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fandomsecrets2007-12-07 04:00 pm
degrees.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomsecrets2007-12-07 04:00 pm
[ SECRET POST #336 ]
⌈ Secret Post #336 ⌋
Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.
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Notes:
Out again, Christmas shopping/making a buttload of cookies! You know what to do!
Last day to submit for next week!
Secrets Left to Post: 00 pages, 00 secrets from Secret Submission Post #048.
Secrets Not Posted: 0 broken links, [ 1 ] not!secret, [ 1 ] not!fandom, [ 1 ] repeat.
Next Secret Post: Tomorrow, Saturday, December 7th, 2007.
Current Secret Submission Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.
no subject
Here, he's saying that Japan has unique physical and tangible characteristics that are better than those of other nations and unique only to it. Ethnocentrism at its worst. Look at what he's saying here, even the air and water and forests are "better"?
G : Yes, I like them! I like Japan’s Bushido! Other countries don’t have this…I think that Japan’s Bushido is a spirit that came about because the Japanese are what they are. For it to become something firm, I really think that the men must protect this spirit. Japan is now heading towards a strange direction because we are forgetting this, isn’t it? If we lose the spirit of Bushido, our religion will be less closely related to our lives. In other countries, the religion is closely related to their everyday lives, and their faith educates them. Don’t we learn our morals and ethics from the teachings of our religion? In Japan, the adults should naturally pass this on to the children through the spirit of Bushido, but this is disappearing recently, and there are more children who don’t know these moral and ethics. I think this is a very scary thing. When you talk about this to them, you feel them thinking ‘What are you talking about?’, right? When we are around 15,16 years old, we go through our confused years, and we learn from the people who have walked down the road before us, in more ways than one. Especially when we get beaten up. Furthermore, corporal punishment is wrong, using force is wrong…the teachers now cannot do anything against the students. This is partly due to the media over-sensationalizing the news, and thanks to that, the things that originally had to be done are now all lost. Then, when faced with the fact that juvenile crime is on the rise, the media again condemns them, right? They say things like young people nowadays are like this, or like that. Weren’t you all the ones who caused this? You people created a system which raised young people like that. I always think that it’s really strange. My nephew is currently attending middle school, and what he tells me that the PTA[2] is strange. He said that the teachers cannot get angry at the students.
A typical right-wing racist rant. I mean, switch out "Christian" for "Bushido" and you have the KKK and Bushies.
no subject
First off, Gackt is Japanese. I wouldn't blame him for taking pride in his "Japanese spirit". He said that Japan is losing the Bushido spirit, & he feels that people should know about it. It's not like he's going & saying "every Japanese person should know about the Bushido spirit because we're Japanese, I'm Gackt, & I say so." He said that Japanese people should know about it is all
no subject
You're arguing semantics. He implied that he sees Japan as better than anywhere else in the world, and that is exactly what Japan's right-wing racists claim. By establishing the "superiority" of his nation. . . he's being a racial supremacist.
Like there's any lack of teaching or knowledge on it? And seriously, taking pride in one's "Japanese spirit" is as offensive as taking pride in one's white skin color.
no subject
"It’s like the way the sea in Japan feels really cold, unlike the seas in other countries. Even the forests and everything else; there is a darker, scarier green compared with overseas-- Japan's feeling is better than other countries feelings"
If he added that, then yes, it would come off as being slightly racist. Even if he did say that, I still don't think it would come off as too offensive, unless he pointed out that all the Japanese people were better than every other nationality.
How do you know there's lack of teaching or knowledge? Do you live in Japan? Do you witness it everyday on the Japanese streets, in the school, in the homes? He's ALWAYS in Japan, & maybe he has come across people that know nothing about it at all. But STILL, even with that, it's NOT racism.
no subject
Two examples of "Bushido" lost:
1. My own people (not surprising that we leap to our own POV, is it?) - Irish - Whether you argue the cause as choice or force, the Irish immigrants to the US dumped their culture, including the religion, morals, ethics, and language to become part of what is now referred to as "white." Now I'm not saying there's anything wrong with being white or that it's a horrible burden, just pointing out that the Irish (and surely other peoples) lost their "Bushido" in the process of assimilation, and that's sad. It is my earnest hope that more recent US immigrant groups fare better in this respect.
2. Visiting the Appalachian region of Kentucky, it was striking to notice how different the people in young, middle-age, elder generations are. The regional spirit is indeed being lost (along with some really cool dialects). And, religion has been an integral part of this culture/spirit. So, as the WalMartization/genericizing of the US continues, the regional churches sure *are* losing their congregations, and as a result, the population is losing the cultural communication that the churches once provided. For better or for worse, this region's cultural identity is in danger of extinction. (FYI, if you have to attend a cultural "festival" to experience your culture, I'm still calling it extinction.)
Now you may agree or disagree with the messages being conveyed by any given religious organization. It would be silly though, to ignore broader cultural impacts not directly related to specific religious beliefs.
If religious events are gathering places for a people, and if religion is how a culture communicates/educates/socializes, then YES, you will need new social infrastructure if the religion is lost. Sure it can be done - but what's lost? (or what risks being lost?)
Worldwide communication, media, and cultural cross-pollination carries a lot of benefits, but also some potential pitfalls, including loss of existing culture. Wanting to keep your culture or religion isn't racist. It's not not even objectionable.
