Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Yasukuni/Japan

LDP politician wants war criminal 'spirits' removed from Yasukuni Shrine
Earlier in February, Nippon Izokukai wrote a report in which members said the group would not ask Yasukuni Shrine to remove the souls of Class-A war criminals.mainichi

古賀さんがいっているというところが何かくさい。
まあ、できればすでにやっているんじゃないかね。
できればそれでもいいんじゃないの?

Monday, May 29, 2006

Korea/Learning to Hate

It was June 1997. I was on my first visit to Korea
One of the instructors matter-of-factly pointed out that his high school students were happy upon hearing of the death of over 5,000 people during the Kobe earthquake in 1995
Earlier this month I was having dinner and drinks at a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan's East Village with a Korean friend. Upon entering the bathroom, I was surprised to find graffiti scribbled all over the wall in Korean with English translations, screaming, "Dokdo is Korea!" and some other anti-Japanese stuff that I do not care to reproduce here.
several of my students recently asked me about how much damage could be inflicted on Japan, if North Korea were to "nuke" it. Rather shocked, I responded, "Lots." To that I heard, "Yeah, but how many people would die." I then told them that the problem with a nuclear bomb is that people can die from it even 50 or 60 years later. I specifically pointed out that there are people dying in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today as a result of the bombing half a century ago. To this, one student responded, "Good."oh my newsPublished on 2006-05-28

著者は弁護士そうです。
Tony Andriotis is a lawyer who lives and works in New York City.
読んでどう思われますか?
あきれる?
可愛そう?
・・・・・
腹立つ人はかえって少ないのではないでしょうか?

私は悲しみとともに、憐憫に似た感情を覚えました。。

...................................................................................

Stop Teaching Prejudice



I have been an English teacher in the same public high school in Korea for almost four years now. Every year, when the new first-year students arrive, I am filled with excitement and apprehension. The excitement is because I love the new students. They are full of energy and they have not been worn down by the onerous workload.

What I do not look forward to is dealing with a new crop of students brainwashed by their middle school teachers to harbor an unreasonable, and unjustifiable, hatred toward America and Americans. I blame the Korean history teacher for this. They seem to promote prejudice, and students being students, soak up what is said, never questioning their teachers. How unfortunate.

Twice in the same week I have had students tell me that learning English is being ``colonized’’ by America. Let me set the record straight. The English language is not the sole property of the United States. In fact, ``English’’ came from England. The United States was once a colony of England, as was a quarter of the world, at one time. So when teachers tell their students that learning English is the same as being colonized by the United States, well, that is simply ignorant.

Also, when Korean history teachers fail to explain the world situation at the time of the March 1st Independence Movement, the fact that the rest of the world had just ended World War I, that Europe and the United States were suffering from war fatigue, and that the Independence Movement people in Korea were asking the Allied Powers to fight against one of their allies, well, really.

What kind of a history teacher is that? Doesn’t anyone in Korea realize that Japan was one of the Allied Powers in World War I? So, let’s do a timeline here. The Treaty of Versailles was signed on Jan. 18, 1919. The Korean Independence Movement happened on March 1, 1919, a mere two and a half months after the official end of World War I.

And given this, Koreans of today are still extremely upset because the United States, as well as certain European countries, but mostly the United States, did not come running to Korea’s defense against a country that was instrumental in winning World War I. That level of ethnocentricity leaves me speechless. How can you Korean history teachers call yourselves ``teachers’’?

I am going to challenge the Korean history teacher of today. I challenge you to teach real, accurate, honest history. I challenge you to stop teaching prejudice. I challenge you to actually do your job, as a teacher, and as a human being, and stop perpetuating the racism that has permeated your country. I challenge you to stop lying and start telling the truth.

Kathryn R. McNeil
Naju, South Cholla Province
03-22-2006 19:50




Korea Times

Koreans still find it
difficult to be good
sports about Japan

The World Cup soccer tournament jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan closed today without having noticeably eased the century-old animosity between the neighbors in Northeast Asia.

There were a few signs of goodwill, such as Japanese cheering for the Korean team after their own team had been eliminated. Underneath, the grudges, particularly among the Koreans, remained.

Indeed, it is no longer pertinent to write in an even-handed manner about the antipathy between Japan and Korea because most of the ill will is found in Korea.

This is a lopsided, asymmetrical relationship. The palpable Korean hatred for Japan is deep-seated, pervasive and obsessive. Koreans who are rational about everything else can become irrational when Japan comes into a conversation. In contrast, Japanese often ignore Koreans or are indifferent to them -- infuriating Koreans even more -- although some younger Japanese profess to be interested in Korea.

The conventional explanation for Korean antagonism is Japan's harsh colonial rule of 1905-1945. That, however, doesn't explain why Korean anger has lasted longer that the colonial period itself.

Something deeper and hard to discern is at work here. Trying to psychoanalyze an entire nation is undeniably risky but may be permissible when applied to Korea's tightly knit society.

Koreans have long had difficulty in dealing with outsiders, partly because of the geographic isolation of the Korean peninsula. It is, American GIs once said, tucked into the upper left-hand corner of the world.

More comes from having been overrun and subjugated for centuries by the Chinese, Mongols and Manchus, which led Koreans to draw back into the Hermit Kingdom and try to fend off foreigners. That lasted until the mid-19th century when Western nations demanded that Korea open up.

Then the Chinese, Russians and Japanese fought over Korea, with the Japanese winning out and seeking to absorb Korea into the Japanese empire. All of this seems to have bred xenophobia into Korean society, the Japanese being the latest target.

