{"id":11880,"date":"2013-10-04T00:58:24","date_gmt":"2013-10-04T10:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11880"},"modified":"2013-10-04T11:00:35","modified_gmt":"2013-10-04T21:00:35","slug":"japan-times-just-be-cause-column-68-oct-1-2013-today-triumph-of-tokyo-olympic-bid-sends-wrong-signal-to-japans-resurgent-right-excerpt-and-link-to-article","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=11880","title":{"rendered":"Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 68 Oct 1 2013: “Triumph of Tokyo Olympic bid sends wrong signal to Japan’s resurgent right”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Japan Times JUST BE CAUSE Column 68 Oct 1 2013: <\/strong>
\n“Triumph of Tokyo Olympic bid sends wrong signal to Japan’s resurgent right”<\/strong>
\nBY ARUDOU Debito
\nCourtesy http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/community\/2013\/09\/30\/issues\/triumph-of-tokyo-olympic-bid-sends-wrong-signal-to-japans-resurgent-right\/<\/a>
\nVersion with links to sources<\/p>\n

Blame news cycles, but I\u2019m coming in late to the discussion on Tokyo\u2019s successful bid for the 2020 Olympics. Sorry. The most poignant stuff has already been said, but I would add these thoughts.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably unsurprisingly, I was not a supporter of Tokyo\u2019s candidacy<\/a>. Part of it is because I have a hard time enjoying events where individuals are reduced to national representatives, saddled with the pressure to prove an apparent geopolitical superiority through gold medal tallies. Guess I\u2019m just grouchy about international sports.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That said, this time around, the wheeling and dealing at the International Olympic Committee has been particularly distasteful. Unlike the IOC, I can\u2019t forget Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose\u2019s denigration of fellow candidate city Istanbul for being \u201cIslamic\u201d<\/a> (conveniently playing on widespread Western fears of a religion and linking it to social instability). This was especially ironic given rising xenophobia in Japan, where attendees at right-wing rallies have even called for the killing of ethnic Koreans<\/a> who have lived in and contributed to Japan for generations.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nor can I pretend to ignore the risk of exposing people to an ongoing nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima. Even if you think the science is still unclear on the health effects of radiation in Tohoku, what\u2019s not in doubt is that there will be incredible amounts of pork sunk into white-elephant projects in Japan\u2019s metropole while thousands of people still languish in northern Japan, homeless and dispossessed. When so much work is incomplete elsewhere, this is neither the time nor place for bread and circuses.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

All of this has been said elsewhere, and more eloquently. But for JBC, the most important reason why the Olympics should not come to Japan is because, as I have argued before<\/a>, Japan as a government or society is not mature enough to handle huge international events.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I know, Japan has held three Olympics before (in Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagano), as well as numerous international events (such as the G-8 Summits in Nago and Toyako<\/a>) and one FIFA World Cup. But with each major event it holds, Japan keeps setting precedents that hemorrhage cash and make life miserable for residents<\/a>. Especially those who don\u2019t \u201clook Japanese\u201d \u2014 Japan\u2019s visible minorities.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Media memories tend to be short, so some refreshers: More money was spent on \u201csecurity\u201d at Nago\u2019s G-8 Summit in 1998 than at any previous such powwow \u2014 by a factor of five (\u201cSummit wicked this way comes<\/a>,\u201d Zeit Gist, Apr. 22, 2008). Then Toyako in 2008 spent even more than Nago.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

When you devote this much time and energy to policing, consider the effects on those being policed. As reported on these pages before (I have gone as far as to call Japan a \u201cmild police state<\/a>\u201d), Japan\u2019s police forces have inordinate powers of search, seizure, and detention even at the most mundane of times.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, bring in the eyes of the world for an international event, and Japan\u2019s general bunker mentality produces a control-freak guest\/host relationship, where nothing is left to chance, and nobody will be allowed to spoil the party.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

That means Japan\u2019s authorities get a freer hand to smoosh not only alleged threats to social order, but also dissenters in general. Because our media generally ignores contrarians and naysayers for the sake of putting the best face on Japan for guests, they forget their own duty to act as a check and balance against official over-enforcement and paranoia.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But paranoia tends to peak when there are \u201cforeigners\u201d gadding about. Remember the 2002 World Cup, when politicians, bureaucrats and the media declared open season on \u201cforeigners\u201d (popularizing the word \u201chooligan\u201d among Japanese), justifying enormous budgets and infrastructure to subdue their international guests if necessary?<\/a> (It wasn\u2019t.)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Years later, Toyako slingshot off that precedent, with \u201cforeigners\u201d equated with \u201cterrorists,\u201d further normalizing the act of subjecting any foreign face to extra scrutiny and racial profiling<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Plus, you might recall, Japan still has no law against racial discrimination, so treating foreigners like crap can happen anytime, anywhere, by any vigilante who can scribble \u201cJapanese Only\u201d on a storefront window<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

But wait \u2014 there\u2019s something more sinister afoot. In terms of domestic politics, this was in fact the worst possible time to award Japan the Olympics.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Over the past year, this column has charted the re-ascendance of Japan\u2019s right wing into power, and its rout of the more liberal elements<\/a> who tried to rein in Japan\u2019s endemic corporatism and bigotry.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Now we have government once again run by and for Japan\u2019s ruling class \u2014 i.e., the political families, entrenched bureaucrats, corporate conglomerate heads and hereditary elites<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

