{"id":13347,"date":"2015-05-30T04:49:34","date_gmt":"2015-05-30T14:49:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13347"},"modified":"2015-06-05T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2015-06-06T00:51:09","slug":"debito-org-newsletter-may-31-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13347","title":{"rendered":"DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER MAY 31, 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>eBooks, Books, and more from Dr. ARUDOU, Debito (click on icon):<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11452\" title=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/Guidebookcover.jpg\" alt=\"Guidebookcover.jpg\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11335\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/04\/japaneseonlyebookcovertext-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"japaneseonlyebookcovertext\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/handbook.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1298\" title=\"Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Handbook2ndEdcover.jpg\" alt=\"Handbook for Newcomers, Migrants, and Immigrants to Japan\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/inappropriate.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8577\" title=\"inappropriatecoverthumb150x226\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/03\/inappropriatecoverthumb150x226.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/japaneseonly.html#japanese\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-1700\" title=\"jobookcover\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/05\/jobookcover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinemabstruso.de\/strawberries\/main.html\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2735\" title=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/03\/sourstrawberriesavatar.jpg\" alt=\"sourstrawberriesavatar\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?cat=32\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4921\" title=\"debitopodcastthumb\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/debitopodcastthumb.jpg\" alt=\"debitopodcastthumb\" width=\"100\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=12473\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-12474\" src=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/FodorsJapan2014cover-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"FodorsJapan2014cover\" width=\"75\" height=\"100\" \/><\/a><br \/>\nUPDATES ON TWITTER: arudoudebito<br \/>\nDEBITO.ORG PODCASTS on iTunes, subscribe free<br \/>\n&#8220;LIKE&#8221; US on Facebook at <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/debitoorg<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants\">http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/handbookimmigrants<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/JapaneseOnlyTheBook<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate\">https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/BookInAppropriate<\/a><br \/>\nIf you like what you read and discuss on Debito.org, please consider helping us stop hackers and defray maintenance costs with a little donation via my webhoster:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dreamhost.com\/donate.cgi?id=17701\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/secure.newdream.net\/donate4.gif\" alt=\"Donate towards my web hosting bill!\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<i>All donations go towards website costs only. Thanks for your support!<\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong>DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER MAY 31, 2015<\/strong><br \/>\n<em><strong> Table of Contents:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>HOW BAD IT\u2019S GETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1) \u00a0Arimura Haruko, Minister for the Empowerment of Women: Immigration is a \u201cPandora\u2019s Box\u201d, offers weird Team Abe arguments to justify<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 2) \u00a0Online media outlet Japan Today acquired by right-wing Fuji Media Holdings, meaning Japan Times is last E-media news organization independent of J-media conglomerates<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 3) \u00a0J Times Kingston on Abe\u2019s intimidation of media: You know it\u2019s getting bad when even apologist bigot Gregory Clark complains about Rightists targeting him<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 4) \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Dejima Award #6 to Mishima Village, Kagoshima Prefecture, for subsidizing outsiders to move and live there \u2014 unless they are foreign<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 5) \u00a0Japan at Expo Milano 2015: Official display claims Japan is a land of \u201charmonious diversity\u201d (in English). SRSLY? Yep. Let\u2019s parse.