Korean antipathy showed up in myriad ways during the World Cup. Most Koreans resented having to share the spotlight as host with Japan and insisted that the tournament be called the Korea/Japan rather than the Japan/Korea World Cup. Korea's Web site and publicity largely ignored Japan. Japan was rarely mentioned in Korean TV coverage.

When Turkey defeated Japan to eliminate the Japanese, Koreans applauded. When Japanese cheered for Korea as the Korean team advanced, Koreans said: "They Japanese are faking their support for the Korean team."

There was evidence that the support was not faked. A professor in Japan asked over 100 of his students what they thought of the Korean performance in the tournament. About 70 percent gave positive replies, 22 percent were negative, and 8 percent said they weren't interested in Korea.

A Korean-American who lives and works in Seoul said privately: "Koreans are taught by their grandparents, parents and the educational system that the Japanese are evil. Hear this every day since birth and you have a running experiment of a Brave New World."

He said he had found an "enormous insecurity/inferiority complex" among Koreans. "They do not like the fact that their economic and political status in the world is inferior to that of Japan and the United States. They do not like the fact that nobody in the world really pays attention to them. They do not like the fact that they are not a power in the world."

"Korea," he concluded, "is still a nation learning to deal with its economic, political and cultural development."

Some weeks ago, at a gathering of Korean, Japanese and American strategic thinkers at the Pacific Forum, a research center in Honolulu, the discussion anticipated the World Cup. The Koreans berated the Japanese, the Japanese sought to defend themselves as not being anti-Korean, and the Americans deplored the hostility between their two main allies in East Asia.

"Today," lamented an American experienced in Asia, "what ought to be a natural strategic relationship between two geographically proximate, liberal democracies with common allies remains problematic because of history.

"If ever there was a issue that cried out for decisive, assertive U.S. leadership," he concluded, "it is the issue of knitting together a sustainable virtual alliance among the U.S., Japan and Korea."



Richard Halloran is a former correspondent
for The New York Times in Asia and a former editorial
director of the Star-Bulletin. His column appears Sundays./Honolulu Star

Friday, May 26, 2006

India/Japan

Declaring that time has come for Japan and India to renew and reinvigorate "our Asian identity, building on the commonalities of our interests, aspirations and values," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday night said it was an opportune moment to build on past history of very cordial bilateral interaction.

Recalling the supportive role played by Japan in 1991 to tide over India's economic crisis when he (Manmohan Singh) was Finance Minister, Singh said "it was as a result of such friendly support that India was able to emerge from the crisis and to subsequently embark on the path of economic reform that has changed the face of the economy."

いいね。アジア国通し仲良くやんなくちゃね。
The Prime Minister said that though both nations had gone through various phases in their relationship, "in times of difficulty, we have stood by each other. It is important to recall that India refused to attend the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 and signed a separate Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952.

"This Pandit Nehru felt, gave to Japan a proper position of honour and equality among the comity of free nations. In that Peace Treaty, India waived all reparation claims against Japan," Singh said.

The dissenting judgement of Justice Radha Binod Pal is well-known to the Japanese people and it would always symbolise the affection and regard "our people have for your country," the Prime Minister said.

Singh said contacts between the two countries date back to ancient times and is based on the "strong foundation of these age-old spiritual, cultural and civilisational ties on which basis "we are striving to build a contemporary relationship, one that is based on our shared commitment to the ideals of democracy, peace and freedom."Press Trust of India

April 29

いろんな過去はあっても将来の友好のため、過去の友好を想起する、賢い国ですね、インドは。さすが、伝統と優れた文化をお持ちの方は違いますね。
さああ、これからはインドで、頑張ろう!!!インドさんありがとう。

Korea/culture of hate

Roh, whom Noh and Nosamo love so dearly, has defined this nation as one where “justice failed and only opportunism thrived.” It is people with such a mindset who have sown the seeds of hatred for the three years they have ruled the country, and the seeds are sprouting relentlessly in every sector of society, from schools to factories.

“What we wanted to achieve by voting for Ron Moo-hyun was to stop the vicious cycle of hatred,” Noh tells us. Yet when we see the pot call the kettle black in such a manner without shame, it is hard not to feel that our society has become so distorted that we have lost our way back to normalitychosun libo

どうもよく事情がわからないが、朝鮮日報さん、あなたも恨文化をやしなっているじゃないですか?

Korean man saved Japanese woman

Korean Saves Japanese Woman from Subway Tracks

In 2001, a young Korean man was killed when he rescued a Japanese man who had fallen on the subway tracks in Tokyo. Now, at that very same subway station and platform, a Korean man has saved a Japanese woman who also fell onto the tracks. But the Korean survivedchosun libo

なあ、いいことするじゃないか?
覚えているよ。日本人を救おうとして亡くなった韓国人の話。
文化を越えて偉い人は偉い。

Korea/Japan/

Dressed in traditional clothes, Japanese girls play house in front of a clothing store while Korean toddlers dressed in Korean skirts and coats look on.
The University of Southern California’s library website features some 150 pictures taken by the Rev. Corwin Taylor and his wife Nellie Blood-Taylor, who worked as missionaries in Korea from 1908 through 1922 May.25,2006chosun libo


Japanese girls and Koreans girls were getting along well with each other.
Do Korean people forget that?
Why is it they don't emphasize this aspect of Japan-Korea relations?

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Korea/Abuduction

Megumi is said to have been abducted by North Korean authorities. But she is also a victim of the Cold War era, as South and North Korea committed countless abductions each during the confrontation in the past century,’’ he wrote. ``The victims of those abductions are ultimately victims of the Cold War era.’’

