Masako-sama: still crazy after all these years

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]

Japan's crown princess turns 43, still needs treatment
Yahoo! News, Sat Dec 9, 12:17 PM ET
TOKYO (AFP) -Japan's Crown Princess Masako, who is receiving medical treatment for stress, turned 43 and voiced appreciation that she had been able to resume some official duties in the past year.
... a team of her doctors said in a statement.
"She needs to continue being medically treated," the doctors said.
...As part of Masako's treatment, she and her family went in August on a holiday to The Netherlands, the first time a Japanese royal has gone overseas for recuperation....

For more info, also refer to the old FG thread:
Princess Masako to bust out!

[dimwit]

[floatl][/floatl]

That is some seriously nasty printshop work.

[Taro Toporific]

That is some seriously nasty printshop work.

I'm sure the Imperial Household Agency was just trying to make her right eye match her left.

[Mulboyne]

This looks like one to avoid:

SF Chronicle: Not-so-happy ending for 'Japan's Princess Diana'

"Princess Masako, Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne: The Tragic True Story of Japan's Crown Princess" By Ben Hills.

...In the latest royal expose, "Princess Masako," Ben Hills chronicles another princess' public misery. Often referred to as the "Japanese Princess Di" -- more so now for the unfortunate parallels in their lives -- Japan's Princess Masako is indeed a trapped soul. Certainly royal watchers somewhere will care and want to know more, but this is not the book to read. Although his biography praises him as "one of Australia's leading investigative journalists and foreign correspondents," as well as a Walkley Award winner (described as "Australia's Pulitzer" in the same bio), Hills is utterly disappointing in both his research and writing...more...

[Captain Japan]

This looks like one to avoid...

Aussie book on Crown Princess draws official wrath
Japan Times

The Foreign Ministry came to the defense of the Imperial family on Tuesday, saying it had lodged formal protests with the author and publisher of a new book about Crown Princess Masako that it called "contemptuous" and "insulting."

The book, "Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne," contains "unfounded and highly contemptuous descriptions of the appearances, activities and speeches" of the Emperor and Imperial family, a Foreign Ministry statement says.

Ambassador to Australia Hidenao Ueda gave a letter of protest Monday to author Ben Hills and the book's publisher, Random House Australia, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba told a news conference in Tokyo.

"The book insults both Japanese people and Imperial family members," Sakaba said. He gave two examples: He said on page 186 of the book the kimono is described as a symbol of "the old-fashioned subservience of women," and on page 200 Japan's political system is called a "a stunned parody" of Western-style democracy. Hills was not immediately available for comment....more...

[Mulboyne]

Australian to Japan: I'm not sorry

An Australian journalist has refused to apologize to the Japanese government over his book on the life of Crown Princess Masako, which Tokyo says insults the royal family and contains factual errors. In an interview with Kyodo news agency published on Wednesday, Ben Hills said Tokyo's reaction to his book, "Princess Masako - Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne" was outrageous. "I regard this as an attempt by the Japanese government to suppress and censor my book and I think it is absolutely outrageous," Kyodo quoted Hills as saying. "There is nothing to apologize for. In fact, there is only one person in this saga that deserves an apology and that's Princess Masako," he added. "I think the Kunaicho (Imperial Household Agency) should apologize to her for bullying her into a state of nervous breakdown"...Hills told Kyodo that he intended to go ahead with plans to publish a Japanese-language edition of the book in early March. Japanese diplomats told Hills that one of the defamatory aspects of his book was his claim that Masako's daughter, Princess Aiko, was conceived by in vitro fertilization, Kyodo said. The claim was widely reported in the international press but ignored by the Japanese media, Hills was quoted as saying...more...

[Taro Toporific]

Australian to Japan: I'm not sorry
...Kyodo quoted Hills as saying. "There is nothing to apologize for. In fact, there is only one person in this saga that deserves an apology and that's Princess Masako"...

