"Japan in the Global Era"

[Anonymous]

Did anyone follow the year-long series of articles in the Japan Times "Japan in the Global Era"? It finished just last week. I am sure some of you will argue that I don't read enough, but these articles were the only ones that described the Japan that I know.

Whereas "Dogs and Demons" described the problems, Jean-Pierre Lehmann prescribed solutions.

Don't know about the rest of you, but I am eager to leave this country (after being here over 3 years). I need only browse these forums to see that at least some of you feel similarly. These aforemention works didn't influence me, they rather consolidated and confirmed my feelings towards japan into unfortunate facts.

Who said "Hell is the absence of reason" (apart from charlie sheen in "platoon"!)? Time and time again, during my stay here, I have seen it. Sure, it's not all bad and every country has its bad points, but that isn't what this topic or the articles were about.

I would love to hear what others have to say about the series and J-PL's opinions.

If you want to read the articles go to www.japantimes.com and search the archive for "lehmann".

Happy reading.

[trip_hop]

I read them. Mildly interesting, but written by someone who is an obvious outsider, an academic who observes but does not experience; an elitist who rarely steps down to meet with the lay public.

His so-called solutions were written with the detached, relaxed mindset of someone who will never have to carry out his plans; scholarly, thoughtful, but lacking practical measures. He managed to drop lots of names of so-called VIPs, attended many conferences and committees during his articles, but failed to see that they were all part of the problem, not the solution. If those people and bodies were so remarkable, why the current mess?

Wrapped up in his own importance, promoting himself and his company, writing from the comfort and security of Lausanne, his writing clearly showed his unfamiliarity with the real Japan outside of Nagatacho and Kasumigaseki, Keidanren and Kabushiki-kaishas, Sony and Toyota.

Just my 10 yens worth

th

[Anonymous]

I agree with you, 'th', about the author, Lehmann. Clearly an academic, and besides claiming to be not the proverbial French nationalist he still finds ways of ignoring US influence (such as in the internationalization of English, or the fall of Soviet communism.)

But back on topic about Japan, I believe he overlooks the more fundamental issues. For example, I have met many Japanese women here in California (either they go to school or are visiting,) and without exception they do not want children! No little Japanese rug rats => eventually no Japan! Why should Japan bother to internationalize its institutions if it doesn't even want to exist in the future?

On the language front I have no doubt that if Japanese businesses were more fluent in English they would be more involved in the world, and I even plan on going to Japan soon to teach English. But here again I think Lehmann overlooks a fundamental idea. That is, why should the Katakana even exist? Being that I have started learning Japanese I now have to learn two *identically sounding* syllablaries, on top of Kanji? That the Japanese even still think that they have to identify a word as 'foreign' speaks volumes.

Speaking of which, excuse me, I've got to go practice my calligraphy, I've got my Japanese class in the morning.....

-lr

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Comfortably the most entertaining writer in the Japan Times (this no great feat) is the social-columnist, Jane Rees, who every Saturday provides breathless accounts of thrilling near-brushes with the impossibly minor luminaries of Tokyo's foreign elite.

Beyond parody? Well, I'm game...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With my nose pressed against the window of the first-class departures lounge at a sultry but sumptuous Kuala Lumpur airport, after a delightful weekend spent in the same postal district as former KL director of drainage the Admiral Craig Neesbaum and his singularly vivacious Singaporean wife Mimsy, I spotted legal attache to the Belgian consulate in Tokyo Jean-Pierre Baguette elegantly eating lunch and sophisticatedly drinking what might well have been a martini (so marvellously refreshing, as I was recently saying to my dear and close friend Brindl Bhaji whose wonderful and vivacious husband Pappadom owns the finest and most sumptuously appointed Indian restaurant in Kamakura, 'Bombay Nights'...book now!). My efforts to speak to the ever charming Jean-Pierre, whose sister's elbow I once jogged at a summer bazaar given by the wonderful ladies of the Petroleum Industry Foreign Wives club, were alas in vain.....a delightful young man in a sumptuous cerise uniform forbade me enter the luxuriously appointed lounge. The ever sympathetic Jean-Pierre sweetly offered sympathies suggesting that that I wasn't much missing out on the food anyway..."Duck off" was his mouthed message as I was escorted from the departures area by three sumptuously muscled security guards....
Until the next time!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No, this doesn't come close.

