2008-09-22, 22:42 | Link #42 | |
( ಠ_ಠ)
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Somewhere, between the sacred silence and sleep
|
Quote:
However, if you mean Korea, I have to disagree. Korean peninsula has undergone many cultural mixes and reassembly, as well as language, due its neighbhours, and was nowhere near as secluded and self-indulged as the Japanese islands. Which is a good thing, IMO, for a healthy progress of a nation's upbringing. Preservation of a single culture is fine and all, but I think having healthy dose of mix through its history is much healthier for a nation in this globalization era of mankind.
__________________
|
|
2008-09-22, 23:11 | Link #43 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Neo-Venezia...I wish!
|
Reading manga is a perfectly normal thing to do even for "mainstream" adults in Japan. Whether Taro Aso collects plastic is a whole different game so I wouldn't exactly call him an "otaku" with the information we have.
I have to concede there is truth in Aso's comments that Japan has indeed been relatively secluded culturally and even today, the assimilation-nature of "mainstream" culture in Japan continues this. He just seems to have a Japanese superiority attitude which is actually rather common in the world but having one as assertive as him is not very nice. But then, I don't believe in superior/inferior, the concept of nations and the whole deal about dying for your country, which explains my qualms.
__________________
|
2008-09-22, 23:14 | Link #44 | |
神聖カルル帝国の 皇帝
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Korea
Age: 37
|
Quote:
Now, aside from the nationalist comments: How long will Aso survive? Will he be another Koizumi, or an Abe? (I know that he isn't a princling like Abe, but then, he doesn't have complete backing of the LDP, does he?) |
|
2008-09-22, 23:25 | Link #45 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
|
Quote:
By the way, can we please drop any dispute about whether Japan or Korea is more racially pure? It's both tedious and inappropriate for this topic. And Kang Seung Jae, the world really won't end if you don't insert your brand of Korean nationalism into every political thread you enter.
__________________
|
|
2008-09-22, 23:41 | Link #46 | |
神聖カルル帝国の 皇帝
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Korea
Age: 37
|
Quote:
I rarely do that, don't I? |
|
2008-09-22, 23:51 | Link #47 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
|
Quote:
But it helps a lot to have that "has had"..... Yeah, I give him less than a year ... and I'll also wager that the Japanese voters may actually start to be getting a little pissed at that point. They don't seem to care if there's graft or insider "good old boy" ... but let the infrastructure run rough at the rails long enough and well, now *that* will be interesting to watch if they do. Status quo, applecart, oxen everywhere...
__________________
|
|
2008-09-23, 09:06 | Link #50 |
Translator, Producer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 44
|
The prevailing opinion in my physics department is that the LDP will lose the majority in the lower house after the election, however they will still be the largest fraction and will be forced into a power sharing agreement with the coalition of oppositions parties (or perhaps one or two of the opposition parties that are currently allied to oppose the LDP but will most likely split up if there will be a power sharing agreement).
This has happened once before (in the 70s, I think?) in modern japanese political history but no one knows exactly what sort of ruling coalition will come out of it. It depends a lot on just how poorly the LDP does... if they just lose the majority by a bit than they will be able to mostly control things in a ruling coalition, however if they are severely weakened then they may have to make large number of concessions, e.g. let the prime minister be from another party, etc. As a progress thing goes this is actually a good thing, since hopefully whatever coalition is formed will then have a majority in both houses and progress can be made by compromise within the coalition.
__________________
|
2008-09-24, 16:27 | Link #52 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
|
Race is simply an exercise of how far you want to go back in history to differentiate your particular group. Go back far enough, and every human being is from the same "race." Go back a little less than that, and we actually belong to one of five "races" (Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Dravidic, Austronesian, Negroid). Go back even less than that, and we might subdivide that list further by language (Sino-Tibetan, Altaitc, etc.) Even less, we can add in some culture, nationalism, and modern politics. And finally, might as well consider your direct family lines, since it's more likely than not that you're a mix of some kind.
In Aso's case, "race" is clearly used more as a modern designation of ethnicity than a historical definition of ancestry. Japan is very mixed. All of East Asia is. South Koreans and Japanese arguing who's more "pure" is sheer hilarity, but even more hilarious is the frequent attempt to use modern genetic studies to "prove" political viewpoints. People have to realize that all of modern anthropology is a work-in-progress. Nobody knows for sure how the various migrations happened, and all the current population studies are more or less incomplete. Maybe in a hundred years we can have a clearer picture of who's related to who, but even then, I suspect, this whole "race" controversy will not end - simply because race, as I said earlier, is a politically-motivated cutoff of a certain moment in human history. |
2008-09-24, 17:55 | Link #53 |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
|
A great deal of "accepted theory" in anthropology was bashed beyond recognition as soon as the gene trackers started tracing what actually happened and when in the migrations of genes hither and yon.
It was something like when the engineers, biomed people, and physics people started looking at paleontology and what is actually physically required of a working version of a dinosaur.
__________________
|
2008-09-24, 21:17 | Link #55 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
|
Quote:
He doesn't support "otakuism" o.O (that's almost like supporting dysfunctional behavior) ... he does support japanese pop culture and the anime industry since he recognizes it is becoming a globally popular item. In this case, its much more important they get things back on track like public works, pension plans, railway safety, the shortage of gynecologists, how the mentally ill and distressed are identified and handled, and many other bits of "society maintenance required".
__________________
|
|
2008-09-24, 23:07 | Link #56 | |
Translator, Producer
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Age: 44
|
Quote:
Public Works: Moe construction workers! Railway Safety: More Cute Safety Mascots! Shortage of Gynecologists: More Hentai Manga to encourage young doctors to enroll Mental Illness: When everyone is Otaku, no one is mentally ill!
__________________
|
|
2008-09-24, 23:20 | Link #57 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 67
|
Quote:
I did see he appointed a rather attractive young woman to Population Minister... banzai...
__________________
|
|
2008-09-25, 18:19 | Link #60 | |
Easy Operation
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Toronto, Canada
Age: 40
|
Quote:
Too bad if this happens, males could lose more jobs in the long run. |
|
Tags |
japan, politics |
|
|