Japan's Dark Side

[metablue]

Japan is by no means a self-sufficient country. It needs to do business with people from many other countries. Moreso than almost every non-English-speaking country, it needs to import materials and export the stuff it makes. Foreign languages are a necessity to communicate with their business partners.

It's important to the country, but I don't think that importance translates down to the personal level for the average person. Most people can get by just fine in Japan without any other language. Everything they need is in Japanese. And you have to really want to learn a language in order to learn it. It takes years to get good, and we're told that even then we'll never really be that good because we started learning after kindergarten (not that I completely believe that, or I wouldn't be here). Who wants to spend years being bad at something with no hope of ever really mastering it?

I agree that it doesn't necessarily affect their attitude towards foreigners, but how can you say that an inability to communicate with foreigners doesn't equate to an inability to deal with foreigners?

I mentioned Canada, NZ, and the US to give examples of foreigners being accepted and integrated even though there was a language barrier. I don't know what it was like coming from Hong Kong to NZ in the 90s, so I can't say whether they felt welcomed or unwelcomed. I think that they were accepted though, even though many new arrivals didn't speak great English, and they arrived in such numbers and with such different customs that it was very strange. There was complaining, but you also had people "adopting" new families and helping them to adjust and get settled, as a way to learn about another culture.

I don't think the Japanese are any different from anyone else when it comes to learning languages. But it's really not that hard to learn to communicate with foreigners without sharing much of a language, even when they suddenly appear in your school or work or community, disrupting your nice, stable life.

So I don't think that the language barrier explains that strange distancing that I've experienced from some Japanese. I'm still leaning towards Charles' "natural barriers" explanation.

[Bueller_007]

It's important to the country, but I don't think that importance translates down to the personal level for the average person. Most people can get by just fine in Japan without any other language. Everything they need is in Japanese. And you have to really want to learn a language in order to learn it. It takes years to get good, and we're told that even then we'll never really be that good because we started learning after kindergarten (not that I completely believe that, or I wouldn't be here). Who wants to spend years being bad at something with no hope of ever really mastering it?

This is just as true for people from European nations who end up speaking numerous languages. But the Japanese speak foreign languages more poorly than Europeans. I'm not saying it's an innate shortcoming of the Japanese, I'm just stating an obvious fact.

I mentioned Canada, NZ, and the US to give examples of foreigners being accepted and integrated even though there was a language barrier. I don't know what it was like coming from Hong Kong to NZ in the 90s, so I can't say whether they felt welcomed or unwelcomed. I think that they were accepted though, even though many new arrivals didn't speak great English, and they arrived in such numbers and with such different customs that it was very strange. There was complaining, but you also had people "adopting" new families and helping them to adjust and get settled, as a way to learn about another culture.

But this isn't really true. They may arrive in the country with no language ability, but they don't actually become "integrated" until they have learned the language. (And even then, the degree of "integration" is questionable. Why do all major cities in the world have a Chinatown?)
"Integration" requires interaction using more than just grunts and body language. If it didn't, you could honestly say that all foreigners in Japan are completely integrated. But unlike foreigners in America, who often wish to move there permanently, most foreigners in Japan know that they are only there temporarily, so they don't make any real effort to learn the language. And most Japanese lack the ability to communicate with them in a foreign language.
The people who actually DO speak a foreign language often go out of their way to meet foreigners. It's not unusual to get approached on the train or in the bookstore by a Japanese who wishes to speak English. Shy girls whip out their language textbooks and study within your range of vision in the hopes that you will start an conversation with them. So it's easy to "integrate" with these people. It's unfortunate that the language barrier prevents it in Japanese society in general.

But it's really not that hard to learn to communicate with foreigners without sharing much of a language, even when they suddenly appear in your school or work or community, disrupting your nice, stable life.

You seriously misunderstand discrimination in Japan. There's no "disruption". It's not like they get pissed off when a foreigner is in their presence. To summarize Japanese "racism" in one sentence it would be: "Unless you were born from Japanese parents, and raised (in Japan) by Japanese parents, with Japanese as your mother tongue, you are not Japanese." It doesn't matter how well you learn their language or culture.

But this is somewhat understandable. "Japanese" is not just a nationality. It's a race. And yes, objections from the small number of Ainu, Chinese and Koreans aside, it is basically monocultural. "American", "Canadian", "New Zealander", on the other hand, are not races. And what is an "American"? What is "American culture" if not an amalgam? It's easier for foreigners to integrate into cultures that are already diverse.

