Is It Wrong To Say You are Happy To Be Japanese?

[Mulboyne]

Toshitaka Ishida, the private secretary to lower house member Hideo Hiraoka, has publicly criticized (Japanese) the election poster of Tamayo Marukawa which proclaims 「日本人でよかった」- it's good to be Japanese. The slogan also appears on her website. Ishida writes on his blog that this represents a form of narrow-minded nationalism. He believes that if someone entered an American election under the slogan "I'm happy being American" then there would be an outcry on the basis that it implies that it is not so great to be Chinese, Korean, Indian etc. Ishida has spent some time abroad in his career but I can't really see what he is on about here. It is not uncommon at all for British candidates to celebrate their nationality. This might be related to the fact that, compared with Japan, it is relatively easy for someone to obtain a British passport through marriage or residency so the statement says more about citizenship rather than race or country of birth. Ishida's blog has been deluged with critics wondering what on earth his problem is.

[Charles]

I don't think any country has a shortage of nationalistic weirdness.

And now a musical interlude.

I'm Proud To Be An American
by
The Tubes
(1976)

I'm proud to be an American
I'm proud of the groovy things we've done
There's television, free religion, Rock 'n' roll, Standard Oil,
Times Square, Jimmy Darren, Corey Wells, and Smokey Bear,
price reduction, reconstruction, Peace Corps, and lots more
Culture that we got to lend

I'm proud to be an American
And I'm proud I had a great time bein' one
There's your school and my school and both of us in high school,
surfboards, cigarettes, homework, Southern Comfort
Boy's dean was real mean,
Made us keep our locker's clean
Failed nearly every class
Ditchin' was a gas

I'm proud to be a young American
I'm proud just to think about the things that we've done
There's revolution, constitution, land, sea, and air pollution,
cold wars, hot wars, gas wars, and confrontations,
constipation, consternation, open hearted palpatations
Muscular Dystrophy

I'm proud to be an American
Because we've got department stores full of cheap guitars
But when Sputnik plays 'em, you just go go go go

I'm proud to be an American
we got two chickens in every garage
And I wish every other kid could be one
in my country, the medium is the massage
'Cause it's impossible to give equality and justice
to inferior foreigners too jealous to trust us

Gimme your weak and your homeless, and also,
How 'bout checkin' the oil, fella?

I'm proud to be an American..

[maraboutslim]

I wouldn't translate nihonjin de yokatta as happy to be japanese or it's good to be japanese. To me, using "yokatta" carries more of the feeling of "i'm glad i'm japanese" or "thank god i'm japanese (and not some other lousy race/nationality)." After all, "yokatta" is usually used in the sense of some sort of relief, or when a result is better than one had feared, etc.

[AssKissinger]

I heard Akebono say that once on one of the food shows. I thought it was funny.

[TennoChinko]

Is there any distinction being made on whether 'Japanese' refers to nationality, race or both?

Back home, any politician that says "Proud to be American' is going to be seen as pretty mainstream patriotic, but saying in public 'Proud to be White' is probably going to land the ACLU on your doorstep.

[Iraira]

I don't think any country has a shortage of nationalistic weirdness.

And now a musical interlude.

I'm Proud To Be An American
by
The Tubes
(1976)

Shoulda quoted something by Screwdriver, instead.

[Samurai_Jerk]

saying in public 'Proud to be White' is probably going to land the ACLU on your doorstep.

That makes absolutely no sense.

[Takechanpoo]

I am happy to be Japanese, too!
I wholeheartedly think so!!!

[Iraira]

I am happy to be Japanese, too!
I wholeheartedly think so!!!

I'm happy that you are Japanese, too.

[Mulboyne]

I wouldn't translate nihonjin de yokatta as happy to be japanese or it's good to be japanese. To me, using "yokatta" carries more of the feeling of "i'm glad i'm japanese" or "thank god i'm japanese (and not some other lousy race/nationality)."

That's a fair way of seeing it and your second example is probably closer to how Ishida interpreted it. It seems like a pretty meaningless phrase to use as a slogan for an election in a Tokyo ward. If you read her website, she really seems to mean simply that she's proud to be Japanese. She wants more languages taught in schools so Japanese can communicate their values to the rest of the world.

[6810]

I am happy to be Japanese, too!
I wholeheartedly think so!!!

that's a fucking surprise...

[Charles]

Shoulda quoted something by Screwdriver, instead.

The difference is, the Tubes song is comedy, Skrewdriver is serious.

I really should put a stream up of that song, you have to hear them sing it, it sounds like they're saying "I'm proud to be un american."

[maraboutslim]

Is there any distinction being made on whether 'Japanese' refers to nationality, race or both?

Oh, it absolutely would be race. No one I've ever met would consider white/brazilian/whatever holders of Japanese citizenship to be "Japanese". So ramos and akebono and debito are still gaijin. the japanese passports in their pockets don't change anything as far as that is concerned (debito particularly seems oblivious to this distinction but it's true: and i don't think it's about race so much as it is culture: if you weren't brought up in japan by japanese parents and taught the same exact crap every one else was and had all the japanese behaviors pounded into you from childhood, you'll never be seen as japanese. you'll always be an outsider playing along).

[eighty5er]

In that sense, would you consider Mike Havenaar to be Japanese?

[Mulboyne]

In that sense, would you consider Mike Havenaar to be Japanese?

Surely the better question is to ask whether Japanese would consider him to be Japanese.

