www.debito.org

(NB: What follows is an "Easter Egg" on the debito.org site, meaning a page not linked to the regular site, but discoverable by those who would like more information on a particular topic I've covered in the past. In this case, this series of sites is about a person with the penname "Hashimori Iwato", who spams internet mailing lists (such as the "Dead Fukuzawa Society", a seminal unmoderated list on Japan studies which commanded much attention in the mid-1990's, but is sadly now defunct, a victim of spam and spammers). This information is offered as a matter of record.)

DFS ISSUE:
THE "HASHIMORI HUMBUG"

(posted to Friends Wed, 22 May 1996)

Here's an interesting little flame war which started on Fukuzawa when I addressed the Japanese habit of giving cash gifts to doctors as a token of appreciation (orei). Some guy, Hashimori Iwato, had previously been giving the "Japanese point of view" in Fukuzawa debates--saying essentially that Japan is for the Japanese and we foreigners should just shut up--we can't talk about Japan accurately unless we are Japanese ourselves . Most people just humored him as an outspoken Japanese and didn't take issue with his sometimes outrageous claims. Then I found out through the grapevine that "Hashimori Iwato" was not what he would seem...

I WROTE:

Date: Wed, 8 May 1996

To: fukuzawa@ucsd.edu

The subthread on orei to doctors is confusing me, because people are saying it's the "done" thing.

Not in my experience. Both times when we gave birth to our kids, we tried to give the docs a box of cookies. Nothing more--because we were told that a cash present would get the doc in trouble; even the doc said it's against govt policy because it encourages corruption and favoritism. Quite so.

But cookies? C'mon--a mere token of thanks, I rationalized. When I tried to contact the doc, the nurses (if any DFS veterans out there remember my umbilical cord story, these are the same obstructionists) saw my cookie tin and said he was too busy to emerge. When I told them to pass the tin along, they practically threw it back at me.

Same thing when I had pneumonia and was laid up for 16 horrible days (in a ward with smoking sections!)--polite "no-thanks-yous" turned to consternation if I pushed.

I've since never tried to give any orei--it's not the done thing.

Dave Aldwinckle in Sapporo

TO WHICH HASHIMORI IWATO ANSWERED:

Date: Wed, 8 May 1996

From: qd6i-hsmr@asahi-net.or.jp (Hashimori Iwato)

Are you Japanese? Not that not being Japanese would adversely affect the care which you receive, but it might very well affect the behavior of hospital staff in your regard.

HASHIMORI Iwato
Instructor
Economics Department
Saitama University, JAPAN

I RESPONDED (at first politely in private, but this is the public message I posted to Fukuzawa when the jig was up and I found out just who he was):

Date: Thu, 9 May 1996
Subject: HASHIMORI Iwato is a fraud

WHO IS HASHIMORI IWATO?

At 3:01 PM 96.5.8 Hashimori Iwato wrote:

Are you Japanese? Not that not being Japanese would adversely affect the care which you receive, but it might very well affect the behavior of hospital staff in your regard.

More to the point, are YOU Japanese? Mr Hashimori, or should I say R.A. Stegemann, just who are YOU?

If you are going to try to disqualify my point by deligitimizing the speaker through the most inane of reasons--using the Japanese nationality as a qualification for taking the mike--then I think we should put our cards on the table and be clear what YOUR nationality is.

If Hashimori is not your real name, then you are out of line. To call yourself "The Zeeman" or "Starwolf" is one thing, since people are not misled into believing you are somebody you are not. But to take a Japanese name, and then couple that with the "Economics Dept, Saitama University" banner? You are taking advantage of the trust and politeness of Fukuzawans, many of whom (including myself) will give you additional credibility if you are an outspoken Japanese national, born and raised in this culture, with special insights coupled with language ability.

Pseudonyms are one thing, but the tone of your posts have been the variety of "Japan for the Japanese" and "Japanese, who own Japan"--statements more divisive than constructive. Non-Japanese live here too, pay taxes, have lives and families, and make contributions to this society just the same as citizens.

However, because of your alleged name, many, myself included, have been politely refraining from taking on your inflammatory points, giving you a "second-language leeway". Then, for you to turn around and use nationality as a weapon against me? That is a base attempt at gaining credibility for yourself at the expense of others, and shows a dearth of earnestness that contributors to DFS do have and should have.

