Japanese Surgeon's Daily Life

Wako, 倭寇

     Piracy started in 13th century on the Japan Sea. China and the two Koreas call the pirates Wako, which means the Japanese assault. In other words, they insist that the pirates consisted of Japanese people. I'd like to make reasonable and theoretical remarks.

     Some Japanese people started piracy in 13th century to take their properties back from China and Korea. Japanese traders were frequently cheated by their customers and suffered damages. They got bent out of shape and easily resorted to the act of piracy without deep consideration. However it's the case only in the early period of "Wako" and most members of "Wako" were Chinese, who were made out to be Japanese. Japanese students are now taught that Wako was the crime of Japanese people. It is also part of the distorted history, which was made up by China and the two Koreas. I'd like to advise young Japanese people not to use the expression, "Japanese Pirates".

     By the way, I wondered if there was the same example in the world, and looked for it on the internet and found a few interesting facts.

     In the 17th, 18th and the first half of 19th century, American pirates carried out scores of raids on the Caribbean coast of Spanish territory. They were called "buccaneers". Their money stimulated and activated the economy in America (British American states and Commonwealths before independence), and their activities were useful for the resistance against Spanish forces at the same time.

     When the William & Mary College was on the verge of closure, it was the boss of the buccaneers who donated big money and rebuilt the college. This college is the alma mater of the U.S. third President, Thomas Jefferson and also one of the most prestigious univiersities in the U.S. It has a longer history than Yale University. The buccaneers were undertaking the same role as Captain Drake in England. Captain Drake is a hero in England, but in the U.S. the buccaneers are hidden away. We only know it as the name of a football team, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

     When you have a talk with Americans and the topic becomes Wako, you should say something like this: You are very lucky, because Caribbean people are mild and quiet. They never accuse Americans of piracy. Japanese people have been accused of innocent alleged piracy for a long time. It's a born burden to be located next to China and Korea which have massive inferiority complexes.

(Vocabulary)

piracy (CD・コンピュータソフトなどの) 海賊版作成, 海賊行為 (船を襲撃する) 海賊行為

copyright/patent piracy  著作権［特許］侵害
get bent out of shape  不機嫌になる、へそを曲げる、怒る
resort to sth      (やむなく) ＜手段＞に頼る, 訴える
be made out to be a Japanese  日本人に扮する
raid  (不意の) 襲撃, 急襲 (+on/against)
buccaneer　海賊　= pirate
British American states and commonwealths 英国領アメリカ諸州 〔ほとんどの州はstateだが、一部の州はcommonwealthなので。〕
be on the verge of (doing) sth   ＜…＞の［＜…＞する］寸前である
sb's alma mater  ＜人＞の母校, 出身校

Something Will Change?

     Do you know the American soldier, Joe O'Donnell? I know him via a documentary program. He was dispatched by the U.S. to Nagasaki City in the immediate aftermath of the Greater East Asian War. His job was to take pictures of the city two weeks after the atomic bombing. On arriving in the city, he was astonished to see the effect of the atomic bomb. He fulfilled his job. He shot lots of pictures and reported it to the U.S., but at the same time he stored many pictures as his own. He might have been shocked to see the victim city. He didn't show his pictures to his family at all. He packed and put them away deep into the attic.

     When many years had passed since the war, he decided to make his pictures public. Most Americans didn't want to know and see them, and he was criticized for doing it. His wife left him and his family came apart. Most Americans don't seem to want to accept their cruel deeds.

     How do the U.S. handle the historical fact of the atomic bombing and the following cruel massacre of innocent people. They have to stand in front of the judge whose name is history. How did they conclude their acts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

     I found an interesting article and will show you it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/for-veterans-day-the-grea_b_353270.html

(Vocabulary)

pack away　（物を箱などに）しまい込む

put away  しまい込む

attic  屋根裏部屋

The Sorting of Projects

     The present hottest topic in Japan is the sorting of national projects by the Domestic Party of Japan (DPJ), which had been the perpetual opposition party, and just attained power last August. The DPJ had done nothing but go against everything that the ruling party would do since it had been born. I think that the DPJ, just now in the regime, is in a state of confusion. They might want to show off their work, but I don't agree with their opinions. They are cutting the budgets of many projects that had been scheduled by the former regime, and it made me uneasy. Their thoughtless sorting is shrinking the GDP and it is leading to a stagnant economy. On the other hand, the government will throw 5 billion dollars away to Karzai, the President of Afghanistan, who is also known as the dealer of illegal drugs. Unbelievable!

     I naturally hope that the Afghans will have peace as soon as possible, but is it possible to rule this country with the western notion of democracy? The people in this country repeated and continued to fight for more than 3000 years. Alexander, the Persian Empire, the Mongols, the Mughal Empire, the British Empire and lastly Russia retreated, giving up the occupation of this land. Who can govern this country? The five billion dollars from Japan would be of no use.

