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NEWS: Manga Fan Tarō Asō is a Frontrunner to Lead Japan


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Pepperidge



Joined: 13 Sep 2003
Posts: 1104
Location: British Columbia, Canada
PostPosted: Sun Sep 16, 2007 11:09 pm Reply with quote
Descent123 wrote:
It's funny because I consider Anime/Manga to be more Liberal in nature than Conservative.


I often get the impression that anime fandom in Japan is very conservative. That is at least judging by the extreme nationalist and social views which seem to permeate boards like 2ch.
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Descent123





PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:39 am Reply with quote
Pepperidge wrote:
Descent123 wrote:
It's funny because I consider Anime/Manga to be more Liberal in nature than Conservative.


I often get the impression that anime fandom in Japan is very conservative. That is at least judging by the extreme nationalist and social views which seem to permeate boards like 2ch.


I get my Liberal view of Anime/Manga by the fact that's it's full of violent material (well a good part of it) and pornography (hentai).

Don't forget how they view Christians in some Animes (crazy killers).
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Zaiks



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 1
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:30 am Reply with quote
You know guys , its not like they teach the proper history in either China or N. Korea.Its always hilarious to watch Chines protests about history fabrication in Japan when they do it themselves.Like someones already said here its just the mentality of east Asia, ofc that's a bit of a generalization but that's the only way to describe majority of the issue.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15299
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 8:52 am Reply with quote
WTF does stock value have to do with Aso winning or losing? There's no guarantee sales would be any higher or lower at those firms either way!

Zaiks: The thing is that the Chinese haven't made any agreements promising to not start any wars, and then done their best to undermine those treaties.
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hentai4me



Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Posts: 1313
Location: England. Robin is so Cute!
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:16 am Reply with quote
GATSU wrote:
WTF does stock value have to do with Aso winning or losing? There's no guarantee sales would be any higher or lower at those firms either way!


Stock values are based mainly on confidence and support. The IDEA that the new regime would be in favour of anime/manga makes people more confident in its potential sales as those who buy it would be potentially better able to or the appeal would widen. Even if there is no increase a perceived governmental support would make people more confident in the market and thus increase the stock price.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:59 am Reply with quote
That rosy picture of homelessness in Japan sort of goes against the images we saw in Tokyo Godfathers & Gantz.
The whole issue isn't that simple, at least here in California where the state mental institutions were shut down so the mentally ill are on the streets where they don't take their meds, then they have "episodes" which makes the voting public afraid of them, so the voters phone complaints to City Hall so cops harass the homeless to move them out of the public eye. As we've seen that whole manga cafe thing where X% of customers actually live there sort of artificially skewers the Japanese homeless figures (hey, they're not on the streets) just like our jobless rate where people drop off when they've been unemployed so long they are no longer eligible for benefits. (Unless that was changed since the last time I paid attention to it in the '80's)

Which is all political spin. Just as our political parties in the US seem similar in a lot of ways, it doesn't sound as though there's that much dif between the parties in Japan. Is this Aso dude so much worse than what's running against him, or is it what Americans have faced for several elections-the lesser of 2 poor choices?

Yeah, the stocks mentioned have fallen some, but are still higher than their original points which is still good for them. If they fall to below the start point after this plays out, then it's a bad thing for them, but as of this report they're still benefiting slightly. So far it's still the "no bad publicity" realm.
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chrisb
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Joined: 07 May 2006
Posts: 617
Location: USA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:29 am Reply with quote
I hope Yasuo Fukuda is able to win in the end, his views are way more moderate than even Abe, I like his plan to end visits to the war criminal gravesites. Apparently even Aso is saying Fukada will probably win.

Anyway manga is a form of entertainment, most entertainment (movies, TV shows, etc.) atleast in the U.S. and Japan appear to be quite liberal and tend to show realistic examples of the problems in the society, like LIFE shows exactly how schools ignore bullying to keep up an image and Ghost in the Shell SAC also seems politically liberal. I can see why many would see Aso's interest in manga and anime as ironic (unless it's like others say and he's just using it for votes.)

Anyway would anyone really vote for a man who uses "cartoons" to help him in his political oppurtunities? That would be a little embarassing for Japan in the eyes of other countries.
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Dargonxtc



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 4463
Location: Nc5xd7+ スターダストの海洋
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:12 pm Reply with quote
Descent123 wrote:
Pepperidge wrote:
Descent123 wrote:
It's funny because I consider Anime/Manga to be more Liberal in nature than Conservative.


I often get the impression that anime fandom in Japan is very conservative. That is at least judging by the extreme nationalist and social views which seem to permeate boards like 2ch.


I get my Liberal view of Anime/Manga by the fact that's it's full of violent material (well a good part of it) and pornography (hentai).

Don't forget how they view Christians in some Animes (crazy killers).


Remember though that those two subjects(porn and violence) actually have very little to do with real conservitive thought. It's just that they are lightning rod issues that are always brought to the forefront and assigned an artificially high agenda. Generally, real issues outway what form of entertainment you enjoy by a high order of magnitude. Which is why it is so supprising to hear so many of you being shocked that this person or that person is a manga or anime fan, as if you must only be a real fan if you ascribe to the same views that you do, or the creators of the show do, and anyone else is just faking it.

As for the stock market thing, I agree with GATSU. What the hell does him winning or losing have to do with how much these companies are worth? Although I shouldn't be that surprised, the same things happen in the NYSE/NASDAQ from time to time. One thing I will say though, with all these rapid high percentage changes, someone's really rolling in the dough, the Yen flavored kind.
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 9902
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 12:47 pm Reply with quote
Dargonxtc wrote:
As for the stock market thing, I agree with GATSU. What the hell does him winning or losing have to do with how much these companies are worth?

