Japanese Politics

[bhl88]

He's probably the first otaku who's has gotten the highest position. ^o^

[aohige]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

The main reason I hate Aso. Seriously, those ultranationalists ignoring their relatives across the strait.

Well, yeah, I think it's a silly statement to say too. There are other pacific ocean cultures as well as many nations in Africa that shares the same trait.

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.

[X10A_Freedom]

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.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by aohige

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.

I tend to disagree, given that I believe Japan to be more mixed, if we go by your definition.



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?)

[4Tran]

Originally Posted by Kang Seung Jae

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?)

He's the leader of the LDP at a time when the opposition controls the upper house, so he should be just as ineffectual as Abe and Fukuda. Give him about 11 months before he's toast. Unless, of course, the LDP somehow actually loses control of the lower house as well.


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.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by 4Tran

He's the leader of the LDP at a time when the opposition controls the upper house, so he should be just as ineffectual as Abe and Fukuda. Give him about 11 months before he's toast. Unless, of course, the LDP somehow actually loses control of the lower house as well.

Perhaps, but it should be interesting if he manages to use his popularity to get some clout.

Originally Posted by 4Tran

if you don't insert your brand of Korean nationalism into every political thread you enter.

I rarely do that, don't I?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by aohige

Ok, that line is taken way out of context it's not even funny.

He said "Japan is the only country that has had one culture, one civilization, one race, and one language" at the opening ceremony of a cultural museum in Kyushuu.
He did not state in any way, that that is his political goal. It was statement saying Japan has been, for the majority, only one culture in its history.
(In contrast to say, China which is compromised of various mixed east asian culture, race and language, and obviously the "melting pot" of the world America)

That statement is not entirely true, of course, since there were other cultures in Japan (and other nations with the same trait).
But majority of those predates the current Japanese culture, and it still doesn't change the fact that the country's history was comprosed in majority of one culture by a single race.
(the "sakoku" period during the modern times in 19th century no doubt attributed to it also, and postponed the modernization process)

There has been many media... especially in his opposition party and outside of Japan, that only quoted part of that line, to make it look like that was his political goal.
Political pandering makes me sick to the stomach.

Ah.. so its more like the "Japan is fortunate to have four seasons unlike other places" sort of cultural-centrism.
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...

[bhl88]

The culture in Japan has probably been assimilated... as in mixed. The only thing I see is US is a pizza pie of cultures...

@X10A_Freedom: Yeah I know that. But I thought ヲタク are discriminated...

[X10A_Freedom]

Indeed. People who have not assimilated are disciminated and ostracised.

[Quarkboy]

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.

[bhl88]

Yeah but I thought he would be ostracized or something... he is a manga otaku after all... (loves Rozen Maiden) and supports otakuism.

[Lathdrinor]

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.

[Vexx]

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.

[Kang Seung Jae]

Originally Posted by bhl88

Yeah but I thought he would be ostracized or something... he is a manga otaku after all... (loves Rozen Maiden) and supports otakuism.

I believe we have another case of misunderstanding the meaning of otaku.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by bhl88

Yeah but I thought he would be ostracized or something... he is a manga otaku after all... (loves Rozen Maiden) and supports otakuism.

Almost *all* japanese read *manga* (usually those tailored for their age but with lots of overlap). So that alone doesn't an otaku make..... :P

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".

[Quarkboy]

Originally Posted by Vexx

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".

Bah, all those problems can be solved by Otaku-isms!

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!

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Bah, all those problems can be solved by Otaku-isms!

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!

Sounds good to me.... especially the first two....

I did see he appointed a rather attractive young woman to Population Minister... banzai...

[yezhanquan]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Sounds good to me.... especially the first two....

I did see he appointed a rather attractive young woman to Population Minister... banzai...

Would that minister by any chance be Miss Obuchi, daughter of the late Keizo?

[Vexx]

aye, she would be ...

[Sister Princess]

Originally Posted by Quarkboy

Bah, all those problems can be solved by Otaku-isms!

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!

+1 for Question Fairy.

Too bad if this happens, males could lose more jobs in the long run.