Path: ccsf.homeunix.org!CALA-MUZIK!newsfeed.media.kyoto-u.ac.jp!fu-berlin.de!uni-berlin.de!individual.net!not-for-mail
From: "John R. Yamamoto-Wilson" <john@rarebooksinjapan.org>
Newsgroups: fj.life.in-japan,soc.culture.japan,alt.food.sushi,soc.culture.korean,soc.culture.china
Subject: Re: DO japanese people have personalities?
Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 17:38:24 +0900
Lines: 19
Message-ID: <4fv34nF1jg3trU1@individual.net>
References: <1150869894.163097.202850@m73g2000cwd.googlegroups.com>   <zemascouflatte-85A911.18565221062006@News-West.Usenet.com> <1150940741.573759.110150@u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com>
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain;
	charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Trace: individual.net QazE3YVR1ZCILMN5a/HciQckWlJTwlRo98q0gvxETe7DKSHWEu
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1106
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1106
Xref: ccsf.homeunix.org fj.life.in-japan:163544

TXZZ wrote:

> So even Macarthur was an idiot, when he said japanese culture "...
>would be more like a boy of 12 as compared to our development
>of 45 years..."?

I wouldn't say he was an idiot, but he was certainly patronising and
misguided. The United States didn't lock up all Americans of German descent
in prison camps during WWII, nor did they "bestow" democratic principles and
a constitution on Germany. Basically, they treated them like adults, and
they responded accordingly. To treat the Japanese like children was,
essentially, racist, and if the present generation of Japanese are
politically naive and ill-informed about their own culture and history
MacArthur must shoulder his share of the blame.

--
John
http://rarebooksinjapan.com