LDP politician wants war criminal 'spirits' removed from Yasukuni Shrine
Earlier in February, Nippon Izokukai wrote a report in which members said the group would not ask Yasukuni Shrine to remove the souls of Class-A war criminals.mainichi
It was June 1997. I was on my first visit to Korea
One of the instructors matter-of-factly pointed out that his high school students were happy upon hearing of the death of over 5,000 people during the Kobe earthquake in 1995
Earlier this month I was having dinner and drinks at a Japanese restaurant in Manhattan's East Village with a Korean friend. Upon entering the bathroom, I was surprised to find graffiti scribbled all over the wall in Korean with English translations, screaming, "Dokdo is Korea!" and some other anti-Japanese stuff that I do not care to reproduce here.
several of my students recently asked me about how much damage could be inflicted on Japan, if North Korea were to "nuke" it. Rather shocked, I responded, "Lots." To that I heard, "Yeah, but how many people would die." I then told them that the problem with a nuclear bomb is that people can die from it even 50 or 60 years later. I specifically pointed out that there are people dying in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today as a result of the bombing half a century ago. To this, one student responded, "Good."oh my newsPublished on 2006-05-28
Declaring that time has come for Japan and India to renew and reinvigorate "our Asian identity, building on the commonalities of our interests, aspirations and values," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday night said it was an opportune moment to build on past history of very cordial bilateral interaction.
Recalling the supportive role played by Japan in 1991 to tide over India's economic crisis when he (Manmohan Singh) was Finance Minister, Singh said "it was as a result of such friendly support that India was able to emerge from the crisis and to subsequently embark on the path of economic reform that has changed the face of the economy."
The Prime Minister said that though both nations had gone through various phases in their relationship, "in times of difficulty, we have stood by each other. It is important to recall that India refused to attend the San Francisco Peace Conference in 1951 and signed a separate Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952.
"This Pandit Nehru felt, gave to Japan a proper position of honour and equality among the comity of free nations. In that Peace Treaty, India waived all reparation claims against Japan," Singh said.
The dissenting judgement of Justice Radha Binod Pal is well-known to the Japanese people and it would always symbolise the affection and regard "our people have for your country," the Prime Minister said.
Singh said contacts between the two countries date back to ancient times and is based on the "strong foundation of these age-old spiritual, cultural and civilisational ties on which basis "we are striving to build a contemporary relationship, one that is based on our shared commitment to the ideals of democracy, peace and freedom."Press Trust of India
April 29
Roh, whom Noh and Nosamo love so dearly, has defined this nation as one where “justice failed and only opportunism thrived.” It is people with such a mindset who have sown the seeds of hatred for the three years they have ruled the country, and the seeds are sprouting relentlessly in every sector of society, from schools to factories.
“What we wanted to achieve by voting for Ron Moo-hyun was to stop the vicious cycle of hatred,” Noh tells us. Yet when we see the pot call the kettle black in such a manner without shame, it is hard not to feel that our society has become so distorted that we have lost our way back to normalitychosun libo
Korean Saves Japanese Woman from Subway Tracks
In 2001, a young Korean man was killed when he rescued a Japanese man who had fallen on the subway tracks in Tokyo. Now, at that very same subway station and platform, a Korean man has saved a Japanese woman who also fell onto the tracks. But the Korean survivedchosun libo
Dressed in traditional clothes, Japanese girls play house in front of a clothing store while Korean toddlers dressed in Korean skirts and coats look on.The University of Southern California’s library website features some 150 pictures taken by the Rev. Corwin Taylor and his wife Nellie Blood-Taylor, who worked as missionaries in Korea from 1908 through 1922 May.25,2006chosun libo
Megumi is said to have been abducted by North Korean authorities. But she is also a victim of the Cold War era, as South and North Korea committed countless abductions each during the confrontation in the past century,’’ he wrote. ``The victims of those abductions are ultimately victims of the Cold War era.’’
Therefore, it is regrettable that the motherland of Shigeru and Megumi Yokota, Japan, seems to be the least cooperative country in dismantling the division of the Korean Peninsula, Kim said.
Recalling millions of Koreans who were mobilized to forced labor and military service during the Japanese colonial rule of the peninsula from 1910 to 1945, Kim said Japan should not turn a blind to the criticisms that it is only making efforts for other country’s human rights issues while putting its own problems on the back burner.Korea times
TOKYO — For U.S. companies doing business in Asia, fast-growing China and India generate plenty of headlines and hype. For actual profits, neglected old Japan remains a better bet by far.
"In terms of profitability, Japan is the best-kept secret in the world," says Jesper Koll, chief economist at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities.