(Vocabulary)

Sorting of Projects  事業仕分け

perennial / perpetual opposition party  万年野党

perennial  (問題・争いなどが) 絶え間なく生じる, 慢性的な, (人気などが) 根強い; 〈植物が〉多年生の

perpetual = constant

attain 〈目標など〉を達成する,〈地位など〉を獲得する,〈水準など〉に達する; 〈ある規模・速度など〉に到達する

state of confusion  右往左往状態

show off (けなして) 能力［業績，持ち物］をひけらかす, いいところを見せようとする, 見えを張る

thoughtless  (けなして) 思いやりのない, 不親切な; 軽率な, 思慮のない

An accident may result from their thoughtless actions. 軽率な行為が事故につながるかもしれない．

stagnant 〈水・空気などが〉 よどんだ, よどんで臭い; 〈景気・市場などが〉 停滞した, 低迷した, 伸び悩んでいる

a stagnant economy  停滞経済

the Persian Empire  ペルシア帝国

the Mughal Empire  ムガール帝国

Conscience Stall

     If you wander around the countryside of Japan, you'll find tiny huts or small tables with shelves along the roadside, where fresh vegetables, fruits and folk arts are placed with a small can. Anyone who wants them can take them after paying. You might think that it's common everywhere, but there isn't any salesperson there. Can you believe it? The shoppers voluntarily throw the money into the can and get the stuff. It's the easiest way for people to get fresh crops from farmers. I'll show you some pictures of those no-manned stalls which my friend sent to me. When I was a little child, everyone followed the rule and there was no theft of merchandise, but now some people's conscience got rotten and some took vegetables without paying. The signs in the pictures are saying, "Be honest!", "No theft!" or something similar. I got sad to see these pictures. The conscience of Japanese people is disappearing.

     For a few decades after World War Two,  moral education has been made light of by the authorities. I suspect that the above is the result of this wrong policy. I think that the government has to improve moral teaching. The number of cruel crimes in Japan is getting high these days. I think that this is also the effect of poor ethical education.

(Vocabulary)

conscience 　良心, 道義心

on your conscience   気に病んで, 気がとがめて

Could you live with that on your conscience?  そのことを気に病んだままでいられるんですか．

a guilty conscience  やましく思うこと, 良心の呵責(かしゃく)

a clear conscience  やましさがないこと, 良心のとがめのないこと

a matter of conscience  良心の問題

a social conscience  社会的道徳心

by/on/along the roadside  道路わきに, 道端に

folk art  民芸品

bill  ちらし, びら, 張り紙

ethical education / moral instruction / moral teaching  道徳教育

make light of  （物・人を）軽視する

    

The Book of Virtues

     Japan was beaten by the U.S. in World War Two. Then, the U.S. feared that Japan would get strong again, and took various measures to keep Japan feeble. One of their measures was to imprint the masochistic view of history on the Japanese mind. It was a kind of brainwashing. However, luckily, lots of Japanese are recovering from this awful way of thinking. Another way was to make a bonfire of huge amounts of books that were inconvenient to them. The Allies did the same thing as the Nazi that they intensely accused of the same thing. Moreover, they distorted the history of Japan, and deprived the Japanese people of "Kyouiku Chokugo", the Imperial message on Education. The Allies insisted that this message would foment militarism and banned the learning it. Most Japanese have been told that the Imperial message on Education was evil. Actually, I had believed it.

     The other day, I attended the lecture of Mr. Tamogami, the former chief of staff. In the lecture, he said that the Imperial message on Education was translated into many languages except Korean and Chinese, and now it is used for the education of virtue in many countries including the U.S. It was amazing. I got it today, and read only a little bit. I'll report on the book later in this blog. The picture is of the book.

(Vocabulary)

feeble  (高齢・病気などで) 体の弱った, ひ弱な

a feeble old man  体の弱った老人

imprint sth on sb's mind/memory/brain   ＜…＞を＜人＞の心［記憶，脳裏］に刻み込む

masochistic view of history  自虐史観

make a bonfire of  ～を焼き捨てる

bonfire  (祝賀の) 大かがり火, (ごみを焼く) たき火

Allies  (特に第二次世界大戦での) 連合国

the Imperial message on Education  教育勅語

勅語とは天皇のことば。みことのり。明治憲法下で、天皇が大権に基づき、国務大臣の副署を要さず、親しく臣民に対して発表した意思表示。

militarism　軍国主義

foment (けなして・フォーマル)  〈戦争・暴動など〉 をあおる, 扇動する = stir up

chief of staff  幕僚長

 

Korean Security against Fire

     Seven Japanese were killed, one seriously injured and two injured by the bursting fire at a live shooting range in Pusan, South Korea on Nov. 14th. Was this disaster reported in the world? Different from South Korea that has the conscription system, most people in Japan have not only never touched the real gun but have also never seen it. Therefore, the firing ranges are attractive to some of them. The victims were good friends and classmates of a junior high school in Kyushu. They seemed to visit Pusan for a two-day and one-night trip from Kyushu, which was three-hours' distance from Pusan by the high-speed boat. I was very sorry to see their families on TV. They were just enjoying the Korean trip.

     I wondered how the security was against fires in Korea. Are there some official rules against fires? I've been to Soeul once and I felt something uneasy at that time. One of the famous tourists' attractions, Namdaemun market also gave me a sense of unease. In the market, I'd never seen any fire hydrants in the streets. The paths in the market were too narrow for the fireengines to get into the market. I didn't notice any emergency exits in the long subterranean shopping mall that connected my hotel and the nearest subway station though my hotel was the biggest or second-biggest modern hotel in Seoul. The number of the tourists from Japan will get lower for a certain period of time.

