Bronze-level articleJapan

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Japan (日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, either is correct) is an East Asian nation occupying an archipelago, or group of islands (the major ones being the largest island of Honshu containing the capital city of Tokyo in the island's Kanto region, the northern island of Hokkaido, the westernmost island of Kyushu, and Shikoku situated south of Honshu and east of Kyushu, though numerous smaller islands exist within Japanese waters) which lies on the western-most edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Japan's flag is a simple design with a red circle on a white background, representing the sun (the country's Japanese names literally translate to "sun origin"). Their food is particularly awesome, and so are some of their greatest artistic achievements, including prints by such artists as Hokusai and Uemaro and the cinematic samurai epics of Akira Kurosawa.

Contents

[edit] Historical background

Japan's position as a nation of islands removed from the Asian mainland meant that the Japanese archipelago was relatively isolated compared to its neighbors. Nonetheless, Japan did engage in significant amount of trade and fighting with its neighbors.

Japan's only war with another state between the Mongol invasions and the First Sino-Japanese War was during the period of 1592-1598, when Toyotomi Hideyoshi invaded Korea after its king refused to allow Japanese troops to enter China through Korean soil. China, as Korea's ally, came to Korea's aid. The war came at a great cost to all three countries, but especially to Korea.[1] Japan was eventually kicked out of the East Asian system of international relations by China in 1637, not only for having previously invaded China's most trusted ally, but also for having failed to deal with its rampant piracy problem.

Japan returned to a period of relative isolationism, but still maintained official diplomatic relations with Korea, and continued to trade with Korea, China, and the nations of Southeast Asia, Thailand in particular (although this was largely cut off after a coup brought an unfriendly government to power in Thailand) while rejecting virtually all contact with the West aside from the Dutch at Nagasaki. This came to an end in 1854, when the America Navy forcibly created trading contacts and treaties. Japan at this time was still a feudal society of peasants, samurai and lords, ruled by a shogun (general) in Edo (modern Tokyo), while the power of the Emperor (in Kyoto) was little more than nominal. Japan had previously had a larger firearms industry than any nation in Europe during the late 16th and early 17th-centuries, but the shock of how advanced the industrial era was, as well as the Europeans and Americans forcing unequal treaties onto Japan nearly immediately caused a political crisis. These worries about being colonised like the rest of Asia culminated in the 1868 restoration of imperial rule (the Meiji Restoration).

The first acts of the Meiji government were to put through rapid reforms to industrialise, militarise and Westernise Japanese society, forcibly dismantling the longstanding feudal hierarchy, replacing it with a parliamentary democracy with an absolute monarch able to overrule the state if necessary (based on the Prussian/German Empire model). The Meiji era saw the development of a nation-state with strong European-style nationalism, promoted by the adoption of State Shinto as national religion, a creed which emphasized the Emperor's status as an incarnate deity. This nationalism was accompanied by wars against Russia and China, and colonialism in Taiwan and Korea. While originally not very different in behaviour from other colonialist countries like Britain or the Netherlands, things started to get bad when the military broke free from control of the democratic state by the end of the Taisho Era (approximately the 1910s-1920s) due to a series of scandals and weak governments. Afterwards, foreign policy and increasingly domestic policy was effectively run by a clique of military officers, resulting in repeated invasions of China and unprecedentedly harsh policies towards occupied countries.

By the late 1930s the veneer of democracy was gone, and it would be effectively fully abolished by 1940 when the military's political party was made the only legal one. Japan was openly run by a clique of officers (with a significant portion of the political establishment not resisting much) and became a militaristic authoritarian state bent on liberating conquering all of East Asia and Southeast Asia[2]. The resulting increasing international tensions culminated in Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, bringing Japan and United States into the Second World War, and America's nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which put an end to it. The Americans required that the Emperor disavow his divinity and enforced strict separation of "church" and state to prevent Shinto from ever being used as an instrument of politics again. They also required Japan to adopt a constitution that banned both the Emperor and the military from politics outright and strictly banned the nation from warfare, although the exact limits of that have been under highly controversial debates ever since the 1950s when the US gave Japan back its self-governance and simultaneously realised it needed Japan as a military ally against Communism.[3] While many high-level ("Class A") Japanese war criminals were tried and convicted[wp], others were accused and jailed but later set free without trial, and later returned to power. This was due to the increasing view of Japan as an ally against communism and the end of US military occupation. Among the accused and untried for Class A war crimes was future Prime Minister Nobusuke Kishi[wp] (1957-1960), grandfather of current Prime Minster Shinzō Abe[wp] (2012-).

