointed out the increasing number of documentaries and books about Adolf Hitler.
According to Western sociologists, most people of the current generation has nothing to do with the experience of World War II, are less ashamed of that historical period and seek to learn more truth about it.
Images of Hitler would appear in advertising of German Bonn-based hat manufacturer, Hut Weber, German condom maker Doc Morris Pharmacies, as well as in a social campaign against AIDS. A commercial campaign conducted on the German province of Saarland caused strong outrage among the general public. In 2009, under the slogan "AIDS ist ein Massenmörder!" which translates as "AIDS is a mass murderer!" (a variant of translation also includes a 'war criminal'), the ad showed an act of sexual intercourse with the participation of a Hitler lookalike. [They also had a Stalin poster - Syt]
It seems that nostalgia for Nazi ideology has embraced not only Germany and Europe, but also in the whole world. Below are a few facts.
[...]
Quote from: jimmy olsen on May 13, 2014, 06:17:20 AM
:yuk:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/05/12/world/asia/osaka-mascot-cull/index.html?hpt=wo_t2
QuoteJapanese cuteness overload could result in mascot cull
By Euan McKirdy, CNN
May 12, 2014 -- Updated 0857 GMT (1657 HKT)
(CNN) -- In the face of an army of cartoon characters, some Japanese officials are concerned tistinctive faces makes sense, especially in modern Japan's crowded mascot marketplace.
Yeah, the mascot obsession here is crazy. My crappy little town of 50,000 or so people has tonnes of them, it even has bad guys. They're all over the place.
I do quite like the whole home town pride thing Japan has, I wish Britain had some of it, but the mascots for every little municipality thing goes too far.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/17/world/asia/japan-child-porn-law/
QuoteJapan has finally made the possession of child pornography a punishable offense.
The country's upper house of parliament passed a bill Wednesday, which will see people found with explicit images of children jailed for up to year or fined up to $10,000.
Uganda considers banning miniskirts
Singapore bans film over content
Library bans '50 Shades of Grey' as porn
The bill was a long time coming for activists who argued that Japan's relatively lax laws put children at risk by banning the production and distribution of child pornography, but not people found with it in their possession.
"It's been 10 years and it's finally changed. I'm so pleased that Japan finally moved one step toward the international standard," said Shihoko Fujiwara, from Lighthouse, a nonprofit group that helps exploited children.
"Under the existing circumstances, the suffering and damage has become more critical. I really hope that the law rescues suffering child victims, as well as the victims damaged in the past by stopping the circulation of child porn. This is the epoch-making event for Japan," she said.
Notable exclusions
The bill notably excludes the possession of explicit anime or manga, a point of contention for campaigners who say that cartoons depicting child sexual abuse should also be banned.
Representatives of those industries say that while they support the ban on real child pornography, any move to censor their products would be an unjustified restriction of freedom of expression.
Daisuke Okeda, a lawyer and inspector for the Japan Animation Creators Association, said it was "natural that animation is exempted."
"The goal of the law itself is to protect children from crime," he said. "Banning such expression in animation under this law would not satisfy the goal of the law."
Hiroshi Chiba, the manager of Chiba Tetsuya Production, one of the country's best known manga production houses, said that more could be done in terms of age restrictions on graphic content featuring children and to distinguish it more clearly from other comics. And he admitted that some products of the industry leave him and his colleagues "disgusted."
"But rich, deep culture is born from something that might not be accepted by all," Chiba said. "We need to allow the gray zone to exist as a necessary evil."
Child abuse in Japan
Statistics show that child pornography remains a big problem in Japan.
Duke student: My porn career is 'freeing'
The U.S. State Department's 2013 report on human rights practices in Japan labels the country "an international hub for the production and trafficking of child pornography."
It cited Japanese police data showing the number of child pornography investigations in 2012 rose 9.7% from a year earlier to a record of 1,596. The cases involved 1,264 child victims, almost twice as many as in the previous year.
Under the new law, people in possession of child pornography have one year to dispose of it before they risk prosecution.
About damn time.
Lets hope it steadily extends to cover the disturbing and all too common softcore stuff that is everywhere too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_vahiTJaNU
Evangeline AK McDowell in Negima. A 700 year old female vampire who is stuck with the body of a 10 year old forever.
Is she considered a child or not? :P
Quote from: Monoriu on June 18, 2014, 03:13:50 PM
Evangeline AK McDowell in Negima. A 700 year old female vampire who is stuck with the body of a 10 year old forever.
Is she considered a child or not? :P
Is she a real person?
