Job Discussion Forums

[AndyH]

Undoudtedly, many Japanese have a very naive view of racism in thier country. However, as someone who was raised as a "white" Native American, I can tell you that I prefer Japan, despite it's flaws, over many other countries I've visited. The faults I see I view as growing pains, necessary experiences a country must go through on the road from being a nation with no contact with foreigners to a fully participating member of the global economy. Yes, Japan has it's faults, but I'd rather be here, where people have good intentions and want to do the right thing, then in a country where foreigners are hated, yet the people constantly accuse others of being racist imperialists.

[Glenski]

[6810]

Thanks for the follow up links Glenski, that's the kind of post I was hoping to make!

I am reminded of the whole chibikuro sambo...

"If it desn't offend that many people and if we [Japanese] enjoy it then it's not really offensive, is it?"

This applies for golliwog doll toting kids as much as the uyoku.

When I am downtown and confronted by the uyoku spectacle these days, I have moved on from annoyance and outrage toward deep disappointment.

That is, if anyone wanted to stop that kind of uyoku garbage, they would. But since it's not in anyone's interests, it keeps going. At this point, it's possible to throw in all the stuff about Yakuza etc, but in the end, it is the deep and profound, quiet hostility toward difference, simmering in the Japanese mainstream then keeps it going.

Of course, there are exceptions, notable ones too. But in the land where nails don't stick out lest they get hammered, the exceptions are rarely publicly expressed let alone heard.

If racism isn't alive and well in Japan, then why does my wife (Japanese) return home from work (Toyota Corp) sick to the stomach with the stories she hears from the migrant labour pool - everyday? Why hasn't anyone (until recently) done anything about Ishihara (I am really targeting Japanese citizens here)?

[6810]

[Captain Onigiri]

I don't mean this in any accusatory way but AndyH, could you define the term you used in your last post, '"white" Native American'. It might just be where I come from but in my lexicon "white" and "Native American" are opposite terms. White means European descent and Native American are what Americans called Indians twenty years ago. I ask because it would seem how you define that term changes the meaning of your post.

If being a non-racist country is a qualification for being a permanent member of the Security Council then I don't think any country could be a member. The US has a history of lynchings and there certainly is a reason that African-Americans still bear the brunt of poverty to this day. The UK has had its Braxton (it was in Braxton, right?) race riots, China and Russia have no better record, if not worse with its minority populations. Japan shouldn't be held to higher standards than anyone else. Having another race represented permantly on the council would seem to me to be a good thing. It's too European culture dominated as it is. A bigger mix of Confucian ideals would be good.

[AndyH]

Admittedly, my Japanese leaves a lot to be desired. After 2.5 years in this country, I still have a lot to learn, regarding the language as well as the culture.
I'm not trying to whitewash this place. Japan definitely has its faults, and the level of xenophobia here is greater than many other places.
I've lived, worked, and travelled in 25 countries outside my own, and from my experience, I've seen some level of bigotry amongst nearly all peoples.
I am also married to a Japanese woman, and she is definitely more critical of this country than I am.
I suppose some of my feeling comes from having arrived in Japan directly from South Korea, where hostility was much more accepted and in peoples' faces. I know I shouldn't make comparisons between the two cultures, but sometimes it's difficult!

[AndyH]

Captain Onigiri, to answer your question, I am White, but part Native American. My father is half-Cherokee. I don't look like I'm part Indian, but culturally, it had a significant influence on me growing up.

[osakajojo]

[6810]

[quote="osakajojo"]

[Mark]

The UNSC thing is tough because I don't know that any country really deserves a seat. Back in the day, the only countries that really deserved to be on it were the USA and the USSR because if they seriously disagreed with something then the s^^t could really hit the fan. The other countries, China, France, the UK didn't have that kind of international clout following the war. The same goes for the new applicant countries.

The new purpose for the UNSC (now that there's no big enemy), seems to be just to maintain international peace and security. Therefore, members would have to be prepared to be global leaders and to participate in security operations when necessary. Japan basically just gives money. I don't know that you can buy a seat on the Council like that. It's kind of hard to imagine Japan taking serious, definitive stands on international issues.

But Japan is a significant world country, so if the council is going to be expanded, then I don't see why Japan should be excluded. Perhaps the problem is that the UNSC doesn't have a clear mission or membership standards.

[Mark]

As for Japan's racism, I don't know what else there is to say. There's racism everywhere and that's the way the world is. Eventually, over time, it'll be largely eliminated. I honestly believe that. But it's going to take some time.

