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Letter from Japan: Can of Worms
I'll say it again: There is a real racist vein in Japanese culture
By PETER McKILLOP
May
12, 2000
Web posted at 7:00 p.m. Hong Kong time, 7:00 a.m. EDT
Boy did I blow it. My e-mail critics have had a field day making 'wara' of my grammatical faux pas last week. I misplaced an 'a' for an 'e' (Wara Wara vs. Ware Ware) and I am now permanently discredited as a commentator on Japan. A huge gomenasay--just kidding, gomenasai for butchering one of Japan's most cherished concepts.
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As one reader points out, one mistake with Japanese syntax, and the Japanese will "completely and utterly forgo listening to your imploring argument." But wait a second--if one cannot speak perfect Japanese, are they condemned to irrelevance? Please say it ain't so. Do the French completely dismiss people because they can't speak perfect French? Does botching Japanese mean I am a "correspondent commenting on a culture understood only at arm's length," as one e-mail writer commented. Does this mean that after living in Japan for almost a decade that I know nothing about the culture?
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Give me a break. No, the attack on botching 'Ware Ware' is a knee-jerk reaction for those looking for an excuse not to confront the real issue of the column: racism. There is a real racist vein in Japanese culture. No surprise here, given the nation's relative isolation and 2000-year culture (Will I now be attacked for not knowing the exact day Japanese 'culture' began?).
America, Britain, Germany all have their share of racism and cultural xenophobia. But I'm not writing about America. I'm writing about Japan, and I believe, as do many others, that racism in Japan is a real issue just like it is in America, or Germany. Japan must confront this ugly side to an otherwise magnificent culture. I love Japan, particularly Mt. Fuji. I think it's a wonderful place. But do I think that racism is a problem? Absolutely.
America is also a great culture, but it too faces ugly racial issues. But at least in America and Europe, the problem is being confronted. America has been struggling for decades with how it has treated blacks and Native Americans. Germany must cope with its legacy with Jews. Japan must now confront its discrimination towards Koreans, Burakumin and others. (Now, I wanted to find the proper way to spell Burakumin, but realized that I could not ask any Japanese person because no one ever talks about the Burakumin, considered an outcaste class, in Japan.)
In Japan, confronting racism is awkward. Even well-meaning critics get caught up with what I would say are insensitive remarks, showing a clear lack of understanding of racism. Consider this remark from a reader who lambasted me for calling Japan racist: "Could you tell me why most of the Basketball players are African-Americans, why some of the most powerful Investment Banks have Jewish names, and what this has to do with Racism?"
I have a better idea. Since the reader lives in New Haven, Connecticut, why doesn't he go up to the next black American he sees and asks him why "most basketball players are African-Americans?" I'd be curious to hear the response.
The topic of racism is a loaded one. So, in the spirit of collegiality, I would like to reprint perhaps the most sane remarks on the subject that I have read so far. "What Japanese want is economic recovery without changing their values," writes Steve McCarty, a professor at Kagawa Junior College and president of the World Association of Online Education. "Bigotry is not increasing, it is just coming out in the open."
McCarty is absolutely right. Confronting bigotry is the first step towards opening your mind and your border.
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