Quote from: The Brain on June 18, 2014, 03:15:23 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on June 18, 2014, 03:13:50 PM
Evangeline AK McDowell in Negima. A 700 year old female vampire who is stuck with the body of a 10 year old forever.
Is she considered a child or not? :P
Is she a real person?
Of course not :P
Quote from: Monoriu on June 18, 2014, 03:17:32 PM
Quote from: The Brain on June 18, 2014, 03:15:23 PM
Quote from: Monoriu on June 18, 2014, 03:13:50 PM
Evangeline AK McDowell in Negima. A 700 year old female vampire who is stuck with the body of a 10 year old forever.
Is she considered a child or not? :P
Is she a real person?
Of course not :P
OK.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-31129817
QuoteA hacker who hijacked computers to make death threats has been jailed for eight years.
Yusuke Katayama played a game of cat and mouse with the authorities, leading them to make numerous wrongful arrests.
He threatened a massacre at a comic book event, as well as to attack a school attended by the grandchildren of Japan's Emperor Akihito.
Katayama's campaign highlighted the difficulties the country's police force has had in dealing with cyber crime.
"He committed the crime, and the purpose of it was [for police] to make wrongful arrests," said presiding judge Katsunori Ohno at Tokyo District Court, adding that Katayama's actions had been "vicious".
Riddles
Throughout 2012, the 32-year-old used a virus to gain control of strangers' computers. He then issued threats - which appeared to come from the computer's owner - and a series of riddles that captured the attention of the national media.
Among the other threats made by Katayama - who went by the alias Demon Killer - was one to attack a plane.
The case highlighted the Japanese police's tendency to extract confessions from suspects, as four people owned up to crimes which the National Police Agency (NPA) later admitted they did not commit.
Computers belonging to each had been infected with a Trojan Horse virus, introduced via a link on the popular Japanese chat forum 2channel.
The NPA's chief apologised, acknowledging his force had been tricked by the hacker, and promising his cyber crime unit would improve.
Reward
Police held one falsely suspected person for several weeks before media and a cyber crime expert received anonymous messages containing information that investigators conceded could only have been known by the real culprit.
Katayama had taunted police in emails that sent them all over Japan.
In one message, investigators were told to go to Enoshima, an island off Tokyo, and to look for a cat that turned out to be wearing a collar on which was a memory card.
The card held details of the code and malicious program he had used to gain remote control of victim's computers.
In December 2012, the police offered a 3m yen (£16,822) reward for information leading to the arrest of the culprit.
But it was the cat that led police to arrest Katayama in February 2013, who was seen on CCTV footage with the animal.
On the one hand this makes me laugh. Quite cool, like something from a comic.
On the other hand it really underlines something fucked up in Japan, I've read a lot of stories about this one; the vast majority of criminal cases are settled with confessions that the police try to achieve by all sorts of underhand means, including borderline torture.
Long live the Emperor. :bowler:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/japan-crown-prince-ww2-comments/index.html
Quote
Coded rebuke as Japan's crown prince says: Remember war 'correctly'
By Jeff Kingston, Special for CNN
Updated 0124 GMT (0924 HKT) February 27, 2015
Jeff Kingston is Director of Asian Studies, Temple University Japan and author of "Nationalism in Asia Since 1945" (Wiley-Blackwell, forthcoming later in 2015)
Tokyo (CNN)Japanese Crown Prince Naruhito celebrated his 55th birthday by weighing in on the current controversies swirling around Japan's wartime past.
At a news conference on February 23rd, Naruhito stated, "I myself did not experience the war... but I think that it is important today, when memories of the war are fading, to look back humbly on the past and correctly pass on the tragic experiences and history Japan pursued from the generation which experienced the war to those without direct knowledge."
His remarks might seem unobjectionable, but in the oblique and abstract lexicon of the Imperial Household Agency, he has fired shots across the bow of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his fellow revisionists.
Diplomatic silence broken
The Imperial Household almost never strays into political affairs due to constitutional constraints, but Emperor Akihito has on occasion stretched his tether to its limits, and when he has done so it has always been to repudiate right-wingers who prefer to think they are acting in his name.
It appears that his son is letting it be known that the Imperial Household remains steadfast on the issue of war responsibility, following up his father's similar rebuke at the beginning of January.
Prince Naruhito's remarks were in response to a question regarding the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII in August this year, and comes amid feverish speculation about what Abe intends to include and exclude from his pending statement on that occasion.
So when the prince talks about the need for humility and correctness in assessing wartime Japan, and passing on the lessons of that tragedy to future generations, many Japanese understand his ineffable message calling on Abe to tread carefully.