Yep, that about sums it up: There's no need for Hill to apologize for the truth.

[Greji]

Australian to Japan: I'm not sorry
"....Japanese diplomats told Hills that one of the defamatory aspects of his book was his claim that Masako's daughter, Princess Aiko, was conceived by in vitro fertilization, Kyodo said. The claim was widely reported in the international press but ignored by the Japanese media, Hills was quoted as saying....."

I recall a lot of people gossiping about this and as to whether it was possible, but I sure don't recall that fact being "widely reported" by any press. I wonder if anyone on the board does?

BTW, Mulboyne who is this dud? Do we know anything about him and/or his claim to fame or expertise?

[Bucky]

here is a quote from his bio:

**Ben Hills is one of Australia's best-known investigative journalists, the author of two books, a former foreign correspondent and TV producer. He is a winner of the Walkley Award (Australia's Pulitzer Prize) and has been highly commended for the Graham Perkin Award for Australian Journalist of the Year.
Now freelancing, Ben has spent 30 years working for Australia's two leading broadsheets - The Age in Melbourne and the Sydney Morning Herald in Sydney. He was a line producer for the Australian 60 Minutes programme for four years, and has worked as a foreign correspondent in more than 60 countries.**



check his bio out here: http://www.benhills.com/info/profile.html

[Greji]

check his bio out here: http://www.benhills.com/info/profile.html

Jeez, with that Bio he should be replacing Rupert any day now! He sure got a lot of Nihon expertise in a short period of time (while covering every other nation in Asia)!

I might be wrong, but could it smell a bit fishy anywhere?

[Mulboyne]

From the Telegraph

...the imported English edition is currently the number one bestselling foreign book on the Amazon website in Japan.

It sounds like a hack job but, since I haven't read it, that is only based on the reviews to date.

I wonder who the Foreign Ministry wants an apology from? It is unlikely they'll get one from the author or publisher. Do they want the Australian government to apologize? It will be interesting to see whether the Japanese version still has the go-ahead.

[TFG]

They just reported that kodansha, the publisher of the book in Japanese was going to change stipulated facts as the ministry of foreign affairs wished but the author told them to fuck off so they are not going to publish it.

So much for the myth of freedom of speech in this country.

[Jack]

TFG. Again only in Japan right? Try to publish an anti-Holocaust book in the U.S. and see if it would ever get published. Good luck. No one is muzzling the author. The publisher which is a private company is refusing to publish the work. Good on them. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. The author can publish the book himself and try to sell it himself. He has the freedom to do that.

There are tons of books that never get published in western countries because the contents may offend some part of society. No different in Japan. Oh yeah, I forgot, if the Anglos do it it's fine. But how dare non-Anglos do that? Right?

[TFG]

No publisher in Japan will publish that book in Japanese for sure.

(Sorry the previous story was another sketch that went down. Corrections made)

A few years ago an article was going to be written about Masako's experience with Mary Jane which she confessed to her husband to be, who apparently said, "He doesn't care and the experience has probably made her a better person".
Sounds like a cool enough dude to me.

The Japanese government stepped in and it was said that they told the would be publishers that they will make sure any publisher who carries this article will be closed down one way or another and never again publish anything.

Of course this kind of governmental intervention doesn't take place when Japanese publishers scandalize foreign dignitaries. That is the point now, isn't it!

Obviously this "Baby making machine" is too important to them. LoL

[Marvin Feltcher]

BTW, Mulboyne who is this dud? Do we know anything about him and/or his claim to fame or expertise?

His wife is Japanese.

The Japanese Government has just done for this guy's book what has happened to the Foreign Crimes book -- turned tripe into a best-selller.

[Mulboyne]

The Japanese Government has just done for this guy's book what has happened to the Foreign Crimes book -- turned tripe into a best-selller.