(Vocabulary)

live firing range  実弾射撃場

Pusan (釜山) 南朝鮮の第２の都市

conscription / conscription system / military-draft system  徴兵制

conscript 〈人〉 を徴兵する = draft(米)   〈人〉を説得して参加させる= recruit

overnight domestic trip 一泊二日の国内旅行

unease  不安, 心配

a sense/feeling of unease   不安な気持ち

She felt a growing sense of unease. 彼女は不安な気持ちがつのってくるのを感じた． 

Namdaemun market  南大門市場

fire hydrant (FH) / fire plug  消火栓

subterranean shopping mall / underground shopping district 地下商店街

kangaroos in Australia

     I found some sweet news about Australia through CNN. Australia sounds anguished over the growing kangaroos. kangaroos look winsome, but they seem to be fierce and dangerous to humans. According to the CNN, they got to show up around people in the street, and devastated crops and often injured people. Now, what would the Australians do to solve this problem. I'm very interested.

     You know, Australia gives assistance to the Greenpeace boat, which interferes with the Japanese investigation ship which collects data on the number of whales. The number of whales is getting large over several decades after the ban against commercial whaling.

     Greenpeace don't want to take in the data and accuse Japan because they feel sorry for the whales. I think Greenpeace is sort of a gangster in the Antarctic Ocean. The country that helps them interfere with Japanese research violently, is Australia.

     Now, the Australian Government has to take some measures against the growing number of kangaroos. Australia looks like a country of mercy. Mercy surpasses justice. They wouldn't slaughter the kangaroos by any possible contingency.

(Vocabulary)

sweet revenge  胸のすく復讐劇

winsome  愛嬌(あいきょう)のある, 魅力のある

fierce / vicious  どう猛な

commercial whale hunting / commercial whaling  商業捕鯨

feel sorry for  ～がかわいそう

the Antarctic Ocean  南氷洋

Mercy surpasses justice.  慈悲の心は裁きに勝る。

not ~ by any possible contingency  よもや～まい

contingency  [C] (将来起こりうる) 緊急事態, 不測の事態

contingency plan   緊急対策

contingency fund   緊急予備金

カテゴリーの整理中 Revision of Categories

翻訳サイトから当ブログへアクセスされる方が増えています。また、カテゴリーの設定が実情に合わなくなってきているため５月上旬からカテゴリーの整理中です。整理の過程で opinion には全ての投稿に和訳をつけていきます。２００９年５月現在、７８０編の投稿があり（よく書いてきたものです）、全ての整理が終わるのは１２月末頃になると思います。これからも宜しくお願いいたします。整理が終わり次第、この書き込みを削除します。(初期の記事には書き換えたいところもありますが、稚拙な文章でも上達の記念として残しております。)

     Quite a few people have visited my blog via automatic translation sites in recent days. I'm flattered by the number of the visitors, but I'm afraid that the automatic translation is under development right now and I wanted to inform them of my exact opinions. So I decided to revise categories and add Japanese translations for the category of opinion. Besides, the classification of my entries has got unreasonable now. I started checking the categories of the former entries at the beginning of May, and will finish it by the end of December.
     When I counted the number of the entries in early May, it was 780! and I felt a deep emotion. At the same time, I made up my mind to try more difficult topics from now on.

２００５年１１月～２００８年３月　  整理済み

2005 Nov.~2008 Mar.  Revision Done   

１０月３１日現在　２００８年４月投稿分の整理中

Kamikaze Special Attack Corps

     Do you know about the Greater East Asian War which Japan is supposed to have waged against the U.S. in 1945? You might wonder what "is supposed to" means.

     The Atlantic Charter was promulgated on Aug. 14th in 1941, just  before the Greater East Asian War. In the pathway, then U.S. president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and then prime minister of Great Britain, Sir Winston Leonard Spencer- Churchill had a talk on Aug. 10th and 11th on the battleship off  Newfoundland in Canada. Both leaders are supposed to have reached an agreement that the U.S. would join World War Two from the backdoor. If you are intersted in this meeting, google for it with the keyword, backdoor,  Churchill and Roosevelt and you'll know the opinions of lots of professional historians. The content of this meeting is still veiled in secrecy. If the record about this meeting was open to the public, you'd know who just wanted the war in the Pacific Ocean.

     By the way, I'll write about Kamikaze. It was the name of the suicide attack corps when the war was near its end. The chief pilot of the first attack team was a young man who had been born in Ehime Prefecture, where I live now. I'm so ashamed that I hadn't known about this hero until recent times. The pictures are of the ceremony in commemoration of him.

     I'm not going to praise the war in this blog, but the patriotism of the young pilots of the Kamikaze Special Attack Corps should be commemorated by all Japanese, but many Japanese reject it. I can easily imagine your doubtful looks. There would be no way in other countries. The Japanese spirits are getting rotten year by year.

     After the end of the Greater East Asian War, the coalition leader, Douglas MacArthur and other staff members of GHQ, made up the Japanese Constitution and gave the Japanese the wrong information that has pressed their case for the war. Their occupation policy was replaced by leftist groups and medias, including NHK,  and most Japanese are still under the influence of the U.S.'s occupation at present. I was told that MacArthur was a nice man and gave us freedom and democracy, and lots of Japanese still believe it. However, remember the address by Martin Luther King, which is well known with the phrase "I Have a Dream". There was no democracy in the U.S. when the war ended, though Japan already had it.

     I'm now reading THE COLDEST WINTER by David Halberstam. MacArthur is vividly described in the book, and he doesn't look like what I was told. I'll write the book report later. The author, David Halberstam, is a great journalist and what he wrote is absolutely true, I believe.

