Texas - Japan Friendship

Most would assume that there could be no two places more father removed than Texas and Japan. However, there is, in fact, quite a deeply rooted historic connection between the Lone Star State and the Land of the Rising Sun. The most poignant, yet often overlooked, reminder of this connection dates back to 1914 and can be found in the heart of Texas, in the city of San Antonio and the most sacred spot for all Texans: the Alamo, “shrine of Texas liberty”. In a small courtyard at the Alamo, visitors will see a small monument bearing the following inscription:

Nagashino is the Alamo of Japan;
The Alamo is the Nagashino of America.
Whoever knows the heroes of the Battle of Nagashino
Knows the heroes of the Alamo

Likewise, if one were to travel to Okazaki, Japan to the remains of Nagashino Castle on the Shitaragahara plain in Mikawa province, one will find the exact same monument with the exact same inscription. This came about thanks to the efforts of Dr. Shigetaka Shiga, a professor of geography from Waseda University in Tokyo. Doctor Shiga was studying and noticed striking similarities between the 1836 battle of the Alamo and the 1575 battle of Nagashino in Japan. Both involved a small band of soldiers, barricaded inside a fortress, holding off a vastly superior enemy army, led by a young commander and sending out messengers calling for help. The difference was in the ending. In Japan, the defenders of Nagashino Castle were eventually rescued by the forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu while, as we know, there was no rescue for the Texans in the Alamo who fought to the death in the Mexican attack on the morning of March 6, 1836. The monument marks the similarities between the two events, telling their stories with exchanged names to highlight this. And, even though the outcomes were different, the fate of the Alamo defenders was also noted by the Japanese scholar as it called to mind the samurai spirit of preferring death before dishonor and, as he wrote:

But their fame, like the blossom’s fragrance, is still in the air.
The custom of the West does not necessarily condemn surrender…

The idea of a group of warriors fighting to the death against hopeless odds was something familiar to Japanese culture at the time and something to be respected. However, the monument had a more peaceful purpose, to encourage friendship and goodwill between the peoples of Japan and Texas, and thus the United States as a whole. When the monument was dedicated in 1914, attended by descendants of the Alamo defenders, Dr. Shiga said his goal was to, “make my people understand the friendliness, generosity, and hospitality of the inhabitants of far-off America”. Because of this shared historical bond, even today, Japanese tourists are a very common sight at the Alamo and the battles of the Alamo and Nagashino hold a special significance for Texas and Japan in relation to each other.

In other fields, although the Japanese presence in Texas has never been a large one, it has had a tremendous impact on Texas, particularly in areas such as agriculture and architecture. Rice cultivation has been common in East Texas ever since it was brought over from Louisiana but it was greatly improved thanks to the efforts of some of the first Japanese-Texans who were interested in finding more efficient ways to grow more rice to benefit both Texas and Japan. In 1903 Seito Saibara and 30 other Japanese colonists arrived in Webster in southern Harris County. Rice seed was sent as a special gift from HM the Emperor of Japan and within three years the rice harvest had almost doubled. Seito Saibara, along with his family, among the first Japanese-Texans, have been credited with establishing the Gulf Coast rice industry in Texas. Today, thanks to those early efforts, Texas is one of the largest rice producers in the United States. Later, other Japanese colonists arrived and joined the rice farming industry in various parts of Texas such as Port Lavaca, Fannett, Terry, Mackay, El Campo and Alvin, Texas. Many Japanese also settled in Mission, San Juan and San Benito in the Rio Grande Valley to grow vegetables and citrus orchards. Later, other Japanese families migrated from California to Texas due to racial bigotry being prevalent in California. Texas, the “Friendship” State, was more welcoming.

Of course, World War II put a strain on relations as with the rest of America and in one of the most shameful pages of American history, Texas was home to several of the concentration camps where Japanese-Americans were interned during the war. However, when it was over, goodwill returned quickly as Japan and America became Allies and even looking back at the war years, both sides were able to have a mutual respect for each other. A particularly beautiful example of this can be found in the hill country town of Fredericksburg, hometown of U.S. Admiral Chester Nimitz who led the naval campaign against Japan in World War II. There is a large museum there covering the admiral and the Pacific War as a whole but also a lovely garden, the Japanese Garden of Peace that was gifted to the museum by the Japanese government in 1976 on the 130th birthday of the town of Fredericksburg. The garden is an exact replica of that of the famous Japanese Admiral Togo. One of the greatest naval leaders in world history, Admiral Togo was greatly admired by Admiral Nimitz. Aside from the small town of Fredericksburg, big Texas cities like Austin, Ft Worth, Houston and San Antonio also have Japanese gardens. The Japanese-Texan who built the garden in Austin had a son, Alan Taniguchi, who trained thousands of architects as the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Texas and director of the School of Architecture of Rice University.

