. . . you make an ass out of David Hume, who as we all know, thoroughly attacked the common-sense understanding of cause and effect. Ok, enough (pseudo)philosophy.
A few comments on life over the past few days.
1. Demonstrations in China: I still don't have a clear opinion on this, and the obvious reason is my ambiguous position here in Japan as an ethnic Chinese (who has been in China for less than a year total). But that statement's a deadend, because I don't claim to represent people in my position, or even know of any others like me. So, you'll have to take my opinion (and ambiguity) as the statement of an individual. Much as people absolutely hate to do that.
A proposition: the protests are emotionally and morally justified, but simultaneously a disturbing expression of conformity and narrow-minded thinking among the Chinese public.
What I'm getting at here is that I emotionally agree with the desire to give voice to anger over war and massacre, and the circumstances under which the Japanese Government has not had to take full responsbility for its actions. This is especially the case here, where the Cold War (I'm talking about you, America) has made it so difficult to bring any sense of closure, and where the Japanese (do I have to remind you, the aggressors) also bear a strong victim consciousness. Nevertheless, the mob thinking that prevails in these demonstrations is a disturbing indication of a certain failure to democratize the historical consciousness of the Chinese people, and an environment where a diversity of opinion is not accepted. Here, I am foremost concerned with the direction China's society seems to be taking.
Another proposition: should we not compare Chinese 'demonstrations' with the nearly constant (over the past few decades) loud-speaker activities of Japan's right-wing? A friend mentioned that they're parked out in front of Japanese government buildings nearly every day, blasting war marches and haranguing the public. Another friend mentioned that they also come by dormitories primarily occupied by visiting Chinese dignitaries and give speeches in (poorly pronounced) Chinese, criticizing Mao Zedong, etc. She and the other Chinese exchange students would gather to hear the right-wingers whenever they came by. Apparently, they found them quite amusing.
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Unfortunately, I don't have data on the exact textbook that started the demonstrations, though it doesn't seem to be one which is used commonly in Japan. I'm also not sure if its the same one that Korean activists are angry about, due to its claims of a few disputed islands.
However, the greater problem of Japanese historical consciousness isn't really related to which textbooks the Monbukagakusho approves (though we can infer what some of their standards are). I think the main problem is that the section on the war isn't taught that often in Japanese schools, gauging from conversations I've had, and articles in the journal Sekai.
So ultimately, the Chinese protests don't have all the facts, though they may be 'right' about the outcome; but let me be the first to say that the Chinese extremists are nowhere near as clever as the Japanese right-wingers. When Azuma Shiro published his diary detailing atrocities in Nanjing, they attacked his publisher. When the mayor of Nagasaki suggested that the Showa Emperor bore responsibility for World War II in 1990, they shot him.
. . .
And the Chinese? They attacked JUSCO. Now which is going to be more effective?
um. Jusco rulez.
「国民党による中国統一がせまるにつれて、中国人による排日運動も激しくなり、列車妨害や日本人学童への迫害などが頻発した。さらに日本にとって北にはゾ連の脅威があり、南からは国民党の力も及んできた。」
This is a passage from the textbook in question, explaining the background (causes) of the 'Manchurian Incident'(the occupation of Manchuria in the early 1930s). I would translate it as follows:
'As the unification of China under the Nationalist Party neared completion, anti-Japanese activities became more extreme with the destruction of trains and threats to Japanese school children happening over and over. Moreover, Japan was threatened from the north by the Soviets, and from the south by the influence of the Nationalist Party.'
Another passage (which I won't bother to post at the moment) claims that because the Japanese government was unable to stop these illegal activities(不法行為), the Kanto army, with the support of most of the Japanese people, had to deal with the situation.
There's plenty more, including the assertion that Japanese colonialism resulted in the liberation of Asia. I suppose the intention of the textbook is to focus entirely on a 'Japanese perspective' of the war to the exclusion of how others may have viewed the situation. It's similar to reports in Japan that emphasize that the problem is 'anti-Japanese' sentiment, to avoid acknowledging the cause of such sentiment.
What's interesting though is that I found this information through http://www.tokakushin.org, a Japanese political group. The fact that there are alternative voices in Japan is a hopeful sign, and I wish I saw more recognition of this in China.
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