September 11 Through a Japanese Lens

[NFS4]

I was reading this on my PocketPC via Avantgo, but I don't think it's up on Business Weeks's main site yet so here it is. I thought it to be quite interesting:

SEPTEMBER 16, 2002

EYE ON JAPAN
By Brian Bremner




September 11 Through a Japanese Lens




A distant perspective can put moral and logical issues in the sharpest focus, something being an American in Tokyo has taught me


Living abroad certainly has its moments -- not all of them exactly pleasant ones, especially since September 11, 2001. When terror struck in New York, the Pentagon, and rural Pennsylvania, I watched the whole thing on CNN just like millions of other Americans and millions more of every nationality around the world. But from Sept. 12 forward, I have been dealing with the welter of emotions one feels about such outrages in a different place, Japan, which doesn't necessarily see the world as Americans do.

Yes, I know, it seems an obvious point. But it has complicated things. So has the fact that I'm raising two daughters who, truth be told, don't really think of themselves as Americans. They speak Japanese, play with Japanese kids, carry Japanese passports. My eldest, who is 6, has taken notice of the impact of the event and I have tried to explain what happened as best I could, without scaring the hell out of her with visions of a terror-filled future or coming off as one angry American -- which I certainly was for about six months.

In hindsight, I realize I'm going to remember for a very long time quite a few things that have happened in the year since, most of them inspiring. There were initial and small acts of kindness and acknowledgement in the early days after the attacks. On the train into central Tokyo on Sept. 12, no fewer than three Japanese asked me if I was an American, expressed their condolences, or asked if I had lost anybody close in the attack.

DANGEROUS AMERICANS? A few days later, during a solitary lunch, a Japanese executive who had lived in America sat down and just started talking about what the attacks had meant to him. After all, the lives of Japanese, particularly bankers and traders working at the World Trade Center offices of Fuji Bank and others, were snuffed out by Islamic extremists as well.

The public discourse in the Japanese press has probably been similar to much of the European press. It started off extremely sympathetic, was mildly supportive but skeptical during the campaign against the Taliban, and has been extremely critical and sometimes quite anti-American ever since. I happen to think that kind of give-and-take about American foreign policy is quite a good thing, by and large. But it's also true that it isn't just the Europeans who see America as arrogant, unpredictable, and maybe even a little dangerous.

There has been some surprisingly thoughtful commentary. Early on in the crisis, former Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa reminded his countrymen in a published interview that the U.S. was a very young country that doesn't have a long history of dealing with cataclysmic societal shocks. At first, I thought such thinking somehow trivialized what had taken place in my homeland. But now I think Miyazawa, who lived through much worse turmoil than most ordinary Americans -- a government on a military rampage, the atomic bombings, and a national collapse -- was on to something.

OVERWROUGHT COVERAGE. Back in 1995, a devastating earthquake took the lives of 6,000-plus in Kobe. No, it wasn't a terrorist attack, but it was terrifying. I remember the frantic emotions of my wife, Yuki, who couldn't reach her sister in a nearby town for many hours. I recall, too, a television announcer breaking down at the end of a very long day of nonstop coverage devoted to the carnage. Obviously, those most directly affected by the quake are still living with the consequences and always will be. But the society at large eventually found a way to rebuild Kobe, place the disaster in the right context, and move on.

The challenge facing the U.S., of course, is different, far more multi-faceted -- and potentially lethal. But maybe it's worth remembering Stateside that we aren't the only country to suffer such a lethal blow. In fact, we've had a pretty safe and prosperous run. That's not to say Americans in any way deserved what happened a year ago. But in watching and reading the saturation coverage of September 11 in the American media, it came off as a bit too self-absorbed and overwrought.

I have learned that sometimes it's a delicate balancing act between being a father and a red-blooded Yank with fairly hawkish views on dealing with terror. My daughter thinks America is a pretty scary and predatory country right now. She watched the images of Americans bombing the hell out of Afghanistan, the associated civilian casualties, and my bet is that, in 2003, the big show will move to Iraq.