So I don't think that the language barrier explains that strange distancing that I've experienced from some Japanese. I'm still leaning towards Charles' "natural barriers" explanation.

The "natural barrier" thing makes racism sound like a uniquely Japanese problem, based on the preservation of 和 ("wa", harmony). As I said in an earlier post, it's not. This is merely a natural tendency of all monocultural countries: they want to stay monocultural unless they have a reason to diversify. Japan hasn't had a reason to do so yet. And it doesn't help that they know that most foreigners are only short-term residents they can't communicate with, and who don't really want to integrate.

[metablue]

This is just as true for people from European nations who end up speaking numerous languages. But the Japanese speak foreign languages more poorly than Europeans. I'm not saying it's an innate shortcoming of the Japanese, I'm just stating an obvious fact.

European nations are different. Many smallish nations with different languages thrown together on the same continent, interacting for centuries. It becomes part of the culture to learn languages. That's where the motivation comes in, not because learning the language is good for the country or for travelling, but because it's expected of you, probably from an early age.

You kinda did say it was an innate shortcoming at first - that's what I objected to.

But this isn't really true. They may arrive in the country with no language ability, but they don't actually become "integrated" until they have learned the language. (And even then, the degree of "integration" is questionable. Why do all major cities in the world have a Chinatown?)

My Canadian Soc. 101 prof proudly described that as a "cultural mosaic" vs a "melting pot". People can become welcome members of a society while still retaining their own culture. As opposed to the "melting pot" model where you throw away your old ties and get absorbed into the new culture.

"Integration" requires interaction using more than just grunts and body language. If it didn't, you could honestly say that all foreigners in Japan are completely integrated.

It's not quite that bad! I'm talking about people who can speak a little bit of the language but are obviously very different.

"Japanese" is not just a nationality. It's a race. And yes, objections from the small number of Ainu, Chinese and Koreans aside, it is basically monocultural. "American", "Canadian", "New Zealander", on the other hand, are not races. And what is an "American"? What is "American culture" if not an amalgam? It's easier for foreigners to integrate into cultures that are already diverse.

I was thinking more of NZ and Canada than the US. They weren't diverse at all. NZ has the Maori and Pacific Islanders, but until the HK era, it was very monocultural. Almost everyone was Protestant/unreligious. Almost everyone spoke a single language. Most people had European ancestry.

You seriously misunderstand discrimination in Japan. There's no "disruption". It's not like they get pissed off when a foreigner is in their presence. To summarize Japanese "racism" in one sentence it would be: "Unless you were born from Japanese parents, and raised (in Japan) by Japanese parents, with Japanese as your mother tongue, you are not Japanese." It doesn't matter how well you learn their language or culture.

I think of it as just being ignored or not included. My only experience with this is in a game, but it's a game that people take very seriously and spend months or years playing. I've met one person recently who really tried to communicate with me. Usually when I attempt to speak some Japanese (in hiragana) I'm ignored. I got really angry the other day because I could understand a little of what people were saying - they were deciding whether to call it a night - but my attempts at Japanese and the autotranslator were just completely ignored. I ended up leaving in a huff because they just wouldn't even try to talk to me.

In this case there are ways to communicate other than grunts and body language. You can use set phrases from the auto-translator to at least acknowledge another person. But you have to want to try a little bit. And yet at home and in person, the Japanese people I've met have been wonderful. They say goodbye when leaving the elevator in my apartment building even though we don't know each other and did nothing but make eye contact and smile.

I've started thinking that playing FFXI isn't like being a visitor to Japan, it's like trying to move in there. I live in the US, so to me the game world is implicitly US turf, but to a Japanese it's Japanese turf. It's like I'm trying to integrate myself into their world, and I frequently get stonewalled.

The "natural barrier" thing makes racism sound like a uniquely Japanese problem, based on the preservation of 和 ("wa", harmony). As I said in an earlier post, it's not. This is merely a natural tendency of all monocultural countries: they want to stay monocultural unless they have a reason to diversify. Japan hasn't had a reason to do so yet. And it doesn't help that they know that most foreigners are only short-term residents they can't communicate with, and who don't really want to integrate.

Yeah. I can understand what you're saying, I think. And I don't want to accuse Japanese of being uniquely racist. That's what I'm really struggling with.

