Yasukuni, the Day of Showa, Hinomaru Crossed out

On April 29, the Day of Showa, I went to visit Yasukuni Shrine, alone.

 This is its second torii, a shrine gateway.

I had prepared an A4 piece of paper.

It says "Down with the Day of Showa," and features a Hinomaru crossed out. It also includes my Japanese blog URL, http://d.hatena.ne.jp/toled/ and my Twitter ID, @toled. I signed my name, Yujiro Tsuneno.

Then I put the paper on one of the legs of the torii.

Quickly I moved away.

What is Hinomaru? It is the Japanese equivalent of the Nazi swastika. It was adopted as the national flag of the Empire of Japan at its inception. Even after its defeat in 1945, Hinomaru was not abandoned. It has continued as the symbol of the country, and if you take a short walk in any city here, you can find it everywhere, at government buildings, streets, schools, commercial outlets and so on, testament to the continuation of the Japanese imperialism, colonialism, and militarism.

The Day of Showa is the birthday of Hirohito, the Showa Emperor. Unlike Adolf Hitler, he survived his defeat. He was not put on trial. He did not even step down, and his reign persisted for decades until his death in 1989. The Day is designated as a national holiday.

And Yasukuni Shrine has been commemorating the deaths of the Japanese soldiers who fought in the Asia-Pacific region. Yes, it is still there, and visited by politicians, some prime ministers included, ordinary Japanese, and international tourists.

So that is the context. As for why I did what I did, if you are interested, throw some comments below, and maybe I will post another entry.

Although I did not intend it, some people pointed out that I broke the law and said they notified the police. I have no idea how likely, but it is possible that I get arrested for my humble attempt at expressing dissent in the near future. So if you are a journalist and would like to interview me before that happens, please contact me at yt5486yt at gmail.

I Endorse the International Statement of Solidarity for Comet Black, December 4

My name is Yujiro Tsuneno, and I express solidarity with Comet Black and join the following International Statement of Solidarity for Comet Black, December 4 (A video message follows). 

To everyone throughout the world who is fighting against discrimination, from the Rescue Committee for Comet Black, December 4: we would like to let you know what happened on a street near the Shibuya station, Tokyo, on December 4, 2010.

     Choi Daniel (崔檀悦), also known as Comet Black, a young Korean sociologist born in Japan, a Zainichi, protested by himself against a Japanese racist rally filled with ethnic hatred. The racist mob assaulted him, and he suffered severe injuries requiring three weeks to heal. The police, nonetheless, took no action against the perpetrators of violence, and arrested Comet Black, the victim of violence, for assaulting Shuhei Nishimura, a Japanese grass-roots racist activist.

     All Comet Black did was to protest in non-violent manners, standing alone before the racist march, holding a banner (See the following video). And the banner contained significant messages.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvdXPdxFjt8

     He did not resort to any physical violence. Rather, dozens of racists started attacking him at once, hitting him with fists, kicking him, using Hinomaru poles as weapons. A lot of police officers were present at the scene to see it. The Shibuya Police Station arrested him, however; they took his finger prints; they did not offer him immediate medical care; moreover, they let the actual perpetrators of violence walk free without proper investigation.

     Fortunately Comet Black was released after about fifty hours of detention. However, this incident revealed the corruption and depravity of the Japanese civil society and government. Today’s Japan tolerates hate speech that debases human beings, and also condones hateful collective violence.

     Comet Black’s banner contained the following messages:

I am here for a dialogue.

We shall defend the rights to ethnic education!!

We shall hold onto the spirit of the HanShin Educational Struggle!

Unification of the homeland! 우리는하나 ANTIFA Comet Black☆

http://f.hatena.ne.jp/free_antifa/20101210220729

     Comet Black was born in Japan, and grew up in the Republic of Korea until the age of 13; since then, he has lived in Japan. In the nineteenth century, Japan started invading Korea and unlawfully annexed the peninsula (then the Greater Korean Empire) in 1910. Through its colonization, Japan forced assimilation education there, tying to deprive Koreans of their names and language and make them second-class Japanese. Even since its surrender in 1945, it has continued to violate the legitimate rights of Korean residents in Japan, Zainich, and other foreigners to ethnic education. Symbolic of the resistance to such oppression was the HanShin Educational Struggle, which protested against the order, issued by the General Head Quarters (GHQ) of the American Military Administration (AMA) in 1948, to close down Korean schools. 