<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> 6) \u00a0Tangent: NYT Op-Ed: Foreigners Are Attacking \u2026 American TV, within US TV programs. Contrast with Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u2026 and finally \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>7) \u00a0Japan Times JBC 87 May 4, 2015: Interview with M.G. Sheftall: \u201cJapan-U.S. effort to tell Kamikaze suicide pilots\u2019 stories dodges controversy, wins praise\u201d<\/strong><br \/>\n\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p>By Dr. ARUDOU, Debito (<a href=\"mailto:debito@debito.org\">debito@debito.org<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/\">www.debito.org<\/a>, Twitter @arudoudebito)<br \/>\nFreely Forwardable<\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>HOW BAD IT\u2019S GETTING<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>1) \u00a0Arimura Haruko, Minister for the Empowerment of Women: Immigration is a \u201cPandora\u2019s Box\u201d, offers weird Team Abe arguments to justify<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Now let\u2019s get to the narrative by Team Abe on immigration. Despite calling for the expansion of the officially-sanctioned system of often-slavery that the \u201cTrainee\u201d Program constitutes (even cynically saying that we need cheap temporary foreign labor for constructing the 2020 Olympics), and the recognized need for caregivers below, we have a government official below charged with empowering people (a worthy goal in itself) also advocating the disempowerment of others \u2014 not giving people who would be contributing to Japan any stake in its society.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s one thing. Another is how this Minister for the Empowerment of Women Arimura Haruko is justifying this organized disenfranchisement of NJ. Despite being married to a NJ herself, she uses him as a fulcrum (his family in Malaysia forcing their Indonesian nanny to sleep on the floor), alleging that mistreatment of immigrants is something that naturally happens (okay, without their proper enfranchisement, yes) and that it would be \u201cunthinkable in Japan\u201d (oh, is she as a government official ignorant of the much bigger abuses of that \u201cTrainee\u201d program that have been going on for more than two decades)?<\/p>\n<p>Completing the effect of working backwards from preset conclusions, Arimura then brings the song home by blaming foreigners for their own disenfranchisement: alleging their terroristic tendencies (a common trope for the past decade since PM Koizumi in 2005), and how bringing them here would be a \u201cPandora\u2019s Box\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Bloomberg: Japan should fix its shrinking workforce by enabling women to work, before turning to the \u2018Pandora\u2019s box\u2019 of immigration, the country\u2019s minister for the empowerment of women said in an interview last week. Haruko Arimura, a 44-year-old mother of two, said Japan must act fast to change a trend that could otherwise see the workforce decline by almost half by 2060. But she warned if immigrants were mistreated \u2014 something she\u2019d witnessed overseas \u2014 it raised the risk of creating resentment in their ranks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cMany developed countries have experienced immigration,\u201d she said in her Tokyo office. \u201cThe world has been shaken by immigrants who come into contact with extremist thinking like that of ISIL, bundle themselves in explosives and kill people indiscriminately in the country where they were brought up,\u201d Arimura said. \u201cIf we want to preserve the character of the country and pass it on to our children and grandchildren in better shape, there are reforms we need to carry out now to protect those values.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13314\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13314<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>2) \u00a0Online media outlet Japan Today acquired by right-wing Fuji Media Holdings, meaning Japan Times is last E-media news organization independent of J-media conglomerates<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Something rather important happened within Japan\u2019s English-language media landscape last month, and it\u2019s only now starting (after some prodding) to come to light: Another NJ media voice has been absorbed by Japanese conglomerates: Japan Today, an online media outlet founded in 2001 by NJ.<\/p>\n<p>This matters. Back in the 1990s we had a number of other outlets employing NJ reporters and offering a degree of news that served and spoke to the NJ communities in Japan (those that read English, anyway). Since then almost all of them have withered or winked out. Left-leaning Mainichi Shimbun succumbed to economic pressures and made its English-language daily into an online-only outlet that is a mere shadow publication (moreover succumbed to the pressure of online trolls by crucifying their reporters who dared translate scandalous Japanese tabloid media for their popular WaiWai column). The Centrist-Right Asahi Evening News, to bust their unionizing NJ employees, fired all of their reporters and now merely offers a translation service for what they write in Japanese (their presses closed down completely in 2010). Rightist Yomiuri Shinbun whitewashed itself by recently changing its name of its English-language publication from Daily Yomiuri to the anodyne and root-free The Japan News,\u00a0and since it takes any criticism of Japan by a NJ as a personal affront, it basically marginalized its English-langauge staff into writing book reviews and fluff pieces before Asahi-ing them into proofreaders also. The last major national news outlet, the Sankei Shinbun, never bothered projecting their farther-right views into English. Until now, when it bought up Japan Today.