I've started thinking of my game as a kind of social simulation. You have a game world that is created in Japan by Japanese designers. You have to play in groups to get anywhere, you can't play by yourself. You depend on your group - everyone has to play their part very well or you all lose. Everything takes enormous amounts of patience. The world is incredibly complicated. The effects of your actions depend on the weather, the phase of the moon, the element of the day, and perhaps even the direction you're facing (the compass points have elements associated with them). It might take an hour to put together a group of people to play with, and then another hour to travel to the place you want to play together.

The game is released in Japan, and for a year or two, all the players are Japanese. The community develops its own complex set of rules and customs. Then it's released in the US and suddenly the Japanese community has to absorb all these new US players who don't speak their language, who don't know the rules of play, don't know how to interact with people. But we have the auto-translator, so we can communicate with a little effort.

Years pass, the US players learn to play as well. They learn the culture of the game and most people develop a sense of politeness. Compared to other online games I've played, the FFXI culture is extremely mature and polite.

But even after years, there's still a wall between the JP and the US players. And it's mostly coming from the JP side. You see "JP only" messages from the Japanese players, and if you do get invited to their parties your attempts at communication can be ignored. US parties are happy to invite JP players because they have a reputation for being really good, but there's a good chance you'll get declined or your invitation is ignored. There are many wonderful and friendly Japanese players, of course, there's just this general sense of "us and them". You can't completely explain it as a language issue. At high levels you don't need to talk much because everyone knows exactly what they're doing, and anything you need to say can be communicated through the auto-translator.

It's like a mini-experiment in fast-forward of what happens when these two cultures are suddenly thrown together, essentially on Japanese ground. And the groups of people being thrown together are relatively young on average, so you'd expect them to be relatively open and flexible.

So this is where I'm coming from. I can't really say it's a Japan thing or just a monocultural country thing. I'm just trying to understand where these "JP only" people are coming from, and the "natural barriers" explanation is the least cynical way I can see to explain it. Sure you can say that a monocultural society has no need to change or embrace foreigners, but when it comes down to a person saying essentially straight out "I don't want to spend any time with you because you're not like me and you don't speak my language" ... you can't explain that in terms of monocultural societies. It's very personal.

I'm late for work, so no time to read this over =( Might have to edit out redundancy or spelling errors later.

<edit> moved a block and cut out a redundancy

[Bueller_007]

You kinda did say it was an innate shortcoming at first - that's what I objected to.

I don't think I did. But if you got that impression, it's not what I intended.

I've started thinking that playing FFXI isn't like being a visitor to Japan, it's like trying to move in there.

I really wouldn't compare the two whatsoever. You're not exactly dealing with the most socially apt of people in an online world (this forum excluded, of course ). Especially when it comes to Japanese players. I don't play games, so I don't know, but my image of a Japanese online gamer is a 35-year old guy whose most realistic relationship with a woman is either with his mother or a hentai comic. They probably have their own little clique that they don't let anyone into unless they are "l33t". This is pure speculation though.

I'm sure you'll find Japan itself quite different. The people are quite accomodating, to an extent. I lived in a small city just north of downtown Osaka. There are few foreigners there, so if I went into a bar, I could be pretty sure that I was the only foreigner who had ever set foot in there. I never saw a "NO FOREIGNERS" sign, and I was frequently bought drinks by the locals. I didn't have to pay the usual sit-down fee at one of them.

Some customers were probably uncomfortable that there were foreigners in the bar (Japanese bars are often little more than a glorified hallway with some stools in it) because they thought that they couldn't communicate with the person next to them. Or maybe they were afraid that they I would speak English to them and they wouldn't be able to reply (despite having studied it in depth for 6+ years). When you start speaking Japanese with them, the walls really come down. (Of course, there are just some straight-up racists out there too, who want nothing to do with you, regardless. But they're rare.)

I think the novelty of having foreigners around wears off after a while though. My Japanese ability still isn't good enough that I understand everything that people say, especially when guys start rolling their r's, and talking in hardcore Osaka dialect. So there are times where I can't keep up with the conversation, and it becomes a bit of a burden to have me around, because they feel like they have to explain everything. You don't feel unwelcome, but you feel like you are hassling them a bit. I think foreigners in America, etc. probably get this feeling as well.

This doesn't happen so much with people who can speak English, because if you have problems communicating in Japanese, you just turn on the English and you're good to go. And because these people have often lived in another country, they know what it feels like to be a "gaijin" trying to communicate in a strange language.