Therefore, it is regrettable that the motherland of Shigeru and Megumi Yokota, Japan, seems to be the least cooperative country in dismantling the division of the Korean Peninsula, Kim said.

Recalling millions of Koreans who were mobilized to forced labor and military service during the Japanese colonial rule of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, Kim said Japan should not turn a blind to the criticisms that it is only making efforts for other country’s human rights issues while putting its own problems on the back burner.Korea times


これはひどい!!
1)横田氏と日本政府の過去の所業は関係ない。
2)南北分断と日本政府の所業は関係ない
3)法に基づき245名しか労働者として、動員していない。

あまりにも残酷で偽善にみちた手紙と言えます。

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Japan/the u.s./investment

TOKYO — For U.S. companies doing business in Asia, fast-growing China and India generate plenty of headlines and hype. For actual profits, neglected old Japan remains a better bet by far.

"In terms of profitability, Japan is the best-kept secret in the world," says Jesper Koll, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities.

U.S. companies earned nearly $11 billion in Japan last year, more than double what they could muster in China ($3.3 billion) and India ($1.2 billion) combined, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.usa today

中国は人口は多いが購買層が薄いとは聞いてはいましたが、日本の消費者をいったん獲得するとこっちのもの、てな感じだそうです。

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Japan/Yasukuni/Asahi newspaper

Representative Henry Hyde, chairman of the U.S. House International Relations Committee, sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert in April asking that Koizumi promise to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine if he is to address a joint session of Congress, the Asahi newspaper reported yesterday, citing a copy of the letter. Koizumi is scheduled to visit the U.S. in late June

朝日新聞はこんなことばっかやっているね。自分の新聞社の主張をするのはいいけど、中国や米国の力を借りてやるやりかたはいかがなものか?内政問題を自国で解決できなくてどうするのか!!!

Koizumi has said he doesn't understand criticism of his trips to Yasukuni, which memorializes 14 war criminals among the more than 2 million war dead honored there. He has visited the shrine five times since becoming Prime Minister in 2001, damaging relations with China and South Korea, which argue the memorial glorifies Japan's invasion of Asia during World War II.bloomberg


これは多少靖国に関して中立的な書き方をしている。
もっとも朝日と組んでいると言われる共同は相変わらずだが、一応安倍氏のコメントを載せている。

"We will work to clear up misunderstandings, if there are any, of the purpose of the visits. But I believe that most Congressmen respect the freedom of religion and such criticism is rather rare," Abe told a news conference.
kyodo

まあ、そうだろう。靖国問題を外交の全面に押し出せば、日米歴史論争になること必至。
朝日は米国のブッシュ大統領の原爆正当発言をも取り上げるつもりなのか?
歴史は多角的に評価される必要はある、しかし、ある特定の歴史観、宗教観を他国に押しつける権利がどこのに国にあるというのか?

Japan/China

China, Japan to hold seminar on environment in TokyoXinhua

Asia’s two largest economies have maintained dialogue on economic issues even though China refuses top-level talks with Japan in protest of Koizumi’s visits to the Yasukuni shrineAFP

中国が多少すりよってきているのでしょうかね。
だんだん遠ざかっていく韓国とは対照的です。

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Japan/sexual harrasment

"In many companies (in Japan, sexual harassment) has yet to be taken seriously," Nakashita said, adding she does not think many firms here have a zero-tolerance policy.

According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, sexual harassment complaints filed at equal employment opportunity offices nationwide rose to 7,706 in fiscal 2004 from 2,534 in fiscal 1997.

Nakashita said the reason the number has risen is because more women are getting the courage to expose the problem.

"But this is still the tip of the iceberg," she said.japan times

ときどき地方の議会議員などセクハラで捕まるというニュースをみるけど、アホだね。仕事は仕事できっちりやれ、と言いたい。賠償金もっと高くするか、裁判で結果がでしだい公表するとかして、馬鹿なことははやいとこ終息してほしい。

Japan/rightists

Korea-Japan friendship car
A Japanese rightist blogger has an interesting story to say about so-called rightists in Japan.
If you can read Japanese, you'd notice the letters saying "Korean-Japanese friendship". I feel again very unnatural about this because "Japan-Korean friendship" is the right order without exception unless those letters are written by Korean sided people

*The Uyoku groups designated by police are 25. Five groups out of the 25 have Korean leaders as below:

group・・・・・・・・・・・・Name
極東会・・・・・・・・・・・・曹 圭化
松葉会・・・・・・・・・・・・李 春星
双愛会・・・・・・・・・・・・申 明雨
松葉会・・・・・・・・・・・・李 春星
酒梅組・・・・・・・・・・・・金 在鶴


They have been doing this in order to implant an idea in Japanese that "Imperial Japan used to be hiddous and tyrannical". That way, Japanese get to feel guilty about Japanese rule in Korea until 1945, and they would apologize with compensation so that zainichi can make life much easier. If zainichi people claim that they were forced to come Japan and there's no job with them, Japan would pay for them. That's the idea. Actually 90% of them smuggle to Japan during Korean war, though.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

Takeshima・Dokto----in veiw of international law

General
dokdo or takeshima?
oppekepe
oppekepe in Japanese at naver
Gerry at occidentalism
Gerry at Korean langage note
Mark lavmo
dokdo-takeshima.com
MOFA
Dokdo Belongs to Korea
Flying Yangbang

Shimane
Shin young ha
Dokdo in Korea
Kusan AB
Translation copyright by William Sakovich