(Vocabulary)

special attack corps / suicide corps  神風特攻隊

the Greater East Asian War  大東亜戦争

Atlantic Charter　大西洋憲章

promulgate a constitution　憲法を発布する

both leaders  両首脳

be veiled in mystery/secrecy  なぞ［秘密］のベールに包まれている

secrecy  秘密（の状態）, 内密

absolute/complete/total secrecy   極秘（扱い）

when the war was near its end. 　戦争の末期

in commemoration of sb/sth   ＜…＞を記念して, の記念に

allied military leader / coalition commander  連合軍の指揮官

press your/the case (for sth)   （＜…＞の）正当性を主張する[訴える]

occupation policy  占領政策

press your/the case (for sth)  （＜…＞の）正当性を主張する[訴える]

The President was determined to press his case for war. 大統領はあくまで戦争の正当性を主張する構えだった．

Don't be fooled!  だまされるな！

Tibetan Children's Villages

     NHK is a famous broadcasting station in Japan. It is supported by the TV reception fees of people in japan, whereas some of NHK's top officials are brainwashed by Chinese Communists and various facts have been emerging one after another lately. NHK has been supporting Chinese policies and I dislike the station, but I was surprised to watch a program of NHK today. The program was about Tibetan Children's Villages. China is struggling to remove the Tibetan culture from the earth, but their culture will never perish.

(Vocabulary)
TV [television] reception fees  受信料
emerge  (物陰などから) 現れる, 出てくる
perish  (文) 突然死する, 非業の死を遂げる; (フォーマル)(ゴム・皮・木材などが)劣化する, 腐食［腐敗］する, (食べ物が)腐敗する; (文)(活動・制度などが) 消滅する, 崩壊する

Chinese Communist Propaganda

     The other day, I got a comment from an English native speaker who maybe came from the U.S. and is working as an assistant language teacher in Japan. I exchanged some messages with him and was so surprised to know the fact that Chinese propaganda prevails in the world. You can read his opinion here. (link) I'd like to rebut his opinions one by one. I hope that he'll accept the facts that I'll present.
     He insists that Japanese forces had committed massacres in Indonesia. Japan actually fought military actions on the land of Indonesia, but they never fought against Indonesia. They were just struggling to eliminate the Dutch from Indonesia, who had ruled and exploited them for 300 years. You know, Indonesia was one of the Dutch colonies. If Indonesia was an independent country, Japan could have had a good relationship with them and bought natural resources from them. Japan was really short of them. There might be some small offenses committed by Japan because all the Japanese soldiers weren't gentle and modest and besides it was during World War Two, but I think that most intellectual Indonesians would agree with me. In the war, a considerable number of Japanese soldiers got to love Indonesia and the Indonesian people and they really wanted the independence of Indonesia, not for the benefit of Japan but from the bottom of their hearts. When Japan lost the war, the Japanese soldiers hid their weapons from the alliance forces and stayed there, ignoring the return order of Japan. They were afraid that the Dutch forces would come back to Indonesia and start exploiting Indonesians again. They helped Indonesians establish their own forces and taught the use of their modern weapons to the people in Indonesia. Most of those Japanese soldiers died or went missing in the battles for the independence of Indonesia and have been commemorated every year in the national graveyard, Taman Makam Pahlawan Kalibata, where only nationally acknowledged heros are permitted to sleep eternally. Would this be possible if Japan had committed a massacre in Indonesia?
     Does the history textbook of an American boy tell this fact? Does he know about Ahlone Camp in Burma? He insists that Japan also commited a massacre in Burma. It was just propaganda from the alliance forces to hide inconvenient historical facts in the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. I'm going to write about this cruel Ahlone Camp later.

(Vocabulary)
rebut (フォーマル)(意見・批判など) に反駁(はんばく)する, 反論する
exploit (けなして)(人・労働力など) を私的目的に利用する, 食いものにする, 搾取する
offense [C] 罪, 違反, 犯罪(行為）
considerable 相当な, かなりの
a considerable amount/number of sth  かなりの量［数］の＜…＞
Ahlone Camp  アーロン収容所
Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals 東京裁判

Japan and Other Asian Countries, Sep. 11th (2)

