From the mailbox: Who Killed Our Culture? We Did

dec 2nd

this is exactly what indians are doing too: abandoning the diamonds in our own backyard to run after the chimerical riches of the western world (or the apocryphal egalitarianism of the communist world).

thanks, ravi, for forwarding this to me. it is the indians who have lived abroad who can clearly see the folly. for this, they are abused as war-mongers by the fifth-columnists who dominate india.

'the hole in the heart' -- so true!

to thine own self be true -- and that's so difficult when our civilization is being systematically destroyed in front of our eyes. it's like gm and exxon buying up and destroying the competition, the streetcars of LA. it is an all-out attack on our civilization, the only one that has stood the test of time. every one of its contemporaries has been decimated by the barbarians of the desert.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: ravi

dear rajeev

its about japan's case. but highly relevant to others
and us as well.

regards


http://www.time.com/time/asia/asia/magazine/1999/990503/kudoh1.html

Who Killed Our Culture? We Did
A Japanese actress mourns her country's obsession with
American values
By YOUKI KUDOH

I belong to the generation of Japanese whose parents
are the children of those who grew up during and after
the war, suffering from hunger and poverty. It was our
grandparents who really experienced the long and
agonizing war.

Afterward, the people of Japan could gather the
strength to get on their feet again only by directing
all the frustration they had built up in their
minds--grudges, remorse, negative feelings--toward the
state. They even refused to sing the national anthem.
The result was that we of the younger generation were
taught that patriotism is bad. If you express your
love for the country, you are called "pro-war," you
are considered a right-winger.

The Americans, meanwhile, had Coca-Cola, chocolate,
family life, music and dance--all the pleasures we
lacked. The goal of post-war Japan was to catch up
with America by every means available. The economy
took off; we ran up the ladder and became a
first-class economic power, pretending all the while
not to see the huge hole in the mind, the distrust of
our own country.

Most of today's young people grew up in the absence of
some important values. They aren't positive about
being Japanese, nor about their own identity. They are
losing their integrity because they always pretend to
be like someone else. Whatever becomes popular, they
want to follow. When girls put on the platform shoes
that are fashionable now, it is as if they are trying
to step up to another level, to be someone they are
not. These girls want long legs, big breasts and
Caucasian features. The sense of beauty has changed.
Young women don't recognize what is good about
themselves.

It is good to be flexible and open to other cultures;
that is a quality young Japanese have that their
parents did not. But at the same time we have to hold
on to our own culture. We have become polluted by
American culture, contaminated by materialism. We
don't love our country, don't respect it. We are
negative about our culture: traditional things are
seen as old-fashioned, and everything new is good.
Social order and moral standards have disappeared.
Some people are even obsessed with denying their
Japaneseness. Many girls dye their hair and tan their
skin. The streets and towns of Japan are made to look
like France or America. Our cities were destroyed and
re-created to resemble a foreign country. Traditional
culture is not even accessible to most of us; it is
disappearing into oblivion. This makes me very sad.

We are following America, in good ways and bad. The
good thing is that people are becoming more
independent. It used to be impossible for people to
get promoted in a company unless they were the right
age, now matter how talented they were. Now that's
changing. It's more competitive. Someone with the
right skills can advance. But the bad thing is that we
are losing all respect for older people. We are
copying everything about America just because it is
American.

I was lucky enough to start working in the U.S. when I
was 17. By getting an external view of Japan, I have
learned how important it is to hold on to your
identity while accepting other cultures. In American
film, Asian women usually are cast as either
prostitutes or bitchy dragon ladies. This bothers me.
An American director offered me a typical Asian role,
as a bitchy type. I told him I didn't want to be
laughed at. I want to play a character I can
sympathize with. He decided to go the "traditional"
way, so I didn't take the part.

Usually, we compromise too much of ourselves. What is
missing in young people, I think, is the ability to
establish a relationship with somebody without trying
to copy that person, or comparing whether you are
richer or poorer, or better or worse. We need to love
ourselves, take pride in our homeland and establish
fair and equal relationships with people from all over
the world. You can accept someone without losing your
own identity. We need the confidence with which to see
the good qualities hidden in our history and tell the
world about them. We need a flexible mind with which
we can learn about mistakes in our history and turn
them into positive lessons.

I want Japan to prosper as a peace-loving superpower,
a great nation that can love itself and other nations,
too. As a young Japanese, I hope I can help our
country to reach that goal. I came to America because
there is more opportunity here in film. But I don't
think it always has to be that way. I am just working
here. I haven't abandoned my identity. My heart is in
Japan.

Youki Kudoh, 28, won international recognition for her
role in the 1989 Jim Jarmusch film Mystery Train. She
will be seen next in the upcoming adaptation of the
American novel Snow Falling on Cedars




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