Freed From Captivity in Iraq, Japanese Return to More Pain (Universal Criticism)

The New York Times ^ | 4/23/04 | NORIMITSU ONISHI

[wideminded]

TOKYO, April 22 — The young Japanese civilians taken hostage in Iraq returned home this week, not to the warmth of a yellow-ribbon embrace but to a disapproving nation's cold stare.

Three of them, including a woman who helped street children on the streets of Baghdad, appeared on television two weeks ago as their knife-brandishing kidnappers threatened to slit their throats. A few days after their release, they landed here on Sunday, in the eye of a peculiarly Japanese storm.

"You got what you deserve!" read one hand-written sign at the airport where they landed. "You are Japan's shame," another wrote on the Web site of one of the former hostages. They had "caused trouble" for everybody. The government, not to be outdone, announced it would bill the former hostages $6,000 for air fare.

Beneath the surface of Japan's ultra-sophisticated cities lie the hierarchical ties that have governed this island nation for centuries and that, at moments of crises, invariably reassert themselves. The former hostages' transgression was to ignore a government advisory against traveling to Iraq. But their sin, in a vertical society that likes to think of itself as classless, was to defy what people call here "okami," or, literally, "what is higher."

[MEG33]

The freed flower children of Japan do not seem to be held dear by their countrymen at the moment..LOL

[atomic conspiracy]

Note that this NYT hit piece does not even mention the widespread suspicion among Japanese that the incident resulted from collusion between the kidnappers and the alleged victims.

"Two others kidnapped and released in a separate incident — Junpei Yasuda, 30, a freelance journalist, and Nobutaka Watanabe, 36, a member of a pro-peace non-governmental organization — were equally guilty."

Horse manure. The article simply mentions this and presents no evidence that Watanabe and Yasuda were subjected to the same disapproving treatment. There is a good reason for this. According to many media reports Watanabe and Yasuda have not been badly treated or subjected to disapproval and they were not, for example, billed for air fare.

The NYT's collective psychoanalysis of an entire country, bordering on racism, is simply a smokescreen for the real issue; growing public awareness of the cozy relationships and active collusion between various media, activist groups, and terrorists.

[q_an_a]

if only our society had not abandoned the rules of decent people during the 60s and 70s, we would have a few less problems. anarchy rules our topics of discourse because "if it feels good, do it" became more important than do the right thing. /rant off