U.S. companies earned nearly $11 billion in Japan last year, more than double what they could muster in China ($3.3 billion) and India ($1.2 billion) combined, according to statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.usa today
Representative Henry Hyde, chairman of the U.S. House International Relations Committee, sent a letter to House Speaker Dennis Hastert in April asking that Koizumi promise to stop visiting Yasukuni Shrine if he is to address a joint session of Congress, the Asahi newspaper reported yesterday, citing a copy of the letter. Koizumi is scheduled to visit the U.S. in late June
Koizumi has said he doesn't understand criticism of his trips to Yasukuni, which memorializes 14 war criminals among the more than 2 million war dead honored there. He has visited the shrine five times since becoming Prime Minister in 2001, damaging relations with China and South Korea, which argue the memorial glorifies Japan's invasion of Asia during World War II.bloomberg
"We will work to clear up misunderstandings, if there are any, of the purpose of the visits. But I believe that most Congressmen respect the freedom of religion and such criticism is rather rare," Abe told a news conference.kyodo
"In many companies (in Japan, sexual harassment) has yet to be taken seriously," Nakashita said, adding she does not think many firms here have a zero-tolerance policy.
According to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, sexual harassment complaints filed at equal employment opportunity offices nationwide rose to 7,706 in fiscal 2004 from 2,534 in fiscal 1997.
Nakashita said the reason the number has risen is because more women are getting the courage to expose the problem.
"But this is still the tip of the iceberg," she said.japan times
Korea-Japan friendship carIf you can read Japanese, you'd notice the letters saying "Korean-Japanese friendship". I feel again very unnatural about this because "Japan-Korean friendship" is the right order without exception unless those letters are written by Korean sided people
*The Uyoku groups designated by police are 25. Five groups out of the 25 have Korean leaders as below:
group・・・・・・・・・・・・Name
極東会・・・・・・・・・・・・曹 圭化
松葉会・・・・・・・・・・・・李 春星
双愛会・・・・・・・・・・・・申 明雨
松葉会・・・・・・・・・・・・李 春星
酒梅組・・・・・・・・・・・・金 在鶴
They have been doing this in order to implant an idea in Japanese that "Imperial Japan used to be hiddous and tyrannical". That way, Japanese get to feel guilty about Japanese rule in Korea until 1945, and they would apologize with compensation so that zainichi can make life much easier. If zainichi people claim that they were forced to come Japan and there's no job with them, Japan would pay for them. That's the idea. Actually 90% of them smuggle to Japan during Korean war, though.
The control of territory and the peaceful and effective excercise of the functions of a sate theren is the primary means of acquiring title to territory in international law.They can be subdivided into two lasses.When the exercise of authority takes place in a territory which does not belong to any other state8terra mullius)we may say that title is based on effective "occupation". When the excercise of authority takes place in a territory which formally belongs to another state, we may say that title is bsed on 'prescription.However the differece between these two concept is only one of degree and the essentail elelment of both is the exercise of state function.p144
The state claiming the title must establish that it has behaved as a state with respect to the territory although .....not every state function will be relavent for this purpose,....
It is also clear that the extent of degree of display of state power required may vary according to the type of territory in question.It is a question of fact in eace ase.Thus in the Clipperton Island arbitration(France v mexico)(1932) 26AJIL.390, the dispute was over a small uninhabited coral reef.The arbitrator found French title stablished, even though the acts of effective occupation were limited to minimal acts of the French Navy and subsequent proclamations of soverignty in various public journals.These acts, when coupled with an intention to exercise soverignty, were sufficient in respect of this territory.
...the actual display of sovereignty must be accompanied by an aimus or intention to as as soverign. In the usual event, this can be presumed from the simple fact that the state is excercising such aouthority in the territory.p147
...title to territory could not be established by a 'once and for all'display of soverignty.It had to be 'continuous'
...the display of sovereeignty must exist up to 'the critical date'.The critical date is is the date at which the question of soverignty is to be assessed.All matters arising after that date cannot be taken into account in deciding title to territory,
In essence, the critical date is the date at which the dispute between the two parties becomes crystalised .p148
The exercise of state power over territory must be peaceful in the sense that it is not challenged by other states.In terms of territory which is formally terra nullius, this means simply that the display of state functions must proceed in uninterrupted fashion.Moreover ,in the case of 'occupation' a display of state soverreignty does not lose its peaceful character merely because some state verbally objects to the claim of sovereingty.There must be some acts by the objecting state, of an extensive nature, before title based on 'occupation' lose its peaceful character.
