Holy Cow

[Guest MikeSC]

For Japanese Hostages, Release Only Adds to Stress

By NORIMITSU ONISHI

 

OKYO, April 22 — The young Japanese 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.

 

The first three hostages, including a woman who helped street children on the streets of Baghdad, first 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!" one Japanese held up a hand-written sign at the airport where they landed. "You are Japan's shame," another wrote on the Web site of one of the hostages. They had "caused trouble" for everybody. The government, not to be outdone, announced it would bill them $6,000 for airfare.

 

Treated like criminals, the three have gone into hiding, effectively becoming prisoners inside their own homes. The kidnapped woman was last seen arriving at her parents' house, looking defeated and dazed from taking tranquilizers, flanked by relatives who helped her walk and bow deeply before the media, as a final apology to the nation.

 

Dr. Satoru Saito, a psychiatrist who has examined the three twice since their return, said the stress they are enduring now is "much heavier" than what they endured during their captivity in Iraq. Asked to name their three most stressful moments, the ex-hostages told him, in ascending order: the moment when they were kidnapped on their way to Baghdad; the knife-wielding incident; and the moment they watched a television show, on the morning after their return here, and realized Japan's anger with them.

 

"Let's say the knife incident, which lasted about 10 minutes, ranks 10 on a stress level," Dr. Saito said in an interview at his clinic today. "After they came back to Japan and saw the morning news show, their stress level ranked 12."

 

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 ex-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."

 

To the angry Japanese, the first three hostages — Nahoko Takato, 34, who started her own non-profit organization to help Iraqi street children; Soichiro Koriyama, 32, a freelance photographer; and Noriaki Imai, 18, a freelance writer also interested in the issue of depleted uranium munitions — had acted selfishly. 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.

 

Pursuing individual goals by defying the government and causing trouble for Japan was simply unforgivable. So the single government official to praise them was, not surprisingly, an American one.

 

"Well, everybody should understand the risk they are taking by going into dangerous areas," said Secretary of State Colin Powell. "But if nobody was willing to take a risk, then we would never move forward. We would never move our world forward.

 

"And so I'm pleased that these Japanese citizens were willing to put themselves at risk for a greater good, for a better purpose. And the Japanese people should be very proud that they have citizens like this willing to do that."

 

As an example of the unbridgeable gap between Japan and America, consider this comment by Yasuo Fukuda, the government's spokesman: "They may have gone on their own but they must consider how many people they caused trouble to because of their action."

 

The criticism began almost immediately after the first three were kidnapped two weeks ago. The environment minister, Yuriko Koike, blamed them for being "reckless."

 

After the hostages' families asked that the government yield to the kidnappers' demand and withdraw its 550 troops from southern Iraq, they began receiving hate mail and harassing faxes and email. In the village of Japan, like the one in "The Lottery," one had to throw stones.

 

Even as the kidnappers were still threatening to burn alive the three hostages, Yukio Takeuchi, a top official in the foreign ministry, said of the three, "When it comes to a matter of safety and life, I would like them to be aware of the basic principle of personal responsibility."

 

The foreign ministry, held both in awe and resentment by the average Japanese, was the "okami" defied in this case. While foreign ministry officials are Japan's super elite, the average Japanese tends to regard them as arrogant and unhelpful, recalling how they failed to deliver in time the declaration of war against the United States in 1941 so that Japan became forever known as a sneak-attack nation.

 

Defying the "okami" are young Japanese, freelancers and members of non-profit organizations, a status traditionally held in low esteem in a country where the bigger one's company, the bigger is one's social rank. They also represented something more: they belong to a generation in which many have rejected traditional Japanese life. Many have gravitated instead to places like the East Village in Manhattan, looking for something undefined. Others have joined non-profit organizations to help people in Africa or Iraq, a new phenomenon here.

 

Others have gone to Iraq looking to report the true story, since Japan's big media have always avoided dangerous places. (Indeed, almost all the big media departed from Iraq in the last week on a government-chartered plane, leaving Japan's most important military mission since the end of World War II essentially uncovered.)

 

Mr. Yasuda — who was in the second group of hostages and also described the stress he found here far greater than what he felt during his captivity in Iraq — quit his position as a staff reporter at a regional newspaper to report as a freelancer in Iraq.

 

"We have to check ourselves what the Japanese government is doing in Iraq," Mr. Yasuda said in an interview tonight. "This is the responsibility on the part of Japanese citizens, but it seems as if people are leaving everything up to the government."

 

The "okami" reacted with fury at such defiance. Some politicians proposed a law barring Japanese from traveling to dangerous countries; even more said the hostages should pay the costs incurred by the government in securing their release.

 

"This is an idea that should be considered," the Yomiuri Newspaper, Japan's biggest daily, said in an editorial. "Such an act might deter other reckless, self-righteous volunteers."

 

When two freed hostages mentioned wanting to stay or return to Iraq to continue their work, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi angrily urged them "to have some sense."

 

"Many government officials made efforts to rescue them, without even eating and sleeping, and they are still saying that sort of thing?" he said.

 

The comment was revealing, one that would not be uttered, at least publicly, in the United States where the government is supposed to serve the people. Here, the government is now trumpeting "personal responsibility" for those going to dangerous areas — essentially saying that travelers shouldn't accept any help from the government to secure their safety or get out of trouble.

 

Again, no Japanese politician dared to speak out against this idea.

 

Indeed, Mr. Koizumi's handling of the hostage crisis translated into positive polls, and the issue diverted attention from Iraq's worsening security situation and the fact that Japan's troops, according to this country's peace Constitution, are supposed to be in a non-combat zone.

 

Grasping Japan's attitude toward them, the hostages found themselves under crushing pressure, Dr. Saito said.