      Instead of facing the historical responsibility for crimes against humanity, however, the Japanese government has persisted in its complicity with the division of the Korean Peninsula. Japan participated in the Korean War on the American side; even now, it poses a military threat to the Peninsula as an ally of the United States. In 2010, the Japanese government chose to take a further step: it excluded Korean schools from the “tuition-free policy for high schools,” which was supposed to be universal. The action was taken as a part of the unjust sanctions politics against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. At the same time, it is also a clear sign of Japan’s continuing colonialism; it is an oppression of Korean residents in Japan, Zainichi, and it should not be tolerated.

     Comet Black has been actively opposed to such discrimination. He has objected not only to discrimination against Koreans but also to discrimination against all foreigners living in Japan. He has been collecting signatures, participating in peaceful rallies; he has even organized an antiracist march himself; he is also networking people against anti-foreignism on the Internet. His supporters include his fellow Koreans, Japanese who oppose anti-foreignism, and even Japanese nationalists. He has been contributing to the antiracist movements in this country. His non-violent direct action on December 4 was no sudden caprice; it should be situated in the context of his steady commitment to the movements to counter anti-foreignism and discrimination against Korean schools.

     Now, about the racists against whom Comet Black protested alone on December 4, 2010: they were celebrating the anniversary of their achievement on December 4, 2009, which was to attack the First Korean Elementary School of Kyoto, calling the students “sons and daughters of spies,” shouting “get out of Japan” [See the video below]. He expressed his opposition to such people in a non-violent way, and was heavily beaten up. The police arrested him; the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor’s Office did not indict him after a lawyer (Kenta Hagio)’s interventions on his behalf, but made an ambiguous decision: under the Japanese legal system, they should have explicitly stated “no suspicion,” but chose not to do so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2szx-WWR0rw

     We are disappointed at what has been going on; we are also filled with a sense of crisis. We should never let him be isolated. As a member of the Japanese civil society as well as a Korean and a world citizen, he should not be personally exposed to any social, economic, political costs because of what has been taking place since December 4 last year.

     We are his friends; we are his comrades. And we never tolerate unjust discrimination and violence. It is our sincere hope that the international anti-racist communities agree. I express solidarity with Comet Black. We express solidarity with Comet Black. I am a Comet Black. In Japan, social sanctions on Comet Black still persist even after his release. That is just unjust. If the attacks on Comet Black are to continue, please add me/us to the list.

     We never stop saying this:

     We do not tolerate discrimination under any circumstances.

     OUR struggle has a long way to go.

January 9, 2011

Signed by the Rescue Committee for Comet Black, December 4 / ____________________________ (Blank space for anyone who is willing to sign)

p.s.

We call upon people in the entire world to express solidarity with Comet Black and the statement above. Circulation and translation are welcome and much appreciated. Let us exchange our thoughts on this in Gaza, Pyongyang, Cairo, New Delhi, Chiapas, Kyoto, San Francisco, Cheju, Besançon, Siberia, Habana, Tsuruhashi, Jerusalem, Hong Kong, Cape town, Berlin, Vientiane, Euskadi, Seoul, Yaoundé, Teheran, Accra, Athens, Beijing, Ljubljana, Hiroshima, or any other place. We also suggest that Shibuya, December 4, be placed as an event in the world history.

The statement in Japanese:

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/free_antifa/20110109/1294546371

International Statement of Solidarity for Comet Black, December 4
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/free_antifa/20110115/1295099460


I Join the International Statement of Solidarity for Comet Black, December 4 (However, there's something I have to say)
http://gimmeaqueereye.blogspot.com/2011/01/i-join-international-statement-of.html


12.4 黒い彗星★国際連帯声明
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/free_antifa/20110109/1294546371


12.4 黒い彗星★国際連帯声明に賛同を表明します
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/tummygirl/20110117/1295277659

A Japanese View on the Diaoyu / Senkaku Islands Dispute

Does Japan have territorial rights over the Diaoyu / Senaku Islands? Here's what two Japanese guys think.




