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Crashing Japan - The Scribe


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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15574
PostPosted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 11:50 pm Reply with quote
Very touching article, Jake. Maybe you could collaborate with Patrick on a book one of these days.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8502
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:18 am Reply with quote
Beautiful story, really. I never knew about that sort of thing.
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MorwenLaicoriel



Joined: 26 Feb 2006
Posts: 1617
Location: Colorado
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:21 am Reply with quote
It's funny...people in my generation (including myself) don't really think much about the effects WWII had, but really...it wasn't that long ago, huh?

Being a scribe probably wasn't the most glamorous job during the war, but...obviously, it was still an important one. It's cool to get to hear about this. ^^
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Deltakiral



Joined: 07 Oct 2004
Posts: 3338
Location: Glendora, CA (Avatar Hei from Darker than BLACK)
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:21 am Reply with quote
That was a great read very informing, there was so much about Japan that I didn't know specifically what the rest of Japan was doing during the war. I have always enjoyed the Crashing Japan features, my studies have taught me little to nothing about Japan's history. It's very interesting to learn about their lifestyle.
Till next time,

Delta Kiral
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:14 am Reply with quote
Very nice article, yet I wonder why it appeared here at ANN? It is not related to anime in any way other than being Japanese.

Crashing Japan wrote:
In Taiwan there were huge buildings entirely full of people like me writing all these documents by hand.

I'd like to know which building he was talking about and pay it a visit.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15574
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:48 am Reply with quote
dormcat: Does the writer previously working for Raijin and CMX count?
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Twage



Joined: 29 Jul 2003
Posts: 364
Location: North Bergen, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:04 am Reply with quote
Cool, but what does this have to do with anime? Wouldn't this be more at home on a Japan blog?

GATSU wrote:
dormcat: Does the writer previously working for Raijin and CMX count?


Good for him, but I don't see why it would.

I also really question the wide conclusions the author draws at the end. I think 1) the war ending without an invasion and 2) the Soviet threat cutting short reform efforts had a much bigger effect on the preservation of Japan's antebellum social order. I realize he wants to give the old guy his due credit, but he's overreaching. It's certainly interesting to hear about this, though, and from a logistical standpoint I'm sure it was a great help. I'm just doubtful of the wider social implications.
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Strategos



Joined: 25 Sep 2004
Posts: 91
Location: Ohio
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 7:17 am Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
Very nice article, yet I wonder why it appeared here at ANN? It is not related to anime in any way other than being Japanese.


Who cares? Anime is Japanese? Seems related enough to me.
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Animedude35



Joined: 29 Jul 2005
Posts: 98
Location: Dallas, Texas
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 8:25 am Reply with quote
I don't see why everything has to be anime related (although this is ANN). I mean we can, from time to time, talk about other things like this nice story about Japanese history and an interesting insight into one of the reasons why Japan bounced back so quickly after WWII.

A great read. Wink
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ginzugirl



Joined: 14 Oct 2003
Posts: 30
Location: Detroit, Michigan
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:17 am Reply with quote
The more you read this, the more profound the article becomes. Thanks for a facinating, real-life insight into a culture many of us have 'adopted' thru it's media.
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cl4y



Joined: 14 Jul 2006
Posts: 56
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 9:59 am Reply with quote
As one who admits that, sadly, most of my knowledge of Japanese society comes from anime, I have to ask...

Do things like family status really relegate people to crap jobs in Japan nowadays?
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Twage



Joined: 29 Jul 2003
Posts: 364
Location: North Bergen, NJ
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:57 am Reply with quote
cl4y wrote:
As one who admits that, sadly, most of my knowledge of Japanese society comes from anime, I have to ask...

Do things like family status really relegate people to crap jobs in Japan nowadays?


Read and learn. Where you come from has always been a major part of your identity in Japan, and that's impossible to change. Employers often used to conduct investigations into the personal background of their employees, although this has been discouraged by laws and pressure from civic groups. Discrimination against ethnic minorities, especially Koreans and Chinese, and immigrants is also still a major problem.
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ShikamaChU



Joined: 13 Jul 2005
Posts: 79
Location: Evergreen State, Olympia Washington
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:02 am Reply with quote
This is for Cl4y ^^:
I think these days it's mostly where you went to school. (This is speaking from personal experience. I suppose it could be different depending on where you were.)

I was an exchange student to a couple shikoku backwater cities. There I noticed that from middle school on you all had to break your neck studying to get into a good (private or technical) high Scholl (Not a shogyo, public school) and then to a good college, preferable in the city (if you wanted to actually do something.)

I mean, yeah money is important (Private schools are expensive (In the tech school I went to, the uniform was a couple thousand dollars, The Public school was 800. Luckily , most have payment plans)) and also, most kids who are born into a family business generally take it over (although it's no longer as definite as it used to be, despite what the parents and grandparents would like you to think. but in the country, if the kid lived on a farm or small store, he's probably work there when he grew up.)
There’s still a good amount of bullying for families that are different (both in school and by neighbors/society), but if they do really well in school, they can still make something of themselves.

I spent awhile going to a public school, where a lot of the kids would drop out their second year (or never go to high school at all), to help with their family business.
My second school was a smart people high school, and most of them wanted to go to really huge colleges in Either nearby-ish Osaka, Kyoto, or even (sometimes) Tokyo.

Money and reputation (Japan is obsessed with outward appearance, in both manner/etiquette and actual physical appearance) is important still, but school makes or breaks you (you can build a reputation for yourself if you try hard. There’s very little hope left in Japan, except for school).
It's pretty scary, and often depressing (In the tech school, kids were going gray already 0_0, all for entrance exams and test ranks.) They had no time to be kids.

In Japan, after you get IN to college, it's no longer scary (I’ve had friends telling me that most Kids take it really easy in college. And they can never seem to drop out, even if they never show up) , while in America, that's where the hard part starts after coasting through our primary education.

Of course it's different for non-Japanese persons. Japan is seriously racist (Even to the Ainu, who live hidden in Hokkaido somewhere).

I’ll stop being Off topic now >_>

*Goes to read article*
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:35 am Reply with quote
The Old Man wrote:
“It was because of those records that we were able to rebound so quickly from the destruction of the war,”

Amazing but true.
Sad thing is one side of my family is Japanese, and the other side is American, and I've seen some tension and hate that still remains Sad
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ANN_Bamboo
ANN Contributor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 3904
Location: CO
PostPosted: Thu Aug 24, 2006 11:46 am Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
Very nice article, yet I wonder why it appeared here at ANN? It is not related to anime in any way other than being Japanese.

Twage wrote:
Cool, but what does this have to do with anime? Wouldn't this be more at home on a Japan blog?


Part of what ANN strives to do is to bring compelling content to its readers, and material that we think our readers would be interested in. Much like manga and anime are interrelated (and fans of one are often fans of the other), many fans also find themselves interested in other aspects of Japanese culture, from its history and customs, to its pop culture (like its music and video game industry).
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