There are also, of course, numerous Japanese restaurants, tea houses and art galleries in most every major city in Texas. One area in which Japan and Texan have grown quite close in recent years may be overlooked. Texas is known for cattle ranches and oil wells, space exploration and computer development but few probably know that it is a major center for Japanese anime in the United States. Today there are centers in New York and Los Angeles but Texas is still home to the biggest adaptors and distributors of this widely loved area of Japanese pop-culture. The cities of Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are where much of Japanese anime is sent to be dubbed into English and shared with the American public. Anime Network, Funimation Entertainment, Sentai Filmworks and many other of the biggest names in the industry are based in Texas and they largely employ local talent for their dubbing work so that a great many fans will by now by very used to watching Japanese animation performed by Texan voice-actors. With this industry of rather recent years, combined with the earliest Japanese colonists to East Texas to make rice cultivation a major industry, it is no surprise that Houston, Texas has probably the largest Japanese population in the state. Texas shares many values and interests with Japan and the Japanese have made quite an impact on Texas in business, agriculture, medicine, architecture and even the landscape and in food and entertainment. With great mutual respect and long-lasting ties of friendship, Texas and Japan will certainly only continue to grow stronger in the future.

First Shanghai Incident

It was today in history, 1932, that the First Shanghai Incident occurred, also known as the January 28 Incident when forces of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy (Shanghai Expeditionary Army) clashed with the Nineteenth Route Army, and later the Fifth Army of the Kuomintang faction of the Republic of China. Many people have a distorted and one-sided view of this incident. For them, the story is that the Shanghai Incident was orchestrated by the Empire of Japan in order to distract from the establishment of the independent state in Manchuria (best known as Manchukuo, which is actually just Manchuria in Chinese) but this explanation does not bear up to close scrutiny. In the first place, why would Japan need anyone to be distracted from Manchuria at all? No country and not the League of Nations were even thinking of taking any sort of action in response to the establishment of an independent Manchuria even though many opposed it for the example it set of peoples in Asia gaining their independence. Certainly no one forgot about Manchuria after the incident in Shanghai, so the reasoning does not make sense on the face of it. Secondly, we have the facts and the basic facts are that a group of Japanese monks were attacked by the Chinese near a factory and that after a mob disturbance this factory was burned down after which the Imperial Japanese forces intervened in Shanghai.

The usual, anti-Japanese explanation of this is that these monks were attacked by Chinese who had been paid to do so by a Japanese agent for the sole purpose of provoking an incident. However, again, this makes no sense and, if it matters to anyone, is also a totally unproven allegation. Even those who make this claim state that the five monks who were attacked were members of a very nationalistic sect, so what they are trying to argue is that the aggressively nationalistic Japanese military hired the Chinese (who they supposedly hated and looked down on) in order to attack their own "aggressively nationalistic" Japanese monks? It really stretches the limits of reason. It sounds somewhat similar to the modern-day "truthers" who claim that the President of the United States destroyed the World Trade Center in New York just to have an excuse to wage war against Islamic radicals. It is rather too incredible to be believed. However, if one cuts away the unsubstantiated rumors and allegations one is left with some simple facts: it was Japanese monks who were attacked by the Chinese and it was a Chinese reaction that prompted the public disorder which finally compelled Japan to intervene. Those are the facts and no one actually disputes them.

Five hundred Japanese marines were sent ashore to restore order and protect Japanese lives and property against the Chinese who had attacked them in the wake of the destruction of the towel factory. The local Chinese authorities then escalated the incident by declaring martial law and when the Chinese and Japanese forces clashed, more Japanese reinforcements were sent and both sides were pulled into an all-out battle for Shanghai. The Japanese forces were led by General Shirakawa Yoshinori (left) a veteran and distinguished officer. On the other hand, the Chinese 19th Route Army was not considered reliably loyal to the Kuomintang, had been trained by Soviet advisers and was considered radically leftist by even the Republic of China ruling faction. They were also aided by criminals of the notorious Chinese "Green Gang" that operated in the Shanghai underworld. Later, when they could not defeat the Japanese, they sent in better troops were trained and equipped by Nazi Germany. It should also be pointed out that, at the time, those neutral powers present in the international section of Shanghai were almost unanimously in support of the Japanese and blamed the incident on the Chinese for having provoked Japan and brought ruin down on the city. Remember also that these "neutrals" were mostly Europeans and Americans who were not well disposed toward Japan at the time and would not have been the sort to have given Japan the benefit of the doubt and yet almost as a whole, those who were there at the time and place that the incident happened believed that it was the fault of the Chinese and not Japan.