Since the return of self-governance in 1952, Japan has been a peaceful and democratic country, growing in wealth and influence, at least partly due to American occupation and investment. However, Japanese conduct during the war, including the atrocious treatment of prisoners of war, has left a lasting resentment in occupied nations, which continues today in areas such as China, Korea, and parts of Southeast Asia. International tensions are often high, as Japanese politicians insist that Japan has apologised enough and been a model country for generations, while the South Korean and Chinese governments insist Japan has never apologised sufficiently and could turn militaristic again any minute. Both sides' extremists are pretty toxic.

[edit] Modern Japan

Japan has been in an economic rut for the past 20 years.[4] Instead of temporary unemployment, certain generations are screwed over royally for life if they enter the job market in a recession as Japan follows a "lifetime" employment model.[5] They have a very high life expectancy and the third-highest GDP in the world[6] despite this. Japan used to be a world leader in innovative technology, but now they just make good cars and some good electronics offshore. Japan retains surprisingly traditional agricultural practices. It is a land of contrasts, due to absorbing a large amount of Western cultural influence over the last 150 years, but still retaining its own unique culture and traditions.

Politically, post-war Japanese governments have been fairly moderate to centre-right, with a mild authoritarian conservative streak but with increasing environmental and gender equality concerns in recent years, including legislation enforcing all new multi-storey buildings to have a roof garden and trying to get women out of the kitchen and into the workplace. Despite being a major international power, and absorbing many Western influences, the Japanese tend to be very inwardly focused, tend to conform to group consensus, and can be xenophobic in some respects. Most political decisions are made by ministry bureaucrats, party cliques and local governments (in that order of importance) rather than via elections, as the same party has held power around 98% of the time since 1952 despite the Prime Minister and cabinets changing rapidly, and the opposition that held power for a few years isn't wildly different. It only technically isn't a one-party state, but just barely.

The Japanese are generally socially conservative,[7] with a heavy emphasis on conformity and group identity. Despite a reputation gained from niche manga and anime circulated on the internet, Japan isn't particularly more pro-LGBT than America (or even America during the 90s). While there are few virulent homophobes and Christian fundamentalist hate groups, there's very little acceptance of same-sex marriage and a lot of pressure to conform to societal expectations about normal family structure and normal social behaviour. Crossdressing and transgender people are still mostly considered a flamboyant joke to appear on TV. On the other hand, there is a lot less hatred, and some specific things are different. For example, there is more tolerance of quiet lesbian experimentation during one's school years — as long as you grow up and get married to a man and have kids and be a "normal" member of society afterwards, a quiet practice run with a girl isn't something to be reviled.

Japan is well known to have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.[8][9] The high suicide rates can be explained for two reasons: the high economic and social pressures in Japan [10], and the fact that the Japanese culture does not view suicide as a sin.[11]

Principal cultural exports of the Japanese include Godzilla movies, sushi, tiny electronic thingies (including video games about Italian plumbers in a land of mushroom people), cute cartoon characters, a fascination with tentacles, Shonen Knife, ninjas, and excellent copies of German cars. Excellent Japanese art prints by such artists as Hokusai and Uemaro are now public domain, so they can be recreated anywhere without being genuine Japanese exports.

Modern-day Japan is a constitutional monarchy, not unlike several European countries, with the Emperor of Japan currently being the world's only monarch to be referred to as an emperor in English. Unlike some other constitutional monarchies such as Belgium, the Emperor lacks any political power whatsoever (by Chapter I, Article I of the current 1947 Constitution, he is "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people"), but he still performs certain ceremonial duties and appoints ministers and ambassadors on the advice of his government, like the Queen of England. Unlike the Queen of England, there's not even the fiction that he could refuse consent, as he is known to be required to follow the advice of his government. The Imperial Family is forbidden to participate in politics, and very rarely appears in political situations even when silent and non-participatory.