田中
山陰中央新聞
木村
徒論

Important documents and maps
guiding principle
watanabe document
1667 document
Ahn's "Matsuhima"1696
1894 document
1725 document
1883 document
1875map interpretation of daojoukan document
1877document
newly-discovered-document?(1877document
Jukudo old and new

watanabe document
1481 document(k)
東国輿地勝覧Korean territory because it can be seen from the land
1900 document(k)newspaper
1954~ document(u)
Takeshima/Dokdo---1726(?) document 竹嶋記事
red stamp ship
Ahn yonbok
1696 document(K)
effective control during edo period
1883 document内達案
1883 illegal Japanese
Watanabe document 2
1930 document/chukdo
1924map (J)
1894 document 朝鮮水路誌
the 1899/1907 Daehanjiji (大韓地誌)(k)
daehanjiji-korean-geography
1725 document/朝鮮通行大紀
1667 document/隠州
19 century Japanese confusion about the islands
1954report-of-van-fleet-mission(USA)
diary-of-nakai
protest
the Japanese fishery area is invaded by Korean illegal fishermen
1882 Japanese map
1905 document a public anouncement (j)
1882-k-inspecter-document-and-1784 survey
1835 Japanese map


1893 Japanese judgement
1948 prangdo竹島 波浪島1751^3 document
1899 newspaper (K)takeshima/dokdo---scap
1900 document(k)
interpretation-of-sftreaty
Soel views might as right
Interpretation of 輿地考 of 東国文献備考 in 1770 and 彊界考 of 旅菴全書by申景濬
myth-of-dokdo-voluntary-army
1906 document (k)
see also Notification is it necessary?
Funasugi sums up his research

I am going to cite some lines which are relevant to takeshima-dokdo issue from textbook on Internationl law 5th edition
1876 takeshima map (j)
1894 document (j) Chosun water way
Japanese maps that lack takeshima/Dokdo on them
1965tacit agreement

The acquisition of sovereignty over territory

The exercise of effective control---occupation and perscription.
The control of territory and the peaceful and effective excercise of the functions of a sate theren is the primary means of acquiring title to territory in international law.They can be subdivided into two lasses.When the exercise of authority takes place in a territory which does not belong to any other state8terra mullius)we may say that title is based on effective "occupation". When the excercise of authority takes place in a territory which formally belongs to another state, we may say that title is bsed on 'prescription.However the differece between these two concept is only one of degree and the essentail elelment of both is the exercise of state function.p144

Apparent display of severeigtry
The state claiming the title must establish that it has behaved as a state with respect to the territory although .....not every state function will be relavent for this purpose,....

It is also clear that the extent of degree of display of state power required may vary according to the type of territory in question.It is a question of fact in eace ase.Thus in the Clipperton Island arbitration(France v mexico)(1932) 26AJIL.390, the dispute was over a small uninhabited coral reef.The arbitrator found French title stablished, even though the acts of effective occupation were limited to minimal acts of the French Navy and subsequent proclamations of soverignty in various public journals.These acts, when coupled with an intention to exercise soverignty, were sufficient in respect of this territory.

Intention to acquire soverignty.
...the actual display of sovereignty must be accompanied by an aimus or intention to as as soverign. In the usual event, this can be presumed from the simple fact that the state is excercising such aouthority in the territory.p147

Continuous display and the 'critical date'
...title to territory could not be established by a 'once and for all'display of soverignty.It had to be 'continuous'

...the display of sovereeignty must exist up to 'the critical date'.The critical date is is the date at which the question of soverignty is to be assessed.All matters arising after that date cannot be taken into account in deciding title to territory,

In essence, the critical date is the date at which the dispute between the two parties becomes crystalised .p148

Peaceful display
The exercise of state power over territory must be peaceful in the sense that it is not challenged by other states.In terms of territory which is formally terra nullius, this means simply that the display of state functions must proceed in uninterrupted fashion.Moreover ,in the case of 'occupation' a display of state soverreignty does not lose its peaceful character merely because some state verbally objects to the claim of sovereingty.There must be some acts by the objecting state, of an extensive nature, before title based on 'occupation' lose its peaceful character.
In contrast, with cases of presription, the requirement of a peaceful display of soverignty is much more important.As we have seen, prescription means the acquistion of soverignty by one state over territory which formally belongs to another.Therefore,objections by the state ousted from the territory are an important factor and may well prevent the 'new' state from gaining titile by presription....Converselly, it is clear that lack of objection (or acquiescence) by the former title holder can be vital in establishing prescriptive titile .......the form of objection is irrelevant, so long as the dispossessed state make clear its opoostion to the acuqistion of title by someone else.So,objection may consit of diplomatic protests,statements in internationl organizations, the enactment of national legistlation applying to the territory or referral to a tribunal.


discovery
Discovery is akin to occupation in that it is usually applied in respect of previously uninhabited territories. However, it is clear from the Island of Palmas Case that discovery per se gives only inchoate title to territory. This means that unless thee first act of discovery is followed up within a reasonable period of time by acts of effective occupation, the potential title to territory accorded by discovery does not mature into full sovereignty. In practical terms, in the absence of effective occupation, another state may enter the territory and exercise the functions of statehood therein. If this happens, the title
based on effective occupation will have priority over inchoate title based on discovery.

(page 150 Textbook on International Law/Martin Dixon/5th edition)





Intertemporal law
...the law to be applied to a given dispute is the law in existence at the time the dispute is to be settled---the critical date.