I was thinking the same thing. The Japanese buyers of this book probably equate to the foreign buyers of the Gaijin Hanzai mook in that both can't quite believe how anyone could get away with publishing such rubbish.

[Marvin Feltcher]

Sorry!

[Greji]

TFG. Again only in Japan right? Try to publish an anti-Holocaust book in the U.S. and see if it would ever get published. Good luck. No one is muzzling the author. The publisher which is a private company is refusing to publish the work. Good on them. It has nothing to do with freedom of speech. The author can publish the book himself and try to sell it himself. He has the freedom to do that.

There are tons of books that never get published in western countries because the contents may offend some part of society. No different in Japan. Oh yeah, I forgot, if the Anglos do it it's fine. But how dare non-Anglos do that? Right?

Ahh, I have a little difficulty seeing where an attempt to publish on the denial of the Holocaust is in conflict with freedom of speech. That is a bit overboard don't you think?

This rag the guy is trying to publish issimply a paranoid nationalistic flag to put down that trash known as gaijins and their stinking influence on the ancient and superior society that he thinks exists in ancient Nippon!

The Holocaust was an overt act of genicide. Why would you wish to compare these two acts and even suggest publishing a book about the denial.

Even Germany, which has some pretty good expertise on the Holocaust issue, makes it a criminal offense to issue any denials!

That's like saying I'm not anti-semite, but I can't stand Jews!

[dimwit]

I'm never surprised at what gets published.
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E8%8B%B1%E6%96%87%E7%89%88-%E3%82%BF%E3%83%96%E3%83%AD%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89%E3%83%BB%E3%83%88%E3%83%BC%E3%82%AD%E3%83%A7%E3%83%BC-Tabloid-Bizarre-Weeklies/dp/477002892X/sr=8-1/qid=1171674685/ref=sr_1_1/249-5393837-6490744?ie=UTF8&s=books

I haven't seen that yet in the bookstores here. Guess were just too small townish here. I'm looking forward to giving it a read.

[Mulboyne]

Eric Johnston of the Japan Times wrote a mass email in December complaining about Ben Hills and Debito posted it on his site. It has since been removed as the story has now developed substantially and legal action is in the air. However, Google cache comes to the rescue:

From: Eric Johnston
Date: December 12, 2006 4:58:25 PM JST

Apologies for this mass e-mail, but something has come up which I wanted to mention to each of you.

There is an English book on Princess Masako that was published recently, and I regret to inform you that I am quoted. Or, rather grossly misquoted and misrepresented. If you decide to purchase the book, proceed with caution, as others who were interviewed have stepped forward with complaints about both factual errors and quotes taken out of context.

The book is called “Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysthanthemum Throne'’. It is by an Australian journalist named Ben Hills. During his research for the book, Mr. Hills and I spoke by phone. As all of you know, I’m not an expert on the Imperial Family. In fact, I’ve never even written about them for The Japan Times. I simply follow media reports and listen to those have covered them, as I’ve done for as long as I’ve been able to understand Japanese.

I spoke to Mr. Hills on the record and agreed to let my name be used precisely because I have no first-hand information and felt it didn’t matter. I told him that I was not an expert, merely somebody who had followed the Japanese media reports of those who knew the Princess, as well as people who knew her father and had told me a couple of stories. I also said my information was quite old, in some cases over 10 years old.

I emphasized I was passing along usch stories for reference and that I had not confirmed them. As a very good friend introduced me to Mr. Hills as a respectable journalist who had won a Pulitzer, I assumed―wrongly as it turned out ― that he would listen to me, make his own efforts to independently verify the stories before running them, and not use anything he couldn’t confirm.

At the very least, I expected that if he did quote or cite me regarding such stories, he would keep my qualifiers in–that these were merely stories floating around that I’d heard years ago, not facts or even credible opinions.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hills chose to cite me as somebody who has “reported'’ the Imperial Family for 10 years. Obviously, I have not. He also quotes me as saying nasty things about the Princess and her father, saying that I believe such things and implying they are my own opinions based on my “reporting'’. They are not. I was simply explaining to Mr. Hills, who cannot speak or read Japanese, that these were things I’d read or heard others saying about her over the years. I have no way of knowing what she’s really like, as I don’t know her.

