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Media's
bias against Japan
Why
do we only hear bad things about Japan
By Kurt Hahn
I
am a Caucasian male, born and raised
in San Francisco who originally came to Japan in 1981 as an exchange
student at Waseda University. Since then, I have lived in Tokyo for about
17 years. My experiences here have changed my perspective, both with
respect to my understanding
of Japan and as well as my views towards the US. Over the years, I have
come to genuinely enjoy and feel at home in Japan, but it was my initial
experiences as a minority in Japan some 20 years ago and the changing
perception of myself as an American by living outside the US that has had
the deepest impact on who I am today.
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I
am not the typical American, by the
fact I have chosen to live outside the US and have embraced a foreign
culture as my new home. To be sure, it has become increasingly difficult
for me to communicate effectively with some Americans in the States
particularly on the topic of Japan. There is no animosity for me having
effectively "abandoned" the US, but to many it is as if I have
chosen to live on Mars. They can't imagine themselves having to deal with
the difficulties and hardships of living in a foreign culture,
particularly one as different (and strange) as Japan. However, to other
Americans - to those that share with me a desire to learn more about the
world - there is common
ground, and it is easy and rewarding to share my
experiences. Americans, like people of all countries, come in many
different forms: there are those that spend their entire life in one
village, there are others that travel the
world. |
 My
initial experience in Japan was
greatly influenced by contact with other non-American gaijins,
principally Europeans. It was then that I first learned how blind
Americans are to international affairs, creating prejudices with
respect to other countries including Japan. I was embarrassed and humbled
by my ignorance. Clearly, this is a function of my education and
upbringing, as well as the economic strength and the geographic separation
of the US from the rest of the world which, for better or for worse,
allows Americans (and the US media) to view the US from an unusually
biased, geocentric perspective. By comparison, most of the rest of the
world lacks such luxury and, by contrast, have long histories of conflict
and compromise with neighboring countries resulting in greater respect and
understanding of people of different cultures. Look no further than the
general inability of Americans to speak a second tongue compared to most
Europeans for example. To the extent language and culture are inextricably linked, the understanding of culture begins with language. It
is on these points, perhaps, that Canadians are proud of their bi-lingual
culture and more international perspective, and view themselves entirely
different from Americans.
Until
the US loses its (perceived) prowess
as the world's economic superpower and is forced into a situation of
compromise with other countries, it is unlikely the average American will
become remotely interested or educated, compared to people of other
countries, as to what goes on beyond its borders. To be sure, there is a
growing rise in Americans traveling and living abroad, particularly Japan
and Southeast Asia. The irony is that many, like myself, choose to stay
there.
In
the meantime, the US media will
continue to dictate how and what the average American believes about the
rest of the world. Incidentally, I suspect the role the media has in
influencing public opinion is no greater in the US than in other
countries,. As an antidote, I had an African American friend I met during
my initial stay in Japan in 1981 who, on his first night with his host
family, was asked whether he owned a gun and had seen murders in his
neighborhood. Later over a beer we both laughed at the story, knowing this
prejudice of black America had come from the Japanese press and TV. This
was really no fault of their own; in any event, the family had willingly
brought him into their home to live, and were obviously open to try to
learn more about (black) America.
On
the subject of the media, The New
York Times, LA Times, Time, Newsweek and others are notoriously liberally
biased in their presentation of international affairs with respect to
Japan and the world. CNN and the big three TV networks (CBS, NBC, and ABC)
are equally guilty. These medias influence the perspectives of mainstream
Americans and have huge circulations, but it may be worthwhile to take
note of other publications that present different, and perhaps, more
critical views of the US vis-ŕ-vis Japan, namely: The Washington Times,
Weekly Standard, The National Review and Foreign Affairs. Incidentally,
the UK papers are equally guilty of bias, including The Economist, The
Financial Times and The Guardian. It is indeed difficult to find local
writings which are not, in some respect, biased with respect to presenting
their own country's perspective. It is perhaps the nature of the beast: to
water down stories into sensational sound bites to reach the largest
possible audience.
Unfortunately, the US media continues to
portray the Japanese as imitators rather than innovators. At their best,
Japanese engineers are working on pie in the sky, futurist projects, such
as underwater cities and edible
underwear. The argument often goes that
the Japanese education promotes memorization and stymies creativity. If
Japanese people were creative, some say, then why haven't they produced
world-class computer software? Nonetheless, the growing success in the US
in manga/anime and TV game software, such as
PS2, for better or
worse, are changing the minds of young Americans. To a growing number of
kids in the US, Japan is pretty cool.
That
is why I have learned to ignore
virtually all books written about Japan - the exception being contrarian,
i.e. positive, books including: “Embracing Defeat” by John Dower and
“In Praise of Hard Industries” by Eamonn Fingleton. I also enjoy
controversial writings by Japanese authors, such as Ishihara/Morita's
“The Japan that Can Say No”. The best education for me about Japan comes from first-hand
experiences with real, individual Japanese people who I meet with everyday
in Japan. There is no
substitute to experiencing and learning Japan than to actually mingle with
them and get to know them as human beings.
Speaking to them in Japanese in settings where you are just one of
them is far more educational than reading a book by a so-called Japan
expert. The western media has
done enough damage already to the reputation of Japan.
It is time we stopped relying on them and instead focused on
getting to know some real people.
Recommended links: Japanese
television Dissolving
stereotypes of Japan Marrying
a Japanese man
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