Status Updates From A Public Betrayed: An Insid...

So far very good. There was a concise culture and history overview. Now it seems to be what I recognize from academia as a well done “review of literature.” Included are key points translated from studies written in Japanese.

The rest of the book was luckily a much better read and I did not feel the urge to skip passages of superfluous information.

Comfort women, that brings back memories.

Yet the fact remains that U.S. aid to Japan, including critical diplomatic and military support, has been instrumental in allowing Japan to evade its wartime responsibilities.
You could say the same about Turkey.

I had to skip several passages. And now from antisemitism to war denial.

Does the author subscribe to the "anti-Israel/Israel-criticism = antisemitism" logic?

The Merchant of Venice, common-ancestry theories in which Japanese are claimed to be the descendants of Jews, Japanese are the ancestors of Jews, Japan is an important unnamed biblical place, "The theories derive much of their power, the authors say, from the idea of a divinely "chosen people"-a fundamental tenet of both Judaism and Japanese indigenous beliefs. " Holy shit!!!

By telling the reader who Simon Wiesenthal was and not saying that he only lend the Simon Wiesenthal Center his name but was never a member or organizer of it the author gives a false impression and omits the clashes Wiesenthal had with the center over the years. One issue in particular also betrays the alleged message of tolerance as the center has a bad history of denying the Romani holocaust.

Boy that Kono got a raw end of the deal.

In the U.S., there was a good tradition of skepticism toward authorities and officials and a healthy respect for the role of journalism in democratic societies. There were fundamental principles recognized by most good journalists. Now it seems that it has become an information industry, not journalism. This situation has become even worse since September 11, 2001.

I really think this has too much information on the history and environment of the papers. This has interesting information but it almost drowns among all the superfluous stuff. AT least that is how I feel about it. Thankfully I am almost a third into the actual text.

Luckily there are some information on politics (like the anti-Americanism, national pride and US influence on the government and media) or otherwise this would have been really boring. It is sometimes hard enough as it is.

This is getting boring with all the talk about press clubs. I mean, is it really important to know all this?

Wow, this makes Japanese media look bad.

The japanese media produced more effective propaganda than Nazi Germany exactly because it wasn't under airtight control? Well, that is not something you hear every day.

That the Tokugawa Bakufu established isolationism for full control
over trade, addressing the fear of Western invasion, elliminate Christianity's influence and to assist authorities in controlling other philosophies, such as Buddhism, is partially new. Apparently they did not want their subjects to conceive of anything greater than their earthly, human leaders.

When the Japanese describe their country, they will often use the word semai, "narrow:' "cramped;' "crowded:' ...Semai is not a physical property; semai is in the mind. It's the emotional consequence of Japan's rigid systems, which bind individuals and keep out the fresh air of new ideas from abroad.

The problem, as Katz sees it, is that long after Japan's economy had grown and become robust, its bureaucrats made the error of continuing to
apply the same strategies of overprotection. He writes, "The caterpillar, not believing it had turned into a butterfly, refused to leave the cocoon. No wonder it couldn't fly."
A quote fitting so many other situations.

Although occupation began with its remarkably altruistic policies of "demilitarization and democratization;' plans were radically shifted around 1947 to meet the U.S. foreign-policy requirements of the
early cold war. At the expense of democratic reforms, the United States
influenced the Japanese system in a manner that ensured that the .S.-aligned LDP was able to gain dominance.