Comments on: Dogs and Demons, or Japan: The Concrete Nation http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/ the personal website of Chris Pearce Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:52:22 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.2 Comment on Dogs and Demons, or Japan: The Concrete Nation by: David http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-600 Wed, 28 Dec 2005 12:09:28 +0000 http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-600 After suffering insecurity and loss by the Japanese hand, "Dogs and Demons" came along quite nicely. Should I have an axe to grind it provided the cure, the icing on the cake, a perfect testimony for "revenge is sweet, up yours Japan, why should I care?" However, through the book's comprehensive sometimes eloquent look at Japan's problems, I realized the issue is more complex. Why kick a country when it's already down? Japan so markedly fails in all respects that it is an excellent place for turning one's life around; for "working out one's own salvation." I was removed from three teaching posts altogether during my stay there, and in the most secretive underhand fashion. No wonder, as the book describes, little is transparent in Japan; why the Japanese don't stand up for themselves, the rest is history. I even tried to 'rationalize' my reading of the book, forcing myself it could be wrong. Just a little...no, not really, except for a smudge of inaccuracy; a touch hyperbolic here and there. No book, however well-documented and powerful, is 100% foolproof nor without controversy. Not every temple in Kyoto is "very hard to see." But it is wrong to assert that the book is grossly off the mark about the country's school system (from amazon.com) without experiencing how Japanese children feel about being subjected to a diet of curricula-based education. To ask no questions, to merely accept. Sadness existed on some of their faces during a heart-to-heart with me about what they were forced to put up with. Every picture told a story. Of course, I witnessed the hallmarks of what the book amply describes, and more. Gratuitous aluminium consumption due to drinks machines at every corner makes an efficient recycling system essential. Combustible material, though, is another matter. Large bags crammed with used plastic and paper packaging stacked high and extending onto the road, was surprising if not altogether embarrassing. Even though it exists in western countries, the flood of materialism found in every town and city in Japan felt "wrong." Supermarkets aren't just those. They are the cash n' carry variety. It all held a fascination, a mystery. Japan is bereft, barren, spiritually found wanting. No wonder the culture has turned away from nature and is burying it under concrete. It's no good crying out for change so long as greed, self-interest and cynicism are the norm. It is perhaps ironically unfortunate that the climate of optimism gripping the country due to an economic recovery will drive the Japanese into complacency and further away from the reforms "Dogs and Demons" outlines, which their country so badly needs. People, largely foreigners, who take issue with the book are like cat's paws that swipe at birds, mice, or at best scratch your hand. They don't like to see their egos threatened. They see Japan through rose-tinted spectacles. Other than making lots of money and taking thrilling rides on the high-speed Shinkansen, there's really little insentive for gaijins to live and work there. I've since moved to China where sedate train travel is also meaningful providing you can get a seat. The Chinese are one group of foreigners who've never seen "Dogs and Demons," much less read it. I don't think it's available in Chinese or in China at all. Having already an historic grievance against Japan and by an unacceptable attitude towards its past mistakes, they don't need to. Two of my students, while memorizing a dialogue in an English exam about their plans for the future, made their sentiments and intentions quite clear: - Guo: Yes, I see your point, but it is well-known that Japan is one of the developed countries, why don't you go there? Yu: Oh, you are right, I would never consider going there. After suffering insecurity and loss by the Japanese hand, “Dogs and Demons” came along quite nicely. Should I have an axe to grind it provided the cure, the icing on the cake, a perfect testimony for “revenge is sweet, up yours Japan, why should I care?” However, through the book’s comprehensive sometimes eloquent look at Japan’s problems, I realized the issue is more complex. Why kick a country when it’s already down?
Japan so markedly fails in all respects that it is an excellent place for turning one’s life around; for “working out one’s own salvation.” I was removed from three teaching posts altogether during my stay there, and in the most secretive underhand fashion. No wonder, as the book describes, little is transparent in Japan; why the Japanese don’t stand up for themselves, the rest is history.
I even tried to ‘rationalize’ my reading of the book, forcing myself it could be wrong. Just a little…no, not really, except for a smudge of inaccuracy; a touch hyperbolic here and there. No book, however well-documented and powerful, is 100% foolproof nor without controversy. Not every temple in Kyoto is “very hard to see.” But it is wrong to assert that the book is grossly off the mark about the country’s school system (from amazon.com) without experiencing how Japanese children feel about being subjected to a diet of curricula-based education. To ask no questions, to merely accept. Sadness existed on some of their faces during a heart-to-heart with me about what they were forced to put up with. Every picture told a story.
Of course, I witnessed the hallmarks of what the book amply describes, and more. Gratuitous aluminium consumption due to drinks machines at every corner makes an efficient recycling system essential. Combustible material, though, is another matter. Large bags crammed with used plastic and paper packaging stacked high and extending onto the road, was surprising if not altogether embarrassing.
Even though it exists in western countries, the flood of materialism found in every town and city in Japan felt “wrong.” Supermarkets aren’t just those. They are the cash n’ carry variety. It all held a fascination, a mystery. Japan is bereft, barren, spiritually found wanting. No wonder the culture has turned away from nature and is burying it under concrete. It’s no good crying out for change so long as greed, self-interest and cynicism are the norm. It is perhaps ironically unfortunate that the climate of optimism gripping the country due to an economic recovery will drive the Japanese into complacency and further away from the reforms “Dogs and Demons” outlines, which their country so badly needs.
People, largely foreigners, who take issue with the book are like cat’s paws that swipe at birds, mice, or at best scratch your hand. They don’t like to see their egos threatened. They see Japan through rose-tinted spectacles. Other than making lots of money and taking thrilling rides on the high-speed Shinkansen, there’s really little insentive for gaijins to live and work there.
I’ve since moved to China where sedate train travel is also meaningful providing you can get a seat. The Chinese are one group of foreigners who’ve never seen “Dogs and Demons,” much less read it. I don’t think it’s available in Chinese or in China at all. Having already an historic grievance against Japan and by an unacceptable attitude towards its past mistakes, they don’t need to. Two of my students, while memorizing a dialogue in an English exam about their plans for the future, made their sentiments and intentions quite clear: -
Guo: Yes, I see your point, but it is well-known that Japan is one of the
developed countries, why don’t you go there?
Yu: Oh, you are right, I would never consider going there.

