Posted on 12月 8, 2008. Filed under: Government, Politics & Security | タグ: american, barack, Bush, diplomat, election, international, japan, Japanese, media, obama, political, politics, security |
To assess how the next U.S. administration of Barack Obama would cope with the various challenges ahead, it is essential to have an accurate understanding of the significance of his election victory, Japanese experts told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
As the first black to become U.S. president, much of the Japanese media coverage of the election tended to focus on this fact, but that is only one part of the story, they said.
Four experts took part in the Nov. 20 symposium organized by the Keizai Koho Center to discuss Obama’s economic and diplomatic challenges as well as Japan-U.S. relations.
Given the extremely low popular support for outgoing President George W. Bush and the financial crisis that engulfed the United States since just before the election, Obama’s resounding victory came as no surprise, said Akihiko Tanaka, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute of Oriental Culture. (さらに…)
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Posted on 12月 7, 2008. Filed under: Crime & Punishment | タグ: american, club, debito, Foreigner, japan, justice, Law, murder, tokyo, victim |
This in from Debito: “The killer of Scott Tucker, choked to death by a DJ in a Tokyo bar, gets suspended sentence.
Zurui: Here is some background information on the Bul-lets DJ. — Police confirmed Wednesday that they have charged a man with killing an American man in a nightclub in Azabu on Feb 29. Atsushi Watanabe, 29, was charged with killing Richard Scott Tucker, 47, by choking him and punching him from behind at around 10:40 p.m. The victim was taken to hospital but died about one hour later.
According to police, Watanabe, who works for the Bullets club as a DJ, assaulted the victim after finding him drunk and aggressively shoving other customers. Watanabe was quoted by police as saying, “I tried to stop him shoving customers. I didn’t mean to kill him.”
I made the case some months ago, in a special DEBITO.ORG NEWSLETTER on criminal justice and policing of NJ, that NJ get special (as in negative) treatment by courts and cops. (さらに…)
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Posted on 12月 1, 2008. Filed under: Culture & Society, LIFE IN JAPAN | タグ: american, Blacks, culture, english, ese, Foreigner, Gaijin, japan, learning, society, tokyo, yokohama |
This from Loco in Yokohama: I know it’s difficult to do anything life altering. I didn’t come here planning to alter my life. It just kind of happened and I fought it every step of the way. Which only made it more intense, and more interesting I’d like to believe…the results of which I am filling my blog with. But, for those of you who are planning to come to japan or have come here already and just want to have fun and not upset the status quo- Japan’s or your own- too much in the process I have compiled a list of ways to make the potential life altering experience of living in Japan less…life altering.
Of course, if you’ve been here 3 years or longer, and assuming you aren’t loco already, you’ve put together your own list of ways to survive life in Japan. It’s the rare foreigner, I believe, that hasn’t had to significantly adjust his thinking, behavior, lifestyle, and so on, in order to adapt to life here. And perhaps like I, you feel the better for it.
The following list I’ve been putting together in my heart and mind for several years. I’ve tested each one and they have proven to have a high success rate. They’re not 100% but they range from the high 70s to the low 90s percentile. Whether or not they’ll work for you, I really can’t say. And any feedback you have on my list is of course welcomed.
The reason I specify Yokohama is because I know Yokohama well. I also know Saitama and Tokyo well, but, though Japanese are indeed Japanese, I do believe that people have different experiences depending on their area or region. I’ve met foreigners who live in Kansai and were utterly surprised when I told them about some of my experiences here. And I’ve met Nihon-jin in the countryside whose reaction to foreigners was significantly more dramatic and intense than the usual. (さらに…)
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Posted on 11月 28, 2008. Filed under: Culture & Society, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: american, change, election, Japanese, obama, political, politics, students |
A video conference was held yesterday between college students of Japan and the United States. The event clearly exposed the difference between Japanese students, who have few hopes of politics, and their American counterparts, who have strong expectations for change. Some Japanese students reacted enviously to U.S. participants who repeatedly said that with participation, politics can be changed.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo hosted the event. Some 170 Japanese and American students in Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Naha, and Washington discussed “youths and politics.”
In reaction to a report that Japanese youths have little interest in politics and that they tend to regard lawmakers as “uncool,” an American student asked, “Why do you feel politicians are not cool?” (さらに…)
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Posted on 11月 6, 2008. Filed under: Black Resources, Commentary, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: abroad, America, american, barack, biracial, black, Blacks, change, children, clinton, culture, election, envy, family, foreign, government, hate, intelligence, interpretation, interpreter, japan, Japanese, jobs, korean, language, learn, media, military, multiculturalism, nationalism, negro, obama, politics, poverty, president, race, racism, relations, rights, stereotypes, translation, Translator, usa, vote, war, women, world |
When President-elect Barack Obama and his family take up residence in the White House it means that he will move into every household in America. He will not be just some Black dude that moved in down the street in a predominately White neighborhood and his family will not become the new Cosby Show. The Obamas move on big time to prime time on the biggest channel watched by millions in the world.