Have a look on Saturday.

COC

[trip_hop]

COC, not bad at all, but you forget the other Queen of vacuous prose, Vivienne Kenrick, the creator of the "personality profiles"; daughter of Melissa Kenrick who made her money laughing at Japanese efforts to write English (Gems of Japanized English).

Her attempts to ingratiate herself with the rich and influential of Hiroo and Azabu are on par with Jane's, and if she ever leaves Japan, I am sure that she could work for Hill and Knowlton, George Bush's PR firm, infamous for coaching the absent Kuwaiti Ambassador's daughter story of non-existent Iraqi baby killers in Kuwaiti hospitals.

I occasionally read her bovine faecal prose about some diplomat's wife, president of this year's International Ladies Benevolent Fund, or director of the International Cherry-Blossom Refugees Choir Group, and wonder if it is the same person I saw screaming abuse at her Filipino maid, or swearing at her children as she attempts to ask for multiple receipts for her children's ice cream.

Now she would be worth a parody!

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Forgive my reproducing so lengthy a piece, but here are 3 of 5 paragraphs from Jane Rees's most recent 'Rendezvous'.

I PROMISE YOU that I haven't doctored this beyond removing two paragraphs, and I've indicated where this has been done.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rendezvous

By JANE REES

[introductory para omitted]

On Dec. 30, I called my dear friends in Tochigi, Lieselotte and Mitsuo Maruyama, although knowing they always go to Hawaii for some sun and fun over the New Year's holidays. Being in Tokyo for a few days, I wanted to leave a yearend message. Lilo answered the phone herself, saying, "We waited too long and we couldn't book a plane." "Come to Tokyo and have dinner with me at Trader Vic's," I suggested. "Rene Purro, Trader Vic's ingenious manager, has planned a Hawaiian New Year's Eve here in Tokyo." "You will never get a reservation," Lilo said, but I mentioned her name and I did. That Rene is hospitable, but he insisted that we come early and leave early, and we did. I don't know how he does it, but Rene found a flock of very pretty Japanese girls and good-looking guys who could really (and how) do the hula, and they danced all around the pretty restaurant as we dined. Rene Purro says the next "round the world" gourmet evening on the books is "dinner in old Saigon and new Ho Chi Minh City."

In spite of the trials and tribulations of the year 2003, arriving on my desk one way or another over the waves come inquiries of the lighter side of life and places mentioned in previous Rendezvous columns. Out of the great Pacific Northwest, I bring you more news of that fabulous getaway barge, King Pacific Lodge, moored in the shelter of Barnard Harbor on Princess Royal Island. The luxurious lodge in the heart of British Columbia is the creation of Hideo Morita, the enterprising son of Sony's brilliant founder, Akio Morita.

[para giving contact details omitted]

And to other dear readers asking about news of my favorite villa in bella Italia, Villa Feltrinelli on the gentle shores of glistening Lake Garda, it too is closed for the winter, and will open again in March. In the meantime the villa's owner, the legendary hotelier Bob Burns, is reeling in awards for his sumptuous latest enterprise. Britain's Tatler magazine last month gave Villa Feltrinelli its "Best New Sensation Award," and the Sunday Times says that at the village you will bathe "as never before," naming its bathrooms as one of the "Four Greatest" hotel bathrooms. And USA Today names the villa as one of the 10 best worldwide for "renewing the body and soul." E-mail grandhotel@villafeltrinelli.com A word to the wise: Save up your money.

Until the next time . . .

The Japan Times: Jan. 18, 2003
(C) All rights reserved
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Priceless, and this just the most recent column, by no means a classic.