No need to like Gackt or agree with him, of course...but let's be fair.
no subject
A Random Comment or Two....
And according to this site (http://victorian.fortunecity.com/duchamp/410/bsamurai.html) the seven basic principles of bushido are:
1. Gi: the right decision, taken with equanimity, the right attitude, the truth. When we must die, we must die. Rectitude.
2. Yu: bravery tinged with heroism.
3. Jin: universal love, benevolence toward mankind; compassion.
4. Rei: right action--a most essential quality, courtesy.
5. Makoto: utter sincerity; truthfulness.
ó. Melyo: honor and glory.
7. Chugo: devotion, loyalty.
"Compassion", "courtesy", "sincerity"...these aren't exactly cornerstones of the Klan or the Bushies, are they?
And while I normally love Gackt's music, I thought he's been a bit rudderless since Diabolos. Enough with the slow emo ballads already...hopefully he'll keep making great tunes with intricate, complex lyrics again sometime soon!
Re: A Random Comment or Two....
Re: A Random Comment or Two....
Re: A Random Comment or Two....
Agreed, but the way in which someone believes in said ideas and operates on them is also important. There's a lot of difference between, say, someone who believes in honor in general and someone who believes that honor is mandated and involves beating children (!!! Did no one read that in the article?)
How do we know this? He's confessed to identical beliefs as the (yakuza-influenced by the way) Japanese far right, he hires minorities but only in servant positions, and he views all of the other nations he so claims to want to reach as beneath him.
Sometimes, the only way we know what someone believes IS from what he or she says, especially in cases of racism. It's not uncommon for racists to be kind enough to their own and merely chilly or ignorant of others: not all bigots and racists go out of their way to make attacks, and they're often the most sad cases since they make it more "acceptable."
Why do give him the benefit of the doubt? This isn't like claiming to have amethyst blood or be 400 years old, this is a real-world belief with real-world consequences, that he seems to unquestionably accept and want to push on others. Nor has he made any statements qualifying the racist-sounding stuff, nor has he actually done anything to prove he doesn't support those kind of views.
no subject
I think the first statement is pretty-much harmless. It is very patriotic, but still can be seen as simply cultural pride. It may just be that he's proud of his country and wants to convey that. I'm not a supremacist, I don't even have a huge amount of love for Britain. But it's still my homeland and I have a right to be proud of some of its unique differences to other countries. This does not mean that 'my country is better than yours'.
As for the second statement, whilst echoing a similar hard-line evangelical view prevalent in the USA, is not quite the same. Sure Gackt is obviously quite religious and eager to put across his view on such things. However, calling this 'racist' is technically wrong. If anything, this attitude would be described as being religiously discriminate (as opposed to race discriminate). However, it is not fair to compare Bushido to Christianity in that way. I am sure there are some fanatical sects in the Bushido culture (there are bound to be in any religion). But it's not as if he's saying his way is the only way (as many American Evangelicals would). He seems to be putting forward a suggestion that kids are not being taught the correct morals these days and this is because religion is becoming detached from everyday life. He is being no-more religiously fanatic than your everyday concerned Christian, Muslim or Jew. He is also protesting the growing Political Correctness of our current culture. I do not agree with his view that religion would solve this, but this statement still does not make him a racist.
The point is, his views may have some aspects similar to those of the right-wing supremacists and whack-jobs, but this does not necessarily mean he is one.
While appreciating Gackt's music and his good-looks, I still think the guy is terribly up-himself. He's vain. That's a fact. It was wrong of him to complain about Yoshiki. He is obviously quite a jealous man as well. In this aspect I am in complete agreement with you. However, calling him a 'racist' is not wholly accurate.
no subject
As if it hasn't already? *laughs* But I won't hit you, I'm not the S-type ~_^. And you do make some good points, yet. . .
In almost any other country or contextual setting, I'd agree the first quote isn't necessarily racist, but at worst nationalistic patriotism. However, in Japan, racism and nationalistic patriotism are inextricably linked, AND this is the same sort of thing the racist right-wing nutjobs there have spewed for years. When it's coming from a sound stage rather than a sound truck, it's just that much more sad and stupid.
The problem is that in Japan, all of these issues are tied together. Since it's believed that only "the Japanese" (which doesn't include anyone from Zainichi Koreans to Chinese to anyone with non-Japanese national origin or appearance features) can truly practice Shinto or Bushido, that automatically makes them "superior." If the beliefs opened up, then this would not be racist, but it's like if fundamentalist Christianity had an "only white people may apply" sign on it.
*nods* I think he's very pretty, and I loved his music up until 2005 when he seemed to take a fast dive off the slope and into the crap pile (seriously, if you hear his recorded vocals from SKIN, you'll see why Yoshiki got so mad: Gackt wasn't even trying and did things like tilting his head toward the ceiling that made what voice he had *worse,* IMO, and let's not even mention the disaster that was "No ni Saku Hana no you ni").
But yeah, that loss of actual talent and apparently even of his drive to "try" is what made me see him as "worse," since yes, Yoshiki is the king of angst and the prince(ss) of attention whores on occasion (LOL dolls of himself and amethyst blood and X condoms, though he's toned it down a bit since the X days) but he's capable of backing up all the self-promotion and attention-seeking with true talent and seems to want to give of himself for the fans, which Gackt, anymore, just doesn't seem like.
Maybe, maybe not, but I hope you can see why I think he is now ^_^