     Historically speaking, what's the distinct difference between Japan and other Asian countries? There might be many ways of thinking, but I think of whether the nation had been ruled by superpowers or not. Thailand is also a country that has no history of being governed by another country, but this nation was just allowed to exist as a buffer between the British and French colonies.
     Japan had enjoyed a striking level of prosperity in the Edo era (1603-1867). Japan developed its own culture. People lived in an unbelievably safe society. The development of modern society had never been obstructed in spite of repeated disasters like famines, earthquakes, plagues and volcanic eruptions. In this era, people acquired high level of morality and literacy.
     In 1868 the tycoon, Yoshinobu Tokugawa, peacefully returned his political power to the Emperor. Do you know any other peaceful revolution in the world? The capital city, Edo, remained intact during this revolution, which was the restoration of Imperial power. It was really lucky for the development of Japan. Japan started building their national military system at that time against overwhelming superpowers, which were filled with ambition to occupy and rule Japan. Finally, Japan got to beat Qing (China) 30 years later and defeated Russia 10 years after the victory against Qing.
     Eventually, Japan acquired two colonies, Taiwan and Korea. Japan committed a huge amount of capital to the project that would make them develop to the same level as Japan. Japan's policy on the colonies was to raise the level of their civilizations while that of the superpowers was just to exploit them. In 1945, the school enrollment rate of Taiwan was 95%. They had been ruled by Japan for 50 years, whereas in Indonesia, which had been dominated for 300 years by Holland, the literacy rate was only 2%. Japan had encouraged the people in Taiwan and Korea to learn. The highest level of education was equally given to anyone, no matter where he or she came from.
     Japan was forced to wage wars against the U.S. and started the Greater East Asian War to eliminate the superpowers from Asian countries. Japan lost the war, but the initial purpose was fulfiled.
     Getting back to the last entry, a few days after the 9.11 terror attack, the then U.S. President Bush declared war against the terrorist groups and its sponsors, implying that the mastermind was the al-Qaeda network. He compared the terror attack to Japan's raid on Pearl Harbour. He continued, "We can give freedom to Islamic nations. We did it to Japan half a century ago." He thought that the Japanese people were the same as the people who had been educated only to read and memorize the Koran. This eposode tells us that his mentality is terrible and horrible. He should have learnt world history more seriously.

(Vocabulary)
enjoy a striking level of prosperity  特筆すべき繁栄を謳歌する
literacy 読み書き(能力), 識字
literacy rate  識字率
be filled with ambition 野望に燃えている
Qing  清
exploit (けなして) (人・労働力など)を私的目的に利用する, 食いものにする, 搾取する
(school) enrollment ratio [rate] / percentage of school attendance  就学率
fulfill (夢・目的など) を実現する, 果たす
mastermind  首謀者
al-Qaeda network  アルカイーダ
Koran  コーラン

Sep. 11th

     The day of Sept. 11th is coming soon again this year. Twenty-three Japancese people were killed at that time. I still clearly remember that I was too stunned to say anything after seeing the TV news. I assume that most people in the world would be more or less like that. However, I have something that astonished me more a few days after the terror attack. You know or remember the scene in which the then U.S. President, Mr. Bush, vowed revenge while raising his fist at ground zero.
     By the way, do you remember his message at that time? I don't remember his exact words, but it was roughly a declaration of hostility. The U.S. could liberate the Japanese people, who attacked Pearl Harbour and started the war, from militarism half a century ago. This time the U.S. will use it.
     Hearing this message, I deeply realized how stupid he was. At first, he declared that this was not a terror attack, but a war. This idea prevented the U.S. from placing the criminals before U.S. judges. They would be treated as POWs. The U.S. would be regulated by the Geneva Convention.
Next, Japan is completely different from Islamic countries. Japan is never compared to those countries. Besides, I'd like to ask him, "do you remember Vietnam?" Anyway, Bush's comments revealed his shallow knowledge about the history of international affairs. I'm going to write about this issue next.

(Vocabulary)
clearly remember 鮮明に覚えている
declaration of hostility  宣戦布告
militarism  軍国主義
prison/prisoner of war (POW)  戦争捕虜
Geneva Conventions  ジュネーヴ諸条約

A Textbook of Japanese History

     Japanese people have the virtue of modesty. Silence is better than eloquence for Japanese people and is the principle of ordinary Japanese people. After World War Two, the U.S. took advantage of this modesty and brainwashed Japanese people into believing that Japan used to be an evil country. Besides, Chinese and Korean operatives illegally slipped into Japan and are continuing to destroy the spiritual backbone of Japan like the Japanese culture, history and mentality.
     The picture shows the history textbook. It's a non-biased one. I think it's neutral and has nothing wrong with it. To my surprise, South Korea started to make complaints against Japan on the day that this textbook was presented to the public. I wondered when they checked its content. I think they accuse Japan just for the accusing itself. Anyway, we have been educated using textbooks that were authored by leftists. Consequently we have been brainwashed, of course, including me. As for me, I was lucky to find that I was controlled by leftists and could get out of their control. This new textbook in the picture was acknowledged as one of the formal textbooks. This textbook will make Japanese people awake who are now under the spell of Douglas MacArthur.
     However important modesty is to Japanese people, there are limitations. We started to express our own opinions to the world and also started to want to have nuclear weapons. At the L'Aquila Summit, our Prime Minister, Aso, declared stoutly against the Russian President, Medvedev, that there wouldn't be any partnership between Japan and Russia if they don't return our northern islands.
     The U.S. announced that the Senkaku islands belonged to Japan, though China insisted that the islands were their land. Besides, the U.S. forced China to get hard on North Korea in order to avoid the possession of nuclear weapons. The U.S., knowing well enough the potential of Japan, wouldn't want Japan to have the button of the absolute weapon.

(Vocabulary)
Virtue of modesty  謙遜の美徳
eloquence  雄弁さ
principle  [C,U] 行動規範, 信条, 主義
He has no principles at all.  彼には信条のかけらもない．
take advantage of people's kindness  人の好意につけ込む
brainwash somebody into doing something
＜人＞を洗脳して＜…＞させる
(espionage) agent / operative  工作員
illegally slip into country  不法入国する
have limitations  限界がある
L'Aquila  【地名】ラクイラ〔イタリア〕
Medvedev メドベージェフ
stoutly  断固として, 頑強に
be under the spell of  ～の呪いをかけられる
leftist  左翼［左派］の人

(KW: 自由社　日本人の歴史教科書　新しい歴史教科書　捏造　偏向　東京裁判史観)

Immigration Issue

     Today's entry is about the immigration issue in Japan. It's a serious problem and topic. Reference to the following movie may be of use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-3X5hIFXYU
     Many politicians insist that Japan has to admit immigrants and give them suffrage. I think it is a stupid idea. I'm showing my opinion this time both in English and Japanese. I'd be happy if you send me your comments.
     A birth rate of at least 2.11 seems to be essential in order for the culture of a country to be preserved. Let's check the rates of 2007 in European countries.