COC

[Anonymous]

I used to think Gregory Clarke's columns were critical of Japan, but that Jean-Pierre Lehmann makes him look like an amateur.. He hates it so much he refuses to even come
here! (writes his articles from Paris or somewhere..). I remember seeing in one of
his articles the other day something about someone 'spewing chauvanistic claptrap..'. It's writing like that which has really endeared himself to everyone I'm sure.

[Anonymous]

So, Lehman is an 'outsider' who doesn't understand Japan ? I bet he wishes he was an expert like you lot in Gaijinpot are. Don't you realise he has written many books that from some of the most critical academic discourse written about Japan. Oh yeah, but he won't know as much as a """"""""Sensei""""""""" who has amassed great knowledge about Japan by working in Nova and reading these forums !!!!!! You lot make me laugh

[trip_hop]

Not everyone here works at NOVA. Some of us have lived here over 15 years, are permanent residents, run businesses, belong to local community groups; unlike Lehmann who does not set foot here, unless he parachutes into a 5-star hotel, on a paid business trip, from some obscure, self-interested Tokyo think-tank . He is an inhabitant of an Ivory Tower, who writes from Lausanne, and is totally out of touch with the reality of life in Japan, just like the the US who attempted to change it after WW2, and never got beyond scratching the surface.

So he is an academic, who has written many books. You will not find them on sale here, in any bookshops, unlike Karel von Wolferen, Jon Woronoff, Edwin Reischauer, Donald Richie and others, whose books are sold here, and quoted and read avidly by both foreigners and Japanese. Why does nobody read them or buy them? Because they are regarded as inaccurate, narrow-minded, naive; and much better work is available.

Your post is nothing but a cheap shot at the people who live here and try to contribute towards increasing the understanding of Japan. None of us are self-acclaimed experts; a few have some respect from years of contributing, but we do know a little bit about the place, and are willing to share it with others, and that is what academia is about; acquiring real knowledge and being willing to share it.

I start to wonder why you posted your comment. Have you been unable to live here? Had a bad experience? What is your experience and background knowledge to support Lehmann? Do enlighten us please.

At least your maligned NOVA "teachers" are here in Japan, experiencing the reality of the place for themselves.

The joke is on you.

Trip Hop

[Anonymous]

In any bookshops ? Nobody reads them or buys them ? "The reality of life in Japan" "They are regarded as inaccurate and naive" . "None of us are self-acclaimed experts". Your penchant for generalisations certainly makes fun reading. Your academic credentials shine through sister. And remember kids - cyber space is not real.

[Anonymous]

Dear Jovialcocktail,

That is a pretty lame comeback to TH.

Can't you do any better than "Penchant for generalizations"?

Thrasymachus

[Anonymous]

How about 'value laden judgements' ?
I agree with Jocktavial - you can't simply write off Lehman like that. It is a pretty misinformed person who thinks they can speak for the whole of Japan's reading habits.
Incidentally, Lehman himself was one of the biggest critics of US post-war occupation in Japan ( see 'The Roots of Modern Japan' ), citing this as one of the biggest causes of animosity towards foreigners. I would say that Lehman is acutely aware of this 'being out of touch with Japan' that is ascribed to the American occupiers.

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Interesting bit of pursed-lipped point-missing in the Daily Yomiuri today. On page 2 they have an article about two statues literally defaced in Kagoshima prefecture. Vandals used felt-tip pens to scrawl on the faces of the statues of Ryoma Sakamoto and wife Oryo. According to the DY, Oryo was made to seem as if she had "saliva running from her mouth". [and see pic.]

COC

[Anonymous]

Ha ! Sounds like what happened in U.K with statues of Churchill and Thatcher .
Big up the underground kids of Japan.

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Can't agree. This wasn't political protest, just mindlessness. Unless you're suggesting that the 'underground kids' of Japan were protesting the actions of a 300 hundred years dead feudal protector. I'm not celebrating the stupidity of these divvies (who want flogging or conscription), only wishing the DY would treat its readers as adults.

