South Korea’s president has threatened to surround the Japanese embassy with “comfort women” statues if Japan does not start coughing up more apologies and cash for the alleged wartime misconduct.

The issue began with a Korean nationalist group erecting a bronze statue of a young girl “symbolising the comfort women issue” directly opposite Japan’s Seoul embassy.

Korean authorities refused Japanese requests that they intervene to stop the statue’s placement.

This soon inflamed Japanese sentiment, but when the Japanese government failed to make any concessions the Korean government decided to up the stakes.

In remarks made to the Japanese PM, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is said to have insisted that “this wouldn’t have happened if Japan had shown some understanding [toward the comfort women issue]” and went on to threaten that “if they don’t take steps in good faith, a second and third one will go up.”

There is strong Japanese resistance to acceding to potentially endless demands for wartime reparations – the 1965 Treaty on Basic Relations between Japan and the Republic of Korea contained secret provisions in which South Korea promised not to demand further reparations in return for billions of dollars of aid, which Korea chose to spend on economic development rather than victim compensation.

Although the treaty made compensation the responsibility of the South Korean government, it maintains it has no duty to provide further compensation to its people and that the matter is now closed.

Demands for compensation continue in spite of this, most notably by individuals attempting to sue the Japanese government themselves – but provisions in the various post-war treaties normalising relations with other countries and limiting further reparations have been upheld by Japanese courts as making these suits invalid.

As far as the actual historical facts are concerned, although the abhorrent behaviour of the Japanese Empire towards both its neighbours and its own people is beyond doubt, the situation is complicated by the competing versions of history on offer.

Both Japan and Korea boast long traditions of exporting their women as indentured prostitutes throughout East Asia (a tradition which arguably continues to this day in the form of both prostitutes and pornography) – the two opposing versions of this history are that all “comfort women” were sex slaves snatched up from Japan’s colonies, versus “comfort women” largely being simple prostitutes who voluntarily opted to provide sexual services in response to official recruitment efforts.

Koreans claiming victimhood have also been aggressively pursuing large cash settlements with the assistance of Korea’s notoriously shrill mainstream nationalists, most of whom display levels of xenophobia and jingoism which make even the Japanese look cosmopolitan by comparison.

On the Japanese side, those claiming the entire “comfort women” issue is merely a diplomatic cudgel being used to beat concessions out of Japan have generally been aligned with extremes of revisionism, which maintain Japan was an innocent victim, first of American aggression and later of Korean and Chinese propaganda – needless to say, this is the version which now predominates online.

Whatever the historical facts, in Japan there is a strong sense that erecting such statues opposite an embassy is an incredibly crude way of attempting to extort concessions, and one only likely to backfire:

“And if we withdraw the embassy?”

“There’s no point in even taking any notice of people like this.”

“‘Show us good faith!’ – pure yakuza tactics.”

“Bury your wretched country in the statues, please!”

“He’s not ‘warning’ anyone, that is a threat, plain and simple.”

“They just love picking fights with all their neighbours…”

“When I imagine the embassy hemmed in by comfort women statues I can’t help but laugh.”

“Keep at it, and show the world just how crude a nation you are.”

“Make 200,000 of them and you’ll have my respect.”

“Didn’t our government just conclude a 5 trillion yen currency swap in their favour? And this is how they repay us?”

“They will just keep demanding money forever.”

“Only in Korea could a bunch of prostitutes make themselves out to be victims and then threaten an entire government.”

“Make a thousand of them and perhaps in a thousand years they will be Korea’s moai…”

“Can we surround their embassy with statues of all the Koreans who have raped Japanese women?”

“The only people this harms are the Koreans in Japan who are desperately trying to manufacture a Korea boom. Now even the idiots can see how anti-Japanese their country is.”

“More of their threaten-and-beg diplomacy.”

“This is shameful – doing something like that to an embassy, I think it’s good grounds to withdraw it.”

“It takes a particularly kind of country to have their president try to hold another country’s embassy hostage…”

Yamakan, in many respects the production staff equivalent to Aya Hirano, is in hot water for his controversial remarks again, this time having spewed some barely decipherable nonsense about the extermination of the Jews…

Some of his remarks, needless to say delivered via Twitter:

“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!???”

“This is what anime is now, eh?”

“This is no good. Sorry, sensei. The heavens have shifted!”

“We have to exterminate the Jews!”

“I’m going to the hospital.”

“Everything white only looks black to me. I’ve snapped, I think.”

“Ideology, belief, philosophy, humanity, emotion, they are all meaningless before anime!”

After this screed attracted some attention he attempted to “clarify” his remarks:

“A summary for the people who really don’t understand. I’m saying anime is now controlled by the traditional ancien regime and weird Nazis who all wholeheartedly endorse the extermination of the Jews.

If you still don’t get it, by all means report me to the International Court of Justice.”

Nobody can make much sense of his latest remarks, least of all his wretched anti-following on 2ch:

“What the hell is he on about?”

“What anime is he talking about?”

“People with persecution complexes are better off staying offline.”

“He really does seem to be on drugs.”

“Jews? What anime is this?”

“Please, someone decipher this nonsense.”

“His remarks about Jews are totally out. He’ll be done for if someone over there reports him to one of their groups.”

“There are western anime fans too! This is atrocious, he’s the shame of Japan!”

“It seems he went crazy after the total failure of Fractale.”

“Who is he fighting with?”

“Somebody tell the foreigners about this!”

“He could at least write the name of the anime he’s criticising.”

“Who cares about him, just get on with the second season of Kannagi already.”

“You can’t excuse these kind of remarks about Jews, you idiot.”

Lovers of retro science fiction have lately been delighted by Japanese visions of the future dating from the middle of the twentieth century.

The images, mostly from 1940s and 50s scifi rags:

Japanese manga fans are marvelling at both the amount of effort the makers of the movie adaptation of Roman gag manga THERMAE ROMAE have put in, and the sight of a cast of ancient Romans played by Japanese actors…

Online there is a great deal of resistance to the sight of a small cast of Japanese amidst an otherwise distinctly Mediterranean cast, especially when the makers have gone to the trouble of filming it on location amidst the mouldering ruins of Rome’s former glory.

For those wondering, the story explores the obsession of both Roman and Japanese culture with public bathing, with Roman protagonist Lucius managing to enjoy modern Japanese bathing (of the all-too realistic scrawny old men variety rather than the steamy onsen mixed bathing action variety) by way of uncannily fortuitous time slips.

George Takei would doubtless be pleased.

The South Korean government is threatening to start using the Argentine name for the seas surrounding the Falkland Islands after the UK government refused to go along with its demands for it to rename the “Sea of Japan” the “East Sea” on its own maps, much to the glee of the Japanese and the incomprehension or indifference of practically everyone else.

South Korea has been running a campaign to harass and cajole various governments, international bodies and public and private concerns into dropping the “Sea of Japan” designation in favour of “East Sea” (as well as “Sea of Korea”) for some years, with very limited success.

For whatever reasons, Britain has apparently been especially recalcitrant in going along with the renaming.

In retaliation, the Korean government is threatening the UK with the terrifying prospect of it writing “Malvinas Sea” alongside “Falklands Sea” in all its maps.

The official explanation of course refrains from presenting the issue as a tit-for-tat attempt to coerce the UK into dropping the name:

“Up to now we have referred to waters surrounding the islands as the Falkland Sea due to them being considered UK territory.

However, due to the unresolved territorial claims over the islands by both the UK and Argentina, we are actively considering calling them the Malvinas Sea as well.”

A Korean government representative puts it all down to the wickedness of island races, displaying just the kind of diplomatic and cultural insight which have contributed so much to Korea’s international popularity:

“The reason the UK clings to calling the East Sea the ‘Sea of Japan’ is because the UK and Japan are of the same ilk in being island nations.”

