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April 27, 2004
Okami
Ignore a government travel warning in a bid to help child, find yourself held hostage and this is the warm welcome you can expect back home in Japan (hat tip to Mondo Sismondo).
Beneath the surface of Japan's ultra-sophisticated cities lie the hierarchical ties that have governed this island nation for centuries and that, at moments of crises, invariably reassert themselves. The former hostages' transgression was to ignore a government advisory against traveling to Iraq. But their sin, in a vertical society that likes to think of itself as classless, was to defy what people call here "okami," or, literally, "what is higher."
And then... Googlism has the following to say on the subject.
Posted by Ghost of a flea at April 27, 2004 09:02 AM
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Comments
I'm half-Japanese, born in Canada and not at all a subscriber to the rigid hierarchical system they have over there. But I readily identify with the Japanese public's response, particular considering the way the relatives of the hostages handled things.
The hostages' relatives were wrong-headed to call for the departure of Japanese troops from Iraq, in the hopes of saving the hostages' lives. If it were my relatives taken hostage, I would be praying for their release but also urging the government not to submit to terroristic demands, even at the expense of my family's own blood.
We all know that these butchers will not be satisfied with Japan and everyone else packing up and going home. What they want is to rule Iraq with a despot's hand, on par with Saddam himself or the Taliban; who in their right mind would ask their government to play accessory to that crime?
Posted by: Chris Taylor at April 27, 2004 02:24 PM