In contrast, with cases of presription, the requirement of a peaceful display of soverignty is much more important.As we have seen, prescription means the acquistion of soverignty by one state over territory which formally belongs to another.Therefore,objections by the state ousted from the territory are an important factor and may well prevent the 'new' state from gaining titile by presription....Converselly, it is clear that lack of objection (or acquiescence) by the former title holder can be vital in establishing prescriptive titile .......the form of objection is irrelevant, so long as the dispossessed state make clear its opoostion to the acuqistion of title by someone else.So,objection may consit of diplomatic protests,statements in internationl organizations, the enactment of national legistlation applying to the territory or referral to a tribunal.
...the law to be applied to a given dispute is the law in existence at the time the dispute is to be settled---the critical date.
68. It does not seem necessary to recall in great detail what the Chamber of the Court had to say about the value of map evidence in the case concerning the Frontier Dispute (Burkina Faso v. Mali), viz., that maps cannot constitute a territorial title but are usually merely extrinsic evidence which may be used, along with other circumstantial evidence, to establish or reconstitute the real facts (I.C.J. Reports 1986, p. 582, para. 54). Since Qatar has in my view not been able to demonstrate that it has title to the Hawar Islands based on the display of authority - even in the most limited way - in combination with a legally recognized mode of acquisition, the cartographic evidence must in my view be discarded.link1867 Japanese map 竹島=Arrogonaut =nonexisitent 松島＝Ullengdo Linocourt =Takessshima-Matushima1870 Japanese map(from the left)竹しま＝Arrogonaut =nonexisitent 松しま＝Ullengdo
Kawasaki for the annual metal penis festival.
Japanese female strawweight champ keeps title in bout against convict in Thai prison
Prison authorities said they would have released 23-year-old Siriporn if she won the fight.
"I feel sorry for shattering her hopes to be free from jail sooner, but as a sportswoman I have to fight to win," she said.
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun vowed Tuesday to grant many concessions to North Korea, signaling Seoul's intention of making a more aggressive effort to improve relations with Pyongyang.
Speaking to a group of ethnic Koreans here, Roh said that his government has completely opened the door for unconditional dialogue with North Korea.yohan
in Japanese
北朝鮮に対しては完全に胸を開いており、「いつどこでどのような話でも構わないので会って話をしよう」と南北首脳会談の提案が有効であることを再確認した。
Two out of three Chinese university students surveyed have read a book by Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, found a study by a Chinese graduate student in Ibaraki Prefecture.
And erotic tales of illicit love seem to be exactly what Chinese readers want. Junichi Watanabe, another Japanese writer celebrated for his steamy subject matter, also ranked among the most popular, according to research by another studentasahi
Koizumi's visits to the shrine in central Tokyo have soured relations with China, South Korea and other Asian countries. The governments of China and South Korea have said the visits show Japan hasn't fully atoned for the atrocities committed when the Japanese occupied much of Asia before defeat in WWII.
Koizumi has visited Yasukuni, which means peaceful nation in Japanese, five times since becoming prime minister in 2001. A visit in October last year prompted South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun to scrap a summit with the Japanese leaderbloomberg
Michelle Wiechosun
U.S. Rep. Lane Evans (D-Illinois) has urged Japan to take responsibility for Korean women it forced into prostitution during World War II and asked others in the U.S. Congress to support a resolution to send this message.korea times
Take the example of Harriet Jacobs, who was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. She was sold at the age of 12 to James Norcum, who soon began making sexual overtures to her. As Jacobs later recalled in her memoir, Norcum told her that "I was his property; that I must be subject to his will in all things." And so she was. Although Jacobs occasionally managed to escape her owner's clutches, he did own her. To get sex from her, Norcum sometimes promised her new clothes and other presents; at other times, he simply held a razor to her throat. And that, my fellow Americans, is what we call rape.
You do the math. Between 1850 and 1860, the number of blacks in slavery rose by about 20 percent. But the number of enslaved "mulattoes" - that is, mixed-raced slaves - rose by a remarkable 67 percent, as historian Joel Williamson has calculated. To put it most bluntly: Black slaves were getting lighter in skin, because white owners were raping them. It's really that simple - and that awful.
As the great African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass recounted in his autobiography, the black female slave was "at the mercy of the fathers, sons, or brothers of her master." Black women were also abused by slave traders, who often raped them before selling them to the next white man - and the next round of sexual coercion. Undoubtedly there were slaves who may have chosen to have sex with their owners. But what does it mean to "choose" sex, when you know that the wrong choice might get you sold, or even killed?
How many American children know that Thomas Jefferson, father of our Declaration of Independence, fathered children by his slave? And how many American parents want their children to know that?OAH
lost nomad
Between Kim Jong Il and his two patrons in Moscow and Beijing, the communists managed to ensure the slaughter of more than 2.5 million Koreans, the overwhelming majority of whom were civilians: even the most inflated estimates for Japan's suppression of Korean revolts don't come to 1% of that figureforeigndispatches
it's much safer to take your frustrations out on a harmless Japan or the American guarantor of your freedom than it is to do so on regimes still capable of large-scale butchery given enough provocation.