Or, if you read Japanese, check out the links below:

釣魚台／尖閣をめぐる日本の国ぐるみの排外主義に抗議します・前編（歴史編）
釣魚台／尖閣をめぐる日本の国ぐるみの排外主義に抗議します・後編（現状編）

Oh, and No to Hate Speech Action has published a statement in English.
Handout of Press Conference

Pro-Immigrant Organization to Hold a Festival near the Shinagawa Immigration

This is such a short notice, but SYI, a pro-immigrant organization based in Tokyo, will hold a festival at Shinagawa Kita Futo Koen (品川北ふ頭公園), which is located near the infamous detention center, starting 6 p.m. on Monday, August 23. They will protest against the inhumane treatment of the detainees and Japan's unjust immigration policies in general, while singing, dancing, and drinking, in addition to trying to send a message of solidarity to the detainees by creating letters with candles. 

To get there, you can take a bus (品99) at the East Exit terminal of the Shinagawa Station.

World Refugee Day March to be Held in Tokyo, June 20

I'm in the United States for some family emergency, where I've met some amazing people who choose to offer help to a complete stranger. They will be examples I aspire to be in the rest of my life.

Here I'm pretty much tied up with solving family problems and haven't got much time to keep up with the current events, but I did learn about the death of a young boy at the Mexican border, which I guess implies that at least the news is given enough coverage by the mainstream media to inform the public.

Which has not been the case with the death of a Ghanaian in the hands of the immigration officers at Narita Airport, Japan, in March of this year. There were several tiny articles, and that's it. His Japanese wife was offered neither an apology nor a proper explanation from the authorities; in April, some Ghanaians and others, with APFS, marched in protest from Roppongi to Hibiya, shouting "We want justice," which they are yet to receive. Even his body has not been returned to her. A relatively minor journal reports this week that she will file an official complaint later in the month.

So what does this all mean? We have borders and Guantanamoes in Japan, and yet we don't even talk about it. The first step of a solution to a problem is an acknowledgement. We need to remember his death and insist on justice in public.

Which you can do by joining a demonstration to be held by SYI in Tokyo on June 20, the World Refugee Day. The Ghanaian's death and what has (not) happened since then are representative of what goes on inside detention centers and of this country's immigration policies in general. We need to change them if the word justice means anything at all. For the event's details, visit SYI's blog . I'm not sure I will make it as I have family issues, but if I do, see you then.

p.s.
APFS and SYI are different organizations. Neither SYI nor I represent the Ghanaian's wife.

Economist Article

Last week The Economist published an article on the death of a Ghanaian at Narita in March. According to the article, not only has his wife yet to receive information regarding his death from the authority, but she lost her job because her name was found on the Internet. I myself mentioned her name in one of my earlier posts although I erased it several weeks ago. I don't know if her employer saw my blog, but I apologize for my carelessness. What was done to her is unjust and unlawful, but I should have known better about this society.

The Ghanaian's Wife Holds a Press Conference

Regarding the death of Abubakar Awudu Suraj in the hands of the Japanese immigration officers, his Japanese wife along with her lawyer and a representative from APFS held a press conference yesterday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. You can read a Japan Times article by Minoru Matsutani here.

Earlier, I wrote a letter to the Editor at Japan Times, which can be found here.

APFS on its blog encourages the readers to send a message of protest to the Ministry of Justice.

The Ghana Association to Hold a Demonstration in Tokyo on April 12

It has been announced that the Ghana Association, in conjunction with Asian People's Friendship Society (APFS), will organize a demonstration in protest regarding the death of ABUBAKAR AWUDU SURAJ, a Ghanaian who had lived in Japan since 1988. According to this site, it will start at Mikawadai Koen, a three-minute walk from the Roppongi Station, at 10:30 in the morning on April 12; his wife will be present.