[Takechanpoo]

Surely the better question is to ask whether Japanese would consider him to be Japanese.

Dont worry, Melbourne.
If he can speak Japanese and abandon self-seteem and behave stupidly like monkey (for example, Kent Derricott, David Spector, Panzetta Girolamo, Carolyn Kawasaki or Patrick Harlan), he will be accepted as Japanese.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Dont worry, Melbourne.
If he can speak Japanese and abandon self-esteem and behave stupidly like monkey (for example, Kent Derricott, David Spector, Panzetta Girolamo, Carolyn Kawasaki or Patrick Harlan), he will be accepted as Japanese.

That was actually funny.

[Naniwan Kid]

I don't think this sentenced morphed to the upcoming election would be bizarre at all in the USA.

[eighty5er]

Yeah but he was born in Japan and spent his entire life there. If he isn't Japanese then wtf is he.

[Takechanpoo]

That was actually funny.

Remember that dudes who stick to self-esteem like you dude never be accepted in this country, dude.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Yeah but he was born in Japan and spent his entire life there. If he isn't Japanese then wtf is he.

His nationality is Japanese but that doesn't mean he's considered Japanese by your average Japanese person. His ethnicity certainly isn't Japanese and that's what matters to most people here. Think of it like this: If you're born in England and have UK citizenship you're English, but you're not necessarily Anglo-Saxon.

[Iraira]

Dont worry, Melbourne.
If he can speak Japanese and abandon self-seteem and behave stupidly like monkey (for example, Kent Derricott, David Spector, Panzetta Girolamo, Carolyn Kawasaki or Patrick Harlan), he will be accepted as Japanese.

Takechan....that atually was funny and aside from the slight spelling error on "esteem", which looks more like a typo, I'd have to saythat suddenly your English has improved....which is a subtle way of saying that your post constitutes more evidence that you are gaijin.

[Oradea]

I wouldn't translate nihonjin de yokatta as happy to be japanese or it's good to be japanese. To me, using "yokatta" carries more of the feeling of "i'm glad i'm japanese" or "thank god i'm japanese (and not some other lousy race/nationality)." After all, "yokatta" is usually used in the sense of some sort of relief, or when a result is better than one had feared, etc.

That is how I would usually interpret it, probably more with the latter, thank god I`m Japanese...which implies...Thank god im not foreign.

Nevertheless, different people interpret things in different ways, and whereas this time it seems to be pretty clear within her manifesto, that she is all for communicating with the rest of the world, and learning from other countries aswell as teaching them the J-way.

And my two cents on the race/nationality debate is this;
I reckon, if you dont look japanese, then you will always be considered as a gaijin, even with your brand new J-passport.

Perhaps she should have thought a bit more about how to word the slogan;

Nihonjin de aru koto wo hokori ni omou

would have been another way to phrase it. Of course, not as catchy, and wouldnt fit on the flag.

Anyway, Ishida is well within his rights to complain, especially as this is politics, and people smear each other as much as they can.

[xenomorph42]

Oh, it absolutely would be race. No one I've ever met would consider white/brazilian/whatever holders of Japanese citizenship to be "Japanese". So ramos and akebono and debito are still gaijin. the japanese passports in their pockets don't change anything as far as that is concerned (debito particularly seems oblivious to this distinction but it's true: and i don't think it's about race so much as it is culture: if you weren't brought up in japan by japanese parents and taught the same exact crap every one else was and had all the japanese behaviors pounded into you from childhood, you'll never be seen as japanese. you'll always be an outsider playing along).

I totally agree. I grew up in Germany and as a non(ethnic)german, it`s the same thing, growing up as a minority, often they don`t make qualms about putting you in your place and to remind you of who and what you are. Nationalism is at an all time high there. I loved the country and MOST people were great! But the cold hard reality is, you can adopt citizenship, speak the language fluently, but to most germans, you have to come from german stock and to be able to trace your lineage back to be considered a true Deutscher. This is also a reason why it`s often difficult for Turkish people(the largest minority group in germany)to really fully acclimate into german society. I used to see quite a bit of physical altercations between the two, as well as for other minorities.
Germany for me is a great country, but the way nationalism is growing in Germany as well as many other european countries. Being proud of who and what you are is great, but to be socially accepted into these societies are by no doubt an uphill challenge.

[Mulboyne]

She won, but at the expense of her party colleague, 12-year veteran Hosaka. The LDP insisted on fielding more than one candidate to suck votes away from the other parties but it looks like all they did was split their own vote.

[amdg]

You know, it's been my unpleasant experience that the most nationalistic people in Japan are the middle aged women. I don't know why that is, but I have some theories - such as being sheltered for a large part of their life, higher exposure to the bad publicity about the dangers of foreign places/people (i.e., stuck at home listening to the TV, or hearing from males the "bad" things that foreigners do). Ho hum.

[Mulboyne]

She won, but at the expense of her party colleague, 12-year veteran Hosaka. The LDP insisted on fielding more than one candidate to suck votes away from the other parties but it looks like all they did was split their own vote.

And she just got married to a Diet member in a wedding which brought out LDP heavy hitters as guests at the Hotel Okura. That's the Diet building on top of their wedding cake. She didn't invite Hosaka who she squeezed for the LDP vote when she was elected.



Here's Koizumi accosting Norika Fujiwara. He apparently made a few lewd comments as is his wont.

[kusai Jijii]

"Is it wrong to say you are happy to be Japanese?"...

No, not if you want to advertize the fact that you are a fucking idiot:rolleyes: