Stalking Japan Times contributors

Posted by Ken Y-N (aka Tepido Naruhodo) on November 10, 2011 Leave a comment (57) Go to comments
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Searching the web I came across this site of batshit-crazy loons concerned Fookooshimars citizens discussing the merits of Mr Arudou’s recent article:

http://enenews.com/japan-times-column-public-possibly-worldwide-sickens-time-truth-will-leak-about-fukushima (Note that it appears to be down right now – the GoJ’s DoS seems to be working! Click here for the Google cache.)

Skip past the extract and the ads – the fun comes in the comments section. Scott Hards (another person from that toy shop!) and Olaf Karthaus come in for close scrutiny, indeed one might even call it stalking, for having the temerity to have a calm, considered position. Surely that can only mean one thing, corporate shills!

From the ridiculous to the sublime, however, with a discussion on Japan Intercultural Consulting on LinkedIn on the original article. I hope you can all read it without needing a LinkedIn account!

Oh, and how could I forget this Japan Probe article looking at the scaremongering.

As an aside, as a note to TEPCO and other members of the Nuclear Village: if there’s bribes going around to pay people to be rational, could you chuck a couple of brown envelopes my way? Thanks!

Out of his depth, Problematic Japanese Treatment, Straw man, Straw-clutching
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57 Comments.

  1. Ken Y-N (aka Tepido Naruhodo) November 24, 2011 at 1:12 am

    Greg, yup, he completely refused to give a straight answer (in fact almost no kind of answer) to Matt D’s calls for clarification. I don’t know how good or bad his arguments were, but Mr Arudou just let Jim Di Griz and Anonymous insult Matt D. :sad:

    I also see that Olaf Karthaus (I presume it’s him) telling Mr Arudou his Thai views are wrong.

  2. Matt D. November 25, 2011 at 2:54 pm

    I’ve posted some final thoughts on this here:
    http://www.anarchyjapan.com/2011/11/honesty-in-japan/

    I’m sorry, but I turned off comment. It’s partially because I just don’t have the energy to discuss this topic anymore. But I want to distance myself as much as possible from this “culture of deceit” idea.

    I feel like the proverbial frog in the boiling water. This really did take me by surprise. Of course, Debito and most his commenter do *not* see this. See my post. They are transfixed on an image. Sad.

    My views on the Fukushima nuclear crisis have gone from overly worried to cautiously optimistic. I don’t think nuclear fallout is nearly as dangerous as I initially thought it must be — though, of course, I’m still concerned. If I have time next week, I might blog something on this …

  3. kujirakira November 25, 2011 at 5:48 pm

    Because, as one of their long-time moronic hacks explains himself, nuance and depth don’t sell.
    What sells is “weird Japan”, “nationalist Japan”, etc. In other words, people in English-speaking countries aren’t interested in understanding anything about Japan — they’re interested in reading about how messed up Japan is so they can feel better about being in a dump.
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20030923zg.html

    And as McNeil points out, the hacks JT hires will write anything if they can get it into print. They have no conscious or ethics.

    “Well if us hacks don’t keep writing, we die. I have to get something into print, right? “

  4. Greg November 26, 2011 at 7:29 am

    In the name of polite and constructive conversation, I posted this on Debito.org. I doubt Debito Arudou will allow his readers to see it, but one can always hope.

    “Anon, I strongly suspect that you and a few of your fellow critics of Matt D. have not given much thought to what ‘prejudice’, ‘racism’, and ‘bigotry’ mean.

    “To be frank, you cannot have it both ways. You cannot logically support arguments that criticize some Japanese who fear foreigners based on the actions of a select few, extrapolate from those negative experiences, and then condemn an entire group for it. Meanwhile, the opposite is happening in this case. Carefully selected (and some would say debatable anecdotes) are presented to argue that Japan fosters a ‘culture of deceit’, when many would easily conclude that the presented argument is the same kind of fallacious reasoning.

    “I applaud Matt D for having the courage to post on Debito.org and attempt to inject some polite and serious food for thought here, despite the unhelpful jeers and unnecessary chiding he received.”

  5. Matt D. November 26, 2011 at 9:06 am

    Greg,

    That was definitely one of the points I was trying to make. And you make it with remarkable clarity and succinctness. I hope it gets posted and people think about it.

  6. Greg December 3, 2011 at 11:04 am

    “Some”? Try the word “many”.

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