So long as you understand that "YOU ARE NOT JAPANESE AND YOU NEVER WILL BE", and you don't let it get to you, you'll be fine. (And even this sentiment isn't held by all Japanese. I've heard one of my friends refer to a Chinese born & raised in Japan as "Japanese". Young Japanese are quite open-minded, especially the women.)

Japan has had more sociological garbage written about it than any other country in the world. Sociologists, by nature, tend to emphasize the importance of differences between countries, in order to aggrandize the importance of their work. What they don't say is the simple fact that "people are people, no matter where you go". The differences are only superficial. Which is why I tend not to believe claims like "the Japanese put "No Foreigners" signs up outside of their bars in order to help the foreigners and to maintain 和." I don't think that's human nature.

[metablue]

I really wouldn't compare the two whatsoever. You're not exactly dealing with the most socially apt of people in an online world (this forum excluded, of course ). Especially when it comes to Japanese players. I don't play games, so I don't know, but my image of a Japanese online gamer is a 35-year old guy whose most realistic relationship with a woman is either with his mother or a hentai comic.

Hey! What're you saying about my mother!

You're probably be quite surprised at the FFXI demographic. But you're right, there are many reasons why people would behave badly in the online world. I've seen quite nice ordinary people turn arrogant as they grow powerful within the community.

I know this sounds completely insane to anyone who hasn't played these games. But remember, when you have real people spending real time and investing real emotions in a shared world ... that makes it real. Even if the place doesn't physically exist and everyone looks like an orc.

When I know enough Japanese, I'll ask the people with "JP only" in their search comments why they put it there. Seems like the only way to get the real answer. And I will visit Japan before too long.

[phalos]

Does anyone know how the blind are treated in Japan?
I'm hoping to take a study session in Japan, and don't want to feel doubly out of place.
Would I be looked down upon as a "social inferior?" ^_^ (doubting it, but I don't know. I'm treated as such in my home country, in certain places.)

Cheers

[Bueller_007]

Does anyone know how the blind are treated in Japan?
I'm hoping to take a study session in Japan, and don't want to feel doubly out of place.
Would I be looked down upon as a "social inferior?" ^_^ (doubting it, but I don't know. I'm treated as such in my home country, in certain places.)

Cheers

IMO, the blind are wholly welcome in Japan, and it's an extremely blind-friendly country. Much moreso than Canada anyway. You'll find Braille on the handrails of many staircases warning you about the steps, and perhaps telling you how many stairs there are. Of course, it could be Japanese Braille... I'm not sure how the Braille system works across languages.

Major sidewalks in most cities have special blind-friendly bumpy tiles running down the center, so that people don't accidentally wander into an intersection. You'll find these on train station platforms and sometimes shopping centres as well.

It seems to me that there are far, far more blind people in Japan than in Canada or the U.S. So I think they're quite accepting and well-equipped to deal with it.


As for lessons, on the other hand, I can't guarantee that there will be a teacher who can handle a blind student. IMO, the Japanese put a lot of emphasis on reading and writing exercises, and I doubt that Braille teaching materials are readily available. But if you tell the teacher that you just want to talk, I'm sure you'll be fine.

[phalos]

You'll find Braille on the handrails of many staircases warning you about the steps, and perhaps telling you how many stairs there are. Of course,

Sounds better than in America!

Major sidewalks in most cities have special blind-friendly bumpy tiles running down the center, so that people don't accidentally wander into an intersection

I've done that... ^_^

I doubt that Braille teaching materials are readily available.

This is true, as I can see it. I am learning Japanese Braile (which is very interesting!) and hope to possibly teach the blind in Japan about American Braille, or English teacher in a Blind school.

Thanks for your comments

[Alan]

I was curious to see how japanese was coded into braille and found an interesting explanation here.
http://www.hi.sfc.keio.ac.jp/access/arc/NetBraille/etc/brttrl.html

Central Tokyo certainly has the pebbled guides in the pavements, but I haven't noticed them so much elsewhere. There are plenty of audio cues on the railways, e.g. train approaching, doors closing etc. Most of the intersections in central Toyko have traffic lights with pedestrian crossings, which also of course have sound cues.

[metablue]

I just realized I haven't seen those blind-friendlyish intersections here in the US at all. In NZ and Canada (big cities anyway) those pebbled tiles are everywhere and all the pedestrian signals make different chirping sounds for walk and don't walk. I remember when they first started changing the signals in Auckland, there was a button to push to get the chirps to go, which seemed a bit silly. Now the chirping is by default.