The Falkland Islands, a barren and otherwise utterly insignificant (saving the recent discovery of oil) set of islands off the tip of South America with 3,000 essentially British inhabitants, are a UK territory claimed by neighbouring Argentina under the name “Las Malvinas.”

This claim precipitated the 1982 invasion of the islands by Argentina’s military junta, resulting in a crushing loss at the hands of the UK and the fall of their dictatorship.

Although most British would probably respond with bloody-minded defiance towards any attempt at coercion, not least over a territory which their nation fought a costly war to defend, sheer lack of interest in the affairs of obscure Asian nations probably precludes anyone there actually taking any notice.

To the Japanese, long the victims of endless Korean bullying over obscure territorial and historical minutiae, this is more evidence of just how crazed their most immediate neighbours are:

“They are nuts.”

“They really have no concept of their own stature.”

“They are pretty brave to make enemies of the UK!”

“Keep going! Soon the rest of the world will know just what a bunch of nutjobs you are.”

“Why don’t they realise this sort of thing only turns people against them?”

“What do they think will happen when they go around threatening whites? They ought to know their place.”

“What are they playing at? The British government can’t just go along with it now, they’d upset their own people for giving in to threats.”

“Just call it what you like in your own country, Koreans. Spare us this nonsense.”

“Have they already stopped trying to get it called the Sea of Korea?”

“Picking a fight with the UK, what are they thinking…”

“Argentina calls it the Sea of Japan anyway…”

“Mar de Japon…”

“Now they can threaten Argentina with calling it just ‘Falklands Sea’ if they don’t change their maps.”

“The Argentines are the real victims here.”

“I want to know what the Argentinians think about all this.”

“They must think they are at the centre of the world. Nobody in the UK will even take any notice of something like this.”

“I cannot believe someone in their government would actually say something like that about ‘island nations’…”

“They just love surrounding themselves with enemies.”

“What imbeciles. Even Japan acknowledges the superiority of the UK.”

“That a race of slaves would start picking a fight with the nation which colonised half the planet – what an age we live in.”

“The rest of the world isn’t going to spoil you like Japan does…”

“What are the British us going to be saying about this I wonder?”

“UK: ‘And?’”

“You can’t get away with treating other developed nations like you treat Japan, Koreans!”

“It’s frightening that it’s actually their government which is doing this stuff.”

“I don’t think any British person will ever even see a Korean map though…”

“Warping history is the Korean speciality.”

“It’s so stupid. Threatening other countries over something like this – it’s only going to make the UK government even less compliant.”

“Europeans don’t even care about some tiny sea over here anyway.”

“They really should understand that this sort of threat will only further inflame the British.”

“I hope the English speaking world hears of this. Koreans are so simplistic that they think weird pestering and harassment is enough to get anyone to go along with their demands.”

“It’s amazing they think anyone cares what they call the area. There is no comparison between the UK and Korea’s international influence.”

“And this is the way they choose to make themselves known to the rest of world?”

From a similar discussion on the matter of Korean cartography:

“Japan as Koreans want it to be”

“Japan as Japanese want it to be”

The mascot for an obscure Japanese town has caused a scandal after daring to say that Japan killed 20 million in a war of aggression, with 2ch and Japan’s online right banding together in a successful effort to silence him.

Manbe-kun is the image character created by the Hokkaido township of Oshamanbe (population: 6,354) in 2003 for PR purposes (in Japan these awful local government mascots are so common they have come to be known as “yuru-chara” – “lame mascot characters”).

The character’s design is derived from local produce (crabs, scallops and the Siberian iris) and the character found itself pressed into the usual half-baked efforts to market an insignificant fishing port as a place of interest.

All this changed in late 2010, when Manbe-kun opened an official Twitter account.

Manbe-kun soon became notorious for his wicked tongue and provocative remarks, largely ignoring his duty to promote local scallop sales (although his mere existence is promotion itself) and instead becoming a minor Internet celebrity with almost 100,000 followers.

This all culminated in his remarks on the 14th of August (the day before Victory over Japan Day, which is celebrated as a national holiday in Japan as “End of the War Day”):

“Well, tomorrow is End of the War Memorial Day, so Manbe-kun is going to study!”

“I watched a documentary – back then Japan was just like North Korea is now!”

“However you look at it, everything started with Japan’s war of aggression. Thank you!”

“3,100,000 Japanese were sacrificed. Japan’s victims were 20,000,000 of the people of various Asian nations.”

As might be expected of any public comment which fails to portray Japan as an innocent victim of American aggression and the liberator of Asia, this immediately provoked an enormous storm of criticism online:

“They’ve all been brainwashed to think this stuff in Hokkaido.”

“He crossed the line!”

“Filthy leftist!”

“Of course, it had nothing to do with not having any resources!”

“He’s gone too far, someone needs to reign him in!”

“He’s crazy!”

“Stop this fabrication. Apart from China it was all in the Pacific, and the armies were all whites anyway.”

“He must be a Korean!”

“The person writing all this stuff is definitely one of you lot…”

It appears all this went according to Manbe-kun’s keikaku, however:

“Today I trolled all the net right-wingers!”

This annoyed 2ch even more:

“Isn’t he some Korean monkey?”

“His views are so prejudiced and one-sided!”

“His hobby is fishing.” ["trolling" = "fishing" in Japanese]

“Is it OK for him to be doing this stuff?”

“Doesn’t he know his history? Dirty leftist.”

“This must be a new PR tactic. Making fun of war is the lowest!”

“I’m jealous of anyone who can get paid for saying such crazy things.”

“He’s pouring oil onto the fire by saying he might expose the names of complainers…”

“As expected of the great idiot detector.”

“He’s gone too far!”

“Inciting a thousands of rightists to protest there would bring in quite a bit of revenue…”

“What is with the suppression of free speech in our society?”

“This is the image character for a town though…”

“With over 80,000 followers he must have the most followers of any purely obnoxious Twitter user.”

“Nobody ever goes there so they think they can say what they want!”

Oshamanbe’s mayor (an independent) eventually issued an official apology for his remarks after receiving hundreds of complaints (and the usual death threats), saying “Manbe-kun’s Twitter remarks about the war have caused much worry and bother to everyone, so I must offer my apologies.”

He went on to blame the PR firm running the account for the remarks, stressing that the remarks are not the views of the town, and to say Manbe-kun’s Twitter account is to be closed.

Manbe-kun’s site bears a similar apology from the PR firm, although it should be noted that both apologies avoid disputing the factual accuracy of his remarks – in fact, the PR firm’s boss gives says to a newspaper that “personally, I don’t think the remarks were in error, but it was inexcusable.”

The account has since reopened, although it is not clear if the irreverent remarks which have projected him to fame will continue.

This in turn prompted the expected triumphalism:

“A great victory!”

“So we won again!”

“Make him into the communist party’s mascot.”

“They took their damn time!”

“Serves him right!”

“It’s not a victory until the person behind the costume is exposed!”

“These threads keep going on and on, but nobody’s been able to deny that a Japanese dictatorship started wars of aggression.”

“What part of his ’3 million sacrifices and 20 million victims’ statement is leftist propaganda anyway? As usual, the net right is a pack of idiots…”

Tokyo fuhrer Shintaro Ishihara has paid his annual respects to Japanese war criminals at Yasukuni, saying Japan’s current government “is not Japanese” for choosing to stay away.

Talking to the media, he was characteristically outspoken:

[The DPJ cabinet aren't visiting to pay their respects?]

“Shouldn’t Japanese pay their respects? That lot aren’t Japanese!”

Ishihara is of course a long time visitor to the shrine.

Yasukuni Shrine enshrines the souls of Japan’s 2,466,532 pre-1951 war dead; the major issue surrounding political visits to the shrine is the fact that in 1978 the souls of 14 Class A war criminals were explicitly enshrined as “martyrs.”