DULLED MINDS. Obviously, it's tough to make an extended argument to a 6-year-old about the history of extreme Islamic thought, and the nightmarish scenarios of a world with loose nukes and all manner of chemical and biological weapons. If we lived in New York right now, I wouldn't have to bother.

What am I getting at here? Well, maybe that context really does matter a lot more than we think. The risk in the U.S. is that the understandable shock and outrage of a year ago didn't create a lot of moral clarity, but dulled us to some creative thinking about what American values truly are about. It may also lead us into some very ugly foreign-policy blunders if we don't try to think through precisely how our actions will impact the rest of the world.

And here's the punch line: I'm pretty sure I would have been too dim-witted to give this much thought if I hadn't experienced September 11 through the prism of Japan.



Bremner, Tokyo bureau chief for BusinessWeek, offers his views every week in Eye on Japan, only for BusinessWeek Online
Edited by Beth Belton

 

[IGBT]

Interesting read...

 

[LanEvoVI]

It's always good to get a different point of view. Thank for the good read...

 

[Tominator]

Notice there is no mention that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide and I'd bet like in Europe there is little mention if any of this. But like Europe they are indifferent to outright Anti-American.

There is no amount of money in the world that would possess me to let my kids grow up anywhere but here.

 

[bizmark]

hmm, that's something I hadn't thought of.... we've heard all about Europe's views on us, and of course the Middle East's. Japan has kind of taken a back seat, maybe because they don't have a military. Anyway, a good read, thanks for posting it

 

[JellyBaby]

It's not about anti-Americanism. It's about shining a spotlight on the effect America has on the rest of the world. We've done great good but also made stupid mistakes, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. To ignore this is to perpetuate it.

Getting defensive and lashing out in anger provides relief in the short term. But as the years go by and terrorism increases, world opinion of us doesn't change, our tax burden increases to fund our military and intelligence services and our liberties shrink, we may realize all of that could have been avoided by making simple policy changes.

We have to destroy al qaeda, there's no doubt of that. But if we create 10 more terrorist groups for everyone we destroy, what have we done? Terrorism can only flourish when they can convince nutcases to die for a cause. Right now we made it far too easy for these nutcases to thrive.

 

[duke]

Hey Thanks. That was a refreshing read.

 

[Tripleshot]

Good eye opening read. Food for serious contimplation.

I still favor turning Iraq into a parking lot. And every other terrorist mongering country. You know damn well the terrorist think the same of us, so we should hit them first. The WTC and pentagon is the last we sit back and wait for a hit. We are now ready to strike first and go on the offensive. Thats the ball game Islam has started with us, and I want to play.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: JellyBaby
It's not about anti-Americanism. It's about shining a spotlight on the effect America has on the rest of the world. We've done great good but also made stupid mistakes, sometimes intentionally, sometimes by accident. To ignore this is to perpetuate it.

Getting defensive and lashing out in anger provides relief in the short term. But as the years go by and terrorism increases, world opinion of us doesn't change, our tax burden increases to fund our military and intelligence services and our liberties shrink, we may realize all of that could have been avoided by making simple policy changes.

We have to destroy al qaeda, there's no doubt of that. But if we create 10 more terrorist groups for everyone we destroy, what have we done? Terrorism can only flourish when they can convince nutcases to die for a cause. Right now we made it far too easy for these nutcases to thrive.

Someone who gets it.

 

[Rallispec]

good read

 

[NFS4]

Glad you guys enjoyed it. I was reading it and I was like "DAMN, I didn't think of it that way"

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

. At first, I thought such thinking somehow trivialized what had taken place in my homeland. But now I think Miyazawa, who lived through much worse turmoil than most ordinary Americans -- a government on a military rampage, the atomic bombings, and a national collapse -- was on to something.

Um, the government on a rampage was their own fault. America has been through a national collapse...and a civil war. And, frankly, the atomic bombings were the result of a cold-blooded surprise attack. The attacks on America on September 11 were not retaliation for an attack on another country, it was mass murder by people who wish us all dead.