The only time I’ve ever seen Mr. Hills was in Tokyo this July, where we met by accident at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. It was a brief meeting, not more than five minutes. Before we parted, I requested he send me any quotes of me he wanted to use for one final check. He did not, and I, unfortunately, forgot about the book entirely.

I will not bore you in this e-mail with examples about how I was misquoted and misrepresented. If you’re interested, write me separately and I’ll send you a detailed, four-page explanation of what the problems are and why.

Kodansha is now preparing a translation of the book which will be published in February. Through one of their translators, I have learned that several people, all Japanese, were misquoted by Mr. Hills. One of them, a close friend of the Crown Prince, complained in the 12/14 issue of Shukan Bunshu about his sloppy journalism. All have filed protests with Kodansha, and I am assured by their translators that both I and The Japan Times will have the opportunity to correct the Japanese record before it goes to print.

I pass this information along so that if you should happen to see the quotes about the Crown Princess’s father, and her, attributed to me, you will remember these are unconfirmed opinions of others that I heard second and even third-hand long ago, not my own opinions or beliefs based on recent first-hand information. I have no way to judge the truth of these opinions. And they are certainly not the opinions or beliefs of The Japan Times.

I greatly regret placing my trust in Mr. Hills to report my statements accurately and to adhere to the highest standards of journalistic proof. That said, I do not know, as I’ve yet to get ahold of Mr. Hills, if he simply misunderstood me or if this was a deliberate hack job.

We journalists often misquote or misrepresent people, and I’ve certainly flubbed quotes over the years, although it’s always been an accident. To those of you who have often complained to me about journalists doing hack jobs, I suppose all I can say I now know how it feels.

Best, and thanks for reading. Feel free to forward this e-mail to whoever you think would be interested.

Eric Johnston

December 12th, 2006

[Captain Japan]

Mulboyne, that's a nice find. Hills has a got a boatload of stories on his Web page from his days as a correspondent in Tokyo in the 90s. I wonder if he fiddled with his sources for these stories as well.

[Catoneinutica]

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba explains it all:

"Freedom of speech should respect certain norms and standards. If you can say anything you like, I don't think that is freedom of speech, and the person who says that should respect others' right to express their views."

There. Hope that settles everything.

[Captain Japan]

Over at the Times Online blog one of the comments on this same topic is saying that Hills plagiarized some work from the Tokyo Journal regarding an article he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herard about Sasakawa. In his archive, here's an article about Sasakawa.

[Greji]

Over at the Times Online blog one of the comments on this same topic is saying that Hills plagiarized some work from the Tokyo Journal regarding an article he wrote for the Sydney Morning Herard about Sasakawa. In his archive, here's an article about Sasakawa.

This is in deed interesting. I read his article on the Aizu Kotetsu gang and wondered where and why I had heard this before somewhere.

It was his explanation of the name which appears in about four other sources, pretty much verbatim. Why I remembered that is that they had identified the "Aizu" in Aizu Kotetsu, as a name for a region in the local (Kyoto) area. I had never heard of this, as the only Aizu that I knew about was in Fukushima, ala Aizu Wakamatsu. Also, nobody of the J-people, in my office from the Kyoto area could explain this. Yet Hills comes up with almost the same wording. Same sources? It just seems a bit fishy!

[D.]

And moreover, what exactly are the standards for libel in Japan? I have no idea myself. I seem to recall Australia's are pretty strict as I seem to recall an interesting law suit filed in Australia a few years back by some billionaire
(Packer maybe?) against the American magazine Forbes (which isn't even sold down-under), but is available online. I suppose the book is probably full enough of unidentified sources and rumors and supposition to prevent any attempt to establish any facts, thus avoiding any chance of libel.