Other dubious fixtures at the shrine include a statue celebrating the sacrifice of kamikaze pilots, a statue honouring an Indian war crimes tribunal judge who insisted the USA was responsible for the war, and a revisionist war museum glorifying Japan’s attempt to “liberate” Asia.

The actual content of the shrine is determined by its own religious administration and various private groups. Due to the constitutional protection of freedom of religion and the post-war separation of Shinto and state, it is said to be impossible to compel the shrine’s administration to remove the war criminals.

In the eyes of critics, political visits to a shrine which goes to great lengths to honour fascists and mass murderers constitute a celebration of same, and since 1978 even the emperor has refused to visit the shrine out of concern over the enshrinement of war criminals (although he does despatch emissaries).

Since 1978, visits by politicians have taken on a strong foreign policy dimension, with Sino-Japanese relations ostensibly heavily influenced by whether an administration conducts visits.

PM Kan and his cabinet refrained from visiting Yasukuni at all, which can either be interpreted as a harmless diplomatic gesture of contrition to their overly sensitive Asian neighbours, or a slavish display of the subservient foreign policy they have become notorious for.

Tokyo’s governor Shintaro Ishihara has taken a break from bashing manga to stress the need for Japan to become a military state and to develop its own nuclear arsenal, lest it be torn apart by wicked foreigners.

He made his statements in a recent press conference:

“If Japan doesn’t become a powerful military state it will certainly lose all standing in the world.”

Alluding to President Obama’s supposed desire for a nuclear free world, he responds that Japan should have its own nuclear arsenal:

“Japan should pursue them. If we wanted to we could have as many as we like. We have a mountain of plutonium.”

He also proposes that Japan should use its space program to develop missiles of its own.

Though he may be a crazed far right xenophobe addled by senility, it is hard to deny the fundamental strategic logic of his position (even if it is simply stating the obvious):

“Japan is the only nation in the world to be so closely surrounded by hostile nuclear powers intent on seizing its territory; North Korea, China and Russia have all made or are intent on assailing Japan.

We must consider how to oppose these powers. This is no longer an age where economic power alone will suffice.”

Amazingly, 2ch actually appears to be largely against him:

“Shut up already, you old fool!”

“As expected of the great leader the citizens of the capital (those over 40 at any rate) have chosen!”

“Nuclear deterrence is pointless unless you have nuclear subs. America will never let us have them, so end of discussion. You need to consider America making Japan into one of its hypothetical enemies.”

“If he wants a military buildup, let him do it with Tokyo’s money.”

“As expected of his excellency!”

“Did Shintaro’s howling increase the military budget one iota?

Did Shintaro’s racist remarks against foreigners decrease foreign crime at all?

He went on and on about the Olympics but in the end he had no connections and lost the bid.

He’s all talk, he should retire.”

“His arguments are as sound as ever!”

“He’s right though. China, Korea and Russia will all keep coming after Japanese territory unless opposed.”

“This is 2ch but you’re all opposing him!? Dirty left wing spies must be active here…”

“It’s because of all those filthy lolicon.”

“When Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982, the UK crushed them in short order.

Japan has the Kuriles, Takeshima, the Senkaku isles, Tsushima, Yonagunijima, etc., etc. You have to take care of your own affairs yourself.”

“It’s pointless to have them as such a small nation. With three nukes the country would be done for. It’s best to rely on our American masters to protect us.”

“There is no way America will ever use nukes to save us.”

“They won’t use them for us, but at least they are in the background.”

“People who depend on America will end up in trouble eventually. We have to do something before that…”

“I approve of us becoming a military state!”

“Militaries cost a fortune. Although they can manage it with arms exports…”

“You can’t trust anything this guy has to say. It sounds as if he just says this stuff to drum up support amongst his conservative backers.”

“I support Isihihara!”

“This senile old fool needs to retire as soon as possible.”

“Then go ahead and build nukes in Tokyo! The citizens of the capital will be just fine with that I expect.”

“He’s right. Anyone who disagrees needs to find a successful example of a non-military developed nation to point to!”

“Nuclear arms are a last resort. First we need a normal constitution and a normal military strategy. It’s a miracle we survived this long like this when surrounded by those countries. It’s only thanks to America.”

“I want to know what Ishihara’s definition of ‘military state’ is.”

“There is no way our incompetent government is even up to the task of pursuing a nuclear arsenal. They can’t even manage a nuclear power station. And the people criticising Ishihara are not Japanese! He’s just a hawk.”

“He is no hawk or even a conservative. He’s just full of excuses with no real achievements to his name. I can’t believe there are still idiots who expect anything of this elderly plague which is ruining our nation.”

“This guy wouldn’t last 3 months as PM, would he?”

“The Great Empire of Japan was so much more proficient at statecraft. Japan has been castrated by America and made into a faggot nation – that’s the cause of all this.”

“Hurry up and die you addled old coot.”

“I like his military policies but it was pretty worrying seeing his shaking body on TV.”

“Once America goes bankrupt they’ll not be able to afford a vast military which can defend us. We need to hurry up and rearm before they collapse!”

“Military rule might be preferable to DPJ rule. But I think military types mean military control when they say ‘military state.’”

“Ishihara is no hawk, he’s just a nut. He attacks everything apart from Korea.”

“Sieg Nihon!”

“Those dirty Koreans really hate him! He’s necessary for Japan!”

“Constitutional reform, pachinko bans, nuclear armaments – he advocates it all without actually doing a single thing, that’s Ishihara in a nutshell.”

“I want to ask those Chinese just what merit they think there is in taking over a radioactive little island nation with no natural resources.”

“All these lolicon really hate Ishihara, don’t they?”

2ch has been presented with the gracious reaction of Americans on Facebook to Japan’s World Cup victory over them, and the subsequent response of Sankaku Complex users to them.

The Facebook responses of Americans can be seen in the original article; these and selected comments from Sankaku Complex’s article on the subject were then translated and presented to 2ch.

From Sankaku:

“Have they forgotten about Hiroshima & Nagasaki?”

“And after they nuked Japan…”

“It’s the ‘in’ thing at the moment for retards to hate Japan.”

“Their retarded brains can’t handle any information other than ‘Pearl Harbor’.”

“They’ve forgotten they dropped nukes on two civilian locations.”

“Now I would love to see them getting beaten by Team Vietnam. That would erupt even more patriotic heat among them.”

“They’ll be bleeding a river out of their asses from so much butthurt.”

“And they just saw the movie and not the real thing! What right did they have to talk about Pearl Harbor?”

“Maybe that’s what they’re all complaining about: ‘Man, I saw that Pearl Harbour movie and it sucked! That’s 2 and a half hours of my life I’ll never get back, and it’s all your fault Japan!’”

“Yeah, it’s not literally ALL Americans, but there’s a conspicuously high amount of resentment towards Japan in the country.”

“99.9995% of America doesn’t even know what the world cup is anyways. Soccer blows”

“They wouldn’t be able to give you the date, the details, or probably even the war if you asked them.”

“I wonder how much their fucking country owes Japan in fucking money? $585.9bn. Good fucking work America.”

2ch’s response to these and the original Facebook comments:

“Serves them right!”

“So it’s ‘serves you right, damn yanks!’”

This is the unconcealable nature of the American people. All we can say is that they are at least preferable to China and Korea.”

“Well done all you Korean Americans.”

“Sankaku are a decent lot!”

“Korean America.”

“Facebook: the American 2ch.”

“I can’t wait until all the radioactive water from our reactor reaches their shores.”

“Just how long many decades do they intend to keep dragging on this Pearl Harbor thing?”

“I hope all those American monkeys die in another hurricane.”

“No nation is as racist as America!”

“Xenophobic rightwingers are like this whatever the country.”

“We hold $585.9bn in US debt? Seriously?”

“Half their population doesn’t even know where Washington is and they think they can go on about Pearl Harbor?”

