June 17, 2005

• The outrage stems from a dispute over rocks.
• If those cards are recent, I think it might have more to do with the Japanese government recently endorsing a school textbook that minimized Japanese actions (i.e. atrocities) and motives in WWII and earlier Japanese aggressions. There was a great deal of (renewed) outrage in Korea and China.
• Nal, if you make it about half way down, you'll see a bunch of pictures referencing the Liancourt Rocks.
• Don't think for a moment that kids in every country don't produce or are not capable of producing similar work. Propaganda is a very scary and effective tool.
• Ooops. Didn't realize there was actually an explanation at the bottom. Not particularly observant of me. Interesting use of class projects though. Wonder if they'll be building missile parts at their desks soon.
• Yeah I missed it first time round too, hence my "not sure what the inspiration was for these drawings." My favourite part of this was the comments. Fuck Japan indeed!
• Don't think for a moment that kids in every country don't produce or are not capable of producing similar work. Well, the quality is better than I think most kids in most countries can produce. Most are better drawings than I could reproduce, that's for sure. Back onto your point, yeah, that's the purpose of the education system. Get 'em while they're young.
• Why all the anger? Basically it's over the Linocut Rocks. The Korean media decided to play up the issue this spring. And the Korean government rather than be mature about it and resolve it in the legal or political arena (legal being unlikely as few observers hold the opinion that Korea's claim will be upheld, and political resolution has not happened because it is unlikely that Japan will surrender all claims to the rocks), instead the government ordered the public schools to tell the students the Korean view without actually backing it up The rocks are a pretext. My guess is that seething rage at Japan is always present among Korean people. Japan murdered millions of Korean civilians in the 1930's and 40'and forced thousands of Korean women to become sex slaves. The Japanese army was well known for their savagery; bayoneting toddlers, beating infants to death. The medical experiments the Japanese conducted on Koreans were the equivalent to any of the Nazi atrocities.
• i wanna try the rations and the first time i saw one of those little soda cans i saw the future and it is now
• I spent a year in Korea a while back, the dislike (to understate it, perhaps) of the Japanese was evident, and, as mlis stated, is deep rooted. I would guess we could go around the world and find a similar, sanctioned hatred of another people in nearly every country.
• Fucking Brazilians!
• Great graphic style from some of the little darlings tho.
• The bunny is priceless... Rather telling evidence that visually displays how such feeling are propagated through generations.
• Ah, you whippersnappers with your "Oh isn't this shocking!" type reactions. Back when I was in grade school we got extra points for writing papers about how crappy life in the USSR must be, and how glad we would be if they tested a nuclear warhead and accidentally blew up the whole country. Then we'd have the missle drill. Seriously.
• "I was in grade school we got extra points for writing papers about how crappy life in the USSR must be......" hmmmm...here in Michigan we wrote the same things about Ohio....
• HB: EVERY state writes that about Ohio
• Funny, HuronBob. Growing up in southwest Michigan we ridiculed Indiana, not Ohio. (Stupid bass-ackwards time zone cretins!) When I lived out in Montana, North Dakota was the butt of all the jokes.
• Sort-of related... Back when I was in elementary school in Taiwan, our standard Chinese textbook had a lesson called "Days Without Sunlight" depicting the harsh life under Chinese Communist rules. For years I believed the mainland Chinese subsisted on grass.
• As a native Ohioan, about to move to Ann Arbor (Yes HuronBob, you WILL be forced to have beer with me at Ann Arbor Brewing Co. or the brewery of your choice at my expense), I've wondered if my Ohio passport will be burned by angry mobs of well, Ohioans. I'm coming from Ill-annoy, so maybe that will confuse them. In addition... all of my Dutch friends universally say Belgians are stupid. I had a Belgian girlfriend in fifth grade and not only was she not stupid, she was incredibly beautiful - I'd sell my soul to see what she looks like today.
• An otherwise level-headed Japanese student that I know once told me that "Koreans are a race of thieves". Now, I figure there's got to be some kind of critical thieving mass. I mean, can we all subsist on stealing from each other if no one is producing anything? I suppose we could import, but how could we afford it? Pretty much anywhere I go in the world, I'm surprised to find very ingrained prejudices, vehemently held with the certainty of absolute fact, way beyond anything I've experienced at home.