Takeshima

Why Are More Young Japanese Women Showing Nationalistic Tendencies? (It’s the internet, stupid)

Why Are More Young Japanese Women Showing Nationalistic Tendencies? (It’s the internet, stupid)

Ultra-rightist movements in Japan are visible through men who cover their faces with black bandannas, sun glasses and helmets.  They drive around in what is as close to an armored van as a Japanese civilian can get and spew military music and political rhetoric from loudhailers fixed to the top of the vehicle.  You can hear them coming from miles away and are reminded that the nationalism that led Japan into World War II is still alive to some extent, albeit among a small minority of people.

It is hard to believe, quite shocking in fact, that young Japanese women who don’t appear to have a provocative thought in their head are becoming politically active on the rightist’s side. Read More

Korean Net Cafe Bans Japanese Customers Unless They Proclaim Korean Sovereignty Over Contested Islands

Korean Net Cafe Bans Japanese Customers Unless They Proclaim Korean Sovereignty Over Contested Islands

Japan and Korea have not been on the best of terms recently, thanks mostly to a territorial dispute over literally a couple of rocks known as Takeshima to the Japanese and the Dokdo islands to Koreans.

As so, now may not be the most welcoming time to visit Korea if you’re Japanese, and vice versa.

To cite an extreme, in Korea there is even one net cafe that has gone so far as to post a sign outside reading: “No Japs Allowed.”

But if you read the fine print, you’ll notice that the management isn’t being completely unreasonable with the ban.

Read More