France          1.8
Great Britain   1.6
Greece          1.3
Germany         1.3
Italy           1.2
Spain           1.1
EU              1.38

     Don't you think it is critical? However, the population of EU hasn't been decreasing. Why? It's because those countries admit lots of immigrants.
     Ninety percent of the increase of European population since 1990 is due to the immigration of Muslims.

In case of France:
Birth rate is 1.8 and that of Muslim is 8.1 !  If simply calculated, one of every five French will be a Muslim in 2027. After 39 years (in 2048), more than 50% of people will be Muslim and France will be Muslim country.

In case of Great Britain:
The number of Muslims will increase from 82000 to 2.5 million in 30 years.

In case of Holland:
At present, 50 % of newly born babies are already Muslim. 15 years later, Holland will be a Muslim country.

In case of Russia:
The number of Muslim is 23 million right now. That is one fifth of its population.

In case of Belgium:
Twenty five percent of the population is already Muslim and 50 % of newborns are Muslim.

In case of Germany:
It will be Muslim country in 2050. According to the German Government, there are 52 million Muslims in Europe and it will increase to 140 million in 20 years.

In case of Canada:
Birth rate is 1.6 and the population has increased by 1.6 million from 2001 to 2006, but 1.2 million is the increase of immigrants.

In case of the U.S:
The number of Muslim in the U.S. in 1970 was only 100,000 but increased to 9 million in 2008. It is supposed to go up to 50 million after 30 years.

     What do you think about this status? You figure out how critical the situation of the Europe is. You might suspect if the Muslim religion is bad or not. I'd like to express my opinion about that below.
     To quickly describe what I wrote above, the Muslim culture is gradually and legally encroaching on the Christian culture sphere and the situation is supposed to be irreversible at present. It's because of the difference in the birth rate between Muslim people and people in western developed countries. Several decades from now, Muslim people will dominate the world and other people will have to get along as minorities. I came up with a fearful idea. When the population of Muslims becomes more than a half the world' population and Muslim people obey a certain spiritual leader, can we not say that Muslim people will become the supranational group? Their own rules will rank over the constitution of the countries that they actually belong to. They might ruin the concept of the nation. They might break down other peoples' culture.
     Is there any means to prevent Europe from muslimizing? It's a very easy task. You should not allow Muslims to immigrate into Europe. The rate of unemployment in EU is 9%! Why do they accept immigrants? I can think of two reasons.
    At first, it's because European rich people hate hard and dirty work. Those hated jobs are given to poor immigrants. Maybe European political leaders have a sense of discrimination against poor Islamic people. (Naturally they'd deny such motive.)
     Secondly, EU are planning to increase their population and their influence, and eventually deprive the U.S. of hegemony.
     The other day, moral-lacking Sarközy was talking in front of a camera that EU should build up a single economic sphere with Turkey and Russia. I was surprised to hear that. Turkey shares the issue of "Lie of Armenia" with France and "Cyprus Issue" with Greece. Turkey will never be a member of EU, at least in near future. Russia is strongly putting up a fight against Georgia and Ukraine about their joining NATO. His idea makes no sense at present. Besides, if this single economic sphere brought on the free immigration of labor, western Europe would be inundated with numerous Islamic immigrants. People living in southern Russia are mostly Muslim. They will move to Europe via Turkey, because their income will become ten or twenty times much more just only to move. Eventually free immigration will result in the disappearance of the original civilization.
     If you have a chance to see Mr. Sarközy, tell him something like this:
"President! Aegean civilization was destroyed by the great migration of Dorians."
"The Roman Empire disappeared due to the great movement of Germanic peoples."
"Do you know that European civilization will be wiped out by the influx of Islamic people?"
     By the way, is Japan OK? I think Japan can be free from this, if people are sober. Do I hate Muslim? No, absolutely no. I never look down on Muslim people.
     Actially, is this sharp rise of the Islamic population a threat to Japan? Though some Asian countries are Muslim; Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Central Asian countries, fortunately they aren't hostile. These countries would never be hostile to Japan. Japan has the advantage in the sense of geography. Immigrants flow from poor countries to rich ones all the time and they prefer land borders rather than ocean borders. Poor Islamic people would rush to rich western Europe at first. Then they will destroy the European Christian Civilization. Naturally, it is this story that will foillow after more than fifty years.
     What's the choice of Japan? Japan must not accept poor immigrants from Islamic countries. Why do immigrants provoke riots in France? It's because the French have the sense of discrimination that make Islamic people do the work that the original French hate. It's the best way not to accept those people in order to foster enemies inside. For the record, equal footing is OK; athletes, actors, university professors, engineers, business persons, doctors,,, and so on are no problem. Once specific poor classes are formed, it leads to an unstable society. Security will be compromised.
     It should be emphasized that the real enemy is not the poor immigrants but the politicians who push forth the discriminatory policy that failed in Europe. I'd like you not to vote for such politicians in the coming election. (和訳)