[edit] Language

Japan has its own official language and uses a writing system that consists of three different alphabets writing systems: two phonetic syllabaries (Hiragana and Katakana) and one drawn from written Chinese (Kanji), each used for different purposes and able to be mixed in the same sentences. There are also several other indigenous languages, the Ryukyuan languages and the Ainu languages (or Ainu dialects according to some linguists). Despite the use of Chinese characters, the Japanese language is completely unrelated to any form of Chinese (but has numerous loanwords from medieval-era Chinese). It's not exactly clear what it is related to (except some coincidental grammatical similarities with Finnish). It is universally agreed that Japanese is related to Ryukyuan languages, with some Japanese linguists even viewing Ryukyuan languages as merely highly variant dialects of Japanese. It is debated whether these Japonic languages fall within a very large trans-Asian language family stretching to Turkey, called Altaic. Some linguists who don't accept the Altaic view still think Japanese is related to Korean. Neither country is particularly happy with this idea, so most people besides professionals ignore it.

There are relatively few sounds and tones in Japanese, and tones rarely matter for the meaning of words unlike Chinese. Sort of like English and Latin/French, a lot of non-basic Japanese words are actually old loans from Chinese dialects, although the relation to modern Mandarin is often very obscure (the word "International" — Mandarin Guo-ji and Japanese Koku-sai sound unrelated, since the Japanese gained it from 9th century Chinese Gwok-Zai). Even Nippon is a loan, from "Nit-bun" or Sun-Origin. Words imported more recently from English or other languages often sound unrecognisable when they are adapted to the restrictions of Japanese pronunciation and absorbed into the Japanese vocabulary. This issue is compounded by the tendency for Japanese speakers to assume that any European loanwords are from English[12] Like English, the majority of words used in everyday life are native to the language, but there are a lot of loan words — especially technical terms and foreign culture/food/fashion.

Japanese grammar also has subtle nuances, with the subject of a sentence often indicated by context. There is no grammatical gender like some European languages, but your level of respectfulness or politeness towards someone is mandatory to indicate (the two basic levels being 'casual' and 'polite'). Honorific and deferential language and etiquette come into play in various social situations, and direct answers to questions are usually avoided, especially where a straightforward "no" could offend but a vague "perhaps" would not. No wonder the Japanese have been described as "inscrutable".[13]

Japanese can be transliterated into the Latin alphabet in several ways, but most people outside of Japan agree on the Hepburn system, so these days Japanese transliterations tend to be a lot more consistent than languages using, say, the Arabic or Cyrillic alphabets. Japanese themselves rarely use more than brief romanisations for decorative purposes, and frequently accidentally use inconsistent systems (often mixing in the more natural feeling system (to Japanese eyes) called Nihon-shiki).

[edit] Population decline

It is said that the population of Japan will drop from 127 million to 95 million by 2050, with the elderly making up the majority of the population. This would be a serious stress on the economy due to the need for a small number of young workers to support the pensions of their elders.[14] A lot of the crash in population is to blame on the economic downturn, as many young people don't feel secure enough to raise a family without a good job. The government has tried to prevent this future by encouraging businesses to give women more maternity leave and flexibility in having children while still keeping their jobs, but there has been little success to date in increasing female participation in the workforce and family raising opportunities. Unlike other countries, it's highly unlikely that the government would force them to do so via legislation, since Japanese society prefers to operate on consensus.

A second potential solution is immigration, but the vast majority of Japanese are unwilling to throw open the doors to mass immigration to replace the millions of people in missing population. Japan is at the present barely over 1% foreigner (and some of those are Japanese returnees), and halting the above population decline by immigration alone would require becoming 25% immigrants in just one generation. That's if you could even find 30 million people willing, given the stagnant economy. While the Japanese left is open to some immigration increases, not even European countries are willing to go half that far.

But don't worry! The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare says that doing everything with robots will fix everything.[15]

[edit] Religion

This robot died for our sins. Wait, that can't be right...