Especially when you may be lying about your own nationality.

If you ARE a Japanese citizen (having legally changed your name) with Western roots, then you are in the same boat as the other Western long-timers who were not born here either, and thus you cannot use nationality as a prerequisite to proper insight. If you are NOT a Japanese citizen, then you are a liar, sir, and you should be recognized for what you are.

For the sake of the integrity of DFS and to keep the playing field fair, I call on you, R.A Stegemann, to come clean about your identity and take your lumps in the debate arena like the rest of us.

David Aldwinckle (not a pseudonym)
Instructor of Business English and Debate
Faculty of Liberal Arts
Hokkaido Information University, Ebetsu, Japan

=======================

PS: to answer the issue of orei above:

Admittedly, my being non-Japanese could have an effect on my treatment at the hospital, but so what? Why resort to rhetoric to answer the question, "are you Japanese?" when one look at my last name makes my non-Japanese roots obvious? I don't think you should make your points so provincially.

My wife IS Japanese, BTW, and she was the one who initially suggested we give the orei. I doubt that the hospital would have accepted it if she had offered it either. Would you now claim that her marriage would affect the behavior of those around her? Seems that under this logic, all we gaijin can do is be disruptive towards anything we touch.

"HASHIMORI" RESPONDED (IN PUBLIC):

Date: Thu, 9 May 1996

From: qd6i-hsmr@asahi-net.or.jp (Hashimori Iwato)
Subject: Is HASHIMORI Iwato a fraud?

At 11:34 96.5.9, davald@do-johodai.ac.jp wrote:

WHO IS HASHIMORI IWATO?

Hashimori Iwato is an instructor at Saitama University in the Economics Department.

In very short order my homepage will be complete and all DFS members will be invited to take a look. I am sorry that it contains no pictures, but then I find the mind a much more powerful source of imagery.

Hashimori Iwato is my legal name, and if you would like to call the Saitama Economics Department and inquire about my person, you may call the switchboard, ask for the Economics Department and ask to speak with Hashimori Iwato. If this is still not satisfactory, then I suggest you continue your diatribe in private, because it has no place on this board.

The telephone number is: 048 852 2111.

Please excuse me for not accepting the charges for your long distance call, but then again I am not the one who is making the false accusations. By the way I have never attended the University of Wisconsin, although I do have an aunt with the name Stegemann who lives in Racine. For what it is worth she has changed her name no less than three times, the last of which was when she married a man called Smith. She now works for the United States Peace Corp under that name. By the way, the Peace Corps doesn't hold a candle to ODA.

Also, if there are others who are so inclined, please do try to coordinate your calling. I am sure that my department would greatly appreciate not being inundated by telephone callers, who question the integrity of the names of their faculty.

With regard to the rest of your comments, Mr. Aldwinckle, I suggest you be more flexible in your approach to who can maintain what opinions where. The world is not divided solely between Japanese and non-Japanese, and if you are having trouble with that grey area in between, I suggest you try as I have done, to slug it out from time to time in both directions. It is enormously elucidating and demonstrates absolutely many of the sources of conflict which occur between Japanese and "Americans".

I suppose even this will be considered a flame by some. Please accept my apologies, if it is deemed as such, because my heart is warm, my head is clear, and my gut is tight.

HASHIMORI Iwato
Instructor
Economics Department
Saitama University, JAPAN

HE THEN STARTED SENDING ABOUT THREE MESSAGES A DAY TO FUKUZAWA SAYING SOME PRETTY NUTTY THINGS. HE SHOWED NO INTENTION OF OWNING UP SO I LET FLY:

Date: Fri, 10 May 1996
From: davald@sun4a.do-johodai.ac.jp (Dave Aldwinckle)
Subject: THE HASHIMORI HUMBUG--evidence

Fellow Fukuzawans:

THE "HASHIMORI IWATO" CASE--A BREACH OF THE INTREGRITY OF THE DFS

This post is organized this:

1) WHY SHOULD DFS CARE ABOUT THIS TOPIC?
2) WHY "HASHIMORI" IS A HUMBUG
3) WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT?

1) WHY SHOULD DFS CARE ABOUT THIS TOPIC?