大きな地図で見る

Protest against the Immigration Bureau of Japan and the Ministry of Justice

I participated in a protest, organized by Pinkydragon, in front of a detention facility in Shinagawa, Tokyo, and later the Ministry of Justice yesterday. As Minoru Matsutani of The Japan Times reports, various nationals were present, calling against prolonged detention, poor health conditions inside (one doctor for as many as 700 detainees), and suppression of the hunger strike participants at the West Japan Immigration Control Center, among other things. We also demanded thorough investigation on the cause of the death of a Ghanaian aboard flight MS965 at Narita during forced deportation on March 22. I heard there was a Ghanaian present at the protest in Shinagawa, although I missed a chance to talk with him as I arrived late.

I'd like to thank everyone who posted comments about the Ghanaian death. I translated them into Japanese here.

The Death of a Ghanaian: a Minor Update

After a rally and march against the exclusion of Korean schools from the "tuition-free" policy today, I talked with a freelance journalist. According to his sources, the Ghanaian who died after having been "restrained" by immigration officers at Narita on March 22 had been living in Japan for about 20 years; he also might have filed a lawsuit for his stay a few years ago. This information is not based on my own research, and I cannot confirm it, but it's good to know there's a journalist interested in this case, so I thought maybe I should share it with those who care about him. He also suggested this sort of thing tends to get lost in the dark without proper investigation in this country, so I think an international pressure would be vital. Has this incident been reported in a foreign newspaper? If so, please let me know, and I'll inform the Japanese corporate media as well as that freelance journalist and human rights organizations.

Dissident Voice Article

I contributed the following article to Dissident Voice:
Korean Schools to Be Excluded from a Policy For All: Report from Japan

This is a revised and expanded version of an earlier post here.

The Ghanaian's Wife Protests

The Asahi Shimbun reports in another tiny article today (March 26th) that the wife of the Ghanaian who passed away during his forced deportation in Narita protested against the Immigration Bureau of Japan and demanded an apology yesterday. At a press conference, she said "I am mortified. I demand that the truth be brought into daylight." The Chiba Nippo reports the result of the autopsy: the cause of death is unknown, according to the police.

Attention Please MS965

On the huger strike that I allude to, here's an article in English:
Immigration detainees end hunger strike

And in Japanese:
転載・【緊急要請】被収容者ハンスト：西日本入管センターに 抗議を！

Ghanaian Dead in Narita

I found a tiny article in The Asahi Shimbun this morning, about the death of a Ghanaian man. Around three p.m. yesterday, he was about to be deported from the country and forced to board an EGYPTAIR flight. He reportedly resisted, and was "restrained" by immigration officers. He then "stopped moving," and was taken to the hospital in the airport, where his death was confirmed. That's about all in the article.

I think there are questions to be asked: why was he being deported in the first place?; why and how did he resist?; did he say anything?; what means of restraint was employed; was it a murder? The Japanese mainstream media are not accustomed to asking those sorts of questions when it comes to government-related cases like this, nor is the government willing to answer them. People "stop moving" every now and then in prisons and detention facilities in this country, and little investigation is conducted.

But this time, there are international witnesses, as the event took place on an airplane to Cairo. A man, a human being, "stopped moving," and it would be highly unlikely if there weren't airline employees and passengers present there to see it when that happened.

I believe the international community should take interest in this case and raise questions that we, the Japanese, may not be quite capable of asking ourselves. I want to know the facts, and I think they should be known; we need to know what our government is doing in our name so that we will be a bit more aware of our responsibility.

Oh, the flight number is MS965, by the way. It took off about fifty minutes late on March 22nd, with dozens of passengers and EGYPTAIR employees who likely saw what happened.

Hatoyama to Protect Life, except that of Koreans

Last summer, there was a change of government here in Japan, from the Liberal Democratic Party (自由民主党) to the Democratic Party (民主党). From the leftist perspective, it is difficult to see any substantial difference between the two, aside from the extra word in the name of the former, but the new administration does employ some new rhetoric. A keyword here is fraternity (the gender insensitivity is something that hasn't changed).


