Racist Books and Me

A while ago I linked to this newspaper article about the growing popularity of nationalist, racist comics in Japan. If you haven’t read it yet, click on the above link and check it out. Very interesting, if somewhat depressing, reading.

Of course it’s one thing to read about the books as removed objects, as books that are being read somewhere in Japan, but not by any people I know, and not in any places I usually go. It’s another to actually see these books on display.

Recently I saw the books on display in my local bookstore. And I emphasize the word “display”. They weren’t tucked in the back hidden somewhere next to the “science fiction” section. They were right on a display table as I walked into the bookstore.

I believe in freedom of speech for everyone, even the racists, but what disturbs me is the prominence with which these books were displayed. And this wasn’t in some Ma and Pop bookstore tucked in the middle of nowhere. This was a big chain bookstore, inside of “Riverside Mall”, a large suburban shopping center.

And no one seemed to mind. Absent was the Japanese liberal who should have been saying, “Wait a minute, there are children in this shop. What kind of message are we sending to the younger generation when they walk in and see these racists screeds calmly displayed in the middle of a shopping mall?”

Everyone was just walking around the shop as if it were no big deal. “Oh look, there’s a book of cooking recipes. Oh, and I see they have the new ‘Hate Korea’ out as well.”

Although I suppose what’s most disturbing is not the display stand these books were sitting on, but the fact that they have been selling well enough to warrant this kind of display. The above newspaper article had mentioned these books were bestsellers, but I guess I didn’t really let that part sink in tell I actually saw them being sold.

This same “Riverside Mall”, by the way, is the same place that I saw the Nazi flag on display. That was in another store, but still part of the same shopping center.

I commented to some friends the other day, “I’m going to have to stop going to Riverside Mall. Every time I walk in there I see something new to offend me.” I then told them about the books, and we discussed the issue a bit.

“It doesn’t mean anything,” someone said. “The only reason those books are on display is because they’ve been getting so much publicity from the newspapers. It’s just pure sensationalism. It doesn’t mean the shop-owners or the customers are racists.”

“Yes, but what does it say about Japan as a nation that this kind of thing goes on without anyone blinking an eyelash?” I asked. “Could you even imagine what would happen if a major bookstore in the US put ‘Hate Black People’ on the display case?”

But the question of “what to do about this?” is not clear cut. In the case of the Nazi flag, the issue was largely ignorance. Japanese people don’t really understand the meaning of the flag, or the strong connotations it has outside of Japan, so I attempted to bring these issues to the shop clerks attention. But in this case, the shop clerks know damn well what these books mean, so it’s no use trying to bring the matter to their attention.

I have twice so far gone into the shop with another foreigner, and made a point of explaining the books in loud, simple English. “Look at this. The title of this book means ‘Hate Korea.’ See, this kanji character means ‘hate.’ And this one means ‘Korea.’ ‘Hate Korea’. That’s the title of this book. And they have it displayed right here as you walk into the store. It’s like ‘Welcome to Japan! We hate Korea!’”

As protests go I suppose this is rather weak, but I want to tell the other Japanese people in the shop, “We know what you’re up to. You can have your little racists screeds if you want, but don’t think you’re pulling one over on us. We foreigners can read it also. So the next time there are anti-Japanese riots in Beijing or Seoul, don’t come whining to us like you’re innocent victims.”

Shoko, who always shows incredible patience when I make her listen to one of my anti-Japanese rants, responded, “Of course those books are bad. But you have the same thing in America.”

“We do not,” I said. “When we went into the American bookstores, did you see any ‘Hate Japan’ books?”

“No,” she answered. “But I saw a lot of ‘Hate France’ books. If the American government ever quarreled with the Japanese government, I’m sure the ‘Hate Japan’ books wouldn’t be far behind.”

When Shoko and I were in “Barnes and Nobles” over winter vacation, we saw several anti-French books in the history section. These books haven’t been selling in Japan, so it was a bit of a surprise to me, but I assume they’re old news to many of you. Apparently the American right, still sulking over France’s refusal to aid in the Iraq war, have begun writing hack job polemics against the entire French nation and history.

Somewhere in here is a discussion about the difference between European multicultural states and the ethnically defined Korea and Japan, and the question of whether an anti-Korean book is inherently more racist than an anti-French book.

But there is no question that both types of books appeal to the lowest level of humanity. The people who write, buy or read these books are absolute scum.

And we never did find any WMDs in Iraq. So why is this even still an issue for people? I guess it’s easier for people to buy the latest “Hate France” book, than to admit they were wrong.

Link of the Day
Check out Bork's excerpt from Martin Luther King's speech.