Some might say that this is just a flame war between two conflicting personalities and it should be settled off the DFS. I disagree. There is a much larger issue here, and it concerns the ability of DFS to keep con artists from sullying its reputation as a trusted source and forum of information.

The internet is the first forum in history where information can be shared between individuals nearly at random. More importantly, the writer can control how much the reader gets to know about him or her--remaining anonymous or pseudonymous with no-one the wiser. This control of identity is significant to an earnest information exchange network, since readers must be able to trust the integrity of that source of information.

However, it only takes one person to spoil the party for the rest of us. Once one breaches the group's trust, suspicions of legitimacy within the group proliferate, and it's only a matter of time before even the trustworthy start bailing out.

"Hashimori" has not been honest with DFS.

2) "HASHIMORI" IS A HUMBUG

"Hashimori", aka R.A. Stegemann, is not who he indicates he is.

I took the liberty of calling Saitama Daigaku (at Stegemann's invitation) and talked to his boss, a very chatty man named Mr Arai who was very forthcoming with the facts.

Let's look at "Hashimori"'s claim to legitimacy (he never signs his name only--always some credentials included), found at the bottom of every one of his posts. The WHOLE truth follows:

HASHIMORI Iwato

He claims this is his "legal name". Yet in his communiques with other people (who emailed me privately) he has signed both names. But to DFS, he has kept the non-Japanese name a secret.

Verily, according to his boss, "Hashimori Iwato" is his name as recorded in Yokohama on his gaikokujin touroku shoumei sho, which all FOREIGNERS must carry. Thus, he is not a Japanese, or even a Japanese citizen. Or even an Asian. People who met him mailed me privately to say that he is a blond-haired blue-eyed Caucasian. He faces the same conditions as the rest of the experienced Westerners out there, with no greater claim to superior Japan insight as he would have us believe.

INSTRUCTOR

Stegemann is a "part-time" instructor (hijoukin). Not even seiki, as the title above would mislead.

ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

Yes, he's worked in this department for a little over a year, and in the school itself for a number of years ere. However, as written above it is misleading. For him to claim that he is a member of this department without more information would be like me claiming that I am a faculty member of the Hokkaido Information of Technology, or Hokkaido University's Faculty of Nuclear Engineering, or the Japanese Air Self Defense Forces, simply because I teach English there part-time as well.

Moreover, he's not even an economist. He teaches English. He's a JAFET (Just Another English Teacher) like me.

SAITAMA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN

Even his links with Saitama Dai are more tenuous than he would let on. The school's Kyoumuka, which I also talked with, didn't even know the "Hashimori Iwato" name until they looked closer at their staff lists. Mr Arai, his boss, didn't even know for sure his subordinate's nationality. (He said "German" first, then realized that since Stegemann teaches English he must be American or something). Not a close relationship.

Hence the titles he assumes are in fact tenuous enough to deceive.

SO WHAT IF STEGEMANN HAS NOT BEEN FORTHRIGHT WITH DFS? WHAT'S WRONG WITH A PSEUDONYM ANYWAY?

The use of "Hashimori" has gone beyond being a harmless "Konishiki"-style pseudonym because he is continuing his breach of trust. Konishiki has not been pretending to be something he is not, and when found out, (as author Stephen King did when posing as Richard Bachman), they own up. It's the done thing if you're honest.

Yet "Hashimori" is still being cagey about his identity. Not once has he admitted that he is or even WAS "Stegemann", or even that he is a Caucasian. Instead, he has skirted the issue and treated us to more of the same--snotty and "more-jouzu-than-thou" (though his boss says he speaks "katakana Japanese") remarks about people's inability to understand the "Japanese culture" because they are not "Japanese" (or as uniquely isolated in the language as he), mixed in with cryptic chestnuts about aunts in Wisconsin and inherited laughing and crying.

What's going on here? This goes beyond geimei.

Sure, "Hashimori" has the analytical powers that some people respect. So did Nixon. But like Iago in Othello, or like Joe McCarthy in real life, once there is the possibilty of a person being unforthright--moreover a pathological liar--it's hard to tell which is the truth and which is the lie anymore from that source of information. And that should change its treatment.

In sum, "Hashimori" has changed from "source" to "noise" to "pollution", and it threatens to hurt DFS.

