Welcome To God'S Country
By DOUGLAS LUMMIS
|
|
神の国へようこそ
神の国へようこそ
ここ数ヵ月、問題発言として話題になっている
森首相の「神の国」発言と
石原知事の「三国人」発言を合わせて考えると
日本は今、新ファシズムと同じ道を
たどっているように思えるのだが…。
|
Well, the rightists are really starting to feel their
oats.
And how should we translate "kami no kuni"? I
don't know if Prime Minister Mori knows this, but "Kami
no Kuni" is the title of the Japanese translation of St.
Augustine's great work, known in English as "The City
of God." It means a place where politicians may never
lie or take bribes, or have gangster friends.
Definitely not what Mori has in mind.
Probably "sacred country" would be an appropriate
translation. But what does that mean? Nothing, since no
such country ever existed. But when a government begins
to think of itself as sacred, watch out. Whenever some
people are designated as "sacred," other people are sure to be designated as "profane." Who will that
be?
Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara suggested an answer in
his April 11 speech to a unit of the Self-Defense
Forces (SDF). There are now in Japan, he said, lots of
"sangokujin" and foreigners who commit despicable
crimes and are likely to stage an uprising. In that
case, he said, you in the SDF will have the duty to
suppress them.
You foreigners who read this column, do any of you
know of any plans for an uprising? It's news to me.
And how should we translate sangokujin? The words mean
"third-country people," but that communicates nothing
in English. This discriminatory expression began to be
used around 1946 to refer to people in Japan who had
been Japanese "subjects" when their countries were
colonized, but who had reverted to their old
nationality once these colonies were liberated.
So who could Ishihara mean? There is no one in
Japan today in a similar situation. But vagueness is a
characteristic of racist language. Consider the word
"gook," originally used in World War II in the U.S.
military to refer to the enemy Japanese, but later
applied to Pacific Islanders, Koreans, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Asians in general. One theory is that
sangokujin includes everybody who used to be included in
the term "gook," except the Japanese. But I'm not
sure: If it means anyone not included in the "sacred
country," which, as Mori says, "centers on the
Emperor," it could mean any foreigner. Couldn't it also
expand to include some Japanese as well? Ainu? Okinawans?
People who won't sing the national anthem?
In the speech mentioned above, Ishihara referred to
the Japanese Constitution as "that warped (ibitsuna)
constitution." In an earlier interview he was quoted as
saying that the Constitution should not be amended
(which requires a two-thirds majority in the Diet)
but rather "destroyed" (which, he says, would require
only a simple majority) (SAPIO, Aug. 25/ Sept. 8,
1999).
Mori and Ishihara should be thanked for showing us just
what the Japanese right has in mind: the revival of
open racism, militarism and the mystical state headed
by a semi-deity. Moreover, Ishihara proposes the
sacrifice of the rule of law to the interest of state
power.
Would someone please explain to me how this differs
from contemporary European neofascism?
Shukan ST: June 16, 2000
(C) All rights reserved
|