Without really knowing, I can imagine that being doubly different might work in your favor, since it makes you more than just another foreigner. People can't stereotype you as a gaijin as easily because there's something else about you that forces them to think of you as a unique person.

[Napster921]

On the other, my experience with Japanese players in FFXI (an online multiplayer game that started in Japan - many people play it every day for years) is that they're sometimes quite snobby. You'll surprisingly often find "JP only" or "English No Thanks" in their search comment, meaning that they don't want to form a party with a North American (the two main groups of players are JP and NA). You never see this from any other group. More often though, NA players just don't get invited to JP parties except as a last resort.

Meta,
I used to play the game FFXI, and it's usually not that way. Alot of the players simply find it harder to use the translation tool in battles and things. It makes the game harder. I was in an all Japanese link-shell, and everyone was very nice. I had no issues, ever.

As for general racism, I have read in books that mostly people in the countryside or smaller towns are more racist.

[seanolan]

Just gotta toss in my 2 yen here...

First, I believe that, rather than being racist, Japanese society is discriminatory based solely on the comfort of the "uchi/soto" mentality (comfort for them, that is). That is to say, those that are part of their in group (uchi) are welcomed, treated with a great deal of warmth and respect, and generally treated like family. By the way, it's DAMNED hard to get "uchi" with a Japanese, at least beyond a certain point. It's almost like each Japanese person has a huge series of concentric circles around him, and where a person fits is strongly codified within that person's mind. (Note that I am NOT implying that only Japanese people do this; but it is strongly reinforced by the culture and society here). There is a circle for people you work with, and a circle for your gaijin friends and one for your Japanese friends (and USUALLY the gaijin circle is further out, but not always) a circle for family, a circle for people you went to school with. Movement within the "circles of uchi" is not common, and very difficult to attain.

Foreigners fall usually into the "soto" sect...outside the circles of uchi. But they are not the only ones, and there ARE levels of "soto" also. Ask many Japanese mothers who they would rather their child marry - an American or a Korean? (Contrary to belief, there is a STRONG anti-Korean feeling in the inaka; not quite as strong as the anti-latino attitudes in some areas of the US, but there nonetheless) A Chinese person or a Phillipino? A gaijin or an Ainu? A gaijin or (say it softly) a burakumin? Japanese soto is not reserved solely for foreigners...take a look at how they STILL treat burakumin (in my school there was a burakumin girl a few years back who they had to take out of the school because she was BEATEN every day by the other girls!) Basically, in Japan, if you are different, you are soto. The level of soto depends on the degree and type of difference, I would say.

(Incidentally, I'd love to hear some comments on the discrimination against burakumin. I don't think I noticed anyone else mentioning that in these posts)

On the other hand, there are many Japanese who welcome the different and strange. There has been a wild counter-culture for many years, and the upper level limit to the age of this counter-culture is raising all the time. Many younger Japanese are fascinated by foreign cultures, foreign attitudes, foreign people. In the bigger cities especially, discrimination is shrinking.

One other thing I have noticed, and I do not seem to be alone in this. The more "Japanese" a foreigner becomes (proficient with language, culture, etc) the less comfortable some Japanese become with them. The Japanese that were completely comfortable with your poor Japanese and your occassionally sticking the chopsticks upright in the rice may become uncomfortable with you once they see you reading "The Tale of Genji" in the original Japanese, or discussing Japanese politics in an educated fashion, or performing cha-no-yu exceptionally well. You have fallen outside of their niche for you, and many Japanese become increasingly nervous around a foreigner who is "more japanese" than they are (a quote from one of my teachers).


Regarding English/Foreign language ability - I do not believe it is a myth. At the Mid-Year conference for the JET programme in Fukushima-ken last year, a Dr. Charles Brown (yup, that's really his name, poor guy) gave a presentation on this issue, and what could be done about it. And according to MEXT info, all Japanese high-school graduates have had six years of English class, yet the average Japanese high-school graduate has the English ability of less than a thousand words (often far less) and almost no grammar skills. I had seven years of German, and could easily live there very comfortably; I can understand a newspaper or a tv broadcast and can converse fairly easily. Before comparing Japanese English skills with, for instance, American foreign language skills, remember that American high school graduates have usually a mere 2 years of a foreign language when they graduate (all that is required in most American HS systems). In part, I blame the Japanese school system, which does not allow for failing students, but I also agree that part of the problem is the Japanese language is unrelated in grammar and vocabulary (excluding katakana words) from any other language with the possible exception of Korean, and unrelated in pronunciation from any language except Spanish (by an odd coincidence, vowel and consonant pronunciation between Japanese and Spanish are remarkably similar)

Sean
Just my opinion(s). If I said anything that offended or that you disagree with, congratulations. You're thinking for yourself.