68. It does not seem necessary to recall in great detail what the Chamber of the Court had to say about the value of map evidence in the case concerning the Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso v. Mali), viz., that maps cannot constitute a territorial title but are usually merely extrinsic evidence which may be used, along with other circumstantial evidence, to establish or reconstitute the real facts (I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 582, para. 54). Since Qatar has in my view not been able to demonstrate that it has title to the Hawar Islands based on the display of authority - even in the most limited way - in combination with a legally recognized mode of acquisition, the cartographic evidence must in my view be discarded.link
1867 Japanese map 竹島=Arrogonaut =nonexisitent 松島=Ullengdo Linocourt =Takessshima-Matushima1870 Japanese map(from the left)竹しま=Arrogonaut =nonexisitent 松しま=Ullengdo
リアンコオルトロック=Linacourt Rock=takeshima/Dokdo

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Japan/culture

Kawasaki for the annual metal penis festival.

Sake drenced Post card
おもしろいネタですね。私は知らなかったのですが、この手の祭りは豊潤を祈る祭りとして日本ではいろんなところにあったと聞いてます。で、この祭りを調べてみると、かなまら祭りというそうです。豊潤というより、子孫繁栄夫婦和合のための祭りみたいです。

おもしろそうですね。性に関するキリスト教との違いでしょうか。朗らかでいい。

Thai/Japan/woman

Japanese female strawweight champ keeps title in bout against convict in Thai prison

Prison authorities said they would have released 23-year-old Siriporn if she won the fight.

"I feel sorry for shattering her hopes to be free from jail sooner, but as a sportswoman I have to fight to win," she said.

やっぱ、日本の女性は強いッスね。相手も必死だったろうに。

South Korea/North Korea

South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun vowed Tuesday to grant many concessions to North Korea, signaling Seoul's intention of making a more aggressive effort to improve relations with Pyongyang.

Speaking to a group of ethnic Koreans here, Roh said that his government has completely opened the door for unconditional dialogue with North Korea.yohan
in Japanese



北朝鮮に対しては完全に胸を開いており、「いつどこでどのような話でも構わないので会って話をしよう」と南北首脳会談の提案が有効であることを再確認した。

悪の帝国には胸を開き、大幅譲歩、同盟国の日本にはヒステリックな怒りーーーどうなってんのよ、この大統領!

Monday, May 08, 2006

China/culture

Two out of three Chinese university students surveyed have read a book by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, found a study by a Chinese graduate student in Ibaraki Prefecture.
And erotic tales of illicit love seem to be exactly what Chinese readers want. Junichi Watanabe, another Japanese writer celebrated for his steamy subject matter, also ranked among the most popular, according to research by another studentasahi

村上や渡辺の作品を読むんだねEE、ほなら、まあ、少し余裕でてきたせいかな。中国人の99%は反日だという本があったけど、本当のところはどうなのかなあ。思うに、普通の人は普通に生活できればいいってのが大半じゃないかな、どこの国でも。

yasukuni

Koizumi's visits to the shrine in central Tokyo have soured relations with China, South Korea and other Asian countries. The governments of China and South Korea have said the visits show Japan hasn't fully atoned for the atrocities committed when the Japanese occupied much of Asia before defeat in WWII.

Koizumi has visited Yasukuni, which means peaceful nation in Japanese, five times since becoming prime minister in 2001. A visit in October last year prompted South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun to scrap a summit with the Japanese leaderbloomberg

小泉さんが敗戦記念日に靖国参拝するかもしれないという記事ですが、敗戦記念日になるかいなかは別にしてするでしょうね。韓国では高血圧の薬が売れるかもしれない。
ところで、この記事比較的中立的です。ちゃんと靖国の意味まで明記している。BBCやニューヨークタイムズとはひと味違いますね。

Korea/culture

Michelle Wie
韓国系アメリカ人のゴルファーらしいっすけど、なんで韓国人がそんなに韓国系の人を取り上げるかよくわからん。
私の感覚からすると例えば、日系アメリカ人は日系ということで、親近感はあるけど、やっぱアメリカ人で、アメリカ人として接することが彼・彼女に敬意を払うことになるし、日本人性を強調したら失礼にあたるように思う。戦時中米兵として立派に戦ったのは敬服するし、日系なのに米側につきやがってなんても思わない。
韓国の方は日本人が天皇家だけにもつ血の幻想に似た幻想を国民すべてにもっているのかもしれませんね。

chosun

Sunday, May 07, 2006

Comfort woman again

U.S. Rep. Lane Evans (D-Illinois) has urged Japan to take responsibility for Korean women it forced into prostitution during World War II and asked others in the U.S. Congress to support a resolution to send this message.korea times

相変わらずですね。しかし、米議員はうごかないんじゃないかなあ。
1. Time to think before criticizing Japan
2005-05-05 / Knight Ridder / By Jonathan Zimmerman
Take the example of Harriet Jacobs, who was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. She was sold at the age of 12 to James Norcum, who soon began making sexual overtures to her. As Jacobs later recalled in her memoir, Norcum told her that "I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." And so she was. Although Jacobs occasionally managed to escape her owner's clutches, he did own her. To get sex from her, Norcum sometimes promised her new clothes and other presents; at other times, he simply held a razor to her throat. And that, my fellow Americans, is what we call rape.

