Let's see...dreadlocks, sagging pants, untucked shirt, and loosened tie...yep, this kid - Kasu Kokubo - definitely forgot who he was (and wasn't), if you read between the tea leaves. The Japanese Olympic Committee sat him out of the opening ceremony as punishment, and to give him some quiet time to consider his choices. His bad attitude and forced apology should send his stock back home soaring, big time. He's already scored his gold medal, without touching his rig. Nice. And he didn't even have to drop the N-word, either! Way nice! 素晴らしい方法!James C. Collier
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Technorati Tags: Japanese Olympic Snowboarder In Hot-water Over Not 'Acting Asian', Dreadlocks, Sagging Pants, Apology, Acting Black, Acting White
4 comments:
This has nothing to do with "acting Asian". Japan is 98% ethnic Japanese, and 1% ethnic Korean, in a nation that homogenous where there are few visible minorities, people don't think about "race" as they do here. Japanese (like most East Asians) use race/ethnicity interchangeably. If you ask most Japanese people who have never been to the West, if they are a different race from Chinese and KOreans they would say "yes".
The issue is that in a Confucianist society group-think and heirachy matters a lot. Individualism = selfishness and arrogance.
You cannot just ignore rules from your superiors and attempt to stand out from your group as if you are special. That is a big no-no. In Japan, as in China, as in Korea they have sayings like "the tallest blade of grass gets cut, the highest nail gets hammered down, etc".
This has little to do with race, as many young Japanese men in Tokyo in 2010 dress just like this guy and that is fine, as long as you are a kid or doing some blue collar work, or NOT AT WORK. The issue is his "disrespect" for his superiors and his team.
I don't believe we should project AMerican racialism on a situation that most Americans can't understand. I was married to a Japanese woman for years and lived in Japan for over a year.
This young Olmypian has the attitude of a gangster. He talks the talk, but can he walk the walk? I would be glad to set him straight and show him how tough he is not...
The worst thing that one can do is to be disresptful to your elders, peers, and supporters....especailly your elders. Over the past 70 years his elders have worked their hands to the bones to grow such a great country and provide him the freedom to live his dreams. If the Japanese elers had the same attitude as this young man years ago then Japan would certainly not be what it is today...a respected country & people. It is so sad that he is blind to this fact, but he is still just a kid, and with a little luck he will grow up and become a mature, hard working man.
Maybe he just needs a mentor, for which I would be glad to take up that task.
One last thought....how did his parents raise him?
I just can't resist. You do realize that 70 years ago Japan was a facist country that got into a little scrap with America. I don't think we know this young man but if his elders had been like him maybe we could've avoided all that bloodshed?
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