<\/p>\n<p>That just leaves the Japan Times as a serious news outlet outside of Japanese conglomerate control. I am proud to be amongst their ranks as a columnist pushing for media independence from a current political milieu under PM Abe increasingly intolerant of criticism. But even they have seen their Community Pages drop from four days per week to two. So support your Japan Times however and whenever you can, everyone. They\u2019re all that are left, and if they get absorbed, it\u2019s pretty clear that they\u2019ll just become a mouthpiece for the Japanese corporate narrative all over again.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13286\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13286<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>3) \u00a0J Times Kingston on Abe\u2019s intimidation of media: You know it\u2019s getting bad when even apologist bigot Gregory Clark complains about Rightists targeting him<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>JT: \u201c[Government officials] have become more numerous, blatant and unapologetic,\u201d [US-based journalist Ayako Doi] says, adding that the government is targeting both Japanese and non-Japanese critics alike. Japan Times columnist Gregory Clark says the atmosphere of intimidation has become exceptionally \u201cugly,\u201d attributing it to a \u201cright-wing rebound and revenge.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u201cSomething strange is going on,\u201d he says, citing recent attacks on progressive media. \u201cParticularly given that Tokyo keeps talking about its value identification with the West.\u201d [\u2026] Clark himself was publicly defamed for his alleged anti-Japanese views because he raised some questions about government and media representations concerning the North Korean abductions of Japanese nationals. Following that, he says his university employer received a cascade of threatening letters demanding he be sacked. \u201cRequests to write articles for the magazines and newspapers I had long known dried up,\u201d Clark says. \u201cInvitations to give talks on Japan\u2019s lively lecture circuit died overnight. One of Japan\u2019s largest trading companies abruptly canceled my already-announced appointment as outside board director with the vague excuse of wanting to avoid controversy.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMENT<\/strong>: That\u2019s how bad it\u2019s getting for NJ in Japan \u2014 even the worm has turned. But given the history of fabrications, profiteering from pandering, and columns so bigoted and xenophobic (one entitled \u201cAntiforeigner discrimination is a right for Japanese people\u201d, and another essentially denying racism in Japan) that one had to be deleted from the Japan Times archives), I\u2019m not sure you have a leg to stand on here, Greg. After all, isn\u2019t discriminating against you a right for Japanese people? You made your bed, now sleep in it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13316\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13316<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>4) \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Dejima Award #6 to Mishima Village, Kagoshima Prefecture, for subsidizing outsiders to move and live there \u2014 unless they are foreign<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As Japan\u2019s depopulation proceeds and the countryside continues to empty out, we have seen ruralities offering FREE land if people will only build, move, and live there. Now we have another place offering even more generous terms. From The Japan Times, May 25, 2015: \u201cThe village of Mishima, composed of the small islands of Takeshima, Iojima and Kuroshima, has been trying to lure people to move there by offering the choice of a calf or a \u00a5500,000 lump sum, plus another \u00a5100,000 to help with moving expenses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But then\u2026 \u201cOf all the emails the village received in the two-week period between the end of April and mid-May, 90 percent came from Serbians, Croatians and Brazilians, a local official said Monday,.. The official said that eventually, for various reasons, the village decided not to accept any of the applicants\u2026 \u201cPeople are not aware that life here is not as simple as they imagined,\u201d he said, adding that the language barrier may lead to problems of communication.