Most Japanese people practise both Buddhism and Shinto (the latter being Japan's native polytheistic and animistic religion), but do not consider themselves to be religious. This can be difficult for Westerners to understand, and often leads to misrepresentations in demographics. For example, a survey of international atheism statistics suggests that 65% of Japanese are atheists,[16] however, another survey from the same source indicates that between 50% and 90% of Japanese are Buddhists.[17]. The confusion comes from the fact that Buddhism does not fit into a Western dichotomy of theism and atheism, and that many Japanese citizens take part in Buddhist observances and festivals without considering themselves to be religious — and no less than one-third of Japanese pray to gods during the New Year while simultaneously not believing in any gods! Similarly, Shinto, a religion rooted in Japanese folklore and tradition, is compatible with Buddhism, and the two have been intertwined in Japanese culture for over a thousand years, although they were forcibly separated during the Meiji era (1868 to 1945). Simultaneously over 90% of people are officially Shinto and participate in Shinto rituals but fewer than 3% identify their religion as Shinto.

The explanation for this strange religious demographic stew is that Shinto is an ethnic folk religion and more participation/community-based rather than personal belief-based. Many Japanese will visit shrines, do rituals for good luck, buy magic amulets as souvenirs from shrines (they make them in cute cell phone accessory form too), and count themselves as rational atheists despite this as they don't believe in Gods or much supernatural at all, or at least don't care strongly about it. Similarly, the Western division of Religion/Supernatural and Natural doesn't apply to Shinto or traditional Japanese thought at all, which has never had a special category of Supernatural, and so never strongly distinguished culture and religion before the Western concept of Religion was introduced. This once applied less to Buddhism where belief was more important, but in the past, membership in a Buddhist sect was mandatory for guarding against Christianity. Buddhist funerals were mandatory, so Buddhist priests didn't have to care about making people believe since everyone belonged to their religion and paid them no matter what. Within just a couple generations, Japan was a secular country (ignoring Shinto for the moment). To this day, very few people care about Buddhism except that funerals are still done by the Buddhists (for almost anyone of any religion except Islam and Mormonism).

Christianity has a very unique status in Japan, despite being only 2% Christian. Despite the fact that it was illegal in Japan during the Edo period (1603 to 1868), after the American occupation of Japan following World War II with the romanticism of all things American, Christianity became "popular" in a very secular way. Today, the Christian Cross is a very popular piece of jewelry for women and girls. On a TV drama, for example, you are likely to see the main character wear a cross in at least one of the 11 episodes, while anime nuns are often common (though only rarely religious ones. Japanese sometimes confuse how being a nun works, thinking they work like being a Shinto Shrine Maiden, and so have characters who are part-time nuns going to a Catholic high school). In fact, Christianity in pop culture is even more closely tied with magic than the West's Harry Potter. There is a whole sub-genre of anime/manga called "Mahou Shoujo" (魔法少女, literally 'magical girl') that portrays female characters as, well, magic-wielders in a European tradition. Some of them literally get their powers from God, who we assume also granted them their improbably large breasts and often-too-cute appearance. (This is actually because some Mahou Shoujo is directed towards a male teenage to young adult audience. (Sorry, Fundies.) The spectrum of how these girls are portrayed is often enough to make a Fundamentalist cringe several times over, mainly because of how these girls are subjected to temptation (magic, food, love), insincerity towards Christianity (if not for enchanting a spell, which per se is obviously Satanic, mixing Christianity with polytheistic idolism (Shinto) and Bible verses are often used for comical humor which reflects the opposite of what the character does).

Weddings in Christian church are extraordinarily popular[18] to the point that over 90% are Christian-style[19] (followed sometimes by a second wedding in traditional garb), and many people have adapted to "god bless" or "good god" (using Kami as the term for god) as expressions of doubt, fear, and joy - while not believing in that very god. In a similar vein, Christmas is a huge holiday there, complete with (anime-style girl) Santa, Christmas trees and decorations, and yet very little knowledge about what is actually being celebrated; an appropriate comparison would be to how Halloween is treated in the Western world these days. In fact, Japanese culture treats Christmas as a lovers' holiday for romantic gift exchanges. The traditional Christmas foods are fried chicken, preferably from KFC which had to be ordered at least a month in advance, and a Christmas sponge cake covered in white icing and strawberries. The cakes are heavily discounted on Christmas day, which led to "Christmas cake" becoming a lovely slang term for an unmarried woman older than 25, as she too was considered past her prime.

