“In a land where Gods walked the earth, you would expect that the greatest insider is always the outsider”.—Sho Ryu, CEO, Rising Dragon Entertainment
Today’s victim: Japanese Society and History by John McKinstry (Author), Harold Kerbo (Author)
McKinstry and Kerbo pen an extremely brief, basic and facile overview of Japan in “Japanese Society and History”. It’s the sort of thing you could probably glean from the history channel, youtube, and a few online interviews. Or a lengthy date with a hot yet erudite Japanese cosplayer. In fact, the book contains very little information that would not be included in the most rudimentary course on Japan. And so much of the content is already starting to read as dated, even though it’s a relatively recent publication.
The authors are admitted modern liberals (Flying Spaghetti Marxists), a fact which is disseminated during an odd and totally out of place commentary on MacArthur and his relationship with leftist groups in Japan. Their perspective epitomize a very stereotypical “Eurocentric” view of Japan (something “Liberals” often complain about and connect to “White Supremacy / White Privilege”). Not surprisingly, the author’s arguments in this section presuppose that the “progressive” viewpoint is the only ethical foundation for any political system. In other words, people on the Left are correct. Those to the right of Marcuse let’s say…well, they’re slightly off-balance or worse.
These type of arguments belong in a different sort of book. And they appear and disappear in this one—quite dramatically so. Nothing wrong with reporting facts, but a moral evaluation of those facts should be followed up with at least some explanation.
I also found that McKinstry and Kerbo are always on the outside looking in, missing the essential core of Japanese society which is multidimensional and hyper-complex. Much of their collective understanding of this fascinating culture comes from their own experiences, taking what Japanese have relayed to them at face value. They also repeatedly offer unnecessary comparisons to America, as if there was some contest taking place.
Here’s a little hint as to whether a non-Japanese has written a proper book on Japan with reasonable insights. If you read anything like the following: “I have lived in Japan for 20 years and still don’t understand the culture” or “no matter how long a non-Japanese lives in Japan, even if they speak the language, understand the culture and act Japanese – they will never be accepted as truly Japanese”—run from that author.
The truth is that anyone can move to Japan and be “Japanese”. And in fact, many “outsiders” in Japanese culture are admired and accepted even more than the “ethnic” Japanese insiders. These individuals are often granted a very high level of respect in Japanese society. Often these Gaikokujin act as a catalyst toward major evolution in Japanese culture—for the better and sometimes, for the worse.
A simple example of the authors missing the boat is their coverage of the ethnic Korean (Zainichi) cultural dynamic within Japan itself. They never bother to mention the irony that many of the most far-right, anti-Korean groups (including the Yakuza) are often managed by and/or have a significant membership of Korean-Japanese. We won’t even get into how this connects to the North Korean economy and the most bizarre trade-triangle that you’ve ever heard of. Reminds me of Paul Gottfried’s creation of the AltRight and the racist attacks this movement has leveled against Jews in America.
This is just one of hundreds of essential layers that are overlooked and under-developed.
Not recommended. Instead, go direct to the source.