COC

[Anonymous]

"protesting the actions of a 300 hundred years dead feuda l protector"

Certainly don't think they are that politically-minded......but shows signs of discontent ?
How are DY treating readers as kids ?

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Hello,

first of all I got some of the detail wrong: Ryoma Sakamoto died in the middle of the nineteenth century, far from being a "feudal protector", he was a Samurai who turned his back on his class and sought to overturn the (feudal) shogunates and return power to a centralised (imperial) authority. He's regarded in Japan as a romantic hero, in part because he died in his middle 30s, and his feted in his native Kochi.

My complaint about the DY was that the picture showed a globulous liquid running out of Oryo's mouth and down her chin: a popular and unmistakable porno and manga motif, and I felt peeved at the Yomiuri's prissily telling me this was saliva the (dare I say it? "More palatable") story we might tell an questioning child.

COC

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Is feted, not "his feted"

COC

[Anonymous]

um, why could it not be saliva? I am hardly naive or stupid, but I did not jump to any conclusions about it being sexual.

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Dickie,

First of all, congratulations on a clean mind.

Now let me put a version of your own question back to you:

How do you or the writers at the DY or anyone except the vandals know that it was saliva they intended to depict?

My feeling is that the DY shouldn't have pronounced on it at all. In part it was the smug, unchallengeable authority with which the, surely speculative, pronouncement was made that irritated me. That and the fact that I think it was nannying.

But, I think the DY is wrong on this, and that I am right: that the vandal's (or vandals') intention was that what was running down the female statue's chin should be recognised as semen. A speculation, yes.....and one made with smug, unchallengeable authority. But here are my reasons for making it:

First, the intention was plainly to degrade the statues. Drawing semen dribbling from the female statue's mouth seems a better way of doing this than drawing saliva (which seems simply bizarre), and seems more in keeping with the mentality of someone who would deface a statue.

Second, as I hinted at before, in Japan this 'dribble shot' is a time honoured shorthand motif for completed fellatio, and is recognised as that by every adult who has ever seen a porno movie or read a manga comic: which is to say, by near every adult. It is a sign ingrained in the culture as surely as the golden arches that mean "here is a McDonald's".

I think the name for this is 'semiotics' (correct?) In TV dramas drug-taking is 'depicted' not by showing the actor shooting-up, but by cutting to a spent syringe. The spent syringe is as much as the tele-literate viewer needs in order to know what has happened.

Similarly, since the censorship laws in Japan make it impossible to properly show a cum-shot, the dribble shot does service in manga as symbolising completed fellatio. It's role in porn is as proof that the fellatio really was carried through to ejaculation, and that the man ejaculated in the girl's mouth.

My point is that the vandals simply couldn't have been unaware of what the dribble shot signifies, and that suggesting that they didn't know is as implausible as someone's suggesting that he didn't recognise the pictorial sign that means 'no smoking'.

In Japan, it is a universal.

Like this

COC

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

That was meant to be a smiley :-)

Honestly, I am a proper divvie.

COC

[Anonymous]

I`ll have to disagree slightly with you on that one.
Yes,he is an academic and an outsider.He quite freely admits that he is by no means an insider.I feel that whether you deal with a class of kindergarten kids or a boardroomk full of business and political heads,as Lehman does,the traits,ignorances and shortcomings of the Japanese are all the same.The frustrations I have experienced in classrooms,social situations and business dealings all mirror Lehmans opinions.
I don`t mean to say you are wrong but that`s my 10 yens worth.

[Kent Brockman]

A "divvie" is -

a) In-house jargon for a divining rod (As in "Pass the divvie you f__ing munter, we`ve been walking for 3 days now").
b) Like a skivvie but... divverent (Author Intrusion; That was a shocker, sorry bout` that).
c) Track slang for dividend (As in "Trev`s missus smacked im` silly after he blew 10 bob on the divvie at Riccarton last Sundee").
d) A COC typo (not entirely unexpected considering the limbless condition of coin-operated-clowns).