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oh. Suddenly, life there is tough. So tough they\u2019ll turn people away, sight unseen. If those people happen to be foreign. How open-minded. I assume the next argument will be that if the place becomes overrun with foreigners, they will vote to secede from Japan. Seriously, this argument has been made before. So allow me to award the Village of Mishima in Kagoshima Prefecture a coveted\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Dejima Award, granted only to those who display eye-blinkingly stupefying bigotry and closed-mindedness that defies all logic, reason, and entreaty.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13327\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13327<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>5) \u00a0Japan at Expo Milano 2015: Official display claims Japan is a land of \u201charmonious diversity\u201d (in English). SRSLY? Yep. Let\u2019s parse.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>An interesting exercise in propaganda is Japan\u2019s display at the Expo 2015, currently underway in Milano, Italy. It is a useful exercise to parse out the themes, memes, and dialectic within the display, as it is a good example of how Japan officially wants to be seen by the outside world. For example, chew on this word salad (the Exhibit Message) and digest the tropes:<\/p>\n<p>====================================<br \/>\n<strong><em>Japan\u2019s agriculture, which coexists with nature, cherishing all forms of life. Japan\u2019s nutritionally balanced diet, as represented by the traditional menu of \u201cone soup, three dishes\u201d that is rich with diverse fermented foods and plant proteins. Japan\u2019s cherished food culture, produced and nurtured by tradition and innovation. Building upon the spirit of mutual respect and appreciation of coexisting diversity, we will creatively address global issues to pioneer a bright future.<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n====================================<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s amazingly easy to poke holes in, even before we get to calling Japan \u201cdiverse\u201d. The government makes its case, and I perforate away in this blog entry. Opening:<\/p>\n<p>====================================<br \/>\n<strong><em>Scene \u2161\u3000DIVERSITY<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n<strong><em> \u25cf The diversity and additional development of Japan\u2019s agriculture, food, and food culture<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>There is a great variety of agriculture in the world, with diverse food to match. Similarly in Japan, unique agriculture, food and food cultures have been cultivated in the various regions according to weather and climate, with additional developments based on learning from the world. In this zone, visitors will fully realize the diversity of Japan and the world by taking in an overview of more than 1000 content items related to agriculture, food and food culture\u2026<\/em><\/strong><br \/>\n====================================<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13296\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13296<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong>6) \u00a0Tangent: NYT Op-Ed: Foreigners Are Attacking \u2026 American TV, within US TV programs. Contrast with Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In a previous blog entry, I mentioned the disenfranchisement of foreigners from Japanese media (with Fuji buying up Japan Today), and my upcoming book (out in November) will discuss further the effects of that in terms of tolerance of difference and counteracting public defamation. As a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Tangent, let\u2019s contrast this with the degree of access that foreigners in America have to influence the domestic narrative and talking points. I don\u2019t know how unusual this is on a country-to-country scale (<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Readers are welcome to mention the foreign anchors\/pundits holding court outside the US and Japan), but given the influence that American media has worldwide, this is not a small matter. The NYT does a survey:<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>NYT: American late-night television shows have probably never had so many anchors with foreign accents as they will have soon. Trevor Noah, a South African comedian, will become at least the third non-American native to host a popular TV comedy show later this year when he takes over \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d from Jon Stewart. He will join two Britons, John Oliver of HBO\u2019s \u201cLast Week Tonight\u201d and James Corden, who recently started hosting \u201cThe Late Late Show\u201d on CBS.