“This was probably all said by Koreans in America.”

“The ones with their faces out on Facebook were all whites.”

“They would all have been Koreans, Chinese and Russians.”

“Look at their pictures. They are all whites!”

“It’s all those Koreans in America trying to cause trouble.”

“Dirty Koreans masquerading in order to cause problems!”

“America’s right just can’t be helped. Just a bunch of white supremacist Republicans. In Japan they would be the anti-Asia LDP right wingers.”

“What an embarrassing bunch. As bad as the Koreans.”

“Right wingers everywhere are just a bunch of crazies!”

“You rightists need to try living over there. If you can’t speak English in the states you won’t be treated as a human!”

“I lived in America as a kid, and I can tell you this: a fool’s a fool, whatever the country.”

“Don’t forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki you hairy barbarians! Idiot Anglo-Saxons, if you disappeared from the world there would be no more wars! Scum!”

“Why do Japanese insist on calling them hairy barbarians? You’re the ones who get all flustered if a foreigner asks you a question on the street, aren’t you?”

“The two great Holocausts: Auschwitz and the atomic bombings.”

“Don’t forget what you did to the native Americans and how you stole Hawaii, Americans! Pray it never happens to you. And watch out for the Chinese and Koreans – they are copying all the worst parts of you whites.”

“I think we can conclude all the average American knows about Japan is ‘Pearl Harbor’ and ‘tsunami’.”

“Americans really are scum. I hope the next hurricane sweeps them away.”

“There’s certainly a vast gap between the dumb Americans and the clever ones…”

“Sweet tears from the Yankee white pigs! So sweet, so sweet!”

“That Facebook lot is just the American version of us.”

Americans have been using Facebook to congratulate Japan on their recent World Cup victory with their usual sportsmanship and good grace.

The Facebook reaction:

“Working women” supply a ranking of the adult anime genres they want to see more of, starting what seems to be a demand to see more soppy heterosexual romances and fewer gay sex harems.

The ranking, based on a sample of “working women” (apparently exclusive of “fujoshi” or “female anime fan”):

1. “Realistic romance” – 24.1%

2. “History” – 15.2%

3. “Mystery” – 14%

4. “Portraying the life of a working woman” – 11.4%

5. “Human drama” – 8.2%

6. “Intelligent battles” – 5.7%

7. “Musical” – 5.1%

8. “Hobby or sports” – 4.1%

9. “Hard boiled” – 4.1%

10. “Social” – 3.5%

2ch has views, as ever:

“But won’t they just bash a realistic romance?”

“Hana Yori Dango? Do they think that is realistic?”

“If that’s real, so are Negima and Infinite Stratos…”

“Working women won’t pay for anime, will they? It’s to be expected that the moetards who pay up get priority.”

“Sengoku Otome is the coming thing?”

“Rather, Heugemono is.”

“Victorica-chan has 1-6 covered.”

“How about Rurouni Kenshin?”

“Ika-chan is no good?”

“A realistic romance would be more like School Days. Scary stuff.”

“How about this:

1. “Real romance” – 24.1% – 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku

2. “History” – 15.2% – Heugemono

3. “Mystery” – 14% – Gosick

4. “Portraying the life of a working woman” – 11.4% – Iroha

5. “Human drama” – 8.2% – Lotte

6. “Intelligent battles” – 5.7% – C

7. “Musical” – 5.1% – DD

8. “Hobby or sports” – 4.1% – Softenni

9. “Hard boiled” – 4.1% – Deadman

10. “Social” – 3.5% – Kaiji

Like that?”

“Oh!”

“Splendid.”

America’s attorney general has angered many Japanese by comparing the killing of Osama Bin Laden to its WWII assassination of Japanese national hero and Pearl Harbor planner Admiral Yamamoto.

In the case of Bin Laden’s killing, the circumstances are still murky – accounts conflict and are shrouded in secrecy, but they tend to agree that a team of US Navy Seals assaulted Bin Laden’s hideout without the knowledge of the Pakistani government, and proceeded to kill (or spirit away secretly) everyone in the compound, most importantly an unarmed but “resisting” Bin Laden.

His body was then secretly buried at sea, with forensic evidence and photographs of his corpse kept under wraps.

Critics of the legality of Bin Laden’s killing liken it to an extra-judicial assassination or execution, and accuse the US government of either making no effort to capture and bring to trial the terrorist, or of deliberately setting out only to eliminate him.

Such criticisms have been voiced by a variety of notables, ranging from the Archbishop of Canterbury to a German former head of state, as well as the expected slew of human rights lawyers.

Whilst it seems likely the vast majority considers his killing thoroughly justified irrespective of what a bunch of lily-livered lawyers say, the US is at least ostensibly a nation of laws and so America’s top cop, Attorney General Eric Holder, is at pains to offer a legal justification for the killing anyway:

“He was the head of al Qaeda, an organisation that had conducted the attacks of September the 11th.

The operation against bin Laden was justified as an act of national self-defence.

It’s lawful to target an enemy commander in the field. We did so, for instance, with regard to Yamamoto in World War II, when he was shot down in a plane.”

He rather spoils the pretense by arguing that the team would be justified in killing him even if he did try to surrender, however:

“There would be a good basis on the part of those very brave Navy SEAL team members to do what they did in order to protect themselves and the other people who were in that building.”

Since he would in any case have certainly been executed after a trial, the end result would likely have been the same, but the unfortunate if accurate image of the US government as a body which freely orders assassinations and torture in pursuit of its interests might have been lessened.

However, the mention of Yamamoto’s assassination quickly inflamed many Japanese – he is one of the few wartime Japanese leaders to retain any standing, having been killed in an actual battle rather than at his own hands or those of an American executioner, and prior to any catastrophic defeat.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was a WWII admiral largely responsible for planning the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, who, despite being familiar with the US and considering victory against them an impossibility, went along with the leadership anyway, in the best Japanese traditions of blind obedience whilst engaged in a pointless endeavour.

He was later killed in the air by a US Air Force assassination operation (“Operation Vengeance”) specifically ordered by President Roosevelt.

Comparing the killing of a terrorist to that of Japan’s most feted admiral is evidently too much for some:

“Why can’t America get over Pearl Harbor? They destroyed the Imperial Japanese Navy and burnt hundreds of thousands of civilians, that should be enough. But they still aren’t satisfied?”

“This is what the top US lawyer says about it? America is looking more and more like Nazi Germany these days…”

“Just come out and say ‘everything America does is right’!”

“The US is killing innocents itself!”

“The great post-war butcher nations – America, China, USSR, Cambodia, Yugoslavia, Uganda, Somalia, Rwanda.”

“The glorification of Yamamoto is a bit much. He may have been against the war, but he was more a politician than a commander, an opportunist bureaucrat. You wouldn’t like him.”

“And they gave Obama the Nobel Prize.”

“So wasn’t 9/11 legal as well then?”

“Comparing Yamamoto and Bin Laden is taking things a bit far.”

“It might have been legal to kill Yamamoto, but for Laden it probably was not. For the US army to just secretly go into Pakistan and kill someone is hardly respecting their sovereignty.”

“You dumb yanks are getting ahead of yourselves. A terrorist and an imperial military commander are two totally different things.”

“I get what they are saying but there is no need to pick a fight with Japan.”

“Does anyone still believe the US government didn’t know about Pearl Harbor beforehand?”

“If you’re just going to execute unarmed men through trials anyway I don’t see much difference.”

“The ones who called it that were the Japanese government. There’s no way they really think of us as friends.”

“And America nuked and firebombed hundreds of thousands of civilians and that is right! Well, if you are the victors you can say what you like.”

“Comparing some spineless idiot of a general to Bin Laden is OK I suppose.”

“You guys are way off. Killing Bin Laden like that probably is illegal, but it’s only natural for them to have killed Yamamoto.”