There are also smaller religions founded in Japan, like Soka Gakkai (a Buddhist religion that about 4-8% of Japan belongs to, which even has its own political party) and Tenrikyo (about 1%, but unusual for being monotheistic and the largest female-founded religion in the world). Maybe another 10% belong to other "shinshukyo" (新宗教), a diverse group of religions founded mostly within living memory. The best comparison to the West would be the New Age religions, with which they often overlap quite a bit. Most of these people will still consider themselves non-religious. One of the shinshukyo religions was the cult/terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo.

[edit] Whaling

Recently, whaling has been criticized within Japan, perhaps reflecting changing dietary trends — few people eat whale meat nowadays. Whaling is still supported in rural communities across Japan, though only a handful still depend on it for their livelihoods. Only a few whaling vessels are still active, under heavy subsidies due to its lack of profitability, and whaling has been declining even if the government's supposed target numbers haven't[20].

There have been several incidents during which Japanese whaling ships have come under attack from environmental groups such as the Sea Shepherd.[21] Such attacks ironically end up reducing the Japanese government's desires to stop whaling, since it'd be a severe loss of face to appear to give in to foreign pressure. It's also hard to convince people that their culture is wrong and yours is morally superior by throwing shitty smelling substances (butyric acid) at them.[22]

In contrast, the general public is pretty apathetic about the whole thing. Almost all young people, especially women, don't eat whale meat. Not much of the older generations eats it regularly either. Most Japanese of all ages, however, believe cultures should be allowed to hunt whales if it is a traditional activity and they want to, but few have strong opinions about whether Japanese whaling should or shouldn't continue.[23]

[edit] Xenophobia and racism

As a highly homogenous insular island nation with little history of resident foreigners, it is perhaps unsurprising that racism runs rampant, especially as anti-discrimination laws do not exist outside of a few special cases. The most well-known form of discrimination is against Zainichi (literally Living-in-Japan) Koreans. These ethnic Korean residents of Japan are still regarded as un-Japanese despite, in some cases, having no linguistic or cultural ties to any other nation for generations. Nationalist tensions frequently inflame opinions of both South Koreans and Japanese against one another, and Zainichi Koreans are often caught in the crossfire. Worse, a quarter of Korean residents are members of a North Korean loyalist organisation (called the Chongryon) which has financially supported the North Korean regime via organised crime and once helped North Korea kidnap Japanese women to force them to become "brides" in North Korea[24][25]. Because of this kind of press, some Japanese out of ignorance assume all Zainichi Koreans are awful people, but that's no more true than the idea that all Muslims support terrorism.

Japan also actively discriminates against its native minorities. The Ainu people, an ethnicity native to Russia's island of Sakhalin (the southern half of which was Japan's Karafuto Prefecture until Russia seized total control of the island in World War II) and Hokkaido were ignored as an indigenous ethnic group until the Diet passed a resolution in 2008 that recognized their unique nature and urged (non-bindingly) society to stop discriminating against them. The various Ryukyuan peoples of the Amami, Okinawa, and Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands, which were previously ruled over by a central kingdom independent from Japan and China, were conquered by Japan in the 17th century. Each island pretty much has its own native language completely unintelligle with mainland Japanese, but that doesn't stop the government from classifying them as dialects and it didn't stop them from introducing in the beginning of the 20th century the dialect card[wp] to punish any student using their native language over standard Japanese. The "dialect" system was also used by Imperial Japan over all of its conquered peoples, considering Taiwanese, Manchu, Korean, and Palauan as dialects of Japanese (despite those being unrelated to it at all!). Compared to a few generations ago, dialects are much less stigmatised and frequently featured positively in the media. Most Ainu and Ryukyuans regard their Japanese and minority identities as compatible and do not wish for independence, although some discrimination against them in employment and society continues.

Not satisfied with discriminating against other races, the Burakumin[wp], Japanese citizens whose families traditionally worked in "unclean" industries (namely those that concern death) and can be identified by their surnames or their family's hometowns face discrimination in the western regions of Japan and are associated with uncleanliness and crime, as many of them were forced to join the Yakuza (a type of organised crime) due to discrimination in employment. Burakumin discrimination has significantly decreased in the past 40 years (some Japanese are shocked to learn it is still an issue, as discussion of it is rare) and the government has funded poor Burakumin communities to bring their standard of living up, but many Burakumin or part-Burakumin Japanese still hide their ancestry to avoid any remaining discrimination.