THE DAMAGE DONE

One major newspaper reporter wrote me privately saying that "I...have been saving some of his posts as background insight into the Japanese view of things, and now I am flabbergasted".

It would be bad news if disinformation could actually become news (this would run *completely* counter to DFS's role). And worse news if we DFS members were viewed, and viewed each other, with suspicion from now on.

Furthermore, this revelation disturbs more than just the Westerners. Another Japanese citizen wrote to me privately: "However, if in fact he disguises himself as a Japanese, he should be ostrasized right away and we should warn everybody else that an unfair play does not benefit anybody."

And it SHOULD disturb our Japanese contributors. I worry that people from now on signing with Japanese names will get the third-degree by members, suspecting they could be another "Hashimori" conning them. We have discussed this issue before on DFS, and concluded that giving native Japanese speakers that extra checkpoint is unfair.

The Hashimori Humbug threatens to undo that principle. That is real damage and will discourage Japanese from contributing valuable insights to our forum.

3) WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT? TREAT STEGEMANN AS SPAM

I would like to do more, but the only thing that can be done in an unregulated network such as DFS is treat Stegemann as "spam". Delete without reading. Unsatisfying, but that's the nature of the network. Any poseur who pretends to be "a Japanese" and won't own up when the jig is up deserves no-one's attention.

Dave Aldwinckle

Sapporo

AND HOW DID STEGEMANN RESPOND? THUS:

Date: Sat, 11 May 1996 01:32:50

To: fukuzawa@ucsd.edu
From: qd6i-hsmr@asahi-net.or.jp (Hashimori Iwato)
Subject: Character Assassination

At 20:22 96.5.10, davald@do-johodai.ac.jp wrote:

Some might say that this is just a flame war between two conflicting personalities and it should be settled off the DFS. I disagree. There is a much larger issue here, and it concerns the ability of DFS to keep con artists from sullying its reputation as a trusted source and forum of information.

If it is a flame war between two personalities, then Mr. Aldwinckle, when have I ever thrown flames in your direction? I simply asked, if you were Japanese, because judging from your name, it was not apparent that you were, and Japanese have a reputation for treating foreigners differently from other Japanese.It would appear that you have something against me, which goes beyond anything which I have said or done on the DFS bulletin board. Perhaps you would like to explain to me and others just what lies behind your vicious motivation?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>The internet is the first forum in history where information can be shared between individuals nearly at random.

May I suggest, Mr. Aldwinckle, that you spend a few hours in an Izakaya. You will likely find a very similar environment, only with faces, gestures and a lot more confusion due to the noise, alcohol and smoke.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>More importantly, the writer can control how much the reader gets to know about him or her--remaining anonymous or pseudonymous with no-one the wiser.

When is the last time that you attended a conference, Mr. Aldwinckle? The only person that is ever thoroughly introduced is the main speaker, after which people introduce themselves by name, institution and position, and sometimes not even by these.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>This control of identity is significant to an earnest information exchange network, since readers must be able to trust the integrity of that source of information.

In time the integrity of any individual can be known by simply listening to what he has to say and how others respond to his comments. Perhaps Mr. Aldwinckle, if you were less concerned about form and title, and paid a little more attention to content, you wouldn't find yourself in such an awkward position.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>However, it only takes one person to spoil the party for the rest of us.

And why have you chosen yourself to be that person?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>Once one breaches the group's trust, suspicions of legitimacy within the group proliferate, and it's only a matter of time before even the trustworthy start bailing out.

I believe you are referring to a kind of societal Gresham's Law. Someone did make mention of this in an earlier post, and now I suppose that what follows is an effort on your part to prove that I am the bad which is chasing out the good. What good is it that you see being driven away by me? And why do you stay, if you are not part of the bad?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>"Hashimori" has not been honest with DFS.

Once again, it is you who is making the false accusations, and if you continue in the same vein, you will force me to seek damages.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>2) "HASHIMORI" IS A HUMBUG

This is name calling, and not becoming of a member of the DFS, but then others have been known to do it, as well. so you can hardly be blamed.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>"Hashimori", aka R.A. Stegemann, is not who he indicates he is.

This Mr. Alwinckle is an hypothesis at best.

