Prime Minister Koizumi was heard to remark 'HE SAID WHAT?&qu

[Steve Bildermann]

Teen killer's parents should be beheaded, says minister

The parents of a 12-year-old boy suspected of murdering a 4-year-old boy in Nagasaki should be dragged through the streets and beheaded, state minister Yoshitada Konoike said Friday.

"It is better to have the parents decapitated as punishment after dragging them around the town," Konoike told a news conference.

http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=2&id=266066

[Taro Toporific]

"It is better to have the parents decapitated as punishment after dragging them around the town," Konoike told a news conference.

Hey, he's just being traditional.

[Steve Bildermann]

Actually it sort of makes sense when you see what his portfolio is...

Minister of State for Disaster Management

[cstaylor]

..and in other news, a family murders their father in order to collect money to repay Yakuza loan sharks:

The wife of a 68-year-old man, their eldest son and his wife have been arrested for murdering the elderly man by staging a traffic accident in a bid to receive life insurance benefits, police said.
Hiroe Nakajima, 63, the victim's wife, son Daiichiro, 38, and his wife, Hisayo, 38, all have denied the allegations of conspiring to murder Noboru Nakajima.
Officers said the three were in desperate need of money because they had to pay back loans totaling 30 million yen

[Taro Toporific]

..and in other news, a family murders their father in order to collect money to repay Yakuza loan sharks:

The wife of a 68-year-old man, their eldest son and his wife have been arrested for murdering the elderly man ...]

Sodai gomi toka ...: I'm sure his family all thought that he was better gone than present. It is EXTREMELY common to hear J-housewives say this.

[b]Japanese Women's Lifespan Tops 85 Years for 1st Time]
(Bloomberg) Jul 11

[Crispy]

In a way, I respect that Japanese politicians can say what is really on their mind so freely. In another way, I think that they are idiots for saying things like this.

[Taro Toporific]

In a way, I respect that Japanese politicians can say what is really on their mind so freely. In another way, I think that they are idiots for saying things like this.

Japan's gaffe-prone politicians
BBC July 11
... Japanese politicians frequently come under fire for their apparently insensitive comments.
In the last two weeks alone, two politicians have sparked fury among female legislators by appearing to condone rape.

[cstaylor]

It has less to do with Japanese politicians and more to do with a lack of competition in government. Japan, India, and Mexico (up until Fox) were ruled by the same political parties for over 40 years (Mexico was over 70 IIRC).

Japan's professional opposition can't even capitalize on these mistakes... they don't deserve control of the Diet.

[Kurofune]

Not to condone Konoike's disgusting comment, but the parents probably share some of the blame for not getting treatment for their obviously sick kid.

In turn, society shares some of the blame for taking the low-road route of thinking of the potential embarrassment, instead of dealing with the problem (now they're embarrassed in spades).

In turn, the community shares some of the blame for clinging to their medieval mentality about mental illness. Not to mention the need to dump on people who are in a weak position.

Considering that this crime so closely resembles the other heinous crimes we've seen recently (the beheaded kid, the guy going after the kids in school with a knife, ...), this goes deeper than the parents. But the parents are the first domino to fall.

[DJEB]

Japan's professional opposition can't even capitalize on these mistakes... they don't deserve control of the Diet.

Now, now, Chris. That's not the way we do things here. We need to keep the harmony.

[Kurofune]

I mentioned this to my Japanese wife during dinner tonight, and she said that this Edo mentality isn't that uncommon. She said that Mori once commented that women who hadn't had children shouldn't be elligible for social security.

[American Oyaji]

That's understandable from "a certain point of view".

They view Japanese society as a GROUP whole and women who don't produce offspring aren't contributing to the survival and continuance of the group. Since men can't do it, that role HAS to fall to women.

I'm not saying I condone that way of thinking. Nor do I say I agree with it. I'm saying, I can understand WHY they think it when looked at from their PoV.