(Vocabulary)
immigration issue   移民問題
suffrage   参政権
to quickly describe  手短に言えば
encroach  [自](けなして) 押し寄せる, 侵害する
encroach on/upon something  ～を侵害する　侵食する
supernational / supranational　超国家的な（二カ国以上が関与して一国を超える権威・権力を有する）
put up a fight　抵抗する、戦う、争う、抵抗を示す、反対する
bring on  （病気・発作・惨事・危機などを）引き起こす
be inundated with 殺到する
Aegean civilization  エーゲ文明
Dorians  ドーリア人
great migration / great movement　大移動
Rome / the Roman Empire  ローマ帝国
Great Barbarian Invasion  ゲルマン民族大移動
Germanic peoples  ゲルマン民族
barbarian  教養のない人, 野卑な人  (古代ギリシャ人やローマ人から見た) 異邦人
hostile  敵意のある　敵対する
geographically  地理的に
provoke a riot / set off a riot　暴動を引き起こす
acquire an enemy / foster enemies　敵を作る
foster　（技術・精神など）をはぐくむ, 育成［促進］する
for the record　念のために記しておくと
fifty-fifty partnership　対等なパートナーシップ
equal footing　対等な立場
discriminatory  差別的な
discriminatory practice  差別的な慣行

Story of Friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan 8/8

We have to appreciate Japan for it:
     The day when Japan conceded its defeat was called "Victory over Japan Day" and commemorating events were held in some big cities. Ratnapura was one of those cities and Somasiri Devendra lived here. His father addressed on behalf of the people in Sri Lanka after the speech of the representative of Great Britain.

     Our colonial master, Great Britain, won the war and we got together to celebrate it now. However, we were inspired to have patriotism for our own nation, Sri Lanka. We are ruled by Great Britain right now and this condition is insane. The concept of patriotism that all of us should imprint into mind, spread to other Asian countries by Japan. This war gave consciousness of confidence and nationalism to the people in Asian countries, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka and Burma and so on. We should appreciate Japan for this fact.

     His act was amazing and audacious. He thanked Japan on the Victory over Japan Day in front of officials of Great Britain. It might be his unstoppable exploding emotion.
     Sri Lanka managed to get independent on Feb. 4th in 1948. After the war, in the court martial, Great Britain tried to punish the leaders of the Indian National Army that had been supported by Japan during the war. However, this attempt became a trigger of nationwide riots and the general strike spread across the country. This national movement ended in the acquisition of independence. Great Britain got out of the country.
     A young boy, Junius Richard Jayewardene, who had been at the harbor to have a quick look of the Cruiser which Japanese Prince Hirohito had been aboard was in an important position of the independent government of Sri Lanka at that time. He got to give the speech supporting Japan in the San Francisco Peace Conference later.
     Japan has continued to encourage the people in Sri Lanka to become independent since Meiji era and Sri Lanka helped Japan to restore the independence after the World War 2. Don't you think it is a beautiful, secure and heart-warming relationship?

P.S.
     I'd like the people in Sri Lanka to find these 8 articles that I have written in the past several days. If you are from Sri Lanka or India or any other Asian country, don't hesitate sending an e-mail to me. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. I'm eager to know how your daily life is.
     I've not received e-mails from Indonesia or Sri Lanka since I started writing this blog. Don't bother writing beautiful or grammatically complete sentences. I'm a beginner in writing in English.(和訳)

(Vocabulary)
Somasiri Devendra  スリランカ海軍の軍人
Ratnapura  ラトゥナプラ、宝石の街として有名なスリランカ南部、内陸の街
on behalf of  代表して
colonial master   宗主国、植民地支配者
audacious   大胆な
exploding emotion  感情の爆発
court martial  軍法会議
riot  暴動、争乱
Junius Richard Jayewardene   J.R.ジャヤワルダナ (スリランカの政治家)

Story of Friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan 7/8

This is radio Singapore, broadcasting for brothers and sisters in India and Sri Lanka:
     Somasiri Devendra, retired Lieutenant Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy, was born in Colombo in 1932 and left the comment as follows:

     The people in Sri Lanka were cheering for Japan and feeling sympathy at the same time in 1941, when Japan started to fight the Allies. At the beginning of 1942, Japan's Navy was very strong and beat enemy's vessels on the Indian Ocean one after another, but unfortunately for Japan, those ships were old-fashioned and were built in the era of World War 2. On April in 1942, they finally reached Sri Lanka and battered military ships of Great Britain anchored in Sri Lanka. This aviation unit was transferred from the Pacific Ocean just after the sudden attack at Pearl Harbour, and their bombing technique was supposed to be the No.1 in the world those days. There is a tomb in the official cemetery in Colombo. That is for the three Japanese soldiers who crashed at that time.

