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Japanese culture
It
is slowly being destroyed by Hollywood
By Takao Aoyama
It
is nice to know that my previous article (Has
Japan lost its soul?) generated such a
flood of response. The
reason I wrote that article is that my heart cries when I
see signs of death for Japanese culture with the westernization
of Japan.
Since I am a Japanese, I sometimes lie awake at night
thinking about what I could do to keep the culture alive and
growing. Our
culture is so unique and almost ancient – if it is lost,
it will be a terrible loss to mankind.
Why do I blame my own country?
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If
Japanese culture is about to die in Japan, the blame is entirely
ours. Japanese young
people now are so enamored by western culture that they do not even
look Japanese any more. I
am afraid that some people make fun of Japanese people because of
the decline of our culture.
I would
not be surprised that other nationalities would actually be thrilled
to see this trend in Japan since many Asians are definitely not
pleased with what Japan has done to Asia in the past.
Japan as a nation is so confused today that it seems that the
country is directionless. We
do not accept responsibility for our past actions and continue to
live with our own interpretation of history. (Related
articles: Japanese
pop culture takes Asia by storm and Japanese
culture in Germany)
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 On top of that, young Japanese do not care at all about the
history and just want to do whatever pleases them.
I am sure that some old Asians, who remember the atrocities
of Japan in the past, must be amused at our current predicament.
My message to fellow Japanese
First
of all, Japan has to accept the facts of history and young Japanese
should be taught both the good and bad aspects of our history.
If that means revising our history books, then it should be done
immediately. Of course, it will embarrass some of our
elders, but we should learn from our past and accept the facts of
history. If we have
committed atrocities, we should be sorry for those.
If we have proud moments in our history, we should rejoice in
those and try to preserve them.
I want
my fellow countrymen and women to recognize the dangers of going in
the direction that they have elected.
This will only mean disaster for the culture of country and
we will become a laughing stock of the world in the near future.
At this time a lot of people all over the world may be crazy
about Japan, as is shown by the tremendous popularity of MYNIPPON,
the same set of people would not stop smiling when
Japan is no
longer the country that it has always been and abandons the values
that has made it so popular among people all over the world.
Recommended links: Erosion
of Asian culture due to westernization Japanese
influence on New Zealand
Prejudice in Japan Fusion
of American and Asian fashion
How
to preserve Japanese culture?
Combined families in Japan
Hamana sculptures
Changes in Japanese companies |