It is for us pundits to say what he can't: "Humbly" means not glorifying this inglorious past, while "correctly" means not ignoring all the evidence of Japanese aggression and war crimes.
Examining the past
Future generations, in his view, deserve to understand all that went wrong instead of the chest-thumping, valorizing revisionist history favored by the reactionaries who hold political power in Japan.
Given Abe's woeful track record on history, this pointed reminder is useful and also demonstrates that Naruhito is ready to take on a bigger role when it is time to do so, and that he plans to continue Emperor Akihito's reconciliation activism.
Recently, tabloid conservatives questioned whether he was up to the job so this may be a riposte to his critics. The problem about interpreting the utterances of Japan's royals is that bureaucrats vet everything they say, and the wording of statements is intentionally ambiguous to provide plausible deniability.
The deliberately veiled vagueness, however, cannot disguise the symbolism of the royals expressing their unease about wartime history two months in a row precisely at a time when Abe is under intensified scrutiny. This unprecedented double rebuke is not a coincidence.
Ironically, they both obliquely censure military aggression during the reign of Emperor Hirohito, Naruhito's grandfather, while Abe frequently invokes his own grandfather, Nobusuke Kishi, as an inspiration.
This is jarring given that Kishi was a "Class A" war crimes suspect -- although never indicted or even tried -- for his record of mobilizing forced labor in Manchuria and prominent role as Minister of Munitions from 1941-45.
PM's upcoming statement on the war
Abe recently appointed a committee of advisers to provide input on his 70th anniversary statement. Their views won't really matter, but it is politically useful that Abe is at least going through the motions of asking the opinion of other eminent people even though none of them is remotely likely to challenge his revisionist views.
The Japanese media is riveted by Abe's vacillating remarks regarding the content of the forthcoming statement because the implications are potentially explosive for regional relations. Beijing and Seoul will carefully scrutinize his words for any sign of backsliding on war responsibility and expressions of remorse.
Washington has also made it clear that Abe will undermine U.S. relations if he doesn't come clean on war guilt.
Abe thus faces tremendous international pressure to swallow his deeply felt views on the wartime issue, but domestic opinion is more divided.
Nationalist resurgence
Under Abe there has been a resurgence of jingoistic nationalism -- rightwing extremists have become emboldened, attacking the liberal press, threatening journalists and academics, and engaging in hate speech targeting Japan's ethnic Korean minority.
They have done so with virtual impunity. Abe's core constituencies are eager to see him redeem the unredeemable and members of reactionary groups such as Nippon Kaigi (dubbed Japan's Tea Party) and the Association of Shinto Shrines dominate his cabinet, and share his views on history and shaking off the shackles of the past.
In defiance of majority public opinion, they also support his security agenda of boosting defense cooperation with the U.S. and eliminating constitutional curbs on Japan's military forces.
The gathering forces of darkness apparent in Abe's Japan are troubling to the nation's friends and allies because they are incrementally eroding the foundations of liberal democracy.
Moral support
Against this backdrop, Japan's besieged liberals welcome the moral support given by Emperor Akihito and Crown Prince Naruhito. But will the royal reproaches matter?
Since the 1995 Murayama Statement commemorating the 50th anniversary of WWII's end, all Japanese leaders have dutifully repeated then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's heartfelt apology and expression of remorse. This statement has thus become a benchmark against which the Abe Statement will be judged.
Murayama, 89, recently reassured South Korean leaders that Abe would uphold his statement, but doubts linger because Abe has been evasive and waffling about what he plans to say. He has said he will generally uphold the statement, but this provides room for caveats and ellipses.
It is precisely his disputing of the historical details that lands Abe in hot water as he questions what the term aggression means, quibbles about the level of coercion used in recruiting comfort women and in January expressed outrage about what he deems inaccurate accounts of the comfort women in a U.S. history textbook.
The Imperial Household understands that Abe risks undermining Japan's dignity and isolating it from neighbors and allies. By expressing their concerns about war memory, both royals seek to steer Japan back onto the course of reconciliation and a brighter future.
In doing so they provide political cover for Abe to disappoint his jingoistic supporters and make the right call on the past.
Good for him, that seems very much what a member of any historic dynasty should be commenting on. And he did it in a subtle but effective way.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on February 27, 2015, 06:01:58 PM
Long live the Emperor. :bowler:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/japan-crown-prince-ww2-comments/index.html
So you are saying that you want to defer Naruhito's rise to the throne as long as possible? That seems odd, given the article.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ViwSeuWVfE
Live demonstration on how to make a fried dumpling in 3 seconds.