You do the math. Between 1850 and 1860, the number of blacks in slavery rose by about 20 percent. But the number of enslaved "mulattoes" - that is, mixed-raced slaves - rose by a remarkable 67 percent, as historian Joel Williamson has calculated. To put it most bluntly: Black slaves were getting lighter in skin, because white owners were raping them. It's really that simple - and that awful.
As the great African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass recounted in his autobiography, the black female slave was "at the mercy of the fathers, sons, or brothers of her master." Black women were also abused by slave traders, who often raped them before selling them to the next white man - and the next round of sexual coercion. Undoubtedly there were slaves who may have chosen to have sex with their owners. But what does it mean to "choose" sex, when you know that the wrong choice might get you sold, or even killed?

How many American children know that Thomas Jefferson, father of our Declaration of Independence, fathered children by his slave? And how many American parents want their children to know that?OAH

韓国や米国が日本が対応したのと同程度に対応できるか否か?

コメント欄から

lost nomad

在韓米軍の行方について面白い議論がコメント欄で展開されています。
本文は徐々に撤退していくだろう、というもの、
これに対して、kushibo氏の議論は要するに、
中国、台湾、朝鮮、日本など北東アジアにおいて米国の経済的国益がある、
その国益確保のために米軍が在韓する必要がある、というものです
これに対して、usinkorea氏はそんなことないだろう。
仮に米軍が撤退しても、中国経済が国際化している今日中国は戦争しないだろうし、
韓国の防衛力のみでも北の脅威になるし、仮に南北戦争が起きても経済的波及は小さい、従って、米軍が在韓する国益はなかろう、というわけです。
で、在韓米軍がいなくなったら在日米軍の地位も弱体化するのでは、という議論に対しては、なことない、逆に日本にとってその重要性は強まる、というわけですーーーま、私もそう思いますね。急に日本から米軍がいなくなったら素手で、中国、ロシアに対抗するようで、怖いっすから。
(私は在韓米軍はよく我慢しているな、と思います。
撤退する米軍基地が環境汚染しているから清掃しろ、GIKoreaとか言いがかりをつけられても黙っている。(沖縄の方もこのいちゃもんの付け方は覚えておくといいかもしれない。)さすがの米軍も韓国にはなめられきっている。こんなことやら他の韓国に対する米軍の低姿勢を多くの日本人が知ったら多分日本も米軍をなめてかかるようになると思いますね。まあ、それは、それとして、)

私も米軍が撤退しても、南北で戦争がおきても、あるいは韓国に中国の影響力が増しても、別に日本に与える影響というのはあまりない。いまでも韓国は中国同様、非同盟国のような行動していますし、戦争がおきて困るのは難民問題くらいですか?あと戦争のどさくさにまぎれて拉致被害者救出作戦を練っておくことですね。
しかし、日本が戦闘状態に突入することは99%あり得ない。
一つには憲法9条ーーーこれは大きい、
実質的に考えても、日本が韓国を併合したら満州を建国しようとしたときと背景が全く異なる。日本人好戦論的な発想しかなければ別ですが、かつてのような帝国主義の時代はもう終わっています、日本が戦争に参加する理由がない。

米軍さんも韓国のいうことを聞いてよき友人のままで早いところ撤退していいんじゃないすか?

Massacres of civillians at Korean War


Between Kim Jong Il and his two patrons in Moscow and Beijing, the communists managed to ensure the slaughter of more than 2.5 million Koreans, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians: even the most inflated estimates for Japan's suppression of Korean revolts don't come to 1% of that figureforeigndispatches

(朝鮮戦争では共産主義政権により、250万人もの朝鮮人が殺害されており、その大多数は市民であったが、日本統治下の抑圧により殺害された人はその1%にも満たない。)

I pointed out this somewhere but this blogger comfirmed and further gave the reason why Korea don't hold grudge against China and North Korea.
it's much safer to take your frustrations out on a harmless Japan or the American guarantor of your freedom than it is to do so on regimes still capable of large-scale butchery given enough provocation.

(韓国の自由を保障してくれて、危害を及ぼす危険のない日本やアメリカに八つ当たりするほうが、つつくとすごく残忍になる政権にあたったほうが安全だから)

He is right again!!!

Friday, May 05, 2006

Korea/politics

ちょっとタイミング悪いけど他にないので掲載します。

“[Kim Jong Il is] one of the figures in the North we can get [an] agreement from and who can make proper decisions. . . . The two [Kim and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun] could produce significant results since Pyongyang is well aware that President Roh is a decisive man who is able to see the big picture, and Kim is always being portrayed as broad-minded in the North Korean media.”link

南の統一省が北の将軍様への讃辞
“So far, we have made a success through dependence on the U.S. Now it’s time to choose an independent course of diplomacy,” the president said at an American chapter meeting of the National Unification Advisory Council in Seoul. “But living a dependent life is different from living independently and maintaining a close friendship. The two countries will remain friends forever.
link

でもって南の大統領が米国にバイチャ宣言みたいなもの。

まあ、これでもって韓国が北そして中国側につくーーーというのは心情的には別になんともない、てかむしろはっきりしていい。
そうなると日本の防衛をかなり増強しなくちゃならない、まあ、それもいい。ただ、その時の経済的な歯止めをどうするか、それが最大の課題でしょうね。

Thursday, May 04, 2006

Japan/the U.S.


Stars and Stripes

日本にいるアメリカ人は楽しそうやな。これ軍人さんやて。
で、これアメリカからのおたくツアーやて。
楽しんでね。

BBC

これはひどい。
Tensions over the islands are fuelled by lingering historical acrimony. The islands were annexed by Japan in 1905, followed by the Korean mainland in 1910, and were only relinquished on Japan's defeat in World War II.