“He was reconnoitring the front, of course he should expect risk there.”

“Just once I’d like to see those damn yanks have their cities bombed. Keep at it Al-Qaeda.”

“They don’t even mean it as an insult, the fact that they just come out and say that just shows how much contempt they have for Japan.”

“Doesn’t that excuse justify all acts of revenge though?”

“This is all the fault of those dirty Koreans enlisting American support.”

“It’s not like all Americans think this, what are you idiots on about?”

“Maybe we shouldn’t say this in front of the Americans, but amongst Japanese blaming them seems OK.”

“This isn’t just some American guy, this is their attorney general saying this.”

“Al-Qaeda are the proper successors to the Kamikaze special units!”

“It’s good that they killed Bin Laden. It’s the obvious thing to do. They should just come out and say they set out to kill him and stop all this rambling legal crap about Yamamoto.”

“The USA goaded Japan into attacking it by leaving Pearl Harbor open to attack, so it could get into the war – that should be common knowledge.”

“They are picking a fight with Japan by comparing Yamamoto to him?”

“As if they are. Who picks a fight with domesticated animals?”

“If you look at America now, they are so powerful you’d have to prepared to do anything if you wanted to harm them.

Pearl Harbor was like that. They felt their only chance was to deliver a critical hit to a slumbering foe and then force them to the peace table while they had the advantage.”

“Even an American can tell that comparing a terrorist leader to the military commander of a nation with which you are at war is misguided at best.”

“This is harsh, and just after Operation Tomodachi too…”

“They just squandered all the goodwill from Tomodachi…”

Otaku presented with the shinobi mission failure movies in sengoku jidai war game Shogun 2: Total War can’t help but comment on the high levels of moe exhibited by blundering ninja failing to execute their duties…

The video is filled with adorable dojikko ninja:

The actual game is very good, although Sega quality shines through in some spots, such as with poor graphical performance and support for more recent DirectX 11 cards left for an upcoming patch, dubious “multicore” support (there is some suspicion that the developer’s terse claim that it “supports” multicore CPUs actually only means it will run on multicore chips), and AI which cheats outrageously.

The rather less moe movies from the original Shogun:

Joining the ranks of fellow Americans keen to joke about the misfortunes of the yellow races or ascribe racial guilt to the Japanese for Pearl Harbor/whaling/non-whiteness, Family Guy producer and writer Alec Sulkin has been caught pointing out that Japanese deaths don’t matter as their ancestors once bombed a naval base at Pearl Harbor.

That the comment was made on Twitter hardly requires explanation:

“If you wanna feel better about this earthquake in Japan, google ‘Pearl Harbor death toll.’”

He soon deleted the joke and offered the usual trite apology for getting caught.

Paul Watson, leader of the crazed eco-terrorists at Sea Shepherd, has written a poem implying the earthquake which recently killed thousands of Japanese was divine retribution for mistreating the oceans, whilst other crackpot greens have been rejoicing at the prospect of people from the same country as people who kill whales and dolphins dying.

Paul Watson’s contribution, by way of Facebook:

The underlying implication is rather obvious and is not lost on his followers.

His equally crazy coterie apparently see this as mother nature punishing the Japanese for their wickedness, or even as an opportunity to blackmail Japan into giving up whaling:

“It is a great tragedy and many innocent have been hurt by tremendous Tsunami,
but this Kama was not punishment or justice for an individual, it was a message to Japan as a Nation, not to overdo it with its poaching of the world’s oceans!!!!!”

“maybe it is karma… Japan haven’t been the only ones to be on the receiving end! The captain is right… This poem is true! We all need to wake up and realise that we are just tiny beings out staying our welcome!”

“It’s getting better every time you will always get the fullest from me full support for you if Japen is poor affter this disaster they are not going have to bother the whales if theres going to be a valcano ready to go off”

“Capt. Watson: Japan will require and request aid. With aid, come conditions and compromise. This is the opportunity for aid giving countries to demand the end of Japanese Whaling in return for help. When asked by your local aid organizations to give help and money, demand the end of Japanese Whaling.”

Other environmentalists pitch in on Twitter, which is currently playing host to a revitalised campaign of anti-Japanese sentiment:

“It wasnt an earthquake, it was the dolphin uprising….”

“Another earthquake in Japan – when will karma hit Taiji? The pens will crack open at Dolphin Base and the captives will return to the ocean”

“I hope the earthquake/tsunami in Japan swallows up every dolphin fishing boat!!! That would be an answered prayer = happy safe dolphins!”

“did the earthquake destroy all those japanese dolphin killers? HMPH.”

“Is it messed up that I think the earthquake is what Japan gets for bombing us at Pearl Harbor? #Karma #PayBack #WhatGoesAroundComesAround”

“you took something from the ocean Japan, and now the ocean wants something back … No more Whale and dolphin Killing ..”

“Japan, a Whale Killing Nation, suffers the wrath of Mother Nature: Earthquake and Tsunami. #Karma”

“Japan this is #Karma for Pearl Harbor!”

“Can’t help but thinking maybe the Japanese Earthquake is Karma for the dolphin and whale killings :/”

“I’ve heard that there are some SS members in Otsuchi Iwate. Are they OK after the earthquake? #seashepherd #taiji #thecove #cove”

“Serves Japan right that’s the sea getting its own back for all the dolphin killing and shark killings they do!!!”

“didnt japan kill over +1,000 American soldiers on Dec 7, 1942… #karma”

“I don’t wanna be a bitch or anything, but after the dolphin & whale slaughtering & everything else Japan does, I don’t feel bad. #karma”

“Poor Japanese. Maybe they shouldn’t have invaded Korea and China in the 50′s. #karma”

“loolz…japan get FUCK UP!!….thats for all the shark fins and whales ya’ll been fucking up in the past. #karma”

“after watching the movie, #TheCove, its kinda hard to feel sorry for #japan sorry dolphin slaughterers”

“Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, mother nature attacks them. #karma”

“Natural disasters are terrible… but I am willing to bet the Whale Wars cast is cracking brews and chuckling right about now #Karma”

“Hello World don’t send any troops or help to #japan….ask them to sign or give up killing the whales and dolphin!!!this is the time!!!”

“I’m feeling remorse for the kids and animal lovers in Japan :( but do u think its karma 4 all those who eat dogs&cats and..”

“My mom is so cold. She said that she’s glad for Japan’s loss and said that it’s karma for all the things they’ve done to us Koreans, hahaha.”

“What did Japan expect? They kill dolphins. #karma”

Amongst the (presumed) minority of Americans willing to make such comments, the notion that the earthquake is karmic comeuppance for Pearl Harbor is an exceedingly common one.

China too has seen some hateful comments, although again the vast majority appear to express sympathy and admiration for Japan’s handling of the crisis, calling the negative remarks “shameful” and praising their orderly response as “moving” and ”something China won’t be capable of even in 50 years.”

The most spiteful official response seen is undoubtedly that of North Korea, which coolly published news of the quake alongside an article condemning Japan as an imperialist oppressor and demanding compensation.

Manga fans supply a ranking of the manga they feel most likely to be useful in gleaning some understanding of history from.

The manga listed are likely to be of particular interest to budding “rekijo” – female history otaku, an affliction apparently common as it has managed to pick up its own name – although anyone who can stomach endless retellings of the Chinese classics (see below), Genji or assorted tales of samurai and crossdressing is likely to find something of interest.

The ranking:

1. Sangokushi (Mitsuteru Yokoyama)

2. Genji Monogatari (Tatsuya Egawa)

3. O~i! Ryōma (Tetsuya Takeda)

4. The Rose of Versailles (Riyoko Ikeda)

5. Asakiyumemishi (Waki Yamato)

6. Kōu to Ryuuhou (Mitsuteru Yokoyama)

7. Phoenix (Osamu Tezuka)

8. Suikoden (Mitsuteru Yokoyama)

9. Adolf (Osamu Tezuka)

10. Vagabond (Takehiko Inoue)

The total absence of the likes of Vinland Saga from the list is rather problematic to say the least, although the exquisitely illustrated Hyouge Mono’s omission can probably be excused.