 

[PistachioByAzul]

Good read.

 

[Dhawk]

Ok, it appears the rest of the world has its opinion on what we have done wrong and is ready to strongly criticize what we may do next, but are any of them offering realistic solutions for what action the US should take?

If we just roll over and become just passive and defensive or just reactive to the terrorist, what will the reactions of the rest of world be (not if, but) when we get hit with the next big catastrophic terrorist attack or disaster?

I am open for suggestions.

 

[GermyBoy]

Originally posted by: Tominator
Notice there is no mention that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide and I'd bet like in Europe there is little mention if any of this. But like Europe they are indifferent to outright Anti-American. There is no amount of money in the world that would possess me to let my kids grow up anywhere but here.

No amount of money? Sounds like you have too little intelligence to let your kids grow up anywhere but here. If you want your kids to be more intelligent, and to experience culture, raise them elsewhere. I'd love to see your argument that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide. Just because you don't understand why some people make their choices doesn't mean you have to criticize them. Open up a paper anywhere ELSE in the world, and you'll understand how crappy we are. Every day you find some new breakthrough in technology in Japan in the newspaper. You don't hear about that in US papers because we are censored so much. This happens because the Japanese for the most part work harder than us. You should also read about the intelligence levels of the "average" American as compared to the "average" <put country here>. We will be lower than a ton of them because of your sort of attitude. We have this superior attitude that we're so much better than the rest of the world, and the truth is, we were up until about the 80's. However, in the 60's other countries realized this and strived to be as good as us. They are slowly taking over. We are not even the most wired country to the internet anymore. We are the creators of such a great technology, but do not dominate it. However, we dominate brain-dead activities such as basketball and other stupid sports.

This perseption is about what has happened isn't about America thinking it is superior and should stop, but instead points out that huge catastrophies occur all the time and we don't go making huge deals about it. The firemen that died in Sept 11th were heroes, but was it an earthquake that devastated new york, causing more damage also be?

 

[NogginBoink]

Originally posted by: Tominator
Notice there is no mention that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide and I'd bet like in Europe there is little mention if any of this. But like Europe they are indifferent to outright Anti-American.

There is no amount of money in the world that would possess me to let my kids grow up anywhere but here.

Why should the article mention that "[Japan exists] in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide..."?

That, to me, has no relevance at all to the issue at hand. If other coutries are indifferent to America or are outright anti-American, maybe we should pause and ask ourselves why that's so.

America has not, historically, been a good neighbor in the international community. Somehow we've appointed ourselves policemen of the world. But because of our economy and military, you think that foreigners should give America pardon for the offenses we commit against the international community?

I happen to think the article is well written and has some very good points.

There are other threads here in ATOT that also comment on the current situation with good insight. If America were to be more of a good neighbor, we wouldn't find so many enemies ready to beat down our door.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

That, to me, has no relevance at all to the issue at hand. If other coutries are indifferent to America or are outright anti-American, maybe we should pause and ask ourselves why that's so.

Because they're player haters. Why do you hate Bill Gates? Because he's better than you. He's smarter than you, lives in a bigger house, sleeps with a more beautiful woman, is more satisfied with himself, is more famous, is more powerful. So, to compensate, you rant about how evil his company is and how he's the great Satan and that makes you feel a little better about yourself.

 

[Lonyo]

I hate a kid who act's kinda gay (no offense to any gay people who might come here, this guy's just freaky), and who's parents don't like him watching TV. I don't hate him because I'm jealous, I have everything good, I hate him for other reasons, like the way he acts and his attitude. It's the same with lots of people, IF I knew Bill Gates and hated him, it might be because he gets away with releasing quite rubbish products in the main, not because he's richer than me.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

America has not, historically, been a good neighbor in the international community. Somehow we've appointed ourselves policemen of the world. But because of our economy and military, you think that foreigners should give America pardon for the offenses we commit against the international community?

