Forum - View topicINTEREST: Grave of the Fireflies Director Isao Takahata Also Chimes in on Constitution Changes
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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"We could simply go from a country free of war"
Nope. Patlabor 2. Japan is involved in war as much as any other first world nation that produces anything. |
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ninjamitsuki
 Posts: 590 Location: Anywhere (Thanks, technology) |
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Didn't Takahata go out of his way to say that Grave of the Fireflies was NOT an anti-war film?
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Apollo-kun
 Posts: 1213 Location: City 7, Macross 7 |
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It's hard to comment on this without getting too political (big no-no on the forums, from what I've seen,) as the matter is very political, so I will try and be as cautious as possible here.
I, for one, have been very heartened by this response to the potential constitution changes from Japan's entertainment industry. Shinzo Abe is a man of a fiercely misguided nature, and it's nice to see major voices in Japan speaking out against him and the policies he wants to implement. It will be very interesting to see how this plays out over the course of the coming years. |
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Hoppy800
 Posts: 3331 |
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Japan must not go back to how it was in 1936 or it will destroy the country, Abe is a tyrant and as time passes proves that he's becoming more and more of an extreme threat to Japan's future and need to step down (and take his LDP cronies with him, most of them are political tyrants), Japan really needs DPJ or Communist Party rule.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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I think people need to keep in mind that China's recent actions are the backdrop to this effort to change Japan's constitution. I doubt very much that this idea would be getting any serious consideration if a lot of Japanese people were becoming increasingly concerned over various territorial (and resource) issues.
As things stand, I really don't have a position on what Japan should do. OTOH, I think China will become more and more of a threat as time passes, and if we (America) drop the ball on keeping China in check (something I think is a definite possibility, if not a likelihood), then Japan will become increasingly disadvantaged in its ability to maneuver both diplomatically and economically. I'm sure many Japanese people realize this, and so are taking a serious look at changing their constitution before things get too far gone. The whole situation isn't an enviable one for Japan. My guess is that eventually they'll change it, but whether they do so in the near future I wouldn't hazard to guess. |
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CCTakato
Posts: 514 |
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Even though I don't always agree with everything they say, I've always respected Miyazaki and Takahata's commitment to pacifism and I wish we had more American directors who were this committed to peace as these two giants have been. Personally I feel like the supposed threat of China is a bit overblown and Japan seems to be just as guilty for ramping up conflicts as much as China with the whole issue over who controls those islands they're fighting over. Then you have Shinzo Abe waffling over Japan's apologies towards the comfort women and past human rights abuses against China they've been guilty of. I mean, does anyone think China is going to suddenly start storming the streets of Tokyo any day now or something?
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whiskeyii
 Posts: 2245 |
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Even if it's not strictly "anti-war", and is really about shaming a generation for spitting on the sacrifices of their parents (who probably lived through the war or its aftermath), that still requires the acknowledgement of the horror those people went through as a result of war. So...a kind of "roundabout" anti-war message. War isn't the main message, but it's a big part of the "real" message. |
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Engineering Nerd
 Posts: 898 Location: Southern California |
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But you really have to look at things at different perspectives though, and if anything, both China and Japan are nothing more than chess pieces that are necessary for United States' new Asian strategies. I speak Japanese, Chinese and Korean fluently, so I was fortunate enough to follow the news from those countries' TV news, and wow...what an eye-opener! Chinese TV news' view: China is keep getting bullied by (yes, I am serious) United States, Japan, Philippine, Indonesia etc; people constantly blaming how government act too soft and demand it to tough it up against the "bullies". Interestingly, the Chinese news often emphasize how weak and incapable its own country is, and how Chinese people often live in concern of future USA and Japan's invasion (it's the complete opposite of Japanese view) Korean news' view: Both China and Japan are just a part of United States' grand scheme, nothing they do would matter as long as USA continues its intervention to make sure its global supremacy. Japanese news' view: China and Russia are the ultimate evil and core of most Asian continent's problems. We need spend more, more and more money on military defenses, and continue to be USA's ally to keep us safe. And then comes Fox, NBC, ABC news etc; sometimes, when you hear things from various perspectives, it does give you a better idea of what's going on. In this case though, I am not sure who is right and wrong, but one thing to be sure: it's far more complicated than the "truth" that some politicians and commentators are making us to believe. |
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Wandering Samurai
 Posts: 875 Location: USA |
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Tell that to China and Russia, staunch opponents of Japan while they were at war. These countries would love nothing more than to take on Japan while it is at a disadvantage. The US has plenty of its own problems in the Middle East and defending other countries, plus internal issues. There will come a time when Japan may have to stand on its own power. Better to be ready than to be overwhelmed.