South Korea accuses Japan of failing to repent for its colonial conduct, and the rivalry between the two nations repeatedly flares in open confrontation.

竹島は1905年に併合され、つづいて、1910年に韓国が併合され、第2次大戦のとき放棄?された。
韓国は日本が植民地化を反省していない証拠だと日本を非難し・・・
これでは韓国側の主張に筋があるような書き方です。過去のをみても似たりよったり。
BBCは他のメディアには眼を通さないのでしょうか。
BBCは外務省のホームページも見ないのでしょうか。
別に日本に肩をもてというわけではない。しかし、少なくとも両者の主張を掲載すべきではないですか?
そして日本政府はこうした報道にだまっているのですか?
第2次大戦では情報収集能力の日本側の欠如が指摘されていますが、現代では情報発信能力の欠如故にこの国が駄目になるかもしれませんね。個人でできることも限界があります。外務省よ、何やってんの!!!

Japan/FM/Aso



Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called on China on Wednesday to democratize and for transparency about its increasing military spending, while vowing to deepen cooperation with Beijing in areas where Japan and China share common interests. May 3 KYODO

麻生外務大臣が中国に民主化と軍事の透明化を要求した、というものですが、言っていることは賛成なんです。もっと、中国に対しては民主化と人権問題を宗教の自由を盾につっこんでいってもらいたい。
もっとも彼にはネックがあって、彼の家族企業が戦時中朝鮮人を徴用し、日本人より安い給料で働かせていたと一部では騒がれています。Family Skeletonsもっとも日韓条約で未払い分のものも含めて補償してるはずですから、日本政府というより、むしろ韓国政府に問題があると思うのですが、そこはそれ、日本叩きにつかえるものはなんでも使うというのが中国韓国のやり口ですから、つつかれるに違いない。
もう一つは彼のプライバシーに関する趣向について一部噂があるのですが、これも個人的には問題はないと思うのですが、人によっては問題にするだろうと思います。
いずれにせよ、首相というのは無理ではないかな、というのが私の感想です。

Japan/Austraria

日本とオーストラリアが自由貿易協約を結ぶということです。
Speaking at a Perth business breakfast, Mr McLean warned that Australia should not ignore Japan's continuing economic and strategic significance in the enthusiasm for developing economic relations with China and India.

オーストラリアの日本大使によれば、日本は中国インドとも経済を発展させようとしてろい、この点に関しても注意をはらわなくてはならん、と、まあ、それはそうでしょうね。
Mr McLean said it was unlikely China would surpass Japan as Australia's most important trading partner for at least a decade.

Last year, Australian exports of goods and services to Japan were worth about $32 billion, which amounted to roughly 18 per cent of Australia's exports.

"This is 80 per cent higher than our exports to China and 2 1/2 times greater than we send to the US," the ambassador said.

"The proposition that Japan has been taken over by China is just nonsense."

で、日本が中国に追い抜かされるというのはばかばかしい、と、これは、豪州との関係で、という意味でしょうか?

Mr McLean said much of Japan's recovery had to do with the spirit of competition it was having with China for influence in the region.May 04, 2006The Australian

中国と競争関係におかれたことが幸いして、むしろ日本の回復につながっている、というわけです。
読むと日本もまだまだ棄てたものでじゃないですね。

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

ブログから

Foreign Dispatchesでまた面白いことを言っています。
アジアで戦争が起きるとしたら、それは日本から仕掛けることはない、というような趣旨です。
日本には9条改正反対が多いということが一つの理由のようです。
個人的には9条は改正して現実的な対応が法に基づいてできるようにしたほうがいいと考えています。拡大解釈を許していることが常態になるとむしろ歯止めがきかなくなり、むしろ平和を乱すことになると考えるからです。
もっとも論者の結論と理由付けには賛成です。軍備アレルギーとも言える人々が多数いるなかで、日本から仕掛けるということはまずないでしょう。

Korea/violent demonstration

The 51-year-old mother of a riot policeman is being treated in the hospital for a serious head injury after being pushed to the ground by union demonstrators while she and a group of other parents were monitoring a protest rally in South Jeolla province, police said

The parents' group has been campaigning for an end to violent demonstrations, both for their sons' safety and for broader social peacejoongang daily May 3, 2006

 51才の機動隊のお母様が、暴力的なデモはやめるようにとデモをしている組合に言ったところ逆に負傷させられたということです。
31運動の時もこんな感じだったんですかね。

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Tokyo trials


東京裁判についてです。

Unlike the Nuremberg trial, where the Nazi system was clearly seen as responsible, only individuals were sentenced at the Tokyo trial and many Japanese question its legitimacy, which, some observers argue, suggests the nation has been slow to fully accept its collective responsibility. 02 May 2006

ドイツの場合ナチについてその責任を問えばよかったのに対して、東京裁判では、個人についてのみ、責任を問われたことが全体としての責任を負うということについて出遅れた一因である、というわけですが、そうでしょうか?
Despite being accused by some critics of being responsible for the march to war, Hirohito was protected by General Douglas MacArthur, shogun of occupied Japan, who needed the emperor to unify the defeated country

The subject is still a taboo in Japan.

天皇は免責されたが、天皇の戦争責任についてはタブーである、というのですが、これもどうでしょうか?私の学校の教師は「天皇に戦争責任あり!」と何度も言っていたので、他のことは忘れてもそのことは覚えています。また、先日読んだ保坂氏の本にも天皇の戦争責任についえの論述がありました。
The victorious Allies (Australia, Britain, Canada, China, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Soviet Union and the United States), as well as India and the Philippines, each provided one judge and one procurer.

