China is angry

Just west of Okinawa, just east of Taiwan lie the Senkaku Islands.
A grouping of small uninhabited islands that are at the centre of an international debate due to the rich deposits of oil and natural gas lie just beneath them.

The Chinese claim ancient heritage over the islands, the first record of the islands can be found in  Chinese literature dating from the 15th century. In 1895 they were annexed by the Japanese government.  There were fisheries and processing plants until the 1940s. From 1945 to 1972 the islands were under American authority. When they were handed back to Japan (with much consternation from Taiwan) the islands were then sold to a family in Saitama Ken (next to Tokyo). The family is paid “rent” by the Japanese government provided they do not develop the islands. Regardless of this agreement  a Japanese right wing party erected a Lighthouse in 1978 and a Shinto temple in 2000.

There are laws in place that prohibit boats docking on the islands and there are constant patrols to keep foreign boats out of the surrounding waters.

Leaked footage showed the Chinese trawler ramming into the patrol boat.

In 2010 a Chinese fishing boat collided with patrol boats near the islands. The captain and crew were held in custody in Japan pending possible charges, China strongly protested and the crew were released after a week. 

 

 

 

 

Speaking at a think tank forum in Washington the outspoken and generally odd Governor of Tokyo Ishiihara announced the Tokyo Metropolitan government’s plans to buy the islands from the family. 70,000 private donations were received totalling just over one billion yen (12.5 million dollars).

“Tokyo will protect the Senkaku Islands. No matter which country dislikes it, no one should have a problem…..It would be best if we could buy the islands with donations because we wouldn’t have to use taxpayers’ money”

There is talk about how the sale and purchase could be illegal and it has enraged the Chinese central government. Liu Weimin (Chinese foreign ministry spokesman) told reporters

“Some Japanese politicians have been making petty moves to try to make trouble, but their actions will not alter the fact that these islands belong to China,

The oil and gas fields are the biggest reason these islands are so coveted The fact remains that Japan has a very limited supply natural resources. Energy resources account for 14% of its total  imports and 60% of its oil is imported from the Persian Gulf.

Another reason both countries refuse to back down is the frosty relationship the countries share. Japan and China are like siblings that refuse to speak. A 2012 survey showed that almost 85% of Japanese people had a negative view of “selfish” China and 65% of Chinese had unfavourable views on “nationalistic” Japan.

Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have

Shintaro Ishihara is our dear leader.

The bizarre septuagenarian has been the governor of Tokyo since 1999 and so far shows no signs of being voted out (last year he won with a million vote majority).

He is extremely outspoken on the role of foreigners in Japan and how Japan has lost its traditional roots. He wants Japan to turn away from its western imposed society and return to its Asian roots. He also believes homosexuality is a degenerative disease and that the Japanese Diet (government)  has been infiltrated by foreign elements.

Other beautiful gems from the man in charge;

• “If Japanese hadn’t fought the white people, we would still be slaves of the white people. It would be colonization. We changed that.”

• In response to China’s first successful launch of a man in space: “The Chinese are ignorant, so they are overjoyed. That spacecraft was an outdated one. If Japan wanted to do it, we could do it in one year.”

• “I hate Mickey Mouse. He has nothing like the unique sensibility that Japan has. The Japanese are inherently skilled at visual expression and detailed work.”

• “I have to say that it should be no surprise that French is disqualified as an international language because French is a language which cannot count numbers.”

• “With Sangokujin and foreigners repeating serious crimes, we should prepare ourselves for possible riots that may be instigated by them at the outbreak of an earthquake. As police is not always fit for handling all contingencies, the Self-Defense forces should be ready to respond to threats to public security besides natural disasters.” (Sankokujin means third-country nationals, a seriously derogatory word for those whose parents, grandparents or even great grandparents were Korean, Chinese or Filipino who were brought over to work during the war)

• “There is a marked increase in the number of cases in which some foreigners who enter Japan on working and other visas remain in the country illegally to commit heinous crimes.”

• “Roppongi is now virtually a foreign neighborhood. Africans who don’t speak English are there doing who knows what. This is leading to new forms of crime such as car theft. We should be letting in people who are intelligent.”

•  ”People say that the Japanese made a holocaust but that is not true. It is a story made up by the Chinese. It has tarnished the image of Japan, but it is a lie.” (on the Rape of Nanking).

• (To a well-known women’s magazine) “old women who live after they have lost their reproductive function are useless and are committing a sin,”

The Japanese Far Right.

Japanese right wing rally outside Ikebukuro station, Tokyo

Fiercely nationalistic, militant and angry Japan’s far right are know for their hatred of China (or any non-Japanese in general).

Although they only have a relatively small following (just over 100,000) they are one of the most visible and active political groups in Japan. In recent years Japan has had a quick succession of weak prime ministers who resign before they even have to dry clean their inauguration suits. This political apathy makes the devotion of the far right even more pronounced. Their trademark black vans, daubed with slogans such as “respect ancient Japanese school” (敬愛倭塾) can be seen racing through Tokyo blaring the Japanese national anthem and inflammatory political speeches.

What they basically want is all foreigners out (duh), for Japan to return to the days of the samurai, and for the emperor to reclaim his rightful position as a living god (a role he has personally denounced). Their main haunt is Yasukuni Shrine where the souls of the war dead (including many notorious and convicted war criminals) are honored as Shinto deities.

Mostly they look like pathetic old men with a few young buck toothed yokels thrown in, but many of the groups have strong ties to the yakuza and are involved in more sinister activities like kidnapping, assassinations and violently picketing foreign embassies.