I am a child of the 60’s and a US Marine Corps veteran that served and fought for America much like my father, uncles and cousins did during the Korean War and conflict in Vietnam. The biggest difference in the conflicts during my military service and theirs is that they fought wars abroad only to return home to fight various forms of in your face racism in America.
I am a product of the Detroit public school system and moved from the ghetto to the top flo’ (and at times back down) because others broke various glass ceilings. There was a school house in Little Rock, Arkansas that had its glass ceiling broken by some black children which ultimately allowed people like me, opportunity. There was a young lawyer that had only lost one case out of 30 who went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in American history. His tenacity ended segregation in public schools. There was a little ol’ woman that rode a bus and refused to give up her seat (and she was not the only one, just the most famous) that translated into people like her being legally allowed to do more than keep their seat. When I headed to a school full of people that I predominately saw on television, in magazines, downtown or at the “white” shopping center, it was like being in a different country. A glass ceiling broke in my house and let in the fresh air of hope when I accomplished things that a couple of generations in my family had not. They paved the way, I just followed the path. Like a young Barack, I had a mother that shoved when I need a push and a family that supported me when I needed.
As a 16-year-old college freshman exposed to something new, I made the most of it. Barack Obama attended the some of the best schools in America and is headed as uptown as one can go in America. I am sure that he will take advantage of being exposed to something new and that he and the in-coming First Lady, Michelle Obama, will expose something new to many in America and around the world. (さらに…)
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Posted on 11月 1, 2008. Filed under: BLACK TOKYO NEWS, Food & Drink, Music & entertainment | タグ: american, black, female, Foreigner, japan, networking, roppongi, tokyo, women |
This in from Sista in Tokyo (SIT): For well over two years now, a group of black professionals in Tokyo has been getting together to connect, chill, and catchup on the first Friday of every month. I’ve posted a few times about some of the more interesting discussions from our little shindig, but have not yet posted on the actual group. So today, I figured it was about time I did so.
Tomorrow, our cocktail hour will be held at 57 restaurant in Ropppongi(located behind Tokyo Midtown). Usually, our group includes around 7-12 attendees from various industries here in Tokyo. It’s almost always predominately male, hence my reason for posting this announcement today :).
I am extending a personal invitation to all SIT readers currently living in Tokyo (or visiting) to come out, kick back and enjoy a laugh or two and have a drink! I have included details below. Also, if you’re interested in keeping up with the goings on and other events happening, you are welcome to join our Black Professionals in Tokyo Group located an Ning. You don’t have to currently reside in Tokyo to be a member– and you don’t even have to be black, just like being around black people :). (さらに…)
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Posted on 10月 28, 2008. Filed under: Culture & Society, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: 2008hard power, advise, America, american, asia, asian, Asians, barack, Bush, change, China, chinese, constitution, culture, democrat, difficulties, diplomat, economics, election, europe, financial, French, Ideas, image, India, Indonesia, Indonesian, international, japan, Japanese, mccain, minority, obama, party, president, relations, republican, Russian, security, soft power, test, work, world, zurui |
Could Europe be categorized as a U.S. Democratic Party “blue state” and Asia, a Republican Party “red state”?
American presidential elections provide a near perfect test to understand the difference between European and Asian worldviews, even if the two continents are far from united internally.
If you want America to lead by the power of example, you favor Barack Obama; if you want to be reassured by the continuation of America’s power in a traditional security sense, you probably prefer John McCain.
Whereas a majority of Europeans — with the exception of those who for historical and geographic reasons are obsessed with the return of the “Russian bear” — support Obama, a majority of Asians, particularly among the elite, seem to support McCain. This difference stems above all from strategic considerations, but it probably also contains a cultural dimension.
In Asia, Indonesia may look “European” with its Obama craze, but it essentially constitutes an anomaly, easily explainable by Obama’s brief Indonesian upbringing. Otherwise, and for very different reasons, a majority of Asian elites are awaiting the growing possibility of an Obama victory with some bewilderment and even apprehension.
For example, Japanese elites tend to favor continuity over change. In their mind, the hard power of the United States is more important than its soft power, and their vision of an America “bound to lead” is largely unchanged. For them, the U.S. is above all the strategic counterweight needed to balance China. (さらに…)
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Posted on 9月 12, 2008. Filed under: Sports | タグ: american, baseball, japan, negro league, robert whiting, Sports, you gotta have wa |
First: for decades, the standard story about the rise of professional baseball in Japan has credited a 1934 tour of Japan by major league all stars, including Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, for sparking interest in the sport and leading to the first professional league two years later. But the Japanese baseball historian Kazuo Sayama, in the 1987 Baseball Research Journal, told a somewhat different story.
