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NEWS: New York Times on Xenophobic Manga

You know what worries me? Some reports peg Japan as being on the verge of total economic collapse, as a country in complete denial about its true economic state. Banks hold obscene amounts of uncollectable debt from what have been called "zombie companies" -- businesses that remain active only because the banks haven't demanded payment. The banks refuse to collect because it's not the Japanese way. Their customers would lose face, and so would the bank, for having been so foolish to give the credit in the first place. So they continue along in a state of denial, pretending that the debtors will all make good some day.

But this can't continue forever. Eventually, one of these banks will collapse. When that happens, others could start falling like dominoes and Japan could be in a depression practically overnight. The Japanese government understands this and has been trying to head off the crisis legislatively -- last I heard, with little success.

The type of xenophobic hate-filled attitude described in the article is the last thing I want to see from a country that may shortly have to make some hard decisions about its future.

------RM

I rank these as equal in importance to Japanese society as arian rock is to US race relations. Not that big a deal.

Many people call me a dreamer. Every time I read this kind of article, I always wonder why there is no perfect solution to all the problems in the world.

Since I’ve never read those books, I don’t know what they are really about, but I guess the authors and the readers are fed up with the Korea and China’s attitude toward Japan.

My mother was 11 when the WW2 ended. Both my grandmother and mother taught me how evil wars were. They told me how mean Japanese solders were during the war. Yes, war is about killing or harming enemies. It's a nasty thing. But what I was told was not something any civilized people would do. So, I can’t blame those people who still have hateful feelings towards Japan.

However, at the same time, I also feel how long we, Japanese people, have to be blamed for what most of us didn’t do. I don’t know what exactly those people want. I don’t have any numbers with me but Japan has paid quite a bit of money to those countries as compensation (even when there were people in Japan who needed government’s help). Of course, money doesn’t resolve problems, but Japan gave what they wanted as compensation.

One thing Japan can do is that the government can try to get the history straight and be honest. I think everything starts from there. Once this is done, will they forgive Japan? I’m not sure, but forgiveness or no forgiveness, I think we still need to do it.

I sincerely hope that foreign (non-Japanese) people don’t think that everyone in Japan agrees with those books.

The South Koreans and Chinese hate this attitude, yet as rising powers they'll look down on the poorer Asians like Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam etc.

What China and Japan need to do is to the same thing Germany and France did after WWII: Create a textbook counsel.

I rank these as equal in importance to Japanese society as arian rock is to US race relations. Not that big a deal.