tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9959776.post6623290041342090946..comments2024-02-15T04:42:41.606+00:00Comments on James' Empty Blog: Broken societies?James Annanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04318741813895533700noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9959776.post-65647250276070458342007-09-27T23:32:00.000+01:002007-09-27T23:32:00.000+01:00Oh, well, plum-san - I'm not sure what to add. Ye...Oh, well, plum-san - I'm not sure what to add. <BR/><BR/>Yes, AA Gill's is a sarcastic article (presumably to make you laugh..?) but it has taken me years to even recognise most of the things he talks about, which he found presumably a result of a fairly short trip here and a bit of reading. That is why I think it is insightful. In order to draw the contrast so fast he obviously understands British culture better than me too. <BR/><BR/>You wrote that when you were pissed off in Japan you went to have a good bitch with your mates, but first of all I'm not pissed off - that's the whole point! A happy person living in Japan with no weight of obedience upon their shoulders can have a wonderful life here. Secondly the things I wrote _are_ a result of conversations with people - mostly over coffee not beer I admit... <BR/><BR/>As for a lack of spirituality, maybe it feels different in Tokyo, but living in Kamakura my impression in that everyone has some religious belief! Buddhism is fine (in fact I think Western culture could do with a regular dose of it) but the sting in its tail is that it strengthens the lack of willingness to try to effect any change - it has a big element of accepting the world as it is. Shinto, however, is pagan superstition, and it is rife.<BR/><BR/>julesJames Annanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04318741813895533700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9959776.post-9531306257212010342007-09-27T21:22:00.000+01:002007-09-27T21:22:00.000+01:00A A Gills' "insight" appears to consist of going s...A A Gills' "insight" appears to consist of going someplace foreign, and listing all the ways it fails to measure up to the smashingly great things about Western society. Now, I used to work in Tokyo amongst Japanese, and there are plenty of things to complain about, believe you me. And I know good a rant can make you feel. (Japanese attitudes towards gays & women? Don't get me started.)<BR/><BR/>However, I also try to see the good. As an atheist, I appreciate that Japan's lack of spirituality is an ongoing experiment and deeply tied to its ambivalence towards modernism. And what definition of "spirituality" is Gills using in any case? Colonialism by travel writing is what he provides.<BR/><BR/>I could go on, but I just want to say: when I was pissed off with Japan I would have a drink with a Japanese co-worker (or a good friend who had mastered the language and been reporting there for 12 years), and almost always discovered that what pissed me off about Japan was what pissed them off about Japan. That doesn't mean that Japan is a fixed and unyielding society, as it often seems to gaijin. It just means that every society has its own way of changing.Tony Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01793245303802414316noreply@blogger.com