Finally, some have also said that the Japanese rejected efforts to make peace and end the fighting. This is, at best, a misleading half-truth. The Japanese forces rejected a demand to cease-fire from a delegation sent by the League of Nations which did not speak for China and which had nothing to do with the conflict. On the other hand, when the Japanese offered a cease-fire if the Chinese would withdraw their troops to a safe distance beyond the city it was the Chinese authorities who rejected it, ensuring the the destruction of Shanghai would continue. Finally, however, a peace was agreed to and Shanghai became a "demilitarized zone" with Chinese and Japanese armed forces withdrawn. Again, if this was all planned and staged by the Japanese, and they agreed to the peace, one would have to ask what Japan gained from it? Things went back to the way they had been before for the most part. Obviously, the facts show that the First Shanghai Incident was an unfortunate event that cannot be blamed entirely on Japan. If local Chinese groups and officials had acted differently there is no doubt that it never would have happened.

Japan, Nazis and Stupidity

Today there is a common refrain going on among the usual anti-Japanese crowd (mostly the republican regimes of Communist China and South Korea) has taken up as a slogan for their mindless, zombie-like followers. This slogan is “Japan is Nazi of Asia”. This has even been taken up as an official line by the bandit government in Peking in response to some western historians who have compared China to Germany just before World War I. Trying, as always, to shift all negative focus toward Japan, their officials have said that it is Japan that is ‘just like Germany’ but prior to World War II or, in other words, saying the Japanese are the Nazis of Asia. This is so stupid and asinine that it really should require no response, however, the republican enemies of Japan have been able to get away with too much for too long when it comes to slandering the honor and integrity of His Majesty the Emperor’s land and faithful children. So, we will take this seriously for a moment and let the facts show who, exactly, is most like the regime of Nazi Germany in East Asia today. This will not be opinion, this will be strictly the facts of history and the present day.

First of all, what was Nazi Germany like? Nazi Germany was a militarily aggressive state ruled by one dictator and where only one political party (a workers party) was allowed to participate in politics. Nazi Germany was also a state where racial minorities were persecuted, primarily the Jewish minority but also any other non-German group of which there were not many in Germany to begin with. There was no democracy in Germany, no contested elections between multiple parties because, as we have said, there was only one legal party allowed. Real religious freedom was limited. There was certainly no religious freedom for the Jews and the Christians in Germany, whether Catholic or Protestant, were allowed only under strict state control. If they were suspected of any lack of enthusiasm in their support of the regime they were persecuted. For Catholics, letters from the Pope in Rome had to be smuggled into the country secretly in order to be read at mass. Nazi Germany was officially racist and preached a doctrine of the racial superiority of the “Aryan race” and was openly aggressive towards its neighbors. Nazi Germany was always claiming territory held by their neighbors. They claimed Austria, the Sudetenland (later all of Czech territory) and parts of Poland and Lithuania really belonged to Germany and should be taken back. They even started to obtain these territories by intimidation or by military force when necessary. This was preceded, of course, by a massive build-up of the German military just before World War II.

Does that sound anything at all like modern Japan? The State of Japan is certainly not militarily aggressive; it has a policy of pacifism written into its constitution. Japan is not ruled by a dictator but is governed by a Prime Minister under the august reign of His Majesty the Emperor according to constitutional law. Japan is not a single party state as there are parties representing a wide array of political opinions that stand for election and participate in politics. Racial minorities are not persecuted in Japan as even the most vocal critics of Japan, usually the Korean minority, have remained in Japan for decades so they must not be treated very badly. In fact, many in Japan hesitate to show any pride in their own country such as raising the national flag or singing the national anthem because of concern over offending foreign people living or going to school in Japan. There is religious freedom in Japan with communities of Christians, Buddhists, Shintoists, people who hold to a variety of religious beliefs and some who hold to none. In fact, Japan is so open to religious minorities that quite a few Christians have been elected Prime Minister in Japan even though the Christian population is extremely small. As for racism, Japan certainly has no official policy or position supportive of racial hatred. In fact, Japan was the first country to call for an international condemnation of racism after World War I (the other Allied powers rejected this proposal). And, finally, as for being aggressive with their neighbors, this certainly does not describe modern Japan. There are, of course, some territorial issues Japan has with neighboring countries but Japan has only ever pushed for discussions to resolve these issues (such as with Russia and South Korea) and was met with anger simply because Japan would like to talk about it. Japan has taken no military action against any neighbor or any country at all since 1945.

