Seppuku: Cowardly, ugly, selfish, unintelligent

Expelling the myth of “Zen Buddhism influence among the warrior class of Japan”

Responding to:

Let’s Stop the sad times from returning to Japan! 

Gomendesai wrote:

I beg to disagree. Hara-kiri was a tradition among the bravest of all soldiers earth has ever seen. The ideal of self-immolation – death before dishonor – come from the Zen Buddhist influence among the warrior class of Japan. It had high ideals of honor until death, frugality, loyalty, etc etc….. these are what some of the WWII soldiers had followed. They were the modern warriors of Japan with an older set of ideals/values/beliefs.

By cutting of his head he was giving him the honor he deserved as a defeated enemy. There was no more barbarism in that than killing your enemy with a “shotgun to the face”.

What about the Atomic bombings? They were war-crimes against all of humanity…. We cannot forget that.

My reply:

First let me clarify this point: Yasuno Chikao, the executioner in the above photograph, committed a cold-blooded murder when he beheaded the Australian soldier.

Human life is sacred, regardless of how “Zen Buddhism” may or may not have influenced “the warrior class of Japan.”

The “high ideals of honor until death, frugality, loyalty…” mean nothing if they didn’t follow “avoidance of war,” first and foremost.

What is so honorable about raping and killing other human beings, torching their homes, and then, when you can no longer fight, committing suicide, leaving your mother, wife, daughter, sister… at the mercy of your enemy to rape and murder… your home and possessions torched and ransacked…

You call this brand of ultra cowardice bravery? Honor? Ideals? Values? Beliefs?  Superiority of “modern warriors of Japan with an older set of ideals” over all others? Zen Buddhism?

What about the fate of your family, your wife and children, after you go to battle, lose the war and commit seppuku? Don’t they have a right? Don’t they matter? Of course NOT! Zen Buddhism is a men’s thing; women and children have no place in it—they don’t have a soul!

The words cowardly, bad, ugly, selfish, among many other adjectives, come to mind when you speak about the “Zen Buddhist influence.”

Do you speak for the “slave-class,” which is imbued with these phony ideals and falsities, or the “master-class,” trying to “protect” your kind by keeping these predatory, antisocial “codes of conduct” alive?

Suicide is cowardly. “Hara-kiri” or “seppuku” is a “slave-class” tradition, designed to protect the master class. How else would you prevent “samurai” from refusing to fight each other, or stop them from changing masters?

“Hara-kiri” served the master class even in wartime Okinawa—committing suicide wasn’t an option. Not only soldiers, but ordinary people were ordered to kill themselves, when the Imperial Army felt they may give away sensitive information to the “enemy.” You may recall that 171 people on Zamami Island and 329 people on Tokashiki Island committed suicide towards the end of World War II. The grenades were supplied by the army. See below for reference links

- http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/03/29/japanese-army-deeply-involved/
- http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/03/30/jumping-in-junity/
- http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/03/02/a-word-for-ryukyuans/

You also said: “What about the Atomic bombings? They were war-crimes against all of humanity…. We cannot forget that.”

The atomic bombing, regardless of any excuses offered by the apologists after the war, were “crimes against all of humanity.”

However, I detect a note of inconsistency in your comment. You cannot sincerely condemn “the Atomic bombings” as “crimes against all of humanity,” without equally condemning “war,” “Hara-kiri,” “seppuku,” the “master-slave,” class distinction … and “Zen Buddhism,” if in fact the latter influenced everything else. See also:

- http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/11/07/apa-goblin-japans-asdf-and-the-crazy-general/
- http://japanifik.wordpress.com/2008/11/02/tamogamis-history-lies/

Aggressive Drivers

Aggressive drivers, ‘texting’ cyclists compete for road space

The road safety culture in Japanifik is poor. The drivers and cyclists are invariably in contention for the small space available. Most of the roads are barley wider than the width of a single car but are used by cars, motorbikes, bikes and pedestrians (there are no sidewalks) in both directions.

If you ride a bike, or walk home,  it is nothing short of a miracle to return safely without being run over by a speeding car.

But not everyone is so fortunate, every time. There are always a few people, mostly high school students, who run out of luck and miracles. The ambulance sirens are a familiar sound in our area both in the morning and early afternoon, which coincide with the school opening and closing times.

I had vowed with myself the next time I see an aggressive driver causing an accident, injuring another motorist, cyclist, or pedestrian, I would drag him/her out of their vehicle and wring their ears.

I didn’t have to wait long. There was a spectacular accident  a few days ago, as my 4-year-old son, ‘L,’ and I were waiting for the pedestrian crossing light to turn green.

A Honda Life driving at about twice the speed limit, on a very busy road, clipped the back of stationery car, turned  sideways into the air and fell over on the driver’s side with a mighty bang as it skidded a short distance.

The car looked as if it was about to explode. I rushed toward it (after finding a safe spot for my son and making sure he wouldn’t follow me to the middle of road) to drag the driver and its passenger out, however, not to kick their butts, so to speak, but to save their lives. Fortunately no one was injured.

I helped the occupants, a couple in their late 40s to early 50s, climb out of the car; they gingerly walked away without so much as looking at me, let alone saying thanks!

Never mind, I thought, at least no one was injured, and anyway the shock of the accident must have made them forget their manners!

Related Links:

• What’s Up at the Expensive Private High School on the Hill?
• Failing to Prevent Premeditated Murder
• Violating the Speed Limit

Do you speak Japanese in America?

Who Needs English in Japanese World?

In a world where 100 percent of the population speaks Japanese, why must we learn English?

The Japanese ruling class’s boundless hubris, and their snub for English language, added to the economic mess they have left the country in, ensures a fundamental handicap for the next generation.

The following article was published in Mainichi Japan:

Majority of junior high school students critical of English lessons at elementary school

HIROSHIMA — A majority of junior high school students say that English lessons at elementary school are either boring or unhelpful, according to survey results released at a recent research meeting of the Japan Teachers’ Union.

Foreign language studies, which are already taught at some schools, will become compulsory for fifth- and sixth-grade elementary students from the start of the 2011 school year.

A teacher from a junior high school in Tokyo’s Meguro Ward carried out the survey on 168 pupils, around 80 percent of the total student body. Eighty-seven said the lessons were either “a bit boring” or “boring”, compared to 81 who said they were “fun” or “lots of fun.”

“We need to find out where we are going wrong with our teaching methods,” said one of the teachers who attended the meeting.

Those who didn’t enjoy the lessons said they were just repeating pronunciation without understanding the meaning, or because only the teacher showed any enthusiasm for the subject. Forty percent said the classes didn’t help them prepare for junior high school classes.

However, there have been some success stories. One teacher from a city high school in Kanagawa Prefecture said that he’d created a game to practice names of sports and words to do with the Olympics, by writing the words in Chinese and having the students say the word in English. Ninety-six percent of about 150 children randomly selected from that particular city said that studying English was fun. (Mainichi Japan) February 28, 2009.

Related Links:

• Oligarchic Govt: Conspiring against Japanese people
• Japan: New Challenges, NO Fresh Ideas!
• South Korea Improves, Japan Stagnates

• The Deliberate Dumbing Down of Japan!
• Do Not Speak English in Japan!
• Learning Japanese: Vasectomy of the Fertile Mind