“[Kim Jong Il is] one of the figures in the North we can get [an] agreement from and who can make proper decisions. . . . The two [Kim and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun] could produce significant results since Pyongyang is well aware that President Roh is a decisive man who is able to see the big picture, and Kim is always being portrayed as broad-minded in the North Korean media.”link
“So far, we have made a success through dependence on the U.S. Now it’s time to choose an independent course of diplomacy,” the president said at an American chapter meeting of the National Unification Advisory Council in Seoul. “But living a dependent life is different from living independently and maintaining a close friendship. The two countries will remain friends forever.
link
Tensions over the islands are fuelled by lingering historical acrimony. The islands were annexed by Japan in 1905, followed by the Korean mainland in 1910, and were only relinquished on Japan's defeat in World War II.
South Korea accuses Japan of failing to repent for its colonial conduct, and the rivalry between the two nations repeatedly flares in open confrontation.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called on China on Wednesday to democratize and for transparency about its increasing military spending, while vowing to deepen cooperation with Beijing in areas where Japan and China share common interests. May 3 KYODO
Speaking at a Perth business breakfast, Mr McLean warned that Australia should not ignore Japan's continuing economic and strategic significance in the enthusiasm for developing economic relations with China and India.
Mr McLean said it was unlikely China would surpass Japan as Australia's most important trading partner for at least a decade.
Last year, Australian exports of goods and services to Japan were worth about $32 billion, which amounted to roughly 18 per cent of Australia's exports.
"This is 80 per cent higher than our exports to China and 2 1/2 times greater than we send to the US," the ambassador said.
"The proposition that Japan has been taken over by China is just nonsense."
Mr McLean said much of Japan's recovery had to do with the spirit of competition it was having with China for influence in the region.May 04, 2006The Australian
The 51-year-old mother of a riot policeman is being treated in the hospital for a serious head injury after being pushed to the ground by union demonstrators while she and a group of other parents were monitoring a protest rally in South Jeolla province, police said
The parents' group has been campaigning for an end to violent demonstrations, both for their sons' safety and for broader social peacejoongang daily May 3, 2006
Unlike the Nuremberg trial, where the Nazi system was clearly seen as responsible, only individuals were sentenced at the Tokyo trial and many Japanese question its legitimacy, which, some observers argue, suggests the nation has been slow to fully accept its collective responsibility. 02 May 2006
Despite being accused by some critics of being responsible for the march to war, Hirohito was protected by General Douglas MacArthur, shogun of occupied Japan, who needed the emperor to unify the defeated country
The subject is still a taboo in Japan.
The victorious Allies (Australia, Britain, Canada, China, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Soviet Union and the United States), as well as India and the Philippines, each provided one judge and one procurer.
The Indian judge, Radhabinod Pal, dissented strongly with the majority, saying that the US and European nations' own imperialistic histories meant they had no right to try Japan, and declaring the accused innocent from the start.
Other judges, like the French judge, stopped short of that but appeared uncomfortable with the lack of evidence after many important documents were lost or destroyed.
The impartiality of the judge from the Philippines is also contested as he was a survivor of the "Bataan Death March", during which prisoners of war in the Philippines were forcible transferred by Japanese forces.
"It was a tribunal by victors," said Tojo's granddaughter.
日独島挑発糾弾 `ボルチム' パフォーマンス
U.S. special envoy Jay Lefkowitz said well-intentioned projects should be backed by strong monitoring to avoid being counterproductive.
"By channelling large amounts of unmonitored aid to North Korea, some governments may actually worsen matters and unwittingly prop up the regime," he wrote.
Lefkowitz also raised concern about an industrial park located in Kaesong, just north of the heavily fortified border that divides the peninsula, where South Korean firms produce goods using cheap North Korean labour.
"The world knows little about what actually goes on at Kaesong, and given North Korea's track record, there is ample cause for concern about worker exploitation," he wrote.Tuesday May 2 Reuters
"Some Korean scholars and officials have urged the United States to press Japan to change its policies," Green said. "Pressure from the U.S. side will cause a backlash within Japan that will make this issue harder, not easier, for the next prime minister to resolve."yonhap
"We value peace with North Korea more than human rights," Moon acknowledged. "That is our geopolitical destiny.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso and Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga emphasized the realignment's role in bringing the alliance to a new stage and transforming it into a stronger one based on a roadmap that was issued the same day.
The plan kicked off the most sweeping reorganization of U.S. troops and bases in Japan since their presence began 1945. It is aimed at easing the burden on base-hosting local communities while maintaining U.S. military deterrence and boosting operational integration between the U.S. military and Japan's Self-Defense Forces.kyodo
