Re: [tlug] (OT) The enigma of Japan

[Raedwolf Summoner <raroofu@example.com>]

> Josh Glover wrote:
> > So far we agree. The only quibble I have with what you are saying is
> > that I don't think it is valuable to dissuade people from reading
> > books before they are "ready" for them. The important stuff keeps
> > bubbling up,

I couldn't agree more, Josh. When I think back to when I was traveling to various countries, working and living outside the US before I settled in Japan, my biggest regret is not boning up much more on the local issues and customs. I believe very few people are so weak-minded as to be convinced of any author's viewpoint (regardless of how insightful or plainly stupid) simply because they "listened" to what he had to say. Many issues we do not become aware of until we have wasted a lot of time and been through a lot that we have not understood when we could have been clued in about the issues early on and found out much more for ourselves firsthand. Reading an author who is "wrong" is not a waste of time. It opens you to the issues he addresses and lets you find out for yourself not only that he was "wrong", but also why. Trying to approach the issues without information so we can be as pure as the driven snow, totally devoid of bias, while a worthwhile goal, seems to me to be a great waste of time and even energy. And face it, you are going to be presented with a lot of far-less-well-reasoned information at the local watering hole. Also, the type of cultural mistakes and misunderstandings you make early on become embarrassing when you see them repeated by those who have not been here as long as you have. E.g., you quite often will not realize when you have been dissed. That may be a plus, but when you diss someone else, especially someone who is too polite to point it out, it does not especially help your career.

Brett Robson wrote:
> After having lived in Hokuriku for a year, and then Aichi for a couple
> then moving to Tokyo I read Dogs and Demons. That is a very negative
> book but put into perspective all the white elephants projects I had
> seen. Apparently what I had seen was replicated all over Japan.

Brett, I generally do not like either negative or fawning books about Japan (or other topics). I thought Alex's book glowed with his love of (pre-modern) Japan just as thoroughly as it found the modern ministries' approaches to be short-sighted and destructive. I think he was over the top in some of his criticism, and this has already been pointed out carefully by many. However, it does read as if it is from a Japanese person's perspective, as I have seen the same sorts of criticism in the Japanese press over the years. One of the interesting things about Dogs and Demons is that Alex carefully took much of his material from Japanese press clippings over a number of years, and he has lived here even longer than I have. The book contains a lot of interesting information. I appreciated it for what I perceived to be its honesty, as well as its desire to affect some of these problems in a positive way. Of the very many books on Japan that I have read and have in my library -- the use of 研究費 does tend to build personal libraries -- I thought Dogs and Demons was one of the better ones. (And I say that not just because Alex quoted me in the book.)

JC Helary wrote:
> I started reading Dogs and Demons a week before the Enron scandal
> started hitting the fan. When Enron was all over the place in the news
> I closed the book. I thought it lacked a great deal of perspective.

Books are necessarily limited in the scope of what they can even attempt to accomplish. Sometimes, though, when we say that a book "lacks perspective" it is a code for saying we don't agree with the author, or that it was not written by someone who shares our political biases. What better reason to read the book, especially if it is widely read and discussed? If we read only what suits our own biases, we surely limit ourselves.

Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> Do they claim that you're *wrong*, or that you *don't/can't
> understand* because you're not Japanese?

This used to be really common, didn't it. When my kids were coming up through the Japanese educational system, I was quite surprised at the amount of 日本人論 type nonsense sprinkled throughout totally unrelated subjects in their homework.
However, I don't run into this type of comment so much any more. It seems to me to be far less common than it used to be. Or am I just changing the company I keep?

> Even word often used, ???? reflects this distinction. In my
> experience, Japanese rarely say *you* are wrong, rather they like to
> say "[you've misunderstood the situation,] it's different."

Good point. [I wonder if I am the only one who gets these "????" quotes. I have yet to see any kanji make it through to my mailbox from tlug even though I am using a Japanese setup on my computer and carry on much of my correspondence in Japanese. Perhaps this is an artifact of the digest?]

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