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May. 13th, 2010 07:54 amSo I'm reading Multiethnic Japan and really enjoying it. It's really giving me a lot of background on various things I saw in anime that I saw and could see there was more to it than what I had the knowledge to see, plus a lot of things that are, unsurprisingly, almost completely ignored by Japanese pop culture. The most surprising thing to me so far (bolding mine):
During World War II Okinawa became the only Japanese site of armed combat. The Japanese military had regarded Okinawans as unreliable, believing them lacking in martial spirit, unable to speak Japanese, and insufficiently loyal to the emperor (Ishihara 1992:269-270). Not surprisingly, many Okinawans in turn considered the Japanese military as an occupying army (Yoshimi 1995:145-147). The military consciously used Okinawa as the last line of defense before the anticipated American invasion of the main Japanese islands (Ishihara 1992:263-265). The Battle of Okinawa resulted in one-fourth of all Okinawans dying (Takara 1992a:13; cf. Fujiwara 1987:11). The scar remains a potent reminder of the difference between Okinawa and Japan.
I mean seriously. I saw that Okinawans were regarded as Japan's backward country cousins, and wasn't surprised to hear that it was nastier and more complex than that, but I didn't think it was even half that bad.
Also, it may be sad that I'm currently refraining from killing a spider, not through any sort of fellow feeling towards all living creatures, but because I don't want spider guts on any nearby books. Because books > getting rid of spiders.
During World War II Okinawa became the only Japanese site of armed combat. The Japanese military had regarded Okinawans as unreliable, believing them lacking in martial spirit, unable to speak Japanese, and insufficiently loyal to the emperor (Ishihara 1992:269-270). Not surprisingly, many Okinawans in turn considered the Japanese military as an occupying army (Yoshimi 1995:145-147). The military consciously used Okinawa as the last line of defense before the anticipated American invasion of the main Japanese islands (Ishihara 1992:263-265). The Battle of Okinawa resulted in one-fourth of all Okinawans dying (Takara 1992a:13; cf. Fujiwara 1987:11). The scar remains a potent reminder of the difference between Okinawa and Japan.
I mean seriously. I saw that Okinawans were regarded as Japan's backward country cousins, and wasn't surprised to hear that it was nastier and more complex than that, but I didn't think it was even half that bad.
Also, it may be sad that I'm currently refraining from killing a spider, not through any sort of fellow feeling towards all living creatures, but because I don't want spider guts on any nearby books. Because books > getting rid of spiders.