[Taro Toporific]

"It is better to have the parents decapitated as punishment after dragging them around the town," Konoike told a news conference.

A run of gaffes works to feed Japan stereotypes
The Asahi Shimbun/IHT : July 15, 2003
Stereotypes tend to be self-perpetuating, gaining currency by themselves, irrespective of whether they are valid or not.
This may be the case with 18th-century French thinker Charles-Louis de Secondat Montesquieu's view that the Japanese were a cruel people. In one of his major works, ``The Spirit of Laws,'' there are references to the Edo Period's (1603-1867) cruel penal system. To quote from an Iwanami's pocketbook-size version of the book, he wrote: ``People lived in terror everywhere. It brutalized their minds more. The result was that only the threat of harsher penalties could make them behave.'' ...
...Leaving aside overseas outrage on the incumbent minister's proposal, it is dangerous to have someone with such ideas directing juvenile education programs. On his home page, the minister calls on the public to ``teach children what a beautiful country Japan is.''

If parading the parents of a suspected killer through the streets and then beheading them is what the minister means by a ``beautiful country,'' it makes me shudder to think of the country he envisions.

[Taro Toporific]

[Kurofune]

That's understandable from "a certain point of view".

They view Japanese society as a GROUP whole and women who don't produce offspring aren't contributing to the survival and continuance of the group. Since men can't do it, that role HAS to fall to women.

I'm not saying I condone that way of thinking. Nor do I say I agree with it. I'm saying, I can understand WHY they think it when looked at from their PoV.

I understand the Japanese group perspective, but the public's disapproval suggests that Japanese group loyalty doesn't cover this. I think Mori's remarks had more to do with parochialism, barefoot-and-pregnant chauvinism, and power-tripping.

[Kurofune]

[American Oyaji]

Women have always had sexual power.

Japanese men are just now realizing it and are late to the party.

In the act of sex, if the woman says no, sex don't happen.

Thats why MEN go to pick up WOMEN. Not really the other way around.

[kotatsuneko]

unless you attend todai/waseda etc of course..

ooh those naughty panthers..!

must be all those horrible foreigners' bad influence..

[GomiGirl]

Thats why MEN go to pick up WOMEN. Not really the other way around.

oh really? That's what they make you think so that they don't get labeled as sluts.

Excepts the girls that hang out at the gates of millitary bases.

[mercutio]

oh really? That's what they make you think so that they don't get labeled as sluts.

yes but that is the point. Guys go out looking for it all the time and never know if they will succeed. We really just deliver ourselves to the approriate location like lambs to the slaughter but the wool has been pulled over our eyes for so long we actually think *we* are the hunters.

Women are the ones really in control of that situation. The problem is that some guys cant seem to deal with it...then they become these sociapathic predators like we had here trying to live out their delusions of being in power.

[GomiGirl]

oh really? That's what they make you think so that they don't get labeled as sluts.

yes but that is the point. Guys go out looking for it all the time and never know if they will succeed. We really just deliver ourselves to the approriate location like lambs to the slaughter but the wool has been pulled over our eyes for so long we actually think *we* are the hunters.

Women are the ones really in control of that situation. The problem is that some guys cant seem to deal with it...then they become these sociapathic predators like we had here trying to live out their delusions of being in power.

Well if society allowed women to celebrate their sexuality in public without the harsh labels and name calling, then a whole heap of problems would be solved.. for both sexes. Many women are taught from birth to repress and deny their inate sexuality which causes so much confusion and low self esteem. Women, in my opinion, like sex as much as men, but get too caught up in the politics and self preservation to enjoy it as much as as often as they should. Some men are threatened by a strong and lusty woman and try to keep them "in their place" rather than enjoying the ride. Damn Queen Victoria has alot to answer for!!!

[cliffy]

Damn Queen Victoria has alot to answer for!!!

Modern thought has it that Good ole queen Victoria was a lusty lady, Albert was the puritan spoilsport. Seen Mrs Brown the movie?