>I took the liberty of calling Saitama Daigaku (at Stegemann's invitation) and talked to his boss, a very chatty man named Mr Arai who was very forthcoming with the facts. Let's look at "Hashimori"'s claim to legitimacy (he never signs his name only--always some credentials included), found at the bottom of every one of his posts.

Perhaps there is a problem with your software, or perhaps it is mine. When I send messages to myself my signature appears. Since I began using an English version of EUDORA explicitly for DFS, I thought the problem of no signature had been resolved. That was already several weeks ago, and no one has brought it to my attention since. If others are still having this problem, I do hope they will inform me.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

The WHOLE truth follows:

Not to be facetious Mr. Aldwinckle, but are you preaching gospel, or just trying to exaggerate a point, because your evidence is sketchy?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>HASHIMORI Iwato He claims this is his "legal name". Yet in his communiques with other people (who emailed me privately) he has signed both names. But to DFS, he has kept the non-Japanese name a secret.

There are times when I do use the name which apppears on my passport. There are times when I use the name which appears on my Alien Registration Card. Neither of these names by the way appears on my birth certificate. I do hope to rectify the situation when I request to have my passport renewed next year, but I assure you that the name on my Alien Registration Card will remain the same HASHIMORI IWATO.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>Verily,

If only we could believe you Mr. Aldwinckle? If only you were genuine about your desire not to start a flame war to drive away the good.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>according to his boss, "Hashimori Iwato" is his name as recorded in Yokohama on his gaikokujin touroku shoumei sho, which all FOREIGNERS must carry.

Mr. Aldwinckle, if I may correct you, Arai-san is not my boss, but I do agree with you that he is chatty and a most amicable person. I hope that you did not try his patience, as you are trying mine and others.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Thus, he is not a Japanese, or even a Japanese citizen. Or even an Asian.

You bring up three very important points which may or may not be worth discussing on DFS; none of which however, are worth discussing in the context which you have chosen.

What does it mean to be Japanese? What does it mean to be Asian? And what does it mean to not be either Asian or Japnaese in Japan?

After taking another look, perhaps these topics could be better discussed in H-forum? But this is only a personal preference. Have you thought about taking your flames over there?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>People who met him mailed me privately to say that he is a blond-haired blue-eyed Caucasian.

Since I can remember I have always left BLANK the little square box on the little "white" forms which inquire about my race? I do not like having my position in society being determined by the color of my eyes, hair and skin. I have always found these to be rather superficial in judging a person's character, even though for statistical purposes they can provide valuable information about racial prejudice and its social ramifications.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>He faces the same conditions as the rest of the experienced Westerners out there, with no greater claim to superior Japan insight as he would have us believe.

Now, this is a broad claim Mr. Aldwinckle. Yes, we have likely all encountered certain experiences which resemble those of others. That we have all experienced the same is a gross over generalization, which might very well explain why you are having the problems that you apppear to be having with Japanese. Mr. Aldwinkle, not all Japanese look at all "American" look-alike" foreigners the same. You did say that you were married didn't you? Are all women the same? Perhaps you should have waited a little while before accepting your vows. You might find yourself faced with a great disappointment as time passes. Please forgive me for sounding like a marriage counselor, but many females feel about men, the way many African Americans feel about "Whites". Let us hope that your wife is an exception.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>INSTRUCTOR

>Stegemann is a "part-time" instructor (hijoukin). Not even seiki, as the title above would mislead.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Excuse me for begging the question Mr. Aldwinckle, but are you a "full-time" citizen of any country, or were you sent to Japan on special assignment by your government for the purpose of indoctrinating Japanese into "Western" ways of thinking?

Mr. Aldwinckle, I am an instructor at Saitama University, and have been teaching there on a part-time basis for more than three years. Because it is a national institution; however, obtaining full-time posts are exceedingly difficult. If I were to write my title as "Permanent Part-time Instructor" would this satisfy your need for classifying each and every participant on the DFS in a particular societal box and pecking order? Perhaps, Mr. Aldwinckle, you are better acclimated to Japanese society than you think?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT

>Yes, he's worked in this department for a little over a year, and in the school itself for a number of years ere. However, as written above it is misleading. For him to claim that he is a member of this department without more information would be like me claiming that I am a faculty member of the Hokkaido Information of Technology, or Hokkaido University's Faculty of Nuclear Engineering, or the Japanese Air Self Defense Forces, simply because I teach English there part-time as well.