The Indian judge, Radhabinod Pal, dissented strongly with the majority, saying that the US and European nations' own imperialistic histories meant they had no right to try Japan, and declaring the accused innocent from the start.

Other judges, like the French judge, stopped short of that but appeared uncomfortable with the lack of evidence after many important documents were lost or destroyed.

The impartiality of the judge from the Philippines is also contested as he was a survivor of the "Bataan Death March", during which prisoners of war in the Philippines were forcible transferred by Japanese forces.

"It was a tribunal by victors," said Tojo's granddaughter.

なるほど、フィリピンの判事については知っていましたが、フランス人判事も疑義を呈していたのわけですか?

日本が戦争責任を問う必要はありますが、戦勝国について同様な戦争責任を問わなければ戦争について勝者の正義と言われても致し方ないのではないでしょうか?

Korea/culture?

日独島挑発糾弾 `ボルチム' パフォーマンス

ネタにつきないお国柄ですね。
Naver
Marmotでもコメントを見ると、さすがにあきれられているようですが、やっている人もみている人も一種のカタルシスになっているのでしょうか?
update:BBCでも注目されました。よかったね。

South Korea/North Korea


U.S. special envoy Jay Lefkowitz said well-intentioned projects should be backed by strong monitoring to avoid being counterproductive.

"By channelling large amounts of unmonitored aid to North Korea, some governments may actually worsen matters and unwittingly prop up the regime," he wrote.

Lefkowitz also raised concern about an industrial park located in Kaesong, just north of the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula, where South Korean firms produce goods using cheap North Korean labour.

"The world knows little about what actually goes on at Kaesong, and given North Korea's track record, there is ample cause for concern about worker exploitation," he wrote.Tuesday May 2 Reuters

要するに、韓国が北朝鮮にチェックの甘い食料を援助することによって、現政権の維持の延命をしているし、また、北朝鮮人の労働力を搾取しているということですねーーーなんてことでしょうか、あまりにも残酷な仕打ちですね。

Monday, May 01, 2006

Japan/Korea/the U.S.

"Some Korean scholars and officials have urged the United States to press Japan to change its policies," Green said. "Pressure from the U.S. side will cause a backlash within Japan that will make this issue harder, not easier, for the next prime minister to resolve."yonhap

韓国で米国の識者などを招いてフォーラムを開いたそうです。
面白いのは、韓国が米国に日本に対してプレッシャーをかけるように頼み込んでいるそうです。
相変わらずの事大主義です。米国からの反応は、介入すれば問題がもっとやっかいになるというものーー当然ですね。
仮に、靖国問題などに対して米国が介入すれば、一気に日本は反米になるでしょうね。左翼はもともと米国に批判的ですし、右翼までもが反米になる。米国にとっていいことは一つもない。
"We value peace with North Korea more than human rights," Moon acknowledged. "That is our geopolitical destiny.

これは韓国の教授の発言ですが、地勢的に人権より平和を重視する、っていうわけですが、しかし、地勢的にいっても、人権と平和が共存できない、と考えている事自体がおかしい。北朝鮮の無垢の民を犠牲にして、個々の人権よりも「わが民族意識」を重視すると言った方が正確ではないでしょうか?

あとは独特な恨み節といった感じです。

Japan/the U.S.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga emphasized the realignment's role in bringing the alliance to a new stage and transforming it into a stronger one based on a roadmap that was issued the same day.

The plan kicked off the most sweeping reorganization of U.S. troops and bases in Japan since their presence began 1945. It is aimed at easing the burden on base-hosting local communities while maintaining U.S. military deterrence and boosting operational integration between the U.S. military and Japan's Self-Defense Forces.kyodo

日米での軍備配備について新しい段階に入ったということで、日本における米軍の基地の縮小と日米間のよりいっそう緊密な相互運用の強化を目指したものである、とのことです。
以下の記事も同様な主題を扱っています。
The Christian Science Monitor
日本側としては、
1)沖縄などの負担軽減
2)中国、北朝鮮への対抗手段の確保
などがあげられていますが、米国側がなぜそれを承諾したのかははっきりしません。米国側にいかなる利得があるのかーーー例えば、アジアにおける軍備費負担の軽減でしょうか?
いずれにせよ、米国は日本にとってもっとも重要な国であり、もっともうまくやっていかなければならない国であることは確かです。
韓国は、なにかと騒動を起こしますが、歴史的にみれば相変わらずといったところで、淡々と処理していけば特に問題はない。感情的挑発につられてなければ窮地に立つのは韓国の側ではないでしょうか。
韓国に比べて中国は大国ですし、ずっと智恵がある。狡猾といえば、狡猾ですが、外交では狡猾さは美徳です。そして、その莫大な人口があるが故に消費マーケットとしての魅力が欧米を惹きつけており、それゆえ、欧米を見方にできる強さがあります。もっとも、その政治体制に最大の弱点があり、日本は人権問題などを全面に出して世界の協力を得るべきだと考えます。

中国韓国は日本にとって近い存在故に目立つ存在ですが、しかし、もっとも注意を払わなくてはいけないのは米国の動向だと、思います。米国と協調的に歩調を合わせること、これを最優先してこそ、他国との関係もうまくいくのではないか、私はそう思います。米国べったりと言って批判する人もいますが、また、米国にも問題がないわけではないのですが、しかし、そのよってたつところの自由や人権の最大限の尊重は日本も共有する価値観であり、最優先の価値観を共有できる国と協調していくことが日本の国益に最大に資するのだ信じます。