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Any and all COC typos should be attributed to the fact that I've now moved completely to _____-typing, to allow for "multi-tasking" (literally, juggling responsibilities).

An unwanted corollary is that what I can write has become dependent on whether I can or cannot see the secretary's underwear. When I can, I'm up in the numbers (Yeah, baby, you know it!)

Hang on, she's adjusting her skirt, I'm about to "go numeral"!!!

iturpeuypwhfpfhfhheuue

Aach! For shame! I wither on the vine....

COC

[Kent Brockman]

Tech Support? Can I edit my Oscar nomination to read "C 'I've now moved completely to _____-typing' OC"?

To be left withering on the vine is a staple of "Japan in the Global Era".

And it`s just not cricket.

[trip_hop]

No-one using the function keys? aka Short Cut keys? Just above the numbers on the new mac keyboards, a little further if you have Windows machines. Who will be first to type the Works of Shakespeare? COC/ KB or the random monkeys print and publication company? Maybe should not encourage you two, hair has a tendency to get trapped in small gaps, like between the teeth, or the space between the Caps Lock and Alt key. You have been cautioned!

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

ill have a stab at e e cummings....havent got the "supplementary weight" to depress shift for capitals....

incidentally, what's your favourite shakespeare play?

me? I like awth night and r gentleman of verona

aach! beyond my compass.....

coc

[Kent Brockman]

th, I see the keys of which you speak. But they are inexplicably stained beyond recognition. Do I need to "up-grade" Windows 88'?

I think I have "andy" to thank for the speed-skaters thighs I am rapidly developing to complement my rickshaw coolie calves.

If I may minutely digress, COC, the "FLAG CARRYING" story title on that other daft thread had me laughing for a GOOD HARD 30 SECONDS.

[Anonymous]

Well done Reggie you've got your head screwed on. As if Gaijinpot armchair sociologists know more than Lehman about Japan. "I've lived here for ten years, I know how to make ramen dashi so I know more about Japan than some 'resident of an ivory tower' who stays in posh Tokyo hotels rather than in Shitamachi like me"

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

"Lehmann is expert"

Goodish headline.

COC

[trip_hop]

Nam Am' mono - well that looks fairly aimed at me, even if you have misquoted, or more likely deliberately changed my words to try to add impact. You are obviously revelling in someone supporting your viewpoint.

You are totally justified in asking who is more qualifed to write - the analyst in the ivory tower, living in Lausanne, who stays one week only in the posh hotels, mingling with the so-called Tokyo jet-set, or the long term resident, 15 years in the country, who owns a small company, does business with both local and international companies, has lived in Kansai and Kanto, who belongs to the local town committee, and shops with the locals.

I might not know, and I don't claim to know, academic social terminology, nor the latest pyschosocial or economic theories, but I do know why my neighbour Suzuki-san has lost her job, why the Watanabes' kid is starting to hang around with the bosozoku gangs, and why Mr. Katoh cannot sell his goods to the local car factory anymore. I can also tell you how to set up a business, get a visa, and live fruitfully in this country. When I read Lehmann in the Japan Times, it is obvious he is out of touch with the reality of day-to-day facing most Japanese and foreign people in Japan. I am also not the only person who feels that. He writes theory, I live reality.

I might also, in the same spirit, ask what qualifies you to criticise from the far shores of the UK? How in touch you are with modern Japanese society, besides 2nd hand media info and 3rd hand rumours on bulletin boards? A couple of years teaching s foreign language here? A spell as a corporate expat in the gaijin ghetto of Azabu or Roppongi? A short untenured spell at a Japanese Ivory Tower, with students sleeping at your feet? A posting with the Diplotrash at an Embassy? Do tell please.

It is very easy to criticise and attack, but you contribute little positive to the forum, other than trite negative comments, and offer nothing yourself.

th

BTW - I do not eat ramen; I prefer to make and cook my own "udon".