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13183\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13183<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\u2026 and finally \u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>7) \u00a0Japan Times JBC 87 May 4, 2015: Interview with M.G. Sheftall: \u201cJapan-U.S. effort to tell Kamikaze suicide pilots\u2019 stories dodges controversy, wins praise\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE JAPAN TIMES: ISSUES | JUST BE CAUSE<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Japan-U.S. effort to tell suicide pilots\u2019 stories dodges controversy, wins praise<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> BY DR. DEBITO ARUDOU. MAY 3, 2015<\/strong><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/community\/2015\/05\/03\/issues\/japan-u-s-effort-tell-suicide-pilots-stories-dodges-controversy-wins-praise\/\">http:\/\/www.japantimes.co.jp\/community\/2015\/05\/03\/issues\/japan-u-s-effort-tell-suicide-pilots-stories-dodges-controversy-wins-praise\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Dr. M.G. Sheftall, professor of modern Japanese history at Shizuoka University and author of \u201cBlossoms in the Wind: Human Legacies of the Kamikaze,\u201d was in Honolulu last month for the dedication of a temporary exhibition about the Tokk\u014d kamikaze suicide pilots aboard the battleship USS Missouri, the site of Japan\u2019s surrender at the end of World War II. JBC sat down for an interview with Dr. Sheftall about the kamikaze phenomenon and what makes this exhibition unique.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Q: So, what\u2019s going on here?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>You\u2019ve witnessed something very historic, because the exhibit is the first about any kind of Japanese military activity in the modern era ever held outside of Japan with Japanese cooperation \u2014 in this case, with the Chiran Peace Museum on the kamikaze in southern Kyushu.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>What makes the USS Missouri an especially relevant venue is that it is to my knowledge only one of two still-existing ships \u2014 the other being the USS Intrepid \u2014 that were actually hit by kamikaze during the war. The USS Missouri was hit on April 12, 1945, exactly 70 years ago.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>There\u2019s a feel-good aspect to this story \u2014 very hard to do when you\u2019re talking about kamikaze attacks. The bomb on the plane that hit the Missouri did not detonate. The wreckage spilled onto the deck and amidst that was the pilot\u2019s remains. When the crew was putting out the fire, the initial reaction had been to hose his remains off the deck. But the captain of the USS Missouri, William Callaghan, announced to the crew: \u201cNo, we\u2019re going to give him a proper military burial. Now that he\u2019s dead, he\u2019s not the enemy anymore. He\u2019s just another human being, like you and me, who died for his country.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>The next day the crew formed on deck to consign their fallen former enemy to the depths with full naval honors. They even made a Japanese flag shroud from old unused signal flags.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>I think that\u2019s a nice story. If there can be some recognition of humanity even in such circumstances, that shows hope for human beings in an otherwise insane and irrational situation dominated by hatred and fear.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Q: How many ships were sunk in the kamikaze campaigns?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13288\">https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=13288<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s all for this month. \u00a0Thanks for reading!<br \/>\nDr. ARUDOU, Debito at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a><br \/>\n<strong><a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">DEBITO.ORG<\/a>\u00a0NEWSLETTER MAY 31, 2015 ENDS<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Table of Contents:<br \/>\nHOW BAD IT\u2019S GETTING<br \/>\n1) \u00a0Arimura Haruko, Minister for the Empowerment of Women: Immigration is a \u201cPandora\u2019s Box\u201d, offers weird Team Abe arguments to justify<br \/>\n2) \u00a0Online media outlet Japan Today acquired by right-wing Fuji Media Holdings, meaning Japan Times is last E-media news organization independent of J-media conglomerates<br \/>\n3) \u00a0J Times Kingston on Abe\u2019s intimidation of media: You know it\u2019s getting bad when even apologist bigot Gregory Clark complains about Rightists targeting him<br \/>\n4) \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/debito.org\/\">Debito.org<\/a>\u00a0Dejima Award #6 to Mishima Village, Kagoshima Prefecture, for subsidizing outsiders to move and live there \u2014 unless they are foreign<br \/>\n5) \u00a0Japan at Expo Milano 2015: Official display claims Japan is a land of \u201charmonious diversity\u201d (in English). SRSLY? Yep. Let\u2019s parse.<br \/>\n6) \u00a0Tangent: NYT Op-Ed: Foreigners Are Attacking \u2026 American TV, within US TV programs. Contrast with Japan.<br \/>\n\u2026 and finally \u2026<br \/>\n7) \u00a0Japan Times JBC 87 May 4, 2015: Interview with M.G. Sheftall: \u201cJapan-U.S. effort to tell Kamikaze suicide pilots\u2019 stories dodges controversy, wins praise\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13347","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=13347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}