Koreans are following the steps.

However, Christianity is stopping Koreans from becoming fully-immersed Shinto animals, though. Some Koreans are truly becoming good people, loving others. I hope the Japanese will someday be touched by Holy Spirit and come to know the Savior.

Nice to know you think of Africans and South American natives as “savages”. On the same token, I guess you consider the Islamic custom of stoning women to death just for the simple crime of showing their legs in public as very high class and civilized.

Works both ways, fella…btw, you are Korean, aren’t you?

Right and those savages in africa and south america running around with their titties hanging around are just progressive?

That’s it, I’m pulling up my roots to go live back in the States, where the only un-wholesome thing people were doing 1,000 years ago was cannibalism.

And, I have to say that Curzon’s description of me as a Japanophile solely because I play shakuhachi and collect antique shakuhachis is idiotic. Is everyone who plays the piano a Germanophile as opposed to, say, a musician? Does being a collector of Ming vases make you a sinophile as opposed to, say, an art collector? Of course not. Japanese people often assume that I love Japanese culture because I play an instrument associated with traditional culture and I’m fluent in the language, but really I just like the instrument for itself and the language for its interesting-ness. All things being equal I’d go back to the States, but my family is here now and for many situational reasons it’s better for us to stay.

In fact, a cursory exploration of my blog would make you think I was a Japanophobe, because there are so many things that annoy me about this country and I’m usually only more motivated to write about these than about things I like (although, there are less rants against Japan on my blog now than there used to be because baby-blogging and photography have sort of taken over).

Instead, I think most people come to see the good and the bad (and there is a large amount of both, to be sure) in a culture when they’ve lived there for years. I know I have.

For the record, curzon said US based Japanese studies is bull shit.

It is. See current post at MutantFrog trackbacked below.

That’s quite a bold statement to say, unless curzon is a Japanese studies scholar of somesort.

Why would I bash my own profession? I took one class in my first semester of college and had some conversations with the professors to realize that “Japan Studies” was definitely not for me. I am a US citizen who first lived in Japan for high school. After splitting both undergrad and grad between the US and Japan, I am now a professional working in Tokyo.

Chonko, I provided academic proof.

You provided evidence. That’s not the same thing as “proof.”

Newspapers must have better facts than a US PhD at a public research university. Sure, I believe it.

You need to be a little more critical. Individuals and organizations will: selectively quote, omit, emphasize, or lie; make mistakes; tell one side of the story; and more to fit their own agenda or narrative. Considering the amount of facts out there on any issue, it is necessary to snip lots of facts out of a story to fit whatever story the person wants to tell. This is true if it’s a uni professor or a newspaper; the difference being that PhDs are generally more cerebral and specific, whereas newspapers are more reputable (being subject to daily scrutiny).

Part of the university education is to teach you that you shouldn’t believe everything you read or hear; you should be critical; and get your facts from multiple sources, then make the decision yourself. Anyone who adopts a “this person said it is true, therefore it must be true!” attitude is a slave ready for a master, and who deserves one.