 

According to him, the 18-year-old Mr. Imai registered a blood pressure of 150. Ms. Takato, who had a pulse rate of over 120 beats per minute, kept bursting into tears. When the doctor told her she had done good work in Iraq, she cried convulsively and said, "But I've done wrong, haven't I?"

 

On Tuesday, Ms. Takato, using the tranquilizers Dr. Saito gave her, finally left Tokyo for her hometown in Hokkaido. According to the media, she made this comment about returning to her family home, but it could just as well have been about coming back to Japan:

 

"I feel like going back home quickly, but I'm also afraid of going home."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/22/internat...print&position=

Words, honestly, fail me on this kind of thing.

-=Mike

[BX 0]

That is really fucked up.

[Styles 0]

Well, these are the same people who still have those amongst them that refuse to believe Japan lost WWII.

At least they don't do "honor killings"...

[Firestarter 0]

I really don't understand foreign people.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

If we only we still had Kamui here to stick his fingers in his ears and bring up radical group web pages to defend the motherland of mighty Nippon.

[Guest cobainwasmurdered]

that's very fucked up. I can accept that they have a radicaly diffferent culture but that's...out there.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

see this is why people are so fascinated with Japan. The're completly insane.

 

when one of these people inevitably kills him(or her)self, a family member is guranteed to be quoted as saying something about the family's honor.

[Highland 0]

For some reason I thouight of Kamui when I read this article.

Oh yeah, further validation that Japan > America (or any Western country) isn't quite true.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

Funny shit -- and no, this isn't the "ha ha" kind of funny.

 

This is what you get when you try to help people...

[Guest netslob]

EXACTLY. and the lesson today, children: don't help ANYBODY, EVER. class dismissed.

[Guest OctoberBlood]

Goddamn.

[Sandman9000 0]

You have to remember is that Japan has always had (and probably always will have) the mentality that failure is unacceptable, and disobeying your elders is considered failing. Also, there's no shame in dying in your actions, as it could almost be considered taking responsibilities for your actions. It's why the attitude of death over capture was prevalent during WWII, and why it's not uncommon for people to commit suicide today, in an attempt to keep or restore honor to their families.

 

I'd be surprised if at least two out of the three didn't kill themselves in an attempt to restore honor to the family name. At least one will, I'll guarantee that.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

You have to remember is that Japan has always had (and probably always will have) the mentality that failure is unacceptable, and disobeying your elders is considered failing.

I suspect it's probably a result of the government encouraging that kind of behavior. Check out how the gov even went as far as to bill them for their airfare.

 

The good news is that the younger people of the country seem to be getting tired of this stuff, as well. So it may change in a few decades.

[EricMM 0]

Well it's very messed up to say the least.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

Oh certainly. There is a big problem in Japan, especially among intellectual circles with extreme ultra-nationalism. Always has been.

 

I don't know what was up with Kamui. The Japanese are very kind to foreigners as long as they absolutely know that you are going back from whence you came. They don't handle immigration well at all.

 

Also keep in mind that the Japanese is probably the least nuts of all the Asian-Pacific as well. Compared to the Malaysians, they are downright normal.

[Guest wrestlingbs]

It's always good to know that the USA doesn't hold a monopoly on insane shit.

[snuffbox 0]

I really don't understand foreign people.

Nor do I sometimes Marney...

 

A Taiwanese brat-bitch murdered two people close to me last year; and clearly the Japanese are attempting to represent the heartless swine demographic with this situation...

 

My advice to us all - Watch sick Japanese death matches on video.

[Lil' Bitch 0]

Amazing...

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Well it's very messed up to say the least.

I don't know. Whenever Americans travel to dangerous lands and get shot, there's always at least a vocal minority who says "That area is a battlefield, they had no business being there and got what they had coming to them." I know some people on this board have made those very same signals before on this board when some visiting American got shot providing support to people in Gaza caught between the Israeli Army and the terrorist organizations that do battle with them.

 

It's the same thing in Japan, really. The government there made it clear they didn't want any non-military going in.

[Renegade 0]

Fucked up

[Guest MikeSC]

Well it's very messed up to say the least.

I don't know. Whenever Americans travel to dangerous lands and get shot, there's always at least a vocal minority who says "That area is a battlefield, they had no business being there and got what they had coming to them." I know some people on this board have made those very same signals before on this board when some visiting American got shot providing support to people in Gaza caught between the Israeli Army and the terrorist organizations that do battle with them.

 

It's the same thing in Japan, really. The government there made it clear they didn't want any non-military going in.

World of difference between saying "What are you? NUTS? The place is a warzone" and the gov't charging them $6,000 to bring them home.

-=Mike

...I doubt the U.S Gov't would charge ANYBODY the money it costs to save them from a hostage situation

[Firestarter 0]

I didn't even realise that was aimed at me - I just saw a post by Jobber, shrugged, and moved on. Now that I have made the connexion, though, I believe the necessary and sufficient response is:

 

Go to hell.

 

But because I'm such a nice person, I'll point out in addition that Mike is entirely correct, and also that there's another world of difference between reporting, researching, or organising humanitarian projects (which, it seems, is what the Japanese were doing) and shrilly advocating the right of terrorist cockroaches to murder decent people, and making it easier for them to do it (which is what the "human shields" and "solidarity supporters" do). The latter is providing aid and comfort to the enemy. The former is not.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

Mike pointed out the blatantly obvious, which I already made note of (Japanese government has a very shitty way of doing things, ie charging people airfare to come home after being kidnapped.) Marney then expounded on that while acting offended.

 

Check and check.

 

And Marney, in that previous case, the guy was standing in front of a child, not a terrorist. And you still haven't said anything to show how this is an exception to your "This is a battlefield, don't fuck around on the battlefield because you'll get shot, kidnapped, or worse" routine from that time.