The video is hilarious on another level for HKers, because the song played during the "cooking" process is actually sung in Cantonese! The way the song is performed and the lyrics are wacky to the extreme. The melody is a bit similar to the theme of regular police anti-crime programme, the singer uses a comedic and melodramatic tone, the lyrics are like "add more herbs to get better taste! Garlic smells great! Through the fire! CHARGE..."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/09/world/in-a-test-of-wills-japanese-fighter-pilots-confront-chinese.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=fb-nytimes&bicmst=1409232722000&bicmet=1419773522000&smtyp=aut&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&_r=0
QuoteIn a Test of Wills, Japanese Fighter Pilots Confront Chinese
NAHA, Japan — Once a sleepy, sun-soaked backwater, this air base on the southern island of Okinawa has become the forefront of a dangerous test of wills between two of Asia's largest powers, Japan and China.
At least once every day, Japanese F-15 fighter jets roar down the runway, scrambling to intercept foreign aircraft, mostly from China. The Japanese pilots say they usually face lumbering reconnaissance planes that cruise along the edge of Japanese-claimed airspace before turning home. But sometimes — exactly how often is classified — they face nimbler Chinese fighter jets in knuckle-whitening tests of piloting skills, and self-control.
"Intercepting fighters is always more nerve-racking," said Lt. Col. Hiroyuki Uemura, squadron commander of the approximately 20 F-15 fighters stationed here at Naha Air Base. "We hold our ground, but we don't provoke."
The high-velocity encounters over the East China Sea have made the skies above these strategic waters some of the tensest in the region, unnerving Pentagon planners concerned that a slip-up could cause a war with the potential to drag in the United States. Japan's refusal to back down over months of consistent challenges also represents a rare display of military spine by this long-dovish nation, and one that underscores just how far the rise of China and its forceful campaign to control nearby seas has pushed Japan out of its pacifist shell.
Under its nationalistic prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Japan has embarked on the most sweeping overhaul of its defense posture in recent memory. Not only has Mr. Abe reversed a decade-long decline in military spending as part of what he calls "proactive pacifism," but his government is also rewriting laws to lift restrictions on Japan's armed forces, which are already taking a more active role as far afield as the Gulf of Aden.
It was, in fact, a speech by Mr. Abe that included tough statements on the Islamic State and an aid package to fight extremism that the militants cited as the reason they beheaded two Japanese hostages in January. Videos showing the men's bodies, posted online, gained Mr. Abe some traction for his notion that Japan must be more prepared to take on those who mean it harm.
At the heart of Mr. Abe's strategy is a drive to create a more public profile for Japan's military, the Self-Defense Forces, which have been strictly limited to defending the Japanese homeland since their creation in 1954, and which for decades afterward were barely acknowledged by a public leery of anything resembling Japan's World War II era militarism. Although Mr. Abe still does not have enough public support for his long-stated goal of constitutional changes to permit Japan a full-fledged military, he is pushing Japan's purely defensive armed forces into an unfamiliar role as the standard-bearer of a more assertive foreign policy, and a deterrent against a modernizing Chinese military.
"Japan is saying, 'Uh-oh, maybe with a rising China we have to start thinking differently,' " said Sheila A. Smith, senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. "For the first time since World War II, Japan is finding itself on the front line. And for the first time, it has to ask itself, what does an independent defense plan look like?"
Rebuilt after Japan's defeat in 1945 at the encouragement of the United States, the country's technologically advanced military took a secondary role to American forces, helping patrol strategic sea lanes in the face of a Cold War-era Soviet threat. The Self-Defense Forces' role has expanded over the decades — Japan sent 1,000 noncombat support troops to Iraq in 2004, its biggest overseas deployment since World War II — even though the country still bars itself from possessing offensive weapons like cruise missiles considered necessary to launch full-blown attacks.
With a quarter of a million uniformed personnel, Japan has slowly built up a military larger than that of other midlevel powers like France or Israel, though still far smaller than the 2.3 million-strong People's Liberation Army in China.
Just how far the Self-Defense Forces have come is evident here in the islands of Okinawa, where Japan's armed forces have been assigned a more demanding — and publicly visible — mission.
The Naha base is just a 20-minute flight by fighter jet from disputed islands that Japan controls, but China claims as its own. The islands, known as the Senkaku in Japan and the Diaoyu in China, have provided the kindling for smoldering resentment between the countries.
