First, a photo completely unrelated to anything:
Stumbled upon this guy sleeping on the platform of Koenji Station at 3pm on a Saturday. That must have been one rough Friday night. Attracted by the group of snickering high school boys, a conductor came over and began shaking the man, trying to get him up. He didn’t move for a while, then began trying to swat the intruder away, curling back up into the fetal position.
On Saturday, I stumbled upon a mass of people in front of NHK Studio Park with bunches of green balloons and bandannas. At first it looked something like a group of Iran supporters, decked out in the pro-Moussavi movement’s trademark color, but their uniform of black T-shirts declaring “NHK no Daizai” (NHK committed a grave crime) didn’t quite suit. Turns out they’re protesters against NHK’s coverage of Japan’s colonial rule over Taiwan, an issue that generally gets glossed over but is still a sore spot amongst some Taiwanese, in a recent documentary series called “Japan Debut.” The Yomiuri provides some of the only English information about the issue:
However, the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan–a Tokyo-based Japan-Taiwan friendship organization–submitted a letter of protest to NHK dated April 9 in which they claimed that the show’s producers manipulated Taiwanese people’s comments to suit their own agenda for the program.
“[The program] was produced from a historical perspective under which Japan unilaterally oppressed the Taiwanese,” the letter said.
One of the more detailed Japanese articles talks about what exactly protesters have found offensive, including what seems to be a biased editing of scenes of indigenous Taiwanese being displayed at “human zoos” and being forced to recite the Imperial Rescript on Education, as well as strong narrative statements like, “As amicable as the relationship between the two countries may be, Taiwan still bears deep scars from Japanese political rule.”
In Japan, a country that is notorious for textbook omissions and sketchy war museums, the fact that this became an issue isn’t terribly surprising. And for all the positive that was done during the occupational period–something scholars and educators seem happy to stress–some serious offenses did occur, including abuse of Taiwanese “comfort women,” massacres and harsh political rule. What is wrong with scrutinizing the other side of the coin? But because NHK is a public broadcaster funded largely by taxpayers, is it within their right to use that money to show Japan in a negative light? Is it their obligation to patronize the nationalist view of Japanese history?
What is surprising about the issue is the almost complete lack of information in Japanese or English regarding the protests that have apparently been going on for a few weeks now. A search through Google News only brings up 5 Japanese articles. Steve Job’s liver transplant got far more coverage than that, and this is rather loud criticism of a public broadcaster. Is it because these people come off as kooks? Or perhaps a deeper issue related to media politics?
Regardless, on Saturday the protesters seemed to be in full force, loudspeakers out with their fists in the air, actually trying to break in to NHK headquarters. I dove excitedly into my bag for my camera, realizing when I flipped the switch that I had left the battery charging at home. Doh! The iPhone’s camera doesn’t make a very good substitute, but it’s better than nothing.
NHK is always on the receiving end of the stick for any number of things they say or omit to say. I have seen these people for a couple of weeks now and I haven’t yet had the courage to go up and ask what they are protesting about. They seem to ignore me and everyone else seems to ignore them. It is by far one of the most surreal protests so far. And how come that Free Tibet guy is mixed up with them if the issue is about Taiwan?
I was unlucky enough to work next to an NHK office a few years ago and had to endure the full on blast from the right wingers mega phone tirades starting at noon every weekday. Apparently it has been going on for years and my colleagues just closed the windows and tried to ignore it. Didn’t work quite as well for me… haha…
Thanks for the info! It’s good to learn more about the story.
Incidentally, I have never met a Taiwanese who was even remotely upset at the Japanese occupation. Very differnet form the Chinese/Koreans I meete. I wonder why? I am sure these protesters would be happy to tell me. (^-^;)