]]> Comment on Dogs and Demons, or Japan: The Concrete Nation by: Curt Sampson http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-388 Tue, 05 Jul 2005 03:04:16 +0000 http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-388 "Come to a decisive decision?" Could Japan ever do so? I've never seen a sign of it. The watchword of Japan is: とりあえず、考えましょう。 But somehow, things seem to work out. Sometimes. The mercury poisoning incidents didn't come out so well, but Japan seems to have gotten through the banking crisis without really ever facing it (though individual banks, such as Shinsei, did, and for that are far more successful than the others). “Come to a decisive decision?” Could Japan ever do so? I’ve never seen a sign of it. The watchword of Japan is: とりあえず、考えましょう。

But somehow, things seem to work out. Sometimes. The mercury poisoning incidents didn’t come out so well, but Japan seems to have gotten through the banking crisis without really ever facing it (though individual banks, such as Shinsei, did, and for that are far more successful than the others).

]]> Comment on Dogs and Demons, or Japan: The Concrete Nation by: Japan’s tourism problem http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-351 Mon, 11 Apr 2005 04:22:19 +0000 http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-351 [...]Japan’s tourism problem, In Dogs and Demons, Alex Kerr identifies tourism as one of th [...] […]Japan’s tourism problem, In Dogs and Demons, Alex Kerr identifies tourism as one of th […]

]]> Comment on Dogs and Demons, or Japan: The Concrete Nation by: Japan’s forest problem http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-348 Sun, 10 Apr 2005 22:13:53 +0000 http://www.karai.com/archives/2005/04/03/dogs-and-demons-or-japan-the-concrete-nation/#comment-348 [...]the problems in Japan that Alex Kerr mentions in Dogs and Demons have come up in the news[...] […]the problems in Japan that Alex Kerr mentions in Dogs and Demons have come up in the news[…]

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