The BBC is cancelling some of its filming in Japan in response to the complaints of the Japanese embassy about a comedy programme which called a man who survived two atomic bomb blasts “unlucky.”

The comedy programme, hosted by well known UK comedian Stephen Fry, had the temerity to suggest Tsutomu Yamaguchi, a man who survived two atomic bombings only to die of natural causes aged 93, was extremely unlucky.

The circumstances surrounding the broadcast are covered in more depth in the preceding article, and the broadcast can be viewed there or below:

The Japanese Embassy apparently had nothing better than make a fuss about the programme, saying it was “inappropriate and insensitive.”

The BBC offered a less than grovelling apology, but evidently this display of moderate contrition was not deemed strong enough – the BBC also subsequently cancelled parts of a language documentary hosted by Fry and due to be filmed in Japan due to the “strength of feeling.”

It would appear Japan has some influence left after all, if only to secure the cancellation of part of a programme with nothing to do with the original broadcast, hosted by a man most Japanese have never heard of, to be filmed in Japan and promote better understanding of the Japanese language…

The Japanese Embassy in London has issued a formal protest against the BBC for airing a programme daring to call a man who survived both Hiroshima and Nagasaki the world’s unluckiest man.

The objectionable clip:

The man in question, Tsutomu Yamaguchi, survived both atomic bombs dropped on Japan during WWII, dying of natural causes in 2010, aged 93. During his life he freely told the tale and participated in a variety of films and documentaries, and even wrote a book about his experiences.

The Japanese government took exception to the programme however, and its embassy issued a formal rebuke to the BBC and the show’s production staff for “handling his story in an inappropriate and insensitive manner.”

In response to this and some criticism by Japanese residing in the UK, the show’s staff emailed them an apology saying “it was very regrettable the show caused offence” but pointing out that the WWII tragedies of Americans and Europeans “were handled in the same fashion.”

Some additional context to the Japanese complaints is the fact that mocking the dead is usually considered to be in poor taste by Japanese, whether intended malignly or not.

Additionally, the so-called “hibakusha” (atomic bomb victims) both form a politically influential lobbyist group which receives special benefits and a potent symbol of what many Japanese would like to perceive as their WWII victimhood and the wickedness of the barbarian invaders.

Naturally enough, 2ch is very keen on the opportunity to simultaneously play the injured victim of racism whilst heaping slurs on the white pigs who dare to desecrate the name of the honoured dead:

“Those English gentlemen just love to discriminate!”

“For him to be nuked twice but live to 93 actually makes him more like the world’s luckiest man…”

“Britain is like that. They can make anything the seed of a black joke.”

“‘It’s very regrettable the remarks caused discomfort’ – that’s not an apology at all!”

“Stop making fun of the dead!”

“The harsh humour of the English is quite amusing, especially when it comes to war.”

“This is going too far!”

“I can’t abide Europeans for making these kinds of jokes!”

“It can’t be helped – the man even emphasised his misfortune himself.”

“If you subtitled this and aired it in Japan it would become a big issue!”

“They really laid into him – die you bastards!”

“Don’t our crappy variety shows always make fun of foreign countries too?”

“The British have no character and it shows!”

“He got nuked twice – it’s pretty childish to protest about calling him unlucky when it’s a fact.”

“It’s not even a discriminatory remark, it’s just a programme filled with crude humour.”

“One of our embassies actually did something for once!”

“The British were always a wicked and spiteful people…”

“So they think just because they make fun of their own casualties as well it’s OK to make fun of us? Are the BBC all idiots or what!?”

“Even their apology seems to be sarcastically making fun of us.”

“Those British weren’t even nuked and they still don’t live past 93!”

“What a disgraceful show, laughing about the deceased like that!”

“You can tell they just think ‘the Japs who are upset just don’t get the joke’ – this pisses me off.”

“Well, they’re English so what can you do? It’s still out of line by Japanese standards, so a protest is appropriate though…”

“This crosses the line! This would be completely unacceptable in America. I’m really furious!”

“The BBC is alright, but CNN does nothing but trashy tabloid sex stories about Japan…”

“I’m so pissed! Destroy Britain completely!”

“They don’t even consider dropping those bombs on us a bad thing, so naturally they laugh about it.”

“Their brains rot away because of all the terrible food they eat. The British are of low intelligence.”

“They eat pig food so no wonder they find it funny.”

“The ones who were unlucky were the ones who died.”

“What can we do to piss them off?”

“Tell them Princess Diana is partying with the devil in hell!”

“Try calling Queen Elizabeth a dirty whore.”

“‘British food is the best in the world, isn’t it!!”

“How about if we sink the Prince of Wales again!”

“If he was just bombed twice with conventional bombs Japan’s wouldn’t protest. Japan is way too sensitive about nuclear weapons.”

“Well, if a Jew who survived a concentration camp and 9/11 was called the world’s unluckiest man I doubt Jews wouldn’t find it funny and I can’t see them protesting about it…”

“If they joke about Auschwitz and Allah then I forgive them.”

“At least he had the good fortune not to be born British in the UK!”

“They should at least have offered a grovelling apology!”

“The British sense of humour is warped.”

“What’s with this huge over-reaction just because the A-bomb is involved? It’s ridiculous. He lived to a ripe old age and died a peaceful death, it’s better than a death at Nagasaki.”

“Britain is just a vicious little island nation. Anywhere they fill their cities with surveillance cameras deserves everything it gets.”

“They’re just still bitter we sunk the Prince of Wales – HAHAHA!”

“The English are the rudest people in the world and their mass media is the crudest there is.”

“If they don’t laugh at the misfortune of others they can’t stomach that swill they have to eat.”

“Doesn’t anyone think this guy is really unlucky? I sure did.”

“This is all because they are prejudiced against Asians.”

“They have to eat all that beef with BSE so they’re all even more messed up than the people who got nuked.”

“They think of Asians as nothing but monkeys. All whites think that. They’re deluded.”

“Somebody teach those British apes proper comedy.”

“Nuke Britain! Then they’ll understand!”

“They shouldn’t be making fun of other countries. The government should hound them for an apology.”

“I thought this guy was unlucky when I heard his story. I think the issue is actually that we live in an atmosphere where we can’t even say something like that.”

“I would rather the protest be about the fact this guy wasn’t called the luckiest man to have ever lived – 2 nukes and he died peacefully age 93.”

“They should take the producer to the memorial – that’ll change his thinking!”

“That didn’t even work on the people who actually developed and dropped the bomb.”

“Thinking of the white pig who thought up this joke makes me sick. He should be beheaded!”

“They should have got his permission before he died.”

“Of course they protested. These people probably just think it’s like being bombed in an air-raid!”

“It’s pointless saying anything to them. They’ll just ridicule the fact you’re even protesting.”

“We can’t even laugh about a joke like this – no wonder we have so many suicides.”

“The real issue here is whether he was lucky or unlucky.”

Recent events have prompted Chinese to re-examine the artwork shown above – not for its rather tasteful depiction of naked young girls, but instead for its hidden allegorical subtext, showing as it does with some clarity the power struggle over the future of Taiwan and the wider East Asian region.

The work, by Toronto-based Chinese artist Liu Yi, generally goes by its English title of “The 2008 Beijing Mahjong Game.”

First exhibited in 2005 in anticipation of the 2008 Olympics, the piece has over the years been subject to a wide variety of searching interpretations – the latest coming from Chinese left pondering it in light of recent developments.

A reasonable interpretation is translated below:

Firstly, the girl wearing a traditional article of Chinese lingerie with her hand in a fruit bowl represents Taiwan.