As time goes by and Japan becomes more international, things will improve.

[6810]

[Brooks]

Japan pays about 20% of the UN`s budget while China pays 1%.
I think Japan deserves a seat a the Security Council. I also think an African country should be a member, too.
Most of the wars take place in Africa, and Nigeria can act as a mediator.

[osakajojo]

Blackface was the conduit through which African American and African American-influenced music, comedy and dance first reached the American mainstream. Standard, early jazz tunes included numerous numbers such as "The Darktown Strutters Ball", a song about the slave cakewalk tradtion, and "The Birth of the Blues". Even into the '50s, R&B artists from Louis Jordan (in, for example, "Saturday Night Fish Fry") to the Dominoes (in "The Deacon is Moving In") harkened back to minstrelsy. A lot of vaudeville shtick, as well as its earlies comedians, musicians and actors, were transplants from the blackface minstrel tradition�among them Laugh-In's Pigmeat Markham

Country music and humor, too, were deeply influenced by blackface minstrelsy. According to Dale Cockrell's account in The Encyclopedia of Country Music, many traditional hillbilly fiddle tunes, including "Turkey in the Straw" and Old Dan Tucker came from minstrelsy, as did much of the format and content of the (still running) Grand Ole Opry radio show. In part because of the popularity of blackface minstrelsy, the banjo, which is African American in origin, became a standard feature of country and blue grass music. Cockrell notes that Hee Haw"in structure, humor, characterization, and, in many ways, music, was a minstrel show in 'rube face'"

The black folk institution of the barbershop quartet was enthusiastically adopted by whites, to the point where its black origins were virtually forgotten, only to be rediscovered by musicologists in the 1990s.

White performers have continued to emulate black performers out of genuine admiration and out of recognition of the power, appeal and commercial viability of African American cultural expression. Bobby Darin, Frankie Laine, Johnnie Ray, Elvis Presley, Bill Haley and his Comets, Roy Orbison, Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, Dusty Springfield, Janis Joplin, Tom Jones and many more widely are recognized as mimicking African-American performance styles in vocal techniques, musical styling, dance, stage presence and persona (see cool, hip, hipster).

Indeed, allusions to and appropriation of African American performance traditions are virtually standard for rock and roll and pop music, not only at their beginnings, but up to the present day. Black-influenced style is a constant presence in the work of artists across the musical spectrum� from the crooners (i.e., Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, and Peggy Lee) to the blue-eyed soul of the Righteous Brothers; to The Who and Led Zeppelin's blues/rock appropriations in the 1970s, which developed into heavy metal such as Van Halen and Guns n' Roses; to the vocal stylings of Hall and Oates and the careful, formulaic emulation of New Edition by New Kids on the Block in the late 1980s, which spawned the white boy bands of the 1990s such as the Backstreet Boys, *NSYNC and 98 Degrees; to Eric Clapton's blues guitar; to such white rappers as Eminem, Kid Rock, and Vanilla Ice; to vocalists like Michael McDonald, Joss Stone, Teena Marie, Justin Timberlake, Pink, Michael Bolton, Kelly Clarkson, and Christina Aguilera.

The international imprint of African-American cultural expression is pronounced in its depth and breadth, in a myriad of blatantly mimetic, as well as subtler, more attenuated forms. This "browning", � la Richard Rodriguez, of American and world popular culture arguably began with blackface minstrelsy. It is a continuum of pervasive African American influence that is, perhaps, most evident today in the ubiquity of the cool aesthetic and hip-hop culture.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackface[url][/url]

[Captain Onigiri]

I might be pointing out the obvious but just to make sure everyone knows... there is the UN Security Council and there are the permanent members of the UN Security Council. Countries that are on the Security Council permanently are the US, the UK, France, Russia and China. There are other slots on the council and they rotate through the other member countries of the UN. Only the permanent members of the SC have veto power. I'll admit my ignorance in that I don't know if Japan's bid for permanent member includes veto power. Does anyone know that information?
It's amazing how we can lose track of the roots of our culture and where things come from. I also think we don't realise how racist the English language can be. We have exorcised the more obvious terms and phrases (most of which probably shouldn't be discussed here) but there are others that the etymology isn't in our consciousness enough realise their racist origins. For example, my father kissed my mother good-bye every morning and said he was off to the cotton fields. It wasn't until I was in college that I ever realised that it was refering to slavery. ( I was a slow child).