He argued that much of the credit should go to Negro League teams that toured Japan in 1920s and 30s, particularly the 1927 Philadelphia Royal Giants, featuring HOFers Biz Mackey and Andy Cooper, along with Rap Dixon and Frank Duncan, among others.
While the 1934 white major league visit has gotten all the attention (and credit), cause-and-effect might actually have been reversed: Sayama noted that the tour was sponsored by the Yomiuri newspaper company, which was already planning to found a professional team (which would become the Giants). So rather than being the catalyst for Japanese pro baseball, maybe it would be more accurately viewed as publicity for a venture that was already in the works. (さらに…)
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Posted on 6月 23, 2008. Filed under: Blasian, Culture & Society, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: african, american, biracial, black, blasians, CM, community, debito, discrimination, e mobile, france 24, japan, Japanese, monkey, obama, politics, race, racism, telegraph, tiger woods, uk |
Well it seems like the foreign press picked up on my Obama is a Monkey in Japan? story. Addressing the E-Mobile CM is important to me because America, considered the richest and most powerful nation in the free world, is on the path of putting a Black male in the White House. Some folks are eager to point out that Obama is not really “Black” but biracial or multicultural. Some tried to give him the Tiger Woods moniker of self-identity. Some have felt that the one-drop rule can go by the wayside, while others equate the “other” side as being the “reason” for Obama’s successes. One minute Obama is Black, another he is not Black enough.
Now, if you throw a monkey into the mix, whether it was due to racist intent or just plain stupidity on the part of a manufacturer, advertiser, or E-Mobile, then it sort of keeps the kokujin (Black person) marginalized at the highest level. The funny (not really) part is that I have received emails telling me that Obama will have a tougher time dealing with the Republican party in his quest for the White House and that the E-Mobile CM is not a cause for me to get my Afro out of shape. I protested when a Japanese singing group wore blackface (to show their soul) and I got in the mix when the “new” release of Little Black Sambo hit Japan. Color me crazy I guess!
I have talked and blogged myself crazy on issues regarding Blacks in Japan. Blacks share many notable experiences and achievements in Japan but there is still work to be done in improving our image in Japanese society. The Black experience and the use of the Black Other in Japan as a tool, scapegoat, or invisible entity in Japanese media, political circles, businesses, and in other circles is something that must be examined and corrected.
(さらに…)
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Black Tokyo Japan 
Commentary: What Barack Obama means to me
Posted on 11月 6, 2008. Filed under: Black Resources, Commentary, Government, Politics & Security | タグ: abroad, America, american, barack, biracial, black, Blacks, change, children, clinton, culture, election, envy, family, foreign, government, hate, intelligence, interpretation, interpreter, japan, Japanese, jobs, korean, language, learn, media, military, multiculturalism, nationalism, negro, obama, politics, poverty, president, race, racism, relations, rights, stereotypes, translation, Translator, usa, vote, war, women, world |
When President-elect Barack Obama and his family take up residence in the White House it means that he will move into every household in America. He will not be just some Black dude that moved in down the street in a predominately White neighborhood and his family will not become the new Cosby Show. The Obamas move on big time to prime time on the biggest channel watched by millions in the world.
I am a child of the 60’s and a US Marine Corps veteran that served and fought for America much like my father, uncles and cousins did during the Korean War and conflict in Vietnam. The biggest difference in the conflicts during my military service and theirs is that they fought wars abroad only to return home to fight various forms of in your face racism in America.
I am a product of the Detroit public school system and moved from the ghetto to the top flo’ (and at times back down) because others broke various glass ceilings. There was a school house in Little Rock, Arkansas that had its glass ceiling broken by some black children which ultimately allowed people like me, opportunity. There was a young lawyer that had only lost one case out of 30 who went on to become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice in American history. His tenacity ended segregation in public schools. There was a little ol’ woman that rode a bus and refused to give up her seat (and she was not the only one, just the most famous) that translated into people like her being legally allowed to do more than keep their seat. When I headed to a school full of people that I predominately saw on television, in magazines, downtown or at the “white” shopping center, it was like being in a different country. A glass ceiling broke in my house and let in the fresh air of hope when I accomplished things that a couple of generations in my family had not. They paved the way, I just followed the path. Like a young Barack, I had a mother that shoved when I need a push and a family that supported me when I needed.
As a 16-year-old college freshman exposed to something new, I made the most of it. Barack Obama attended the some of the best schools in America and is headed as uptown as one can go in America. I am sure that he will take advantage of being exposed to something new and that he and the in-coming First Lady, Michelle Obama, will expose something new to many in America and around the world. (さらに…)
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