Thank you very much for your pointers.
I will surely have a look through them - and my apologize
for not looking through your entire blog before posting
a comment.

I have thought of commenting about nationalism with
a concrete example, though there weren’t good ones.

Kind regards,
Haggy

Here is the link:
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1616731,00.html

So, as a Japanese, I would be happy if you could let me
realize where you find Japanese nationalism.

Haggy,

I am afraid that in my book, as a Japanese, you just scored.

You might also want to check out the Nationalists category for this blog.

You might also want to read up about the mayor of Tokyo.

Another interesting place to check out would be Shinzo Abe’s book, 美しい国へ. There, Abe explicitly identifies himself, and most Japanese, as nationalists. Read chapter three (especially the section that starts on page 97).

There Abe argues there are two kinds of nationalism:

1. Nationalism in the narrow (minded) sense.
2. Nationalism in the wide (hearted) sense.

Abe seems to handle the Nationalism issue much the same way he handles the comfort women issue, as a problem that can be defined away.

For the record, the number of teachers who actually protest the national anthem is, as a percentage, relatively insignificant. (Though certainly as individuals the teachers involved are anything but. I certainly admire them for standing by their principles. I feel very strongly they should be given their freedom not to participate. I feel much less strongly about the actual issue.)

Second, America does have problems with the pledge of the allegiance and school prayer. I’ve written about this here. I’ve heard there are, in fact, problems with the national anthem, but have never looked into this.

Finally, on the issue of Japan’s past as it’s taught in school, I agree, it is not handled well in schools. Looking into the issue, I’m not sure, but I’m beginning to get a sense that the intention of those on the left in Japan is indeed to make Japanese feel bad about being Japanese. I really hope I am wrong about that, but it is beginning to look a little bit like that to me.

Japanese should not be taught to feel bad for being Japanese. That’s completely misconstrued and only reinforces the message that Japanese are Japanese in some kind of essentialist sense. What a travesty.

Individuals in Japan need to be taught to think critically about the past and form their own independent opinions about what happened. That’s what education should be about.

Sadly, I don’t expect that to happen any time soon.

Best,
Matt

Can you indicate where you find Japanese nationalism?
#as written in your comment

I believe the most problematic part of Japan is that
there are so much anti-japan teachers that can’t even
sing their national anthem, teach their students how
much Japan sucks. So there are a lot of people who
don’t take pride in their country, don’t love Japan.

When I used to live in the states, I had no problem
singing the US national anthem or pleding to the flag
every morning.
If we do the same thing in “public” schools here, all the
mass media will start commenting that it’s right wing,
with quite a few teachers going crazy.

So, as a Japanese, I would be happy if you could let me
realize where you find Japanese nationalism.

Thank you.

*Note to all Japan-bashers: I am not trying to excuse or defend any of the terrible deeds Japan did during and just prior to the war.*

This is a muddled issue. Korean nationalism is just as problematic as Japanese nationalism or American nationalism or Canadian nationalism. Nationalism is not so much wrong as it’s just incoherent. Actions taken by nationalists ARE often wrong and misguided. In the absence of a coherent philosophy, there’s nothing left for them to do but be political opportunists.

Children should not be punished for the crimes of their fathers. The fact that nationalists feel they should be, is revealing. For nationalists, it’s never that what was done was wrong, it’s that what was done, was done to them.

Here’s a quote from Time Magazine:

A civilian panel in 2005 accused former President Park Chung-hee, who ruled South Korea for 18 years after a 1961 coup, of being a Japanese collaborator for serving as an officer in the Japanese army during colonial rule. Park’s daughter Park Geun-hye is a former chairwoman of South Korea’s conservative Grand National Party and plans to run in this year’s presidential elections in December. The opposition has alleged the government’s probe into history is politically motivated.

Right.

I would argue that it could be that simple.

Of course, it’s just my opinion, and I can’t prove a thing.

However, it seems to me that China and both Koreas often link things to the past (while under the control of the evil Japanese) in an attempt at political and/or financial gain.

*Note to all Japan-bashers: I am not trying to excuse or defend any of the terrible deeds Japan did during and just prior to the war.*

Regards,