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168 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1969
He had been the Japanese ambassador to Iran, Poland and now Argentina, and he had served the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo for 37 impeccable years, but last week 59-year-old Ichiro Kawasaki found himself sacked for that most undiplomatic sin of all—speaking out. Was he guilty of gossiping about the Shah, uncovering the truth behind Polish jokes, or detailing the gaucheness of the gauchos? Not a bit of it. All Kawasaki did was to write a book, Japan Unmasked, about his fellow Japanese.
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Why did Kawasaki write the book? “It is an attempt,” he told Japanese correspondents, “at helping to enhance understanding about Japanese among foreigners.” Kawasaki’s sort of understanding, however, was not considered desirable by the Tokyo government.
In 1891, Emperor Meiji published his famous Rescript on Education which laid emphasis on absolute devotion of the Japanese people to the cause of the nation, and which was instrumental in orienting school education toward intense nationalism. The Ministry of Education ordered each school to preserve a portrait of the Emperor and a copy of the Rescript on Education; the national anthem was to be sung on all national holidays. The unveiling of the Emperor's portrait and the recitation of the Rescript on Education became the compulsory ceremonies on many important occasions. I remember when I was a boy a fire broke out in an elementary school near where I lived. The headmaster of the school plunged into the flaming building to save the portrait of the Emperor, but was too late and perished in the flames. This incident was heralded at the time as a patriotic act of the highest order. In this way nationalism began to possess a religious fervor and the nation was dedicated more than ever toward making Japan one of the strongest powers of the world.
...we have an interesting deal with Japan where we have to protect them but they don't have to protect us,” Trump told reporters.
“That's the way the deal reads. We have to protect Japan. Under no circumstances do they have to protect us,” the president said, adding that Japan was making a fortune off the U.S. economically.