The fraternal spirit is decorated with some modest socialist policies. One of them is to make high school education "free"(高校無償化): if things go as planned, there will be no tuition for all public schools, starting April; all private schools, international schools included, will receive government subsidies so that they will be more affordable. I just used "all" twice, because that's what the government and the ruling parties had been telling us until very recently. Then just weeks ago, Hiroshi Nakai (中井洽), a cabinet member, showed up out of nowhere and opened his mouth. He wants to exclude Korean schools (朝鮮学校) as part of economic sanctions against North Korea. Thank God we have Yukio Hatoyama (鳩山由紀夫), someone who believes in fraternity, in power. One would expect him not to listen to such racist nonsense and go ahead with the plan, the plan for all. As it turns out, the prime minister is also inclined to make an exception to "all."


Let me give you a paragraph of a Far East modern history lesson. In the nineteenth century, Japan started aggression against Korea and incorporated it in the early twentieth century. Under the colonial rule, a lot of Koreans were taken to Japan as forced laborers. Others had to migrate because of the economic mess created by the invaders. In 1945, the Empire of Japan was defeated, which was a liberation for Korean people. Then the cold (and hot) war. As a result of all this, there are hundreds of thousands of permanent residents of the Korean origin in Japan. Since the defeat of the Empire failed to amount to a significant break with the past, Japan still is a racist society, hostile to the non-Japanese. On the other hand, as early as just after the liberation, some Koreans decided to build their own schools, teaching their own children their own culture and language. From the very beginning, their efforts were met with the government suppression: arrests were made, a young person killed, the schools closed down. And yet they didn't give up. Korean schools still continue to exist in this racist nation, a testament to their struggles.


The exclusion of Korean schools from this new policy should be situated in this context. In his policy address earlier this year, Hatoyama said he wants to protect life and argued "we must guarantee all children ways of life in which everyone can drink healthy water and enjoy basic education free from discrimination and prejudice with their human rights protected." Well said. In light of the recent events, however, Myungsoo Kim (金明秀) suggests a revision to his statement: Hatoyama should say "I want to protect life, except that of Koreans."


A lot of permanent residents of the Korean origin with some Japanese and other people are enraged. They are collecting signatures, handing out leaflets, holding meetings, and expressing their opinions on the street, calling against discrimination. I hope the international community will take interest in this issue and start to participate in the calls against exclusion of Korean schools.


p.s.
A revised and expanded version of this entry has been published at Dissident Voice.

Is Haruki Murakami an Anti-War Figure?

In an earlier post,  I criticized Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) for his bad faith or self deception about the choice he made regarding the Jerusalem Prize. shaymaa kindly provided a supportive comment, to which I responded and said:

Pretending to take no side, he clearly takes the side of the State of Israel, which continues its aggression towards Palestinians. It is sad that some "pacifists" in my country see him as some kind of an anti-war figure, which he is not.

With the latter part of which Gottahavawa disagrees. S/he says:

You also state he is not anti-war, yet admit you have not read his works (and, I would guess, his interviews and essays -- in journals like Eureka and bungakukai). While I too must admit to finding his position on the Palestinians troubling, you should not so easily dismiss the author or his works. In terms of Japan, his works are very much anti-war, and his political stance in many ways resembles your views. Read a few pages of "Hitsuji wo meguru boken" or "Nejimakidori no kuroniruru" and this should be readily apparent.

Well, Gottahavawa, thanks for the recommendations. I will try to read those books when I have a chance.

But I was not talking about subjective pacifism. Ask Obama, Bush, Blair, Hatoyama, or even Hirohito; I bet they would all say without hesitation or equivocation that they are against war and stand for peace. As this thought experiment makes clear, being an "anti-war" in and of itself does not amount to much. Remember, the IDF stands for Israel Defense Force. When they drop a bomb in Gaza, they are doing so to end war and make peace. In a sense they are against war.