     Japan attacked and seized Singapore quickly, and after that, gathered deserted Indian soldiers and made up the Indian National Army out of them. Their purpose was to get the freedom back from their colonial master. Part of the army consisted of Sri Lankan soldiers, so they started broadcasting toward the people in India and Sri Lanka.
     12-year-old Somasiri Devendra often listened to this broadcasting, Radio Singapore. It began with this phrase, "This is radio Singapore, broadcasting for brothers and sisters in India and Sri Lanka," and often aired songs that encouraged the people in India and Sri Lanka. This airing was supposed to change the mentality of those people.(和訳)

(Vocabulary)
Somasiri Devendra  スリランカ海軍の軍人
desert to the enemy  敵に投降する
colonial master  宗主国

Story of Friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan 6/8

A boy who saw the cruiser with Japanese Prince aboard:
     A Japanese Cruiser, "Katori", visited Sri Lanka in 1921 on the way to Europe. The ship was taking Japanese Prince Hirohito to Europe. Lots of people got together to have a quick look at the Japanese Navy cruiser that had defeated Russia. A boy was in the mob, who was a 15-year-old J.R. Jayewardene. When he was welcomed to Japan as a national guest in 1979, he mentioned in the banquet at the Imperial Palace as follows:

     Our traditional religion, language and customs were at the brink of extinction under the long-lasting rule of foreign countries. Not only our people, but also all the people in Asian countries which were suffering the same problem, had admired and respected Japan for a long time. Japan was the only independent country among the Asian countries. In the era when superpowers were arrogant and ruled the world by their military power and unfair trades, you competed with them, ranked with them and sometimes beat them. When you stopped over at Sri Lanka in 1921, I got carried away and went to the harbor to glance at your ship.

     Japan began to appear on the stage of world affairs those days after the victory in the second world war. Japan fought with Great Britain under the Anglo-Japanese Alliance and just started being acknowledged as one of the strong countries. Japan was one of the Asian countries and had the culture of Buddhism, just as Sri Lanka. The prince of Japan at that time had been heading for their equal partner, Great Britain, with their own cruiser. This event must have encouraged the people in Sri Lanka, who were eager to get their independence.(和訳)

(Vocabulary)
Junius Richard Jayewardene   J.R.ジャヤワルダナ (スリランカの政治家)
have a quick look at  一目見る
banquet at the Imperial Palace   宮中晩餐会
rank with  ～と並ぶ
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance  日英同盟
equal partner   対等のパートナー

Story of Friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan 5/8

If I'm ever reincarnated, I wish to be Japanese!
     Anagarika Dharmapala (1864-1933) witnessed remarkable progress of Japan during his three visits. He got to think about the necessities of education of techniques in various fields in order to become independent from Great Britain, and he established a financial group for the purpose of sending young Sinhalese to Japan.
     His last visit to Japan was in 1913 and he dropped in at Korea and Manchuria on his way back to Sri Lanka. Japan had invested a generous large sum of money in developing these countries at that time. He pointed out the difference between the policy of Japan and that of Great Britain, which had looked at Sri Lanka only for the purpose of ripping them off. He said that it would take more than 50 years for Great Britain to accomplish what Japan had done in just a few years.
     His activity had caused the resurgence of Sinhalese nationalism based on Buddhism. The colonial authorities of Great Britain feared him and took him into custody for five years. His younger brother was also arrested and killed in jail. Nevertheless, he didn't give up his action and died at the age of 69 in 1933 before the independence day of Sri Lanka. He used to say that he wanted to be re-born as a Japanese person if he could.(和訳)

(Vocabulary)
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864‐1933) スリランカ建国の父
if I am ever reincarnated  もし生まれ変わるなら
witness  〈人が〉〈重要な出来事・変化など〉 を経験する, 目にする
financial group  財団
Sinhalese   シンハラ人
anchuria   満州
generous  惜しみない
exploitation / rip-off   搾取
resurgence  (思想･活動などの)復活、再燃

Story of Friendship between Sri Lanka and Japan 4/8

Japanese Responsibility, Rescue of Asia:
     A man took action in the end of the 19th century to bring Buddhism back, which declined to the brink of extinction under the colonial rule of Great Britain. His name was Anagarika Dharmapala, who is called Sri Lanka's founding father.
     He was born in a deeply religious Buddhist family, but was named David under then strong influence of Christianity. He hated his name and changed it to Anagarika Dharmapala. Anagarika means "priest" and Dharmapala means "guardian of the law".
     He first visited Japan in 1889, when the ceremony of promulgation of the Constitution of the Empire of Japan was conducting. I'm sure he looked and felt the fetal activity of modern Japan.
     He visited Japan again in 1892 and 1902. Two months before his third visit, the Anglo-Japanese Alliance had already been signed. He made a comment about the role of Japan as a member of Asian countries. He insisted that Japan should save all the Asian countries, in the midst of agony, of being colonized and wipe racial discrimination out.
     Two years later, Japan waged war against one of the superpowers, Russia, and beat it down. The people in Sri Lanka got carried away to hear the news of annihilation of Russia's Baltic Fleet, which had just passed by their island to attack Japan. His comment: It's the best news in our history. You might not be aware, but Japan brought us back from the brink of death.(和訳)

(Vocabulary)
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864‐1933) スリランカ建国の父
decline to the brink of extinction  消滅寸前まで衰退する
father of his country / founder father / founding father  建国の父
pious / deeply religious  敬虔(けいけん)な, 信心深い
guardian of the law  法の番人
promulgation / promulgate  (法律・規制など) を公布する, （公布して）施行する
the Constitution of the Empire of Japan  大日本帝国憲法
fetal activity  胎動
modern Japan  近代日本
the Anglo-Japanese Alliance  日英同盟
annihilate  〈敵など〉 を全滅させる, 絶滅させる 〈相手〉 を完全に負かす
Baltic Fleet  バルチック艦隊