As China has stepped up the pressure in recent years by sending more planes and ships to patrol the islands, Japan has scrambled jets to shadow potential intruders and deployed advanced E-2 radar planes with huge dishes mounted on top to keep tabs on the Chinese while it builds a radar station on nearby Yonaguni island, Japan's first new base in decades.
The tug-of-war over the islands is a proxy for a much larger battle over the shifting power balance in Asia, where China has begun to overturn the century-long supremacy of Japan, its ancient rival. Chinese military planners have called the Okinawan islands, including the disputed ones, part of China's "first island chain" of defense, meaning that they hope to eventually control the waters west of Japan where the United States and Japan have long held sway.
While low-growth Japan is aware that it cannot match China's rapidly expanding military spending, it is trying to position its Self-Defense Forces to thwart China from trying to snatch the disputed islands, as well as to deter any designs on other Japanese-held islands. The legal changes Mr. Abe's government is working on would further free the military to come to the aid of an ally under attack, part of a broader strategy to turn Japan into a fuller military partner of the United States to try to ensure that Washington will come to Tokyo's aid if fighting breaks out over the islands.
Defense analysts and American commanders agree that Japan's strongest asset is its Maritime Self-Defense Force, or MSDF, widely regarded as the world's second-most capable navy after the United States's. With a tradition dating back to Japan's formidable wartime fleet, and top hardware like the Aegis radar system, the Japanese have the only naval force, except perhaps Britain's, with the ability to work so fully and seamlessly with the United States fleet, American commanders say. Japanese and American warships. As the huge American aircraft carrier George Washington launched F-18 jets, its closest escort was the Japanese guided-missile destroyer Kirishima. For the first time during such a complex exercise, a Japanese admiral was in charge of both navies' defense against simulated seaborne attacks.
This was apparent during naval war games in November involving almost 30 Japanese and American warships. As the huge American aircraft carrier George Washington launched F-18 jets, its closest escort was the Japanese guided-missile destroyer Kirishima. For the first time during such a complex exercise, a Japanese admiral was in charge of both navies' defense against simulated seaborne attacks.
"The MSDF is the most capable maritime ally that we have," said Vice Adm. Robert L. Thomas Jr., commander of the Japan-based Seventh Fleet.
While China's navy added its first aircraft carrier in 2012, defense analysts say Japan still enjoys a decades-wide advantage not only in technology but also in experience operating large warships. Japan has more of these larger, blue-water vessels like destroyers, and some of the world's stealthiest submarines.
Last year, Japan launched its largest warship since World War II, the Izumo, a small aircraft carrier capable of carrying vertical-takeoff jets. The Izumo is part of a more mobile military that Japan is building to defend its far-flung islands to the south, including the contested ones — with or without the United States, if necessary.
Still, analysts say, time is on China's side, as its economic growth rates allow ever larger military budgets. While Japan's defense budget rose 2.8 percent to a record 4.98 trillion yen, or $42 billion in 2015, China announced on Thursday that its own military spending would jump 10.1 percent in the same year, to an estimated $145 billion.
"The more the U.S. and Japan will do, the more China will do," Shen Dingli, associate dean of the Institute for International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, wrote in an email.
Here at the Naha Air Base, the Japanese pilots said they tried to keep their edge with constant training. On a recent morning, they sent up a pair of F-15s to respond to a simulated intrusion, played by three other F-15s.
A growing number of Chinese aircraft over the East China Sea is also keeping Naha busy, so much so that the base plans to add a second F-15 squadron this year. In a nine-month period ending last December, its pilots scrambled 379 times to intercept foreign aircraft — a sixfold jump from those same months in 2010.
"Every year, China's operational capabilities seem to be rising," said the Naha base commander, Maj. Gen. Yasuhiko Suzuki. "Every year, our level of anxiety rises along with them."
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.handheldmuseum.com%2FKonami%2FKonami-TopGunBoxBackJap.jpg&hash=c232c43727127d08f850468112efc1ee3c3954da)
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.filmonpaper.com%2Fsite%2Fmedia%2F2011%2F03%2FTopGun_B1-3.jpg&hash=dabb81d88ae9c186b64bb2e96899d9f70ae7a9a1)
Yet another writer who doesn't know the meaning of big words like "unnerving," but uses them anyway.
Quote from: grumbler on March 09, 2015, 11:32:21 AM
Yet another writer who doesn't know the meaning of big words like "unnerving," but uses them anyway.
Quote"Intercepting fighters is always more nerve-racking," said Lt. Col. Hiroyuki Uemura,
MAH NERVE SHELVING