Ed wrote:

> I've lived in Japan for about 12 years now. During that time, I have often
> felt like there was something I was missing. Some basic ingredient in the
> conglomerated Japanese psyche that eluded comprehension. I could go along
> for years without really noticing that there is a fundamental difference
> between how I live my life, and how Japanese live theirs, and then I would
> suddenly come face-to-face with a situation where I stepped in the poo-poo
> of life in Japan and couldn't figure out where I stepped to get this crap
> wedged up between my toes.
>
> I think I have finally figured it out. That one aspect of Japanese that they
> have so successfully hid from me for so many years. And I can well
> understand why it has been hidden. It is very easy to hide something you
> don't have. It's something so mundane and understated in today's society
> that if I hadn't been kicked in the teeth by it, I could have spent a
> lifetime never realizing what it is that sets this society apart from my
> own.
>
> Japanese are not kind.
>
> That's right. They are not kind. It's not that they are unkind, but rather
> that the concept of kindness isn't part of the Japanese psyche. Oh, they
> understand the concept well enough. It's just that they don't see the point.
> Why be kind to a stranger? Why care about somebody because they are human,
> thus deserve kindness?
>
> This simple little thing explains everything in this country that has ever
> slapped me in the face and forced me to realize that Japan is filled with
> foreigners, and not just Americans who were born in a different country and
> can't speak proper English. Everything from the ludicrous "education"
> system, the incredibly lame music, treatment of criminals and the
> handicapped, to the hopelessly inept politicians can be explained quite
> easily if we just realize that "kindness" is a foreign concept to Japanese.
> There is no soul or heart in this country. It's like living on a borg cube.
> The Japanese might smile, be courteous and friendly, but they don't know
> what being kind is. The replacements like volunteering to help old people in
> rest homes or cleaning out the gutters in front of someone else's house are
> not real replacements for seeing somebody who needs help and giving it to
> them without worrying about how much it will cost or what can be gained.
> Kindness is its own reward. But the Japanese just don't get it.
>
> Have you ever wondered why there are no homeless shelters or soup kitchens
> in Japan? It's because individual Japanese don't care about anybody but
> themselves. Have you ever wondered why Japanese politicians campaign with
> such inanities like "This is Suzuki Taro! Yes, I am Suzuki Taro! Suzuki Taro
> I am!" as they rumble through your neighborhood at top volume? It's because
> they don't know what else to say. They don't have a clue about what
> politicians are supposed to do except take bribes. There is no political
> philosophy in this country because without being required to be kind, they
> are at a loss as to what people in the area might appreciate. I highly doubt
> any of them have even heard of the notion of a political philosophy, or have
> contemplated the rationale of governing government.
>
> I'm finished frothing at the mouth for the nonce. Suffice to say, I am no
> longer a big fan of Japan. This place and these people are not worthy of
> being ranked among humankind because they don't know what it means to belong
> to that group known as humankind.

What happened to you Ed? You used to be the guy who argued against the
existence of absolute morals. Now you suddenly discover (and care) that
"Japanese are not kind"?

I've been spending hours and a proportion of my salary* hanging out with the
local homeless. I'd seen a new bunch of homeless there recently, but no one
even made eye contact with them, despite being in one of the busiest parts of
the city. They were in such a state, lying on the filthy sand in a playground
under the pitch dark train tracks, that I could not be one of the people who
simply walked by. They were happy to receive anything I had to offer, because
they had nearly nothing. I say were, because just this morning about nine a.m.,
one group of homeless was cleared out by workers (an elderly couple including a
woman on crutches was allowed to stay).

Behind Fukuyama Castle were two men with no jobs and no money. I say were,
because I never met the other one, but his friend says he was hospitalized for
malnutrition because he had had no food for a week, and could no longer eat. He
was on an IV in the hospital, but might probably die, anyway. I found the
remaining man in the dark lying on a piece of cardboard on a concrete bench,
exposed to the elements. He doesn't even have a blanket or futon. Living in the
castle park, no fire is allowed for light or cooking. Looking at what he has
laying around (I have found local homeless to be very private people, with no
names, even when speaking to each other, and the most precise (and only) answer
I have received to "Where are you from?" is "Nihon-kai". The only thing I know
is all of them claim not to be from Fukuyama.) it seems he eats what he gets
out of the tourist trash. Today at noon, I found him sitting alone eating a
quarter slice of persimmon.