The four mahjong players also represent countries – America faces the viewer, and opposite her is China. To the right, the reclining girl is Russia, and to the left, naked and scrutinising her tiles, is Japan.

The image depicts the situation facing Taiwan, but Taiwan herself is not at the table. Only the four players of America, China, Japan and Russia will determine the outcome of this game. The skies beyond the window are dark and unsettled, as is the current situation.

The clothing the four girls at the table are wearing expresses their respective strengths. America is in a strong position, and confidently watches Taiwan for a chance to strike without being overly concerned about the state of the game.

Russia lies languidly with one leg resting on America, and an arm outstretched to China, stealthily assisting China with her concealed tiles. But Russia has no interest in Taiwan, and her tiles are not strong. She is only interested in exploiting the Taiwan situation to her advantage, sympathising with America whilst selling weapons to China.

China herself is half-naked, much of her body obscured from view by the table, preventing anyone from seeing how strong she is. One of her tiles is “East,” representing the DF-31 “East Wind” long range missile (ICBM). China also keeps some of her tiles hidden behind her, ready for any change in the game. Just how strong she really is, who can say.

On the left, the naked girl is Japan. She has no clothes at all – she is the weakest of the four. She scrutinizes her tiles intently, completely oblivious to the artful tricks the other players are employing. Japan only conceives of the Taiwan issue in terms of how she can gain regional power – she is blind to the global aspect of the game. Whilst she may have a good hand, little does she realize the game will not be won through tiles alone.

On China’s shoulder is a tattoo – the Fenghuang, or “Chinese phoenix.” This signifies the fact that in China traditional culture runs only skin deep – she is otherwise just the same as the west. On the contrary, it is Taiwan, with her traditional attire, who is the real heir to Chinese culture.

Taiwan holds a fruit knife, but it is of no use in a game of mahjong and she cannot bring it to bear. All she can do is hold onto her fruit as the game plays out.

Let it not be said that looking at pictures of naked girls cannot be educational.

Japanese otaku have fought back against Chinese propaganda by turning the favourite anti-Japanese insult of the Chinese into a moe character.

Some explanation is in order – “Japanese devils” (literally, “Japanese devil children”) is a traditional Chinese racist insult towards the Japanese, having come into common currency during WWII and been maintained by anti-Japanese propaganda ever since.

In Chinese it is 日本鬼子 / rìběn guǐzi (read as “nihon onigo” in Japanese), meaning simply “Japanese devils” (incidentally, 鬼子/guǐzi on its own is also the traditional “foreign devils” insult Chinese apply to westerners in general).

With the anti-Japanese riots in China, the term has seen plenty of recent usage.

Japanese artists on 2ch decided to use moe to appropriate the term and “turn the Chinese into moetards,” creating “Hi-no-Moto Oniko” based on an alternative reading of the 日本鬼子 characters – the characters for Japan, 日本, mean “origin of the sun” (Hi no Moto) and 鬼子 can be rendered into a female name, “Oniko.”

Chinese confronted with these lovely creatures are perplexed:

I didn’t think it would turn out like this… I just don’t understand that country.

Damn, just damn. Japan is a dangerous country. Perhaps we should admit our loss.

We boo and jeer them and their response is a moe character… We’re helpless before them.

Riben Guizi is a moe character!? What can we call them now? Japs? Creepy otaku?

Related to this is the “little Japan” (小日本 / xiǎo rìběn) epithet used disparagingly by contemporary Chinese Japan-haters to refer to Japan – this also gives 小日本鬼子 (“little Japanese devils”), which has been co-opted into the devastatingly cute “little Oniko”:

More fruits of the “Let’s make Hi-no-Moto Oniko into a moe character and turn all those racist Chinese into moetards” project:

Anti-Japanese riots have been reported in China in response to a march on the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo by Japanese opposed to Chinese aggression, with mobs running riot the government apparently powerless to quell the disturbances.

The disturbances arose, apparently spontaneously and without the usual state involvement, in large part due to Internet circulated reports of a planned Japanese “siege” of the Chinese embassy – though in fact the protests were entirely peaceful.

Large mobs formed in several inland Chinese cities and in a number of cases began attacking businesses or property suspected of being connected to Japan, resulting in clashes with police attempting to maintain order.

Reportedly the authorities have begun cracking down in an effort to prevent any further “demonstrations,” with mixed success.

Japanese businesses, who have in Japan been vocally praising the government for its submission to China during the Senkaku affair in the hopes of maintaining their investments in China, are increasingly nervous – one major electronics manufacturer was quoted as understatedly saying “There is a certain amount of risk in conducting business in China in terms of politics and diplomacy.”

With mobs freely attacking police and private property, it appears public anger is boiling over – though whether such discontent is really the result of a few insignificant islands and a grudge against a distant neighbour is an object of some doubt; many now suspect the mobs are merely venting pent up fury at their own pathetic condition at a conveniently presented scapegoat.

The 2ch reaction is instructive:

Great, now just make that into an anti-government demo!

The police there are so weak…

Tanks, to the front!

So, just when will they turn on the Communist Party itself…

Seems they have nothing better to be doing.

With the reds unable to control the demonstrations they manufacture, it looks like the beginning of the end.

Japan is surely just an excuse – this kind of anger must have built up from day-to-day life.

Is this really an anti-Japanese demo?

Why are they attacking police if it’s an anti-Japanese demo? Chinese are seriously incapable of reason.

They must hate the police quite a bit already.

They just wanted an excuse to smash a cop car.

Let’s hope this turns into another civil war.

A government about to be destroyed by the very demonstrations it organised…

What a bunch of idiots. It’s supposed to be an anti-Japanese demo and they start killing their own countrymen.

This was all based solely on Internet reports of the embassy demo in Japan… who needs mass media.

Signs of a civil war? China always collapses in on itself.

This may be anti-Japanese, but if the government doesn’t do anything to Japan, the Party itself could find itself at the point of the spear… hopefully China will destroy itself like that if the riots continue.

Our media calls this a “demo” but in reality this is “riots and looting.”

What a bunch of savages.

The Communist Party can’t control the people any more.

A nation of incompetent beggars run by an incompetent dictatorship.

Get the tanks out there to roll over these people so the international media has something to start on again.

It looks as though spreading a bit of false information through the Chinese populace could incite a major uprising…

This is supposed to be an anti-Japanese demo, so why are they entertaining us so?

As expected, the Chinese know who their real enemy is.

It’s only a matter of time before these “anti-Japanese” riots become “anti-government” riots.

As previously established, Japan can make anything moe – the latest unlikely subject to receive this treatment is none other than China’s slave-state vassal, North Korea.

The book, 萌え萌え北朝鮮読本 / MoeMoe Kita-Chousen Dokuhon (Moe Moe North Korea Primer), is part of the “moe textbook” genre – essentially it is a dry textbook on the (admittedly fascinatingly bizarre and horrific) North Korean state and society, spiced up with the addition of cute illustrations, particularly of the goblinesque Dear Leader himself.

The content does however delve into the more salacious details of the Kim dynasty’s lifestyle – including descriptions of the “pleasure company,” a group of performers said to double as sex slaves to the generals.

Other moe content includes North Korea’s “military first” politics and its moe-some Taepodong missiles.

The book is available for pre-order now.

A Chinese article condemning the current state of Chinese martial arts as being “extremely low level” in the wake of a major tournament has sparked a great deal of controversy, with many Japanese of course only too happy to agree with the assessment.

The article, published on a popular Chinese site, soon found its way overseas to Japan. It can be read in abridged format below:

The SportAccord Combat Games 2010 recently concluded in Beijing. Chinese competitors took 7 gold medals in fights [overall Chinese results were 10 gold, 6 bronze - the event saw 13 "martial arts" tournaments ranging from kickboxing and judo to sumo].