[Anonymous]

Poor TH, someone challenging your ideas ! Or has it happened before ?

I agree with a lot of what you say, but felt that perhaps you had over-stepped the mark with your damning of Lehman, someone I have learned a lot from during my studies of Japan.
It is not, for example, "obvious" to me that he is out of touch with Japan. I do not agree with your assumption that "He writes theory, I live reality" - in fact I think it is complete bollocks which is why I choose to challenge your posts. That is fair enough isn't it ?

I have a healthy interest in Japan. Seeing as you asked, I have a degree from a Japanese University. Have run my own school in Japan and UK and have spent many long hours discussing a plethora of issues with my students, in both languages hence the interest in the Japan of today and these forums.

I count among my friends (and partner ) quite a few Japanologists at Oxford University with whom I share my interest in Japanese socieity.

Now work for a Japanese production company here in London. I think that affords me the right to take issue with some of the claptrap and　誇大妄想 that you come out with .

Plus, I do contribute to these forums, of you'd care to have a look at my Nova post.

[Anonymous]

so you do not live here, and it would appear have never lived here long term. That explains your attitude and obvious lack of information

knowing a and reading b will help - live here for 10 +years and you may have a different attitude

[trip_hop]

Nam Am'mono. The armchair Japanophiles in the UK criticising the gaijinpot armchair sociologists?? Interesting. Your loyalty to an obviously strong influence is touching, and I can understand that, but he is only one writer out of many on Japan. Is it you who does not like to be challenged? Are there not any other authors that you respect and read? Lehmann is one of many writers.

Have just been looking through a selection of Lehmann's articles again, the subject of the original post - there are about 30 archived on the Japan Times website. There is a pattern in many of them. I met XXX and YYY (pick some industrial/ academic names) at a conference in QQQ (choose from Europe/ US/ Asia) and we talked about ZZZ. He talks about overseas matters. He offers some or a lot of criticism on Japan. He occasionally offers solutions. He mentions his school of business and Switzerland. He rarely touches on everyday life in Japan.

I suggested he knows little of it, because the Japan he sees is a tiny district of Tokyo; the Japanese he talks to are themselves a small group, out of touch with daily life, like the Nagatacho politicians, and the Kasumigaseki bureaucrats.

He admits he has rarely ventured out of Tokyo, which is why I offered that he knows little of the real, modern Japan, like an Oxford Don writing about poverty and unemployment in the Industrial North of England from the comfort of his Woodhouse Road house, based on a couple of field trips to Durham. It is 20-30 years since he spent significant time here, and he is out of touch with the realities of modern Japan. Again, I use the word modern, meaning now, the Japan of 2003.

Please feel free to refute my comments. But do provide some solid evidence, and do not belittle yourself with snide comments such as that on "ramen dashi"; it does not reflect on your obvious knowledge and genuine interest in the country. Our differing comments and opinions may stem from different viewpoints and experiences of Japan, or be influenced by the different Japanese that we are in touch with daily; in my case business people, healthcare staff, media producers, housewives, some prefectural officers, a politican's aide, and some other long-term resident foreigners - including many Asian, Middle Eastern and South American.

We may both be correct in our comments, we may both be wrong. Remember the 3 blind men trying to describe an elephant?

Regards

th

I should apologise for not noticing your Nova contributions; not being in the ESL world, I do not read all of the threads - my oversight.

[Kent Brockman]

Nam Am'mono, in attempting to justify yourself (CHRIST knows why you feel the need to) you just come across as arrogant. Where`s the humility? The self-depracation?

"I count among my friends (and partner ) quite a few Japanologists at Oxford University with whom I share my interest in Japanese socieity".

How do you think that sounds? Reads like COC`s expose' of Jane Rees to me.

That`s it, now I`m getting annoyed, WHERE`S THAT F___ING MELVINS RECORD?

[Coin-Operated-Clown]

Curious that, in between swapping madd propps, the 3 people posting from the UK have all agreed to render Lehmann's name "Lehman".

