Re: Why are Asians so good at math?

On Wed, 01 Mar 2006 16:33:43 -0800, Zuo Tung <ztjt@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

I don't think Japan was racist at all.

Interesting.

There are four groups which are traditionally considered as minorities
in Japan. They are Korean, Ainu, Ryukyuan, and Burakumin.

Zainichi are foreign permanent residents of Japan, most of whom are
Korean or Chinese. Japanese law doesn't allow dual citizenship and
until the 1980s required adoption of a Japanese name for citizenship.

The Ryukyuan are the people of Okinawa. Whether Okinawans are
Japanese or not is debated quite intensely throughout Okinawa and
recently in Japan. Linguistically, Okinawan is unintelligible to other
Japanese but still actually a distant dialect of Japanese. Culturally,
Okinawa is much closer to South East Asia and South China
reflecting their long history of trade with these regions.

The Ainu are considered to be the original inhabitants of Japanese
islands. As the Japanese government encouraged immigration of
ethnic Japanese to populate Hokkaido, Ainu were increasingly
marginalised in their own land. Many establishments in Hokkaido
had signs stating "Dogs and Ainu not allowed".

Burakumin refers to a Japanese social minority group and
therefore, is not part of the Japanese ethnic issue. Unlike
Indian Dalits, they do not have any distinct cultural heritage.
Rather, their status is derived from caste policy introduced
in the Tokugawa Shogun era. The system was political and
was never as rigid as the Indian caste system. Nevertheless,
the Tokugawa Shogun government designated certain workers
such as leather workers, certain entertainers or executioners
as eta (filth) or hinin (non person) and imposed various
restrictions on their life including the clothes they were allowed
to wear or areas they were allowed to visit.

Unlike nations like the U.S.A. racism in Japanese is not directed
so much at people of a particular race or ethnic group but rather
those who are "non-Japanese".

******************
A total of 38,935 Chinese males between the ages of 11 and 78 were
forcibly brought to Japan and made to perform harsh physical labor at
mines, construction sites and docks from Kyushu to Hokkaido beginning
in April 1943. While the overall death rate was 17.5 percent, at some
sites half of all workers perished. Brutality was standard practice
and there was little or no pretense of payment of wages. Food,
clothing and shelter were provided at or below survival threshold
levels.

In the Chinese City of Nanking, Japanese soldiers butchered anywhere
between 300,000 to 750,000 civilians. Japanese soldiers quickly turned
murder and execution of innocent men, women, and children into a game.

************************

http://www.webenglish.com.tw/encyclopedia/en/wikipedia/e/et/ethnic_issues_in_japan.html

Racism faced by non-Japanese Asians

* Japanese children who are not born in Japan, or whose parents
are not 100% Japanese, experience racism from a very young age and can
even be subject to beatings or stonings by their peers and adults. One
recent example is of a 9 year old boy of 1/4 American heritage whose
teacher aggresively pulled his nose while yelling "Pinochio, Pinochio"
until his nose bled. Initially the school refused to confront the
issue until the boy's parents became incessantly vocal. The confused
child was quoted as asking his parents if he was "dirty" because he
was 1/4 American.

* Recently there has been an upsurge in hate-crimes towards
Koreans with many buildings being terrorized and even exploded with
bombs. This stems from the abduction of Japanese nationals (often as
teenagers or young adults) by North Korea in the late 1970s and early
1980s from Japan's western shores. These abductions were long denied
by North Korea and often considered a conspiracy theory by observers.
Although some abductees have been returned to Japan, many of their
families are being held in North Korea as tensions between the two
countries persist. (see external links)

* There are many Koreans who were imported as slaves during WWII
but who never returned to Korea after the war. Some of these people
originate in what is now North Korea and openly support North Korea's
current government hence their becoming a target for hate-crimes by
Japanese people. The upsurges typically coincide with the yearly
arrival of a North Korean ferry which docks in the free-port of
Niigata for supplies.

* Okinawans, despite being of the same background as Japanese,
were regarded as non-Japanese prior to WWII. Their islands were later
claimed by Japan, occupied by the U.S.A following the war, and have
since been returned to Japan.

* Prime Ministers and high ranking officials have repeatedly
visited Yasukuni Shrine, a burial place for Japan's war dead,
including many infamous war criminals such as Hideki Tojo. These
visits have been considered troubling and provocative by many Asians,
and some Japanese, who are concerned that the visits might indicated
rising Japanese nationalism.

Racism faced by non-Asians

* It is not uncommon to be denied the right to rent a dwelling
based on race in parts of Japan and some for-rent notices explicitly
state gaijin-dame (???? lit: Foreigners not acceptable). The common
reason stated for this policy is that foreigners are associated with
being overly loud and more likely to host parties or other disruptive
events.

* A small minority of hot-springs, especially in areas of Hokkaido
frequented by Russian sailors, may deny access to their facilities
based on the belief that foreigners are more likely to clean
themselves in the bath water rather than washing in a shower prior to
entering the bath. Japanese only relax in bath water after washing or
rinsing, and do not wish soap or dirt to be present in the water. Most
foreigners understand this but some onsens, citing problems in the
past, refuse to allow them to prove it.
--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

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