tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post7576053906286121370..comments2023-10-09T00:45:55.603+09:00Comments on Shisaku: Better Stick With Economics?MTChttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04626942240117432624noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-62925384342724174012009-10-01T22:23:30.700+09:002009-10-01T22:23:30.700+09:00This is an admirable demolition job, Shisaku, well...This is an admirable demolition job, Shisaku, well done indeed. I'm so glad to see that it's not just me that has found the Economist's coverage of Japan to have grown increasingly trite and misinformed of late. I could write reams about how bad it has become but that would almost require a separate blog to itself. Please come and visit my post about Muroran on Hokkaido for a very oblique take on Japanese politics and mass media neglect, among other things. http://spikejapan.wordpress.com/2009/09/21/337/Pachiguyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13780602057896443199noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-37855386985207729392009-09-27T21:09:38.950+09:002009-09-27T21:09:38.950+09:00Throughout its history Japan, when it has not clos...<i>Throughout its history Japan, when it has not closed its doors to foreigners altogether, has tended to seek out and support the dominant or rising powers of the day, be that middle-kingdom China, Nazi Germany or post-war America.</i><br /><br />Just a minor issue though...<br /><br />Did the author deliberately omit the British Empior the ally of Japan in the early 20th century? And also I must say that Japan is well known as an ungrateful country to middle-kingdom China since Japan had never gave any military support when middle-kingdom China was invaded by their surrounding barbarians. I will not mention how Kamakura shogunate reacted against Mongols and their allies here. And also, let me note that, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu indeed became a vassal of Chinese emperor as the king of Japan, but it is considered that he just wanted exclusive right to trade with Ming dynasty China. And finally, I think, it is the close-its-doors foreign policy, which had been continued over 200 years, to be thought as one of the most important policy in the pre-modern era Japan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-72592468799010616522009-09-26T21:19:46.935+09:002009-09-26T21:19:46.935+09:00There is something a little too "gotcha"...There is something a little too "gotcha" and triumphalist about this post that detracts from the civility that usually characterizes your output. Perhaps this is the curse of all bloggers? For most people most of the time on most subjects the Economist is fantastic. It would be a little more difficult for me to defend one of your more typical targets - the New York Times - but my point is that for you to spend your time driving home the meme that the mainstream media is not to be trusted, they are useless, incompetent, sounds a little like some of the crazy nutjob idiots i.e. Glenn Beck etc. etc. <br />You wouldn't want to cast your lot with them, would you? <br />I guess it comes down to what do you want to do with your very fine blog? Do you want to take yourself seriously and opt to accomplish this by beating up on easy targets; do you want to mock everything and anything a la Our Man In Abiko - a fine read any day and if I could bring my laptop with me on my trips to the bog for light reading it would be even better... Is it going to be a combination of the very personal and erudite along the lines of Ms. Armchair Asia? <br />I certainly can't say you step over the line. After all this is YOUR blog but for some reason the Economist piece has stuck in my mind and it just did not seem characteristic of your usual production. <br />Best regards,<br />A fanAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-49409944062882906612009-09-25T09:09:27.690+09:002009-09-25T09:09:27.690+09:00Indeed -- MTC, I think you read "support"...Indeed -- MTC, I think you read "support" as "assist as an ally", when in this context I think it is better read as "plays a supporting role". Japan has always been "second-fiddle" as it were to the dominant power of the day, whether as a client state, an ally, or some combination of the two.<br /><br />I'm not sure where they obtained their data regarding US bases and their area, but this <a href="http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/osirase/11/0112/syougaitijikai/20panf.pdf" rel="nofollow">pamphlet</a> leads me to believe they simply included any shared facilities (leading to such ridiculousness as the US forces occupying over 1/3 of Hokkaido). FWIW, here is the <a href="http://www.mod.go.jp/j/defense/chouwa/US/sennyousisetutodoufuken.html" rel="nofollow">MOD's area data</a> for your figures.<br /><br />I suggest you post your critique as a comment on the Economist website or submit it as a letter to the editor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-57429957568441721462009-09-19T11:42:50.038+09:002009-09-19T11:42:50.038+09:00Agreed, the article in The Economist is flawed.
...Agreed, the article in The Economist is flawed. <br /><br />However, the assertion that Japan tends to follow the dominant power in the international order (your point 7) is widely accepted in IR and Security studies, is it not? <br /><br />Indeed, it's a view pulled straight from "Japan's International Relations" by G. Hook et al., (among other works describing similar normative behaviour on Japan's part). <br /><br />A google search on the fellow who penned the article reveals that he is a Pd.D candidate in International Relations, perhaps explaining his asserting this point and belief in it.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10031402711375917713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714063.post-79746912621091285982009-09-18T23:40:22.618+09:002009-09-18T23:40:22.618+09:00Dagens Nyheter, Swedens largest and perhaps most i...Dagens Nyheter, Swedens largest and perhaps most influential paper - think Asahi or New York Times - had a lifestyle piece some time ago about Japanese culture-related shops, restaurants and so on in Stockholm. I looked through it very carefully and discovered that "sushi" was <i>not</i> misspelt, making it the single Japanese-derived word to be written correctly. It wasn't completely spared of ignomy of course; according to the article sushi is raw fish. It shared the confusion of meaning with many other terms, with "manga" being a style of youthful dress inspired by Japanese school uniforms, for instance.<br /><br />At that point you may well recall arguments that the difference between bloggers and real journalists is supposed to be the careful editing, the exhaustive fact-checking and the general trustworthiness of newspapers. And you may be excused if your tentative conclusion is that if traditional journalism dies, nothing much of value is actually lost.Jan Morenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06834641501438709866noreply@blogger.com