J-Nationalism on the rise

[Mike Oxlong]

‘I am extremely sorry’: Justin Bieber apologises after visit to Japan’s Yasakuni war shrine

Canadian pop star visits controversial site just days after Japan lawmakers' visit and PM Shinzo Abe's offering caused uproar

[kurogane]

Why did he apologise? Nothing wrong with a visit to Yasukuni. Would SMAP apologise for visiting Beechwood!!?????

Sounds to me like its more dinkhead nationalism on the rise.

BOYCOTT CHINA AND THE KOREAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'CEPT AT THE 100 YEN STORE, OF COURSE.

[matsuki]

BOYCOTT CHINA AND THE KOREAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'CEPT AT THE 100 YEN STORE, OF COURSE.

[Coligny]

Sorry to p00p the party...

but it's 108 yen store now ...

(but starting to see more and more Made in Vietnam-or-somewhere-else-not-in-China these dayz)

[Samurai_Jerk]

His pose is the best part of the story.

bieberyasukuni.jpg

[matsuki]

His pose is the best part of the story.

I liked this part...

World War II might seem a long time ago, but tensions still run high, especially in China, where a restaurant owner briefly became an online celebrity last year after putting a sign reading "Yasukuni Shrine" above his toilets.

....and a pic

N13A00_P_03_01-172627_copy1[1].jpg

(In 2011, a Chinese man attempted to burn down the shrine using homemade explosives).

I still don't understand, with all the crazed Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese nationalists, how this place hasn't been demolished by fire/bombing/etc.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I still don't understand, with all the crazed ... Taiwanese nationalists, how this place hasn't been demolished by fire/bombing/etc.

There aren't too many crazed 反日 Taiwanese running around.

[Taro Toporific]

Marchers in Ikebukuro fete Hitler's 125th birthday anniversary
japantoday.com | KUCHIKOMI | Apr. 25, 2014
A group of demonstrators paraded through Tokyo’s Ikebukuro district last Sunday, criticizing China and South Korea while advocating the restoration of the “Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere” proposed by Japan in the 1940s...
...demonstration was organized by an organization that calls itself the “Gokoku Shishi no Kai” (Group of Warriors Protecting the Nation). They assembled in a small park in East Ikebukuro, the location of the gallows in the former Sugamo Prison, where former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other Class A war criminals were executed by hanging in December 1948.
“To keep the achievements of our illustrious predecessors from going to waste, we advocate the restoration of the Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, minus participation by China and the two Koreas,” one of the organizers told the assembled demonstrators. Referring to the date as coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, he also noted that “The empire of Japan and Nazi Germany have been portrayed as villains, and in Germany glorifying the Nazis will get a person jailed. We would like to re-investigate the 1993 Kono Statement and Nazi Germany as well, to rehabilitate their good acts and restore their honor.”
When asked to name the Nazis’ good acts, the speaker was able to come up with the autobahn, but not much else.
Approximately 40 marchers, who also carried the flags of Tibet and the Taiwan Independence Party, chanted slogans such as “Let’s tie up with Asia, excepting ‘Shina’ (China) and ‘Chosen’ (Koreans),” “Japan should learn from the Nazis’ good points” and “Long live the Chancellor (Hitler)!”
More...

[matsuki]

How these turds don't get the shit beat out of them by even a passing FG tourist is beyond me....

A smaller group of counter-demonstrators also showed up and the two sides exchanged taunts, but did not exchange blows.

[kurogane]

Approximately 40 marchers,.........................


SNOOZE.

[Russell]

“To keep the achievements of our illustrious predecessors from going to waste, we advocate the restoration of the Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere, minus participation by China and the two Koreas,” one of the organizers told the assembled demonstrators.

Yeah, China and the two Koreas will regret not being part of their Great East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere...

Referring to the date as coinciding with the 125th anniversary of Adolf Hitler’s birthday, he also noted that “The empire of Japan and Nazi Germany have been portrayed as villains, and in Germany glorifying the Nazis will get a person jailed. We would like to re-investigate the 1993 Kono Statement and Nazi Germany as well, to rehabilitate their good acts and restore their honor.”
When asked to name the Nazis’ good acts, the speaker was able to come up with the autobahn, but not much else.

And Volkswagen, don't forget the Volkswagen...

[Coligny]

And Volkswagen, don't forget the Volkswagen...

Come on... let it go, they are toats ashamed of their past... and will never bring back the memories linked to the original design...

Hitler-at-Berlin-1938.jpg

Humm... wait...

2011-Volkswagen-Beetle-2-625x416.jpg

Ok... so maybe I'd better go back home a bit to check on that Maginot line and how she's holding after all those years, we might need it again...

[Coligny]

Audi's not too bad either...

3-8-2012_6-08-49_PM_edited-1_1-620x400.jpg

Audi-Rosemeyer-003.jpg

[matsuki]

BjOKTCOCAAAjgXj.jpg

Hahahahahahahahaha

[Coligny]

Number of locals who will get the reference to be in the low single digit...

Or better, they will pull an iron sky and take it as a compliment...

[matsuki]

Number of locals who will get the reference to be in the low single digit...

Or better, they will pull an iron sky and take it as a compliment...

Probably...but still it's nice to see some people doing something besides agreeing or shoganai'n

[Yokohammer]

Too many threads where this might go, but this'll do.

I thought this JT opinion piece was kind of interesting. It does rehash a lot of what has already been covered elsewhere, but it's nice to know that some people are paying attention.

The recent surplus of media programmes devoted entirely to praising Japan, and pointing out how other countries are in awe of Japan, has really been bothering me lately. The author points this out as well. It could simply be a passing fad, but it really is being overdone in an unrealistic way. The reality is that Japan isn't nearly as popular or respected as the media is attempting to portray it. I'm not sure how much of a "problem" this is, or is likely to become, but there is definitely a tendency towards excessive self-praise coupled with an unwillingness or inability to face reality, and that is a bit worrying.

Forty years after Zainichi labor case victory, is Japan turning back the clock?

All this Nippon talk is no sober commentary or level-headed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a modern nation. Rather, it’s a praise-fest through and through, as the following examples illustrate (all of which use “Nippon” to refer to Japan in their titles):

1. “Except China and Korea, Everyone Is Pro-Japan: ‘Cool Japan’ Takes the World by Storm” (a book written by Toru Sakai);

2. “That Is Why the World Respects Japan” (a book by Manlio Cadelo);

3. “Tokoro’s Nippon Show” (aka “Rediscover Japan,” a TBS program);

4. “Japanese People Can Be Found in the Most Remote Places” (on TV Asahi);

5. “The World Says: OMG, Japan Is Friggin’ Awesome!” (also on TV Asahi).

Writing up this short list makes me so sickened that my mind slips back into my native Kansai dialect to think: Jibun kara yutara oshimai yaro! (You’re not worthy of praise if you have to praise yourself!). What on Earth is whipping up this storm of self-congratulation?

[Coligny]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

[Russell]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Some self-reflection there too?

[JAVGOD]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

I wish this forum had the "like" button.

[matsuki]

All this Nippon talk is no sober commentary or level-headed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a modern nation. Rather, it’s a praise-fest through and through, as the following examples illustrate (all of which use “Nippon” to refer to Japan in their titles):

Honest question....is there any other country that has this dual pronunciation of the country name the way Japan uses nihon/nippon?

[Coligny]

WE FRENCH, use the word Hexagon to describe our glorious motherland...

But I think it's more like the use of ConUS.

Since there's bits of France litterally all over the planet, Hexagon (rough shape of the mainland) is used for continental european French main territory, without the various oversea possessions, protectorates or other places ruled by the French legal system...

[Coligny]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Some self-reflection there too?

Are you trying -again- to attract pity of others because of your worthless passport ?

[Wage Slave]

All this Nippon talk is no sober commentary or level-headed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a modern nation. Rather, it’s a praise-fest through and through, as the following examples illustrate (all of which use “Nippon” to refer to Japan in their titles):

Honest question....is there any other country that has this dual pronunciation of the country name the way Japan uses nihon/nippon?

Not dual pron but sort of the same thing.

Albion

[Russell]

"Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel."

Some self-reflection there too?

Are you trying -again- to attract pity of others because of your worthless passport ?

What's the worthlessness of my passport?!?

[Russell]

All this Nippon talk is no sober commentary or level-headed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a modern nation. Rather, it’s a praise-fest through and through, as the following examples illustrate (all of which use “Nippon” to refer to Japan in their titles):

Honest question....is there any other country that has this dual pronunciation of the country name the way Japan uses nihon/nippon?

Netherlands / Holland.

Though Holland is technically only a part of the Netherlands, it is often used to designate the whole country, even by Dutch.

[matsuki]

All this Nippon talk is no sober commentary or level-headed assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a modern nation. Rather, it’s a praise-fest through and through, as the following examples illustrate (all of which use “Nippon” to refer to Japan in their titles):

Honest question....is there any other country that has this dual pronunciation of the country name the way Japan uses nihon/nippon?

Not dual pron but sort of the same thing.

Albion

Netherlands / Holland.

Though Holland is technically only a part of the Netherlands, it is often used to designate the whole country, even by Dutch.

Mmmmm, I was mainly getting at the nationalistic sentiment attached to "nippon" vs the casual pronunciation given to "nihon." It sounds silly to me most of the time they use "nippon" but according to google, most younger Japanese seem to think it's a jiji/baba pronunciation.

That being said, the amount of self praise and "insider" views of "samurai" living abroad are totally hilarious. I can't help but laugh when they start talking about how [insert Japanese creation here] is "famous" worldwide and "ninki" overseas because they saw it on TV

[Mock Cockpit]

I sometimes watch the "Japanese at the Arse End of the Universe" show and I'm sorry I'm not seeing the yay Japan cheerleading. The show is clearly about the journey the reporter takes to the destination as well as the personal stories of the Japanese people in those out of the way places. It's clearly fluff but they go to some pretty interesting places and meet some interesting people. Lightweight but enjoyable imo.

[wagyl]

Mmmmm, I was mainly getting at the nationalistic sentiment attached to "nippon" vs the casual pronunciation given to "nihon."

I suppose there is a swelling of pride and hand to the heart when you hear "United States of America" compared to "United States," "the States," or "the U.S." Don't make me mention "Statesside." I know it is slightly different but there is I think a nuanced difference between "Great Britain" and "Britain." I think Wage Slave was in the right area with his poetic, nationalistic romanticism stirring Albion.

[Yokohammer]

The examples the author of the article posted are only a very small sampling of what's going on. There is some form of "Foreigners think Japan is amazing" or "This is why Japan is awesome" on the tube pretty much every single night. It's a fairly recent trend, I think, unless I simply never noticed it before. There are a couple of shows that people might lump into that category that I actually like though. There's one on Saturdays that shows made-in-Japan products and the people who use and appreciate them overseas. Today it was hand-made phono cartridges and a saw-file for woodwork. The overseas users invariably send a message of thanks to the usually small manufacturer, bringing a tear to everyone's eye, etc. That's cool. Good stuff. It's the over-the-top self praise shows, and there are enough of them lately, that are the problem. One has to wonder what happened to one characteristic of Japanese culture that is truly praiseworthy: 奥ゆかしさ, or 検挙 (modesty/humility). I could be wrong, but although the "Cool Japan" type shows have been around for a while, the overwhelming deluge of self congratulatory programming seems to have started around the time Japan was awarded the 2020 Olympics. It is getting a bit tiresome.


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