However, if you start using the term "anti-war" that way, then it loses its critical edge; if it is to be retained, you need to ask against what war, against which side, for which side. And on these questions, Haruki's acceptance of the Jerusalem Prize provided a clear answer: he takes the side of the State of Israel. His speech included some mild criticisms, but bringing up white phosphorus is in no way subversive of the Israeli civil society, which is quite ready to tolerate even stronger internal dissidence. Every once in a while, they make movies like Waltz with Bashir and yet continue to do what they do. The bottom line is, Haruki chose not to boycott the Prize, and whatever he said at the speech, it was an act of endorsement for everything the IDF is doing from an international author with fans and followers around the world (although he did lose at least one, shaymaa, for his choice).

Haruki also referred to Japanese past aggression:

My father passed away last year at the age of ninety. He was a retired teacher and a part-time Buddhist priest. When he was in graduate school in Kyoto, he was drafted into the army and sent to fight in China. As a child born after the war, I used to see him every morning before breakfast offering up long, deeply-felt prayers at the small Buddhist altar in our house. One time I asked him why he did this, and he told me he was praying for the people who had died in the battlefield. He was praying for all the people who died, he said, both ally and enemy alike. Staring at his back as he knelt at the altar, I seemed to feel the shadow of death hovering around him.

My father died, and with him he took his memories, memories that I can never know. But the presence of death that lurked about him remains in my own memory. It is one of the few things I carry on from him, and one of the most important.

Here again, you see his trick. Death is not an appropriate concept in a war situation as it lacks any political positionality. No, it was not just death; it was a murder; it was a massacre; it was a rape. The difference the last three terms have in common with death is they all imply the presence of a perpetrator. The War was no natural disaster; it was the Empire of Japan and its people who started it; we invaded Asia, colonized it, killed people, and raped women. 

Most Japanese people are like Haruki: they would likely say they are anti-war if asked. But to be an anti-war in any meaningful way requires more than just making a simple statement. We need to confront our past and present,  and take a side. Whose side are you on? I side against the nation of Japan, which, without any clear break with the past Empire, continues its aggression now under the American hegemony and racist violence institutional or otherwise within its territories.




Oh by the way, here's something I did on the eve of Haruki's visit to Jerusalem:

YouTube Revenue Sharing

"Gays in the Military? No, Thanks" Video

Here's my vlog:

Judith Butler Impersonation

The following is my attempt at Judith Butler impersonation at my twitter, inspired by the Habermas imposter:

If identity is a tentative effect of discursive activity which only appears retroactively, then what does it mean to be a Judith Butler? It is troublesome to claim to be Judith Butler even if that name has been attached to the person that I occupy whole life. Indeed, this tweet itself, which purports to assure the statement I am Judith Butler, is a manifestation of anxiety about identity. There is no Judith Butler before these tweets; it is a mere produced effect that nonetheless has socio-political consequences. If that is the case, then the fact that I am actual Judith Butler fails to provide any material or discursive guarantee. In fact, there is always the possibility of impersonation: what if a person other than myself is using discursive strategies to be me. That possibility exposes the fact that I, actual Judith Butler, has always been impersonating Judith Butler. If, as I am, someone is subject to the interpellation, to the hailing, "Hi Judy," from behind and if she makes a 180 degree turn it does not necessarily imply total surrender to ideology; the subject so produced still can maneuver to take advantage of the imposed subject position. To take up a personal example, people [in Japan] worship Judith Butler without bothering to read her books, so they offered me a free trip there. Being an impersonator of Judith Butler, I took that offer of luxurious travel, enjoyed meals, and went to Akihabara. They asked me to give a lecture, but it was no big deal;since no one there actually reads my books, I got away with just reading aloud a manuscript of a chapter that had already been published. They seemed to like it; I got applause from an audience of more than a thousand. Kazuko Takemura was my host. She was using her students like slaves. But it was OK because she acted like a slave to me. Anyway, I recommend a trip to Japan for fellow American professors; there you sort of feel like you were a French.

Mediact, Seul

I signed the petition Media and democracy in South Korea: Save Mediact. My comment:

I come from a country, Japan, which is relatively underdeveloped in terms of the freedom of press and political activism. Mediact has been something we've aspired to. I hope it will continue to be a role model for all of us in Asia.