[Bueller_007]

I actually agree with most of that, but that's mainly because you mostly agreed with me.

The only thing you said that I don't really agree with is Japanese attitudes towards Korea.

An anonymous Asahi survey conducted last year shows that 60% of Japanese "have a friendly attitude towards" South Korea, with the majority of the rest saying that they neither liked nor disliked them.

And just to show that it wasn't typical Japanese "I have no opinion" attitude, they also asked the same question about the Chinese.

Approx. 60% of Japanese have feelings of hositility towards the Chinese, with the majority of the rest saying they were neutral, and only a few saying that they felt a spirit of friendship.

The new positive feelings towards Korea are largely accredited to the "Korean Wave" (韓流), especially the tourism that was brought about by the TV show "Winter Sonata".


FYI, they also contacted Koreans and Chinese to get their opinions about Japan, and needless to say, the Chinese and Koreans feel more hostility towards Japan than the other way around. East Asia is just a giant junior high school, where nobody ever forgives anybody for anything.

As for the uchi/soto thing, it certainly exists, but I don't buy into it nearly as much as most people do. But I'm known to loathe most things "sociological".

[seanolan]

The only thing you said that I don't really agree with is Japanese attitudes towards Korea.

An anonymous Asahi survey conducted last year shows that 60% of Japanese "have a friendly attitude towards" South Korea, with the majority of the rest saying that they neither liked nor disliked them.

All I have to go on are the people I live and work with in the (relative) inaka, but realize that a lot of the hostility is towards Koreans living in Japan, not so much Korea itself (kinda like many Americans don't hate Cuba, but they dislike Cuban-Americans or Cuban refugees/illegals). Students who are from Korean families or even with Korean ancestry (how they find this stuff out...I had one teacher tell me "That girl's grandmother was Korean, so the other students don't like her much" HOW do they find that out???) face discrimination from other students. Other JETs have told me of teachers "confessing" their Korean heritage to them, with the plea, "Don't tell the other teachers; they might not understand."

It's just anecdotal, but heck, isn't most discrimination?

FYI, they also contacted Koreans and Chinese to get their opinions about Japan, and needless to say, the Chinese and Koreans feel more hostility towards Japan than the other way around. East Asia is just a giant junior high school, where nobody ever forgives anybody for anything.

I'll bet...especially after that whole history book scandal, ne? Of course, the Koreans play up their hatred like tonguing a sore tooth...it hurts, but they just can't help it. Did you ever see the display of the kids' pictures of Korean opinion of Japan? I wish I still had the link...it was disgusting, because a lot of it was obvious propaganda designed by the Korean government and transmitted through the "mouths of babes" as it were.

Sean

[Bueller_007]

That history textbook thing was so overdone. The total number of schools that adopted its use was like SIX or something.

I haven't read it in a year or so, but from what I remember, it wasn't even that bad. It's just a crappy textbook to begin with. It's not particularly biased against the Chinese/Koreans, it's just crappy.
http://www.tsukurukai.com/05_rekisi_tex ... nglish.pdf

It's not like North Americans cover all of the gory details of their own conquests. Smallpox-infested blankets, anyone?

And there's little even approaching fact in Chinese textbooks. Gang of Four, Great Leap Forward, Cultural Revolution, occupation of Tibet and Xinjiang, Tiananmen...

I don't know enough to comment about Korean history, but I'm sure they've got plenty of skeletons in the closet too.


It's funny. That same opinion survey asked the Chinese & Koreans "What could Japan do to make amends for its past regressions?"

Most Chinese said they wanted a formal apology. Been there, done that:
http://tinyurl.com/y32z26

And most Koreans said that they wanted money. Which the Japanese gave them back in the day, and the Korean government then proceeded to spend entirely on themselves:
http://tinyurl.com/y4rtr8

The reason that hatred against Japan continues is because it's the only outlet for anger allowed the crappy hard-line governments of other east Asian countries. The people don't know that Japan has already given them what they wanted.