He might use more manga and anime as PR material for the government, hold more festivals and competitions, encourage more youths to enter the industry, etc. If he wants more he might offer tax reduction/exempt for the industry and people working in it. South Korea has been promoting its gaming industry successfully by waiving conscription duties of young men willing to devote themselves into the business; I'm sure Aso has some of his own ideas.

Although I personally don't want to see him elected. Being a fellow fan does not mean I'd support him for the next leader of a state.
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Richard J.



Joined: 11 Aug 2006
Posts: 3367
Location: Sic Semper Tyrannis.
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 1:33 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
Although I personally don't want to see him elected. Being a fellow fan does not mean I'd support him for the next leader of a state.
Very true, although it would be nice is whomever is elected views anime/manga in a positive light. Of course, there's really no way to know for sure how Asō or another candidate would actually run things once in power. The realities of political office usually deter extreme actions.

Not always, but usually.

Eh, in my case, I don't care who wins so long as A) it improves the Japanese economy (I think everyone wins when the cash flows freely), B) it doesn't have a negative impact on anime/manga/video games (yeah that's a tiny issue but it's important to me), and C) relations between Japan and the United States remain good or improve.

Personally, I really don't care what they want to deny or write about in their history books. Heck, aren't the British removing stuff about WWII from their history books? I'm sure there are plenty of things missing from our books too. Every country wants to pretend it's pure as the driven snow and not one actually is. Nothing you can do about it and getting angry just increases the potential of some sort of conflict. If we'd all just agree to leave the past in the past, we might have fewer wars.
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SharinganEye



Joined: 01 Feb 2005
Posts: 402
Location: Les Etats-Unis d'Amérique
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 3:16 pm Reply with quote
dormcat wrote:
South Korea has been promoting its gaming industry successfully by waiving conscription duties of young men willing to devote themselves into the business.
Not going to the military in Korea is a socio-cultural taboo, so I'm not sure if that'd be a big enough of an incentive. Sure you don't have to serve 2 years, but the stigma that follows you is pretty bad, for whatever reason it was you didn't serve.

But that fact in itself is pretty crazy. o_0

Richard J. wrote:
Heck, aren't the British removing stuff about WWII from their history books?
Really? I know of the case of British teachers skimping on the Holocaust to avoid offending Muslim students but nothing specifically about WWII.

Quote:
If we'd all just agree to leave the past in the past, we might have fewer wars.
History is important because it teaches us a lesson. Problems arise when "leaving things in the past" turns to ignorance and avoidance.
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CCSYueh



Joined: 03 Jul 2004
Posts: 2707
Location: San Diego, CA
PostPosted: Mon Sep 17, 2007 4:10 pm Reply with quote
There's the validation he could give. Yeah, that might be an old point since he's already a politician, but if he made such a high position, then it would be saying it's ok for adults to read manga & not mature out of it. I know some who would buy that argument here, that a respected person likes this or that (pork rinds? hating broccoli?) so it's ok for other adults to admit to it.

I knew people who voted for Bush the 2nd time because they were better off than they had been 4 yrs earlier (yeah, because their union bargained for better wages/insurance benefits or because the people earned it themselves) That seemed a thin reason to me.
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shinsengumi



Joined: 25 Dec 2004
Posts: 6
PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 3:39 pm Reply with quote
Time to clear up a few misconceptions.

Pepperidge wrote:
Because they're very conservative.


It is a mistake to paint the LDP with such a broad brush. The LDP has been in power almost continuously since the 1950s, but LDP governments have seldom lasted for more than a few months, let alone years. This is due in no small part to internecine competition between entrenched party factions. In essence, the LDP has historically encompassed most of the political spectrum, with the opposition parties (which are notoriously fragile and prone to disintegration and reconstitution every few years) largely marginalized. While Japanese voters have consistently been unhappy with corruption and scandal in the government, the opposition DPJ victory in the recent Upper House elections can be understood as a referendum on former PM Abe's policies rather than public confidence in the DPJ's ability to effectively govern.

chrisb wrote:
I hope Yasuo Fukuda is able to win in the end, his views are way more moderate than even Abe, I like his plan to end visits to the war criminal gravesites. Apparently even Aso is saying Fukada will probably win.


For the record, Yasukuni Shrine is not a "war criminal gravesite". It is first and foremost a shine honoring Japan's wartime dead (including the colonial Taiwanese and Korean soldiers who volunteered or were conscripted into the Imperial military). Among the hundreds of thousands of kami enshrined there, only fourteen are Class A war criminals.

While the actions of those war criminals is certainly inexcusable, most people seem to not realize that the overwhelming majority of those being honored at Yasukuni were the grunts on the front lines, whether they be duty-bound patriots or unwilling soldiers pressed into service.

MJP wrote:
Besides, we keep overestimating the influence of manga in Japanese life. Being a manga fan is like being an avid reader or movie buff anywhere else, just an enthusiastic consumer of media.


MJP hit the nail on the head. I don't think many anime or manga fans outside of East Asia have anything close to a good understanding of Japanese society or Japanese pop culture.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15299
PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2007 5:37 pm Reply with quote
shinshengumi:
Quote:
While the actions of those war criminals is certainly inexcusable, most people seem to not realize that the overwhelming majority of those being honored at Yasukuni were the grunts on the front lines, whether they be duty-bound patriots or unwilling soldiers pressed into service.


So why don't the murderers get their own graves?
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