A Happy New Year to All. To start off, something that appeared in the Daily Yomiuri
on Dec 26, 2004: a quick blurb (310 words) on what books I got a lot out of last
year. Next article will be in January 4's Japan
Times, so getcha self a copy! Bests, Arudou Debito in Sapporo
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FEATURE
WHAT WRITERS READ IN 2004
Daily Yomiuri, Dec 26, 2004 (excerpt)
Tentacles of corruption
By Arudou Debito / Special to The Daily Yomiuri
When I arrived in Japan in 1986, I swore not to read "books on Japan" (by
people such as Jack Seward, Reischauer, Clavell, etc.). I wanted to form my own
first impressions, without impractical, dated, or convoluted influences coloring
my information intake.
Now, after 16 years here and having obtained Japanese citizenship, I am putting my
hard-earned opinions to the test. In 2004, I tucked into four books that will alter
anyone's perception of Japan.
TOKYO UNDERWORLD by Robert Whiting and EMBRACING DEFEAT by John Dower
offer well-written accounts of the chicaneries that took place in the wake of World
War II. How Japan remains, in my view, a society run by the elites. And how gangsters
extended their tentacles deep within the political and economic worlds--with repercussions
for the present day.
But these offer optimistic views compared to the next two books: Herbert Bix's HIROHITO
AND THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN and GOLD WARRIORS: AMERICA'S SECRET RECOVERY
OF YAMASHITA'S GOLD by Sterling and Peggy Seagrave. These describe how prewar
Japan got rich before the imperialists lost their way (essentially, by looting colonies
and trading drugs), and may, if you do not possess a sturdy data set of experiences
with Japanese, make you irredeemably cynical about Japan and its place in the world.
These are important guidebooks, especially for someone like me, trying to work with
the government to get some human rights laws passed. As with all politics, one has
to know where the money flows. But be careful! Digest them slowly, and preferably
in the order above. If you read honest studies of the history of most countries,
you will gradually realize the world is run by the unscrupulous: brutes you somehow
have to deal with without becoming disillusioned or corrupted yourself.
-------------------------------
Arudou is the author of "JAPANESE
ONLY: The Otaru Hot Springs Case and
Racial Discrimination in Japan" (Akashi Shoten) in English
and Japanese. His
Web site is http://www.debito.org
ENDS