Once is oversight, twice is coincidence, but thrice sets COC's astroturf-antennae all excitedly aquiver.

Ooh! Perfidious Albionn!.

COC


Brockman: it's under the shirts in the bottom drawer of your tansu. Yes, with the magazines.

[Anonymous]

God, this thread i started has become such a disappointment!

But if anyone actually READ the damn article series' TITLE, let alone the contents (no, 'TH', skimming through the articles to try and deduce patterns doesn't count).

" his writing clearly showed his unfamiliarity with the real Japan outside of Nagatacho and Kasumigaseki, Keidanren and Kabushiki-kaishas, Sony and Toyota."

This quote from early on in the thread seems to be a recurrent theme. I wish that Those contributors with bruised egos would stick the "..but he's in switzerland, what does he know" comments back up where they got them, also perhaps READ the articles like i suggested, and cotton onto the fact that he's on about Japan in a GLOBAL context.

The fact that he ain't residing here, making his own udon with the locals works to the theme's advantage, the theme being the country's weak and weakening influence on the world stage... World as in not-japan, geddit?

So he is totally qualified to make the judgments he has.

Come on people! Tell me where in those judgements you think he is wrong! Not gonna dispute it, rather I just want to hear where your opinions ABOUT WHAT HE WROTE NOT FROM WHERE HE WROTE IT.

Cheers.

[Anonymous]

Yes OK Mr.Brockman no need to justify myself but I felt pressured to.......if you can imagine how people are loth to take seriously comments that come from outside of Japan. I apologise, it must look arrogant and being likened to Jane Rees is quite depressing.

COC, well-noticed - a glaring spelling error. Better watch out for those next time.

Well, TH maybe I am wrong after all and it is me who doesn't like being challenged. However, I think it would be more accurate to say that when people I identify with / respect are challenged, I project that onto myself - in layman terms, I take it personally.

I can see why you would maintain that people such as yourself are very much in touch with the daily life in Japan (Yes, and Ramen Dashi was spiteful, sorry ). I just don't think it follows that by the same token, people such as Lehmann and other 'experts' living outside of Japan necessarily have a limited knowledge of daily life in Japan.

Perhaps that ought to be the way that logic works but I don't think it does !Lehmann, for me, is the one writer who manages to be critical about Japan without assuming the mantle of 'Japan-basher'. I am fond of Japan, as I explained before. I deal with Japanese clients everyday and I , probably like many others, come face to face with a sea of bureacracy and a brick wall in certain areas of negotiation. It is stifling but overcomeable. I feel, like Lehmann, that Japan could be the most amazing of all places if only it / she shrugged off the shackles of over -formality, and other remnants of the 'closed shop' atmosphere that prevails in many business circles. If I didn't care about Japan I wouldn't read these forums , I wouldn't waste energy trying to contribute to the debate.

Why do I identify with Lehmann so much ? Perhaps because I feel frustrated about the love-hate relationship with Japan that I have, and in my eyes Lehmann is the biggest exponent of this. A lot of his ideas echo my own sentiments. A man after my own heart. A writer who chronicled the origins of contemporary Japan, put heart and soul into divulging aspects of Japanese society that mystify the avid scholar....yet eventually finding himself unable to abide the parochial feel of Japan, the ShimaguniKonjo and the 'ministry of illusion.....' that is responsible for so many misguided myths that some of my Japanese associates / clients / friends / whoever come out with. Call it dissillusionment if you want, I would call it frustration. Many scholars have experienced it, even Seidensticker (spell ?) who gave up on japan at one point.

At the end of the day, I overreacted to TH's original reply to geezer's post.....but in doing so have hopefully made my point and fed the debate.

Sometimes these forums bring out the worst in people.

[Anonymous]

_________ _
I I
______I__ _______I______
I O O I
" L "
" ----- "
""""""
_____________ I I___________
I I
I I

[Anonymous]

Gee, thanks for your contribution Mr. Wang.... really.... thanks...