These types can only see the world in terms of power. Their forebears cheered loudest when, for example, Japan triumphed in the Russo-Japanese War of 1905. It showed both them and the rest of the world that Japan had become mighty enough to defeat a world power!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This victory transformed Japan into a colonial empire, cocksure that it was on the right track because it could beat white people. This hubris led to enormous suffering worldwide, as the elites led Japanese society to a destiny of total war and utter defeat.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Three generations later, these elites still have not learned their lesson. The biggest reason why Japan\u2019s ruling class respected and once emulated America is because they lost a war to them. Now that postwar Japan has rebuilt and re-enriched itself, they believe it\u2019s nigh time to re-militarize, restore Japan to its rightful place in the geopolitical hierarchy and rally Japanese society behind repeating a glorious (yet ultimately tragic) history.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you read the subtext of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe\u2019s proposals for constitutional reform closely<\/a>, you\u2019ll realize that this is precisely what Japan\u2019s ruling politicians are calling for<\/a>. From that will flow the restored trappings of a prewar-ordered Japanese society.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

And now, these jingoists have had their mind-sets rewarded with an Olympics. What a windfall! Even if Abe were to step down tomorrow (he won\u2019t \u2014 he\u2019s got a good three years left to machinate if his health holds up), he will be remembered positively for bagging the 2020 Games. But now he and his ilk can leverage this victory into convincing the general public that Japan is still somehow on the right track.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Even when it\u2019s not. For the fallout still remains: Abe lied about how \u201csafe\u201d and \u201cunder control\u201d Japan\u2019s nuclear industry is<\/a>. And Japan\u2019s already massive public debt will balloon further out of control. And once again, the invisible slush monies available to fund elite projects will remain unaccountable.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

After all, Japan won its last Olympics, according to Time magazine (\u201cJapan\u2019s sullied bid<\/a>,\u201d Feb. 1, 1999), through blatant corruption and bribery of IOC officials. How much corruption? We don\u2019t know, because Japan burned all of the Nagano Olympics financial records!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Slush clearly didn\u2019t bother the IOC this time either, as they seated themselves at the trough. I guess we can\u2019t expect corrupt bedfellows to police each other. So anyone who outspends, outbids and outdoes their rivals, even to the detriment of their respective societies, gets rewarded for it \u2014 precisely the wrong geopolitical incentives for societies in flux.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In Japan\u2019s case, the damage will be political as well as economic: Everyone must get behind the Olympic effort or else. Then, when the party\u2019s over, remember those who got steamrollered: The people living outside of greedy Tokyo; our non-Japanese residents, who will once again be targeted as a destabilizing force; and the rest of Japanese society, who will have to live under illiberal regimes where individual rights will be further subordinated to the maintenance of social order.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In sum, international events undermine Japan\u2019s democracy. Shame on you, IOC, for being a party to it.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n

Arudou Debito\u2019s updated \u201cGuidebook for Relocation and Assimilation into Japan\u201d is now available as a downloadable e-book on Amazon. See www.debito.org\/handbook.html<\/a>. Twitter @arudoudebito. Just Be Cause appears on the first Community pages of the month. Send your comments on these issues and story ideas to community@japantimes.co.jp.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blame news cycles, but I\u2019m coming in late to the discussion on Tokyo\u2019s successful bid for the 2020 Olympics. Sorry. The most poignant stuff has already been said, but I would add these thoughts.<\/p>\n

Probably unsurprisingly, I was not a supporter of Tokyo\u2019s candidacy. Part of it is because I have a hard time enjoying events where individuals are reduced to national representatives, saddled with the pressure to prove an apparent geopolitical superiority through gold medal tallies. Guess I\u2019m just grouchy about international sports.<\/p>\n

That said, this time around, the wheeling and dealing at the International Olympic Committee has been particularly distasteful. Unlike the IOC, I can\u2019t forget Tokyo Gov. Naoki Inose\u2019s denigration of fellow candidate city Istanbul for being \u201cIslamic\u201d (conveniently playing on widespread Western fears of a religion and linking it to social instability). This was especially ironic given rising xenophobia in Japan, where attendees at right-wing rallies have even called for the killing of ethnic Koreans who have lived in and contributed to Japan for generations.<\/p>\n

Nor can I pretend to ignore the risk of exposing people to an ongoing nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima. Even if you think the science is still unclear on the health effects of radiation in Tohoku, what\u2019s not in doubt is that there will be incredible amounts of pork sunk into white-elephant projects in Japan\u2019s metropole while thousands of people still languish in northern Japan, homeless and dispossessed. When so much work is incomplete elsewhere, this is neither the time nor place for bread and circuses.<\/p>\n

All of this has been said elsewhere, and more eloquently. But for JBC, the most important reason why the Olympics should not come to Japan is because, as I have argued before, Japan as a government or society is not mature enough to handle huge international events…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,33,42,5,4,14,17,53],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-fingerprinting-nj","category-g8-summit","category-human-rights","category-japanese-government","category-japanese-politics","category-sport","category-unsustainable-japanese-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11880","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11880"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11880\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11880"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11880"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11880"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}