Friday, September 26, 2008

Cultural Differences, East & West

I've recently come across a great Public Diplomacy blog, MountainRunner, and I really enjoyed the way the information was presented. I'd refer you to the comments section of his blog for any questions on the below; although, of course, feel free to post a comment here.

Blue --> Westerner
Red --> Asian

Opinion
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(more after the fold)

Way of Life
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Punctuality
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Contacts
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Anger
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Queue when Waiting
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Me
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Sundays on the Road
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Party

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In the restaurant

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Stomach Ache
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Travelling
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Handling of Problems
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Three meals a day
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Transportation

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Elderly in day to day life
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Shower timing

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Moods and Weather
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The Boss

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What's Trendy

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The child
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Things that are new

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Perception of each other
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Friday, September 19, 2008

On Japan-China Relations

I've intentionally avoided any writing about Japan-China, or the War in the Pacific (WWII), or security issues in the region because I wanted to find the right feel for this story and to read more and understand better the moment in history that I am entering.

I have a friend living in Sichuan, China as a Peace Corps volunteer and it's begun some interesting conversation. My studies include a lot about Classical Chinese philosophies as well as East Asia and politics in general. As I learn more about the history of this beautiful little island I understand better the forces at work in the world over the past 150 years. If you know the history of Okinawa, you know an-awful-lot about the trajectory of the history of the world in these 150 years.

Recently he and I were discussing the constant call from China (particularly) for the Japanese to apologize for the war crimes committed by the Japanese during the War in the Pacific. The Chinese (as well as Koreans and Taiwanese) feel the Japanese haven't apologized enough - even though there have been at least 45 official apologies from the Japanese. And this got me thinking about that dog of a documentary, Yakusuni.

Below is an excerpt from my email to my friend in China:

Of course, some might like an apology a la Australia's apology to the Aborigines; but what we want and what we need are two different things. There was a recent documentary that was released here called Yasukuni which was hyped as this controversial take on the Meiji Era shrine to the war dead. But it was pretty terrible and offered nothing illuminating on the subject. The central issue, clearly, being that Yasukuni was created in a spirit not so disimilar to the West's adoption of fireworks: after the West had cracked open the region, the Japanese decided they'd better start following the West's lead. They saw that the West had perfected the use of the God-King-State Complex with its various Official Organs. By reinstating the Emperor, they needed the pomp of rituals to whup the poor into a frenzy and literally created the myth of the Emperor-God and what we think of Shinto today. Fortunately for Shinto there are some good books in English being written. Hopefully this message will become clearer in our lifetime.

The war between China and Japan was a long time coming and at the beginning of the 20th century this war was seen as expedient for both countries because China clearly was being crippled by the West and hoped to rally its people once more by beating the Japanese. The Japanese, having watched for millennia, accurately assessed the weakness of China and, just like China, hoping to demonstrate to the West who was the top of the pops, waged a war to create the most favorable conditions for them in the face of the West's world domination plans. Immediately it was the conquering of Okinawa and Taiwan, but by taking Hokkaido, Korea, and Manchuria they hoped to keep Russia, France, Britain, and the U.S. at bay. Of course, the West would have none of that.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Okinawa-shi Mentioned at Okinawa Hai!

I was just looking for some information about if and when this typhoon will be hitting Okinawa and I went to that great resource, Okinawa Hai! and I saw that they had dropped this blog's name.

That was mighty nice of them.


The primary audience of Okinawa Hai! seems to be the military community here and their families and I admire their ability to mobilize their audience to provide content for the site. It's because of this site that I was able to find the only (so far as I can tell) place on the island that offers real, honest-to-god, falafel.

Well, if anyone familiar with Okinawa Hai! reads this, please send my thanks for the hat tip.

Contra Debito Arudou

I sent the following to the Japan Times and it was published on 7 September, 2008:

Strength in cultural differences


By PAUL BOSHEARS
Okinawa

Debito Arudou's assertion in his Sept. 2 article, "The 'gaijin' debate: Arudou responds," that there is any sort of comparison between the words "n--ger" and "gaijin" are strained, pathetic, and causes more harm than good because, at the root, his argument is tawdry and facile.

Arudou's stated desired outcome is to have his Japanese status acknowledged. What would that look like? At a social event, would a recent acquaintance mistakenly call him "Taro" instead of "Debito"? He has been issued a passport and a health-care card, and is entitled to all the benefits the nation offers. The state has given him what he wants. What does Arudou want from me and the readers of this newspaper?

I appreciate that he plays at fighting the good fight, but in this instance he has seriously offended me. Because, let's face it, Arudou doesn't speak for the "n--gers" living in Japan. He is not a champion of the rights of Filipina sex workers who are brutalized here in Okinawa. He is not the defender of Chinese students or third-generation Koreans who still aren't "Japanese."

He wants to champion the cause of newcomers to Japan. But instead of ham-fisted and ugly similes, we need words that can nourish the imagination of the reader -- words that speak to every human being's basic need to be a part of a community predicated on mutual benefit.

In the American tradition, we can look to the poet Robert Frost for these kinds of words. In "The Mending Wall," we read that good fences make good neighbors. It is in our supposed boundaries -- our cultural differences -- that we find the very source of our mutual strength. That we are the inheritors of rich cultural traditions means that we are better able to meet the needs of our communities.