Obviously, anyone can see that the State of Japan is nothing, at all, in any way, like Nazi Germany. However, that description of Nazi Germany did have a ring of familiarity to it, didn’t it? What country in east Asia does that sound like? Let us take a look at the People’s Republic of China. The PRC is a militarily aggressive state, having invaded Korea, Vietnam, India, Tibet etc. The PRC is also ruled by a dictator and it too has only one political party (a workers party) which is the only one allowed to participate in politics. Communist China has also persecuted racial minorities such as the Manchurians, Mongols, Tibetans and Uyghurs. They have flooded their ancestral lands with Han colonists to eliminate these minorities in a demographic flood. There is no democracy in Red China and those who call for democracy and multi-party elections are shot in the street or run over with tanks. There is no religious freedom in Red China with Catholics loyal to the Pope rather than the Communist Party, Tibetan Buddhists loyal to the Dalai Lama, Muslims in Xinjiang and even Falun Gong practitioners all among the persecuted. Even those religious groups that are allowed to worship must always support the policies of the government or face similar persecution. Also, just like Nazi Germany, the Chinese Communist Party is dominated by one race, one nationality, the Han, and all others must take second place and they have long believed in their own superiority over all other peoples. Also, just like Nazi Germany, Communist China is constantly claiming territory belonging to neighboring countries. Red China has territorial disputes with Japan, Korea, Vietnam, The Philippines, almost every neighboring country and have used both intimidation and military force to gain control of disputed territory. Finally, Red China has also been building up its military forces rapidly so that it has a large nuclear arsenal, a huge air force, an expanding navy and the largest army in the world.

The facts should be obvious for all to see. Japan has nothing at all in common with Nazi Germany. It is a peaceful, constitutional monarchy and not an aggressive military dictatorship. If there is any country in east Asia that most resembles that of Nazi Germany, it is another one-party dictatorship: the People’s Republic of China.

Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein

HRH Princess Raiyah bint Al Hussein

The youngest daughter of King Hussein and Queen Noor of Jordan, the half-sister of the present King of Jordan, Abdullah II, Princess Raiyah has a Master's Degree in Japanese, spent a year studying in Japan at Ritsumeikan University and practices kendo and aikido. This photo was taken on April 13, 2009 at Sodo Reiho Kimono Dressing Academy School in Tokyo.

Japan and Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress with 

King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress are escorted by

Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn of Thailand

Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress greet

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand

Japan and Thailand have long had a close friendship. In the distant past interactions were fewer but developed more over time, particularly with Japan and Thailand having the distinction of being the only countries in East Asia never ruled by a European power. During World War II there was an alliance between the Kingdom of Thailand and the Empire of Japan. The Japanese mediated an end to the war between French Indochina and Thailand which saw the return of disputed territories to Thailand. When British forces bombed Bangkok, the Kingdom of Thailand declared war on the United Kingdom and United States in solidarity with Japan. Thailand also gained four provinces in northern Malaysia after the Japanese drove out the British forces from the region. This was the last period of expansion for Thailand. In the years since the war, both countries have cooperated in international relations often highlighted by the friendly relationship between the two sacred monarchies of the Thai Royal Family and the Imperial Family of Japan.

No Third Alternative Between Right and Wrong

Today on the main weblog we look at The "Third Force" That Never Works. After World War II the United States went into colonial countries in Africa and Asia to support pro-independence forces in competition with the Soviet Union that was doing the same but supporting socialist/communist revolutionary elements. However, because of ideological bigotry against monarchy the U.S. rejected the legitimate, traditional leaders of these countries and always looked for a 'third alternative' which invariably resulted in splitting the anti-communist opposition and allowing the communists to win. This was a totally different approach from that taken by the Empire of Japan that always supported traditional, legitimate local authorities wherever possible. It must also be said that the action taken by the United States in East Asia was also often tainted by post-war anti-Japanese sentiment that prevented the best course of action from being taken. How many lives could have been saved if the Allies has supported maintaining the Qing Emperor in Manchukuo, Prince Phetsarath in Laos or Emperor Bao Dai in Vietnam? However, the U.S. refused to have anything to do with any traditional figure who had anything to do with an imperial power whether British, French, Dutch or Japanese. The result was to make it harder for the anti-communist forces and the policy did not serve America well.

Making an Assassin a Saint

Some may know the Catholic Church in Korea is pushing to have An Jung Geun declared a saint. They have compared this assassin of Prince Ito Hirobumi to the great heroine St Joan of Arc.

Catholics everywhere should oppose this monstrous abuse of the causes of saints. An Jung Geun was no Joan of Arc. In the first place, St Joan most likely never killed anyone, she rode into battle carrying a banner to lead and inspire the soldiers who were fighting. Secondly, even if St Joan did kill people -it was in battle, during a war, fighting armed soldiers with honor on the battlefield. An Jung Geun murdered an unarmed man, taking him by surprise. That is totally different and it is an insult to Joan of Arc for the Korean clergy to compare her to a murderer.