Mr. Aldwinckle, you appear to have a very narrow interpretation of the word faculty. There are associate faculty, adjunct faculty, and a whole range of professorial titles, all of which come under the same rubric faculty. Moreover, these titles vary from country to country and institution to institution. Perhaps you are not satisfied with your post in Hokkaido and would like to come to Saitama?

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>Moreover, he's not even an economist. He teaches English. He's a JAFET (Just Another English Teacher) like me.

Now Mr. Aldwinkle, you are swimming in mighty murky water, and I suggest that you get out quick. There are a very very large number of Japanese economists working in a capacity very simiilar to mine, because they cannot find full-time positions.

And for the record, what I teach in the General Studies Department at Saitama University is cross-cultural communication -- why Japanese should expect foreginers living in Japan to speak Japanese, and why Japanese should not feel obligated to speak English to every "American" look-alike they see.

What I teach in the economics department is political economy. And once again for the record I teach it in Japanese.

If you knew just a little of what I have gone through to avoid having to teach English in Japan, so as to be able to learn Japanese and finally acquire my post in the Economics Department, then you would not be making the obnoxious claim that I am just like you. Beleive me we are light years apart.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

>SAITAMA UNIVERSITY, JAPAN

>Even his links with Saitama Dai are more tenuous than he would let on. The school's Kyoumuka, which I also talked with, didn't even know the "Hashimori Iwato" name until they looked closer at their staff lists. Mr Arai, his boss, didn't even know for sure his subordinate's nationality. (He said "German" first, then realized that since Stegemann teaches English he must be American or something). Not a close relationship.

Mr. Aldwinckle, I gave you the telephone number to check to see whether or not I was employed as an instructor in the economics department at Saitama University, not to make an ass of yourself, Saitama University, and me. You are truly incredible and I hope that you get everything that you deserve.

Excuse me, if I stop here, but judging from what you have said, I fear that you already owe me a very big apology.

I can only hope that the other members of the DFS are not as pissed off at you as I, and are beginning to see the veracity of my name and cause.

HASHIMORI Iwato
Instructor
Economics Department
Saitama University, JAPAN

I did not answer. I got lots of mail from people who thought I did the right thing and no mail from any critics.

What happened afterwards? "Hashimori" is still posting on Fukuzawa as if nothing happened, but hardly anyone is taking him up on his points. Still, he won't get off. He even has a web page (www2.gol.com/users/hsmr if you're interested). I'm told he devotes a long session on changing his name which "borders on the obsessive".

Just goes to show you how much living isolated in another culture can change you. I've met nuts like "Hashimori" before. They think they're another Lawrence of Arabia--unstable and insecure when amongst their own countrymen, convinced that they're unique in their understanding of a foreign culture, and very preachy when anyone doesn't match their point of view.

I can see that tendency in myself as well. But then again, I never masqueraded as a Japanese. I never deny my roots. Nobody should. It goes beyond simple lying if you do.

Dave Aldwinckle
Sapporo

EPILOGUE

Mr Hashimori, branded "Herr Hashimori" by Fukuzawa pundits, has since appended the following footnote onto his posts:

"My Japanese name Hashimori, and my German name Stegemann, can be interpreted in English to mean "guardian of bridges". Because I live in Japan, and Hashimori is a registered alias, I prefer to be called Hashimori, (ﾜｫ*�). Thanks."

which resolves the original issue of coming clean. I have since removed the quotation marks and added a "Mr" whenever addressing him.

I wonder if we will ever meet, and what would happen if we did...

EPILOGUE TWO

The beat goes on. Even today, Hashimori won't get off our mailing lists, and when he gets in a snit he continues to go postal. However, around Christmas 1997, after nearly a month of daily diatribes, he came up with a post that explained the method behind his madness.

I didn't buy it.

PS: I have been asked once why I bother webbing debates like this, when it only seems slanderous and petty. Au contraire, I say--there's more to it. It's not just the feeling of satisfaction from "just desserts" in the debate arena (which I do admit having). It's that nuts like these, as I said, are writing the equivalent of "spam", only more dangerous "spam" than usual--they can even spell the death of internet mailing lists.

Incredulous? Click here and see how.

My point is that people like these should be known about, like any other kind of spammer.