You mean being a bad neighbor by rescuing the world from "totalitarianism" in WWII, giving money and food to poor countries, saving Kuwait from invasion? Apparently SOMEBODY has to be the policeman if EVERY OTHER FREAKING COUNTRY is going to sit on their hands while groups like the Taliban take over a country. Bottom line is that nobody else has the balls.

England was very Imperialistic for centuries. If a few Indians flew some planes into buildings in London would we all say it was a great tragedy, but, come on, they had it coming? No? Why not? Because we're the resident top dog and it's only cool to make fun of the big dog. It's like those little puny kids who take swings at the big stud on campus and when they get decked they're all like "Why are you picking on me? Waaaaa!"

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

The reason why so much attension is given to the United States is because other countries can ignore their own faults. Its a great way to take blame off themselves. No ever talks about how Europeans were the root cause of 2 world wars, murder of millions of africans and are cause of many of the current problems, and the fact that the Europeons were meddling in the Middle East long before the United States was. But that does not matter because "They are Enlightened Now"

However, If any of you have EVER traveled outside the US, you will find out that most of the world does not hate the United States. (well except for France )

 

[NFS4]

nevermind

 

[charrison]

Originally posted by: GermyBoy

Originally posted by: Tominator
Notice there is no mention that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide and I'd bet like in Europe there is little mention if any of this. But like Europe they are indifferent to outright Anti-American. There is no amount of money in the world that would possess me to let my kids grow up anywhere but here.

No amount of money? Sounds like you have too little intelligence to let your kids grow up anywhere but here. If you want your kids to be more intelligent, and to experience culture, raise them elsewhere. I'd love to see your argument that the Japanese exist in large part because of the umbrella the US economy and military provide. Just because you don't understand why some people make their choices doesn't mean you have to criticize them. Open up a paper anywhere ELSE in the world, and you'll understand how crappy we are. Every day you find some new breakthrough in technology in Japan in the newspaper. You don't hear about that in US papers because we are censored so much. This happens because the Japanese for the most part work harder than us. You should also read about the intelligence levels of the "average" American as compared to the "average" <put country here>. We will be lower than a ton of them because of your sort of attitude. We have this superior attitude that we're so much better than the rest of the world, and the truth is, we were up until about the 80's. However, in the 60's other countries realized this and strived to be as good as us. They are slowly taking over. We are not even the most wired country to the internet anymore. We are the creators of such a great technology, but do not dominate it. However, we dominate brain-dead activities such as basketball and other stupid sports.

This perseption is about what has happened isn't about America thinking it is superior and should stop, but instead points out that huge catastrophies occur all the time and we don't go making huge deals about it. The firemen that died in Sept 11th were heroes, but was it an earthquake that devastated new york, causing more damage also be?

a few comments:

Itelligence is equally spread over the world. Per capita, japan, europe,US,<insert favorite country here> have the same amount of dumb people and smart people.

The US has never claimed to be perfect, but the US Constitution is the best damn governing document available today. If you know of one better, please let me know.

The US will remain an economic super power as long as it continues to produce 40% of the worlds research and developement. We dont invent everything, but per capita we invent alot.

The US will remain a military power as long as we are an eceonomic power and the rest of the world choses to neglect their own defence.

The Japanese are about the only country in the world that work as many hours as we do, but their political system has them mired in a recession that has been going on for 10+ years now. Japanese govt bonds are close to junk status at this point.

We are not the most wired country in the world for a couple of reasons.
-We are large country, it takes years to do full rollout of technology. By the time the rollout is done, something better is in place,but the advanced often do not justify the cost of a new roll out. As an example there are hundreds of billions of dollars of copper in the ground to support cable and phones. We could replace it with fiber, but it does not make sense.
-Our population is not dense enough for the ROI for new tech to easily work.

 

[CaptainGoodnight]

I want to know where most of you got the false idea that most countries hate the US?

 

[bmacd]

Originally posted by: LanEvoVI
It's always good to get a different point of view. Thank for the good read...

-=bmacd=-

 

[AvesPKS]

If anything, the Japanese have a better work ethic

This sure makes it sound like they have a better work ethic...