For the record, Jack's complaints about the inability to publish a book denying the Holocaust in the U.S. is as ill-informed as he appears to be on the subject. Hell, I just saw Mein Kampf at a Borders near my house (different sh*t, same stink). Anyway, it is a free-speech issue and it is, including holocaust denial, protected, at least here in the U.S. That being said, Jack's also right in that it is a free-speech issue conflicting with the point of being a publisher, to sell books, ideally without pissing off your customers. Can't says as I blame Kodansha for the decision. The book will eventually be printed in Japanese because somebody will take a flier on controversy. Best thing the Japanese government could do would be to stop giving the author free publicity.

[Charles]

For the record, Jack's complaints about the inability to publish a book denying the Holocaust in the U.S. is as ill-informed as he appears to be on the subject. Hell, I just saw Mein Kampf at a Borders near my house (different sh*t, same stink).

[D.]

Like the old saying goes, sunshine is the best disinfectant.

[maraboutslim]

Sucks for Eric Johnston, but you know, that's what he gets for passing along rumours.

[Captain Japan]

Weekend Beat/ BOOK REVIEW
Asahi

Apparently recognizing that there was profit to be made from an account in English of Crown Princess Masako that would appeal to those who never got over the excitement of junior high school, when access to privileged information about which budding couple had necked over the weekend was a source of power and popularity, Ben Hills, an Australian journalist with no Japanese language skills, decided to research Masako's life story and the imperial house in general. The end product is terrible for several reasons.

In certain cases, the fact that Japanese government officials protest a publication about the imperial family, as they recently did Hills' book, might indicate that the author has provided a particularly stinging but worthwhile analysis of Japan's imperial system that deserves attention, but that is not the case here.

The most fundamental problem with the book is that it provides virtually no information about Crown Princess Masako and other imperial family members that is not already available in English newspapers, not to mention in Japanese sources. One problem that Hills seemed to encounter, much to his apparent frustration, is that as far as we know there have been no sexual improprieties committed by the four key imperial family members--the emperor, empress, crown prince and crown princess. Readers hoping for nothing more than steamy accounts of sexual liaisons will be disappointed because Hills has little to report....more...

[Captain Japan]

Why I am Banned in Japan
The Japanese establishment is more concerned with protecting the emperor than accepting the truth
Metropolis Last Word (by Ben Hills)

The effective banning of my book, Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne, is just the latest example of Japan’s “censorship by stealth.” While seeking to be considered a modern nation, the unelected, unaccountable Japanese bureaucracy has merely confirmed that it is “a stunted parody of democracy.” This phrase is one of the “many errors” in my book to which they objected.

You only to have to look at Japan’s high school history texts, one of which dismisses the rape, torture and murder of 300,000 Chinese as “the so-called Rape of Nanking,” to see this. Ten years ago, Iris Chang’s acclaimed book about that subject provoked an almost identical furor as Princess Masako is doing now. The Rape of Nanking was an international bestseller, and a Japanese publisher agreed to translate and publish it here. Then Japan’s ambassador to Washington called a press conference to denounce the book for its “many errors”—errors that, curiously enough, scholars in no other country could find. Nevertheless, the publisher caved in to the bullying, and to this day the book has never been published in Japan.

The Japanese people are not fooled by this smokescreen of “errors.” They understand that the country’s largest publisher, Kodansha, which had agreed to publish my book but then caved in under pressure, is part of the Establishment and would never go against the wishes of the bureaucracy. This is the type of censorship which nowadays you see only in countries like North Korea or Myanmar.

