One Of Japan's Ugly Sides (56K Warning)

[equalsign]

Very interesting. Thanks for the info.

[MrPopo]

Swastikas were also present in various eastern religions as signs of peace and well being long before the Nazis started using it.

Isn't it that the Nazis used a mirrored version of the common eastern swastika? That's why there wasn't a huge uproar when you look at Zelda dungeon 3 and realize it's a swastika.

[Dakinggamer87]

Thanks for sharing these photos and your observations. They're very enlightening. I can understand the amount of time/work it takes to share this with everyone. I enjoy learning/knowing more about other countries/cultures.

Another forum that I check out from time to time (assemblergames), they have a whole sub-forum devoted to Japan. Fascinating stuff.

In my industry (software development), I commonly work with folks from India. I enjoy chatting with them to know more what the country is like and in what ways the US is different.

Yeah, much appreciated thanks for sharing the information and great pics. Thanks for the glimpse into more of Japan...

[HeavyMetalMe]

They were the typical anime geek types who come to Japan so they can brag to their anime cliques back home, so I was kinda hoping they would get theirs.

That's not cool. Kinda an elitist attitude to have.

I'm all for that.

Great post.

I don't understand how people can take them seriously when they're website's intro is some tacky, cliche metal riff.

[lisalover1]

America tried isolationism to a degree with the Munroe Doctrine, and it didn't work out that well at all; being one. Both these are examples of how extremism for any side of political ground is a bad idea. Forcing one's beliefs on others is never justified, and is usually regarded [especially in retrospect] as a major mistake. A good government should strive to encompass as many different political ideas as possible, while maintaining core values. Extremism focuses on a single set of ideas, so significantly fewer people are represented. That's my opinion, but I'm not forcing it on anybody. As the French satirist Voltaire said, "I do not believe in what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it." As soon as people start going outside the law, then it is not justified. The Uyoku appear to be an example of this. I cannot give an accurate opinion since I have not had any experience in seeing them, but from what Hashiriya1 has said, I think I can safely say that the Uyoku are certainly asshats.

[slag]

Doesn't looking at american cars make you forget all of our country's problems?

It would if our problems didn't involve the car companys so much

(they honor their war dead, we honor ours)

Young men fight old men's wars. Its too bad that the emperor or prime minister of japan don't give a speech well visiting the shrine saying they are honoring the faceless soldiers and not the villains. That might cause other countries to not complain as much.
Makes me glad to live in America where we can visit Arlington and Snelling(my local military cemetery) without raising an international ruckus.

As far as military in Japan is concerned, I was under the impression that that was something slowly gaining momentum within Japanese politics, regardless of its connection to the uyoku. I had heard that certain members of the LDP were favoring it, and so do some Americans because it would mean a more apparent force to help back American forces in the region if something were to occur with China, Russia, or North Korea. Some Americans are also expressing a desire to keep nuclear arsenals in Japan so we could strike quickly if North Korea made a move with its weapons(as it has threatened to do offensively). I highly doubt that the Japanese would ever allow nuclear weapons in their country, however. Of course, I've also heard North Korea claim we still had nuclear arsenals in South Korea(we pulled them out around 1992 with the collapse of the Soviet Union), as well as in Japan.

Every country wants to have a military. It's part of being a country.

As for the US needing japan to help with N. Korea, I don't think we really need them. Conventional warfare would involve fighting in the DMZ between the two Koreas, so there wouldn't be a need for japan to get involved. If it was a nuclear exchange, the USA could hit N. Korea with ICBMs, aircraft, submarines, or any of the above.

"Could you hold on to these nukes for us" wouldn't be the most sensitive thing for us to say to the country we used said weapons on.

And for the record, the Nazis weren't right-wing. They were socialists, of the National Socialist party, believing in state-controlled industry...

Swastikas were also present in various eastern religions as signs of peace and well being long before the Nazis started using it.

accurate history on the Internet. Must be a first time for everything.

[jfrost]

It seems to me that these xenophobic groups are strengthened by default with Japan's immigration policy. They would benefit from more racial miscegenation. But I digress.

hashiriya1, for how long have you been living over there? What do you do for a living?

[jfrost]

America tried isolationism to a degree with the Munroe Doctrine, and it didn't work out that well at all;

Monroe Doctrine was actually the very opposite of isolationism. It was the institutionalization of American political influence over Latin America.

As the French satirist Voltaire said, "I do not believe in what you say, but I defend to the death your right to say it."

For the record, Voltaire never said that.

[lisalover1]

Are you sure? I thought the Monroe Doctrine was to end relations with Europe. Wikipedia said this: "The Monroe Doctrine was a United States policy introduced on December 2, 1823, which said that further efforts by European governments to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed by the United States of America as acts of aggression requiring US intervention.[1] The Monroe Doctrine asserted that the Western Hemisphere was not to be further colonized by European countries, and that the United States would not interfere with existing European colonies nor in the internal concerns of European countries."

Also, you're right, Voltaire never said that, Francois Marie Arouet did.

[Niode]

Every country wants to have a military. It's part of being a country.

Ahem