*My wife was happy to allow me to give homeless my unused, even new clothing
and a couple of sports bags, and gave me some of her own jackets when I told
her there were also homeless women, but she became quite upset later when she
found out that I also go shopping for food and other items such as candles,
warm socks, and toiletries for the homeless. "Why are you buying new things?"
she asked. "You can't help (all of them) forever" she said. I asked, and she
claims Buddhism does not teach helping the poor.

 [After I explained to her the concept of tithing, pointing out that I haven't
been paying my home church for ten years, in fact "owing" them over four
million yen, she shut up. Now when I tell my children that I'm not going to
give them as many snacks as I used to, because I want to help people who don't
have enough, my wife helps explain it to them, and they understand. And when I
told my wife last week that if we are poor in the future and the children don't
have money for college, they can join the military or go to the SDF academy,
she says things will work themselves out.]

No, of course I can't help all of them forever. Homeless say there are 80
homeless in Fukuyama (I had estimated only 50. After striking up conversation
with such people, I can pretty safely assume nowadays that otherwise ordinary
looking middle aged and elderly men with well-worn clothes or who are scruffy
looking loitering downtown are homeless, particularly if in groups). But I only
hang out with the approximately 15 homeless who live around the station, most
of whom are clean and decently fed. (On one day, I did see two groups of three
homeless each cooking one pack of ramen which is why I habitually give them
groceries.) Some even have regular work.

Of the homeless I've met here, I only know three or four who are asses I would
prefer not to do anything for (but do anyway). When not complaining about the
lack of jobs or being hassled for being homeless, they are normal old men.

But try to tell Japanese this. Almost universally, and I have spoken about
homeless (and poverty in general) often over the course of seven years in
Fukuyama, Japanese claim that homeless "choose" to be that way, or that they
have no desire to work or work hard. Even me pointing out that companies don't
easily hire middle aged men, particularly homeless ones, fails to generate any
sympathy or understanding. Just yesterday I got into an argument with a man
running a family business, pointing out after questioning, how he did not
consider millions of younger, educated Japanese without jobs lazy (he claimed
he did not know enough about them and their situation), but his first reaction
to hearing about local homeless (many people will even deny there are homeless,
even when I tell them precisely where to go look downtown) was to slander them.
I told him to speak to some homeless and find out the truth about them and
their situation. "Never" he said "I don't want to". I said he was a perfect
example of the apathetic and uncaring Japanese. I'd pointed out earlier how
Japanese people say people with problems have their own lives or make their own
choices, but when they are in trouble, as with North Korea, they expect the
world to do something about it right away. Still no reaction other than his
usual smirk. He didn't offer any employment opportunities, either.

I know people without enough socks and underwear, no long underwear for the
winter, no shampoo, no razors,  no combs, no toothbrushes, no towels, no way to
cook and no source of light (until they met me, at least). I know people
without enough food. I see people laying in filth. I know people with no jobs,
and I see people rummaging through trash or pushing heavily laden bicycles or
carts to get empty cans to sell to a scrap metal dealer near the river for 60
yen per kilogram. I see homeless who keep their surroundings clean, even
sweeping and bagging fallen autumn leaves in the park for FREE, wishing they
had just 5,000 yen per month for the effort.

But Japanese are ignorant and cruel enough to claim that homeless "choose" to
be this way, while again, making excuses for themselves or the other millions
of ordinary Japanese (particularly women and housewives) who have no jobs,
pointedly avoiding calling THEM lazy. I probably know hundreds of Japanese with
no jobs, not looking for work, and many who explicitly tell me to my face, they
don't want to do ANY work, preferring to live off parents, husbands, or
government support (while they also bitch about taxes and the pension system
which they do nothing to support).

Miraculously, none of these unemployed ordinary people are ever lazy or
undeserving of help.

Only homeless or poor people who weren't born with the same opportunity to live
off others.

Fuck those Japanese.

The number of homeless I know are so few, that I figure even spending 3,000 yen
a month would make a real difference. I am making some difference all by
myself. Homeless thank me profusely for handing them a few spoonfuls of instant
coffee and sugar in a ziploc bag, some tea bags or a bag of food I'd already
opened. They smile when I walk or ride by.

Fukuyama is a region of half a million. For ten yen a month per capita, there
likely wouldn't be any homeless, because they could be housed, or paid regular
wages to keep streets, waterways and walls clean.

But the Japanese don't get it. The best I can do is get two or three hundred
yen out of a literal handful of people, once.

Fuck them.