However, real Chinese martial arts prowess is, far from being best in the world, actually exceedingly poor. The image of invincibility Chinese martial arts have is just a myth cultivated by movies and fiction.

Take a world renowned martial artist such as Bruce Lee. He is widely believed to be a first rate combatant, but in reality he was extremely myopic and hardly competed at all. People think he’s an American national karate champion, but in fact his real level is just a Hong Kong high school amateur boxing champion.

So what’s the real ability of our athletes now? In recent Sino-Japanese competition, and in competition between China and the rest of the world, China has indeed secured many impressive victories. However, these were just the result of bouts arranged with weaker opponents, and where the rules were biased in favour of our own fighters.

The Japanese fighters, supposedly Japan’s strongest, appearing in recent tournaments had fabricated career histories.

The China-Thai kickboxing bouts were even more cynically arranged. China fielded a pro-level police competitor, but he was fighting an amateur Thai policeman. And the rules banned the Thai competitor from using his knees and elbows [Muay Thai makes extensive use of knees and elbows - Thailand won no gold medals in kickboxing].

Fortunately, a host of martial arts experts spring forth from 2ch – who would have suspected?

Because they are gymnastic exercises.

With real rules:

I get the impression kung fu has no chance at all…

What’s the point of a martial art just based on learning the forms?

Basically, Chinese martial arts are just for showing off.

Kung fu is just for show, with no real practical use. Like taekwondo.

Fist of the North Star is a Chinese martial art too!

There are aren’t any serious karateka or aikido practicioners competing. Even so, joke styles like “praying mantis kung fu” are even worse than the ones competing.

Jackie Chan’s flashy stuff is no real use. In movies they never take any real damage anyway.

Kung fu is more showy acrobatics for moral discipline. Jackie is the former.

Muay Thai is the strongest, the rest are shit.

What about Shaolin?

A friend learnt Shaolin – since it has kicks and throws he said it was, if you spent years training, better than either karate alone or judo alone.

So why not learn karate and judo?

Shaolin is the real deal – I am going to keep believing this.

The Shaolin temples were all ruined in the Cultural Revolution.

Thai:

A bout between a Tai Chi Chuan practitioner and a White Crane Fist practicioner from 50 years ago – true Chinese martial arts at their best:

It’s just an ordinary brawl!?

That’s just tacky.

So this is what happens when expert fighters do battle.

Even in Japan the practicioners make up excuses like “the real killing techniques are not things we can just lightly show to outsiders” – I bet the kung fu guys are the same.

Mao feared rebellion and turned Chinese martial arts into circus tricks. With tournaments banned for so long, its decline was inevitable.

If you’re saying martial arts with no real use are rubbish, what about useless Japanese kendo, iaijutsu and so on?

Tai Chi Chuan is just dancing.

Karate is the strongest. You can’t win with a dance like kung fu:

Kung fu is like Japanese ninja – just people who have been imaginatively turned into supermen.

Rather than calling it a martial art, we should be calling kung fu a traditional folk dance of the Chinese.

Drunken fist is a total lie though, no way can you gain strength by drinking.

I asked a Chinese exchange student about that – he was seriously annoyed and said “Are you an idiot? They are just pretending to be drunk, isn’t it obvious?”

Let’s all just keep believing all Chinese are kung fu masters, all Japanese are samurai ninja, all Americans are former marines, and all Russians subsist entirely on three meals a day of vodka.

An elderly Japanese veteran’s recollection of how he ordered his men to use a Chinese prisoner as a target for bayonet drill, reasoning that the soldiers needed to develop some “backbone,” is proving highly controversial online.

The 90-year-old man, a resident of Wakayama prefecture, recounts how he served in the Imperial Japanese Army and was dispatched to Jiangxi in southern China in 1941, aged 20.

The men forced Chinese to provide them food, but he recalls doubts – “We were taught that this was a holy war to save the people of China, but I wondered if this was really right.” He was not told of the laws of war.

He experienced bitter fighting on the frontlines, and recalls that when not fighting he spent his time being beaten and whipped by superiors.

By 1943 he was a corporal, and in command of 5 conscripts himself. He tells how, in order to put some backbone into his men, he ordered them to bayonet a Chinese prisoner – a man in his mid twenties.

His hands were tied and the corporal ordered his men to charge the man one by one with fixed bayonets, each running 10m and then stabbing him in the chest. The prisoner  screamed as he realised what his captors were about to do, but the soldiers had soon killed him.

After returning home he did not speak of the incident, though his recollection of the events never faded – “I did an inhuman thing.”

“My ignorance [of international law] caused me to give that order. We lost our reason in that kill or be killed world back then.”

Despite speaking about his war experiences repeatedly, only in 2010 did he reveal he ordered the murder – “If we don’t tell people, I fear the world may again descend into war.”

As ever, the 2ch response is instructive:

“More leftist fabrication?”

“Like that fake ‘Contest to behead 100 men‘ Mainichi reported.”

“You won’t instil any backbone in anyone by killing dirty Koreans or whatever anyway. Maybe if you killed hundreds like in the Nanjing massacre, but that was faked anyway.”

“He’s a B-class war criminal – he admits it. There should be no problem executing him – Mainichi did for the two officers in that contest.”

“This old man is not to be believed. He has no proof and it is all subjective. This biased newspaper probably made it up anyway.”

“International law is just an excuse – what about America’s indiscriminate bombing and nuclear attacks?”

“Prisoners of war were considered despicable cowards in Imperial Japan, and the feeling seems to be they didn’t deserve to live in case they committed further acts of treachery. And all human lives were treated like disposable trash in that period…”

“Maybe in Japan, but other countries treated PoWs well.”

“There’s no statute of limitations for war crimes is there? Won’t he be tried?”

“There are no laws against war crimes in Japan. As a result there are no war criminals in Japan. The A/B/C class war criminals were just a farce made up by the UN.”

“They should really try him. The death penalty is only fitting.”

“They had 3 million troops in China so it probably did happen here and there. The net right wingers are always babbling about their horrible delusions that Nanjing, comfort women and Unit 731 were all made up.”

“It was just him being an idiot. I wish he’d stop saying the whole army was bad just because of what he did. At least, I wouldn’t have killed a prisoner.”

“If he really was ashamed of what he did, why didn’t he tell the Chinese and accept their punishment? This is a clear war crime. He didn’t think the prisoner was even a human being, and just used him as an object for his men to train on as he thought they needed it, and ordered it all. But when he lost the war he ran off.

It can hardly be called sincere for him not to confess for all this time. He should have apologised to the prisoner by taking his own life. What a spineless coward.”

“Wasn’t the prisoner a guerilla? You don’t have to treat them as PoWs…”

“For doing something so atrocious you just want to tell him to go and slice open his own belly, don’t you? This old fool is busy shifting the blame for his actions – I hope he dies soon. And to think this guy is probably getting a war pension…”

“Note – ‘he thought it necessary’ – it wasn’t the army’s fault, this was just one crazy soldier’s decision!”

“All responsibility lies with the Showa Emperor. As he has inherited the responsibility, executing the Heisei Emperor is fine too.”

“Japan took relatively good care of its prisoners. This was just one man’s actions.”

“The net rightist filter:

Q1. Is he alive?

YES→ to Q2

NO→An honoured spirit of  Yasukuni

Q2. Did he say something?

YES→ to Q3

NO→A Hero of the Empire

Q3. Was it favourable to the Imperial Army?

YES→ A Hero of the Empire

NO→Traitor”

“Another fanciful lie. There’s no way a mere corporal could have decided what to do with prisoners. You underestimate the Imperial Army.”

“They don’t even give his name – just another fake.”

“They should turn him over to China.”

“You guys, denying anything inconvenient to your point of view is really bad. Scepticism is important, but denying everything based on ideology is the same level as those dirty Koreans.”