So what was there in my book to provoke this reaction? It is true that in the original edition there were a small number of very minor errors which have been corrected in subsequent editions. For example, I was unaware of Emperor Akihito’s deep interest in Japan’s disgraceful mistreatment of people suffering from Hansen’s Disease, to which almost half of the Imperial Household’s protest letter is devoted. Setting this straight involved changing two words in a book of 80,000—a figure that will give you an idea of how desperately my critics are clutching at straws. We have repeatedly asked the bureaucrats for the list of “more than 100 errors” that they claim to have found. There has been no response, other than to state that the Empress Michiko is not a “stick-thin, grey-haired wraith.” Now, while this may not be a flattering description, no one who has seen a picture of the Empress would describe her as a fat blonde.

I have now had the benefit of a bilingual scholar examining the changes Kodansha made to my book in consultation with the Kunaicho, or Imperial Household Agency. These changes reveal the real objections that the Japanese establishment has to the text.

First, all references to Princess Masako’s giving birth to an IVF baby have been removed—in spite of the fact that, since the London Times broke the story four years ago, this has been reported in nearly every country in the world except Japan. Second, the real nature of Princess Masako’s illness—deep depression, rather than the “adjustment disorder” that the Kunaicho pretends she suffers from—has been censored.

These are just the start of the 149 alterations and omissions that have been made to the book. All references to Yasukuni Shrine have been censored; all references to Japan’s outdated pharmaceutical industry have been censored; a reference to raunchy nightlife in Sapporo’s Susukino district has been censored; a direct quote from Professor Kenneth Ruoff’s award-winning biography of Akihito, in which he details the Emperor’s attempts to apologize for Japan’s role in World War II, has been censored; a reference to “chikan” has been censored; all references to the yakuza have been censored; a quote from a William Styron novel about depression has been censored; a quote in a London Times article about frigid relations between the Emperor and Naruhito and Masako has been censored. And on and on and on. These are the “errors” in my book—not “errors” at all, obviously, but opinions and facts which the bureaucrats do not want the Japanese people to know about.

When I became aware of the wholesale changes that were being made to my book, I protested loudly about the bowdlerization to Kodansha. But I was in a difficult position. The overseas rights to the book are held by Random House, which had negotiated a contract with the Japanese publisher. I was told that I could be personally liable if I refused permission to publish, so I did the next best thing: I insisted that Kodansha insert a prominent disclaimer in the preface, in which they took responsibility for all changes to the original.

With the benefit of hindsight—and a better understanding of just how and why my book was censored—I am now pleased that Kodansha decided not to publish. Their version of my book was something I’d have been ashamed to see my name on the cover of. We are in negotiations with another Japanese publisher, and we are still hoping that something much closer to my original version will eventually be released.

I should say that I don’t feel it’s important whether Japanese people like or dislike the book—I have had reactions ranging from death threats to praise for its honesty. Rather, what’s important is that they be allowed to read it and make their own judgment. That is all I ask.

As always happens in censorship cases, the bureaucrats—by drawing attention to the book and ensuring vastly increased sales—have succeeded only in shooting themselves in the foot. Since the uproar, we’ve been approached by publishers in half a dozen countries, including Korea and Taiwan, who are rushing the book into print. Last week the top three sellers on Amazon.co.jp’s list of foreign-language books were: 1. Princess Masako; 2. the new Harry Potter; 3. the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition.

One would think that Japan’s Ambassador to Australia, Hideaki Ueda, would have better served the interests of the Japanese people if he had been dealing with serious matters over the past few weeks, rather than wasting everyone’s time trying to get a book banned. Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean has been in the headlines once again, and “comfort women”—sex slaves of the Japanese Army in World War II, including one who was Australian—are still demanding recognition and compensation after 60 years. If anyone deserves to make an apology, it is the Japanese government that should be getting down on its knees and begging forgiveness from these women, rather than arrogantly refusing to even acknowledge that they exist.

Ben Hills is one of Australia’s best-known investigative journalists and authors and a former winner of the Walkley Award. He was Japan correspondent for the Fairfax newspapers from 1993 to 1996.