Anti Japan protests in your town? 钓鱼岛

[gato]

I totally agree. The nationalists don't represent majority view, but Japanese voters are very detached from the political process. It is quite understandable that it seems like a majority view from outside.

I deplore Japanese nationalists..... I find them frightening domestically and internationally. I don't see them as the voice of Japanese people though. If Shinzo Abe becomes PM I extremely concerned about the direction Japan could take.

Their power isn't in numbers, or in the extent of how wide their opinion is.

(which I have said consistently through this.)

It's that they punch far above their weight.

I find it puzzling the common claim that the right-wing nationalist politicians (Prime Ministers even) don't represent the Japanese people, yet they are elected via democratic elections.

Isn't that like claiming George W. Bush doesn't represent the American people and it's not the American people that invaded Iraq?

[tooironic]

Except voting is not compulsory in either Japan or the US...

[WangYuHong]

... but Japanese voters are very detached from the political process. ...

I find it puzzling the common claim that the right-wing nationalist politicians (Prime Ministers even) don't represent the Japanese people, yet they are elected via democratic elections.

Isn't that like claiming George W. Bush doesn't represent the American people and it's not the American people that invaded Iraq?

Speaking from the US perspective at least...

The average voter is very far removed from any decision making process...

First, there's the time factor:

The choice for an elected official only occurs every X number of years... (4 years for president, 6 years for senators, and 2 (?) for representatives) After the official is voted into office, they have years of unchecked action... They can vote and bills as they feel like, etc. The only real check on this power is the expectation to get reelected in however many years... But when they have set term limits (a president can only be elected to two terms), then there is essentially no motivation to ensure that their actions match voter expectations.

A better example with George W. Bush is when he got elected to the office on the promise of no new taxes: "read my lips, no new taxes." Once he was in office he was totally free to do what he saw fit, and did actually bring in new taxes (one of the reasons he didn't get reelected...)

But on top of that, voters only get one choice to represent them on X number of issues...

It's impossible to find a representative that feels the exact same way on every issue that comes up.

That means, some of the time, even though the voter chose that person to represent them, the official will do things that doesn't actually represent the voter's interests. On top of that, only a simple majority is required.. which means an official can be elected without actually representing up to 49% of the people...

The news in the US likes to talk about it on a one-dimensional scale: if you're an R you always vote for X, if you're a D you always vote for Y, which is just flat out wrong. They've started addressing this by refering to fiscal and social persectives (thus a Republican can be fiscally conservative but socially liberal, and vote on different things than a Republican who is fiscally conservative and socially conservative).

[Scandinavian]

Since US is always the choice between two parties, perhaps comparing Japan with US is not really helpful. The recent political scene in Japan has been that of coalition governments, which by nature will be a long line of compromises between different parties and their policies. In a coalition, the division of power might fall out significantly different than what anyone could expect at the time of voting.

It might be that the majority of Japanese voters do not have the government they wanted, or the majority of Japanese voters simply care more about internal topics than they care about international politics.

If Chinese could vote, would they vote for a person who would work in bettering the relations with other countries or the person who would work for food safety?

[skylee]

If Chinese could vote, would they vote for a person who would work in bettering the relations with other countries or the person who would work for food safety?

Is there something wrong with this question? Must they be two persons? Can't they be the same person?

[Scandinavian]

If it was just one person there would be no point in asking to chose. Obviously there is a chance that there would be a candidate whom you agree with completely on all topics. But it is more likely that you will only agree on some topics. Voting is the same as picking a restaurant. You might choose a restaurant because they have a fish you really like but the vegetables they serve are overcooked. If you don't like this then go to the restaurant that serves perfectly cooked vegetables, but only has pork dishes. Choosing who to vote for is like picking a restaurant. Maybe at the surface the menus look alike, but once you are actually there the differences will show.

[gato]

See this article from a few years ago, which should be relevant. Some of you want to debate whether elections can ever be representative or the merits of a two-party system vs multi-party system, but my point was that I find it puzzling the wish to downplay right-wing nationalism in Japan by casting it as some fringe activity, even though it's supported by major political figures like the governor of Tokyo and the once and possibly future Prime Minister.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/19/international/asia/19comics.html?pagewanted=all

Ugly Images of Asian Rivals Become Best Sellers in Japan

By NORIMITSU ONISHI Published: November 19, 2005

[EmilB]

Yesterday I got a typical conversation on the topic with my office administrator:

She: I hate the Japanese, they are such terrible people.

Me: Why, how many Japanese do you know?

She: .. pause..

Me: I bet it's 0

She: Yes, but they do all this horrible things

Me: Have you ever met a Japanese guy doing horrible things to you or anyone you know?

She: No, but on the TV they say so, so it must be true

[Outofin]

EmilB, are you quoting the conversation or interpreting it in your way? Was she speaking in a foreign language?

When I hear someone telling a story about another person being completely nonsense, I hesitant to believe.

And why don't you know that we can judge a person or a group of people without personally knowing them.

[xiaocai]

Yesterday I got a typical conversation on the topic with my office administrator:

And your definition for typical?

[aristeon]

There were no anti-Japanese protests in Taiwan. It is interesting to notice, though, that the official policy of the government is similar to that of the PRC.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2012/11/03/2003546779

Below is a picture I took at Taipei Main Station. Shortly before the Double Ten Day the ROC government put "reminded" the public that the Diaoyutais belong to the ROC.

[skylee]

何至於此。

Organizers: No Japanese permitted in Beijing Marathon

北 京 馬 拉 松 據 報 禁 止 日 本 跑 手 參 加

日 本 《 朝 日 新 聞 》 說 ， 在 月 底 舉 行 的 北 京 馬 拉 松 ， 主 辦 單 位 禁 止 日 本 籍 的 跑 手 參 賽 ， 理 由 是 擔 心 中 日 兩 國 因 釣 魚 島 爭 議 ， 影 響 跑 手 的 安 全 。

報 道 引 述 主 辦 單 位 的 消 息 人 士 說 ， 只 要 跑 手 報 名 時 ， 在 國 籍 一 欄 剔 選 日 本 以 外 的 其 他 國 籍 ， 就 可 以 如 常 參 賽 ； 在 官 方 的 報 名 網 頁 ， 已 經 找 不 到 有 日 本 國 籍 的 選 項 。

今 年 的 賽 事 在 本 月 25 日 舉 行 ， 由 天 安 門 廣 場 跑 去 奧 林 匹 克 公 園 ， 至 今 已 有 二 萬 六 千 人 報 名 。

北 京 主 辦 單 位 未 有 回 應 有 關 報 道 。

[imron]

影 響 跑 手 的 安 全

To be honest, I'm not sure it's safe for anyone to run a marathon in Beijing

[skylee]

What do you think? I think it sounds funny.

中 方 否 認 拒 絕 日 本 人 參 加 北 京 馬 拉 松

中 國 田 徑 協 會 副 主 席 沈 純 德 表 示 ， 比 賽 官 方 網 站 的 參 賽 者 「 國 籍 選 項 」 無 日 本 ， 是 因 為 日 本 人 很 少 透 過 互 聯 網 ， 報 名 參 加 賽 事 。

內 地 傳 媒 說 ， 北 京 馬 拉 松 官 方 網 站 的 參 賽 者 國 籍 選 項 ， 已 經 加 上 日 本 。