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Hellsoldier
 Posts: 754 Location: Porto,Portugal,Europe,Earth,Sol |
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Surely, those choices would be better. Better than a party that is a set of 3 main parties and other minor parties, ruled by a nationalist faction. The LDP is set for self-destruction. As per the Wiki, there are 3 main factions: -Heisei Kenkyukai (from the Liberal Party – Right Liberal) Supported by local farmers, the construction industry, blue-collar workers, the defense industry, Japan Post workers, and the Burakumin. They promote international cooperation with China and Korea, a Gasoline Tax, construction of Highways/Shinkansen (Bullet Train), and protection of small farmers, Japan Post workers and discriminated peoples. -Kouchi Kai (from Liberal Party – Keynesian economics and Right Liberal) Supported by the established Liberal party of the bureaucracy, white-collar workers, doctors, small merchants and small factory people. They promote international cooperation with China and Korea, a Government bond/Consumption Tax for National Medical care and National Banks which financially support small firms, as well as Free trade Policy. (Both of these led Japan to economic growth from 1960 to 1988) -Seiwa Seisaku Kenkyukai (from Japan Democratic Party – Nationalist A.K.A. The Current Rulers... and these haven't led to growth) Supported by Japan Business Federation, established authoritarian bureaucracy, war widows from WW2. This faction promotes decreasing taxes for high income taxpayers, decreasing taxes for large companies, depending on the US for national defense issues, visits to Yasukuni Shrine in order to garner support from Nationalist voters without any special interest payments, returning the constitution to support the political system of the pre-WWII era, decreasing road/railway construction, decreasing medical care, eliminating overtime pay for white-collar workers, changing permanent employment to temporary employment, eliminating labor unions, free trade for car exports, removing protection for small farmers, privatization of Japan Post and the layoff of Japan Post workers. 1955 GHQ changed their policy from anti-fascist to anti-communist, and released Nobusuke Kishi (Class A war criminals, a member of Hideki Tōjō's Militarist Cabinet, father of Shintarō Abe and grandfather of Shinzō Abe) from Sugamo Prison. Kishi founded the Japan Democratic Party (No relation to the current JDP) The faction was suppressed by Heisei Seisaku Kenkyukai and Kochikai from 1960 to 1990 but because of a failure of the Heisei Seisaku Kenkyukai and Kochikai leadership it led the LDP from 2002 to 2008, mainly under Junichiro Koizumi. |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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I think you've got that backwards. |
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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To pull this often quoted loose translation out. It is a valid statement of something that should be obvious. For the Japanese it means reconciling their much loved Constitution with a disagreeable reality. They are allowed to defend themselves, but just how do you define that? When is a threat, perceived or material, sufficient to justify taking action in defense of yourself? That they are arguing this in a fairly rational fashion goes to their credit. I imagine this, that the Japanese War Criminals upon arriving in the Inferno's purgatory ( or whatever a Japanese named equivalent might be ) were made to get in line at the back of a long long long line. Mark Gosdin |
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jl07045
 Posts: 1527 Location: Riga, Latvia |
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There's no right and wrong in the individual moral sense, there are national interests as interpreted by the leaders, whether democratically elected or not. The question is whether those changes actually serve the national interests of Japan in the long run. |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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However, it those interests serve Japan, one can say that they against China's interests, which, in turn, could affect Japan's. The brutal war is on the battlefield, but the serious, heavy fighting is almost always the political one. |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13552 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Revising the history books to show how atrocious a country can be can go either way. That is, some may exaggerate or understate the amount of casualties lost in a campaign while others may acknowledge how bad it is but still not truly convey how bad it is unless it was an eyewitness account.
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