Scientific racism is alive and well in Japan,[26] and is frequently invoked as a thin excuse for protectionism, especially for Japan's politically powerful agricultural sector. Attempts to import foreign rice or beef into Japan have been met with stiff resistance, frequently backed by claims that Japanese people are so different from the rest of the world that they cannot properly digest foreign-grown food. At other times, winter sporting-goods manufacturers have been refused permission to import skis because Japanese snow is "too different."[27] A 2005 UN study of race relations in Japan stated that racism was "deep and profound" and that most officials failed to recognize that racism was a serious issue.[28]

When applying for naturalization, each person must show a "history of good behavior"[29] which used to be seen as a code word for "complete and total cultural assimilation"; however, since the 1980s acting "Japanese" is not a legal requirement, though like anywhere else on earth, individuals will not generally be accepted into local society if they do not follow its social rules. As they are unwelcome, foreigners have sometimes been discouraged from learning the Japanese language too well, although more often speaking the Japanese language even haltingly will get you effusive (if rather patronising) praise from Japanese.[30][31]

One of the more bizarre manifestations of Japan's "extreme nationalism" in the post-war era was the case of celebrated author and playwright Yukio Mishima, who got rather confused with the whole 'pen is mightier than the sword' thing. Following the publication of what he regarded as his finest novel, he led his personal cadre of sexy young male samurai wannabes on an attempted military coup. On delivering an impassioned nationalist speech to the Japanese army, he was met with laughter and derision, and thus decided to commit seppuku (ritual assisted suicide), thus ending his literary career in a particularly bloody mess of sun, steel and intestines.[32] The man who beheaded him served a relatively short jail sentence, and is reportedly still alive.

[edit] Money

They use Yen over there (sign: ¥, code: JPY). Despite being worth about a penny apiece, the Yen is still one of the world's strongest currencies. There used to be even smaller coins, but they stopped making them since there's no need for them.

[edit] Footnotes

  1. Hawley, Samuel: The Imjin War. Japan's Sixteenth-Century Invasion of Korea and Attempt to Conquer China, The Royal Asiatic Society, Korea Branch, Seoul 2005, ISBN 8995442425.
  2. While besides China, everything it wanted to conquer had already been brutally conquered by other European countries, that'd be little comfort to the people being brutally "liberated".
  3. All but the Japanese extreme left agree that Japan can defend itself even with deadly force from invasion. But can Japan defend its allies if they are attacked but the enemy scrupulously never attacks Japan? Can Japan launch counterattacks into enemy territory while defending itself or others? What about pre-emptive strikes?
  4. Nikkei over the last 20 years
  5. Japan offers a lifetime job, if hired right out of school
  6. New York Times: The Myth of Japan's Failure
  7. Although not in every way — there has never been a strong anti-premarital sex movement in the country, and the relative lack of sexual taboos was a source of continuing astonishment in the nineteenth century before the Meiji Restoration promoted European standards of modesty, and even into the 20th century — See any world atlas published before World War II.
  8. CNN: Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'
  9. USA Today: Suicide epidemic grips Japan July 20, 2008
  10. New York Times: Asia: Japan: Guidelines To Reduce Suicide Rate June 9, 2007
  11. SpringerLink
  12. Examples: Baito for a part-time job, which is actually from the German Arbeit; maron for chestnuts, which is actually from the French marron
  13. Thank you, Bill Bryson!
  14. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9999591/Japans-population-suffers-biggest-fall-in-history.html
  15. http://www.dw.de/japan-turns-to-robots-as-population-declines/a-17270786
  16. The Largest Atheist / Agnostic Populations Zuckerman, 2005
  17. The Largest Buddhist Communities
  18. Western style weddings in Japan
  19. Faking it as a priest in Japan
  20. http://us.whales.org/issues/whaling-in-japan
  21. Wikipedia: Sea Shepherd
  22. Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research
  23. http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/whale-wars/about-whaling/japanese-whalers-japan-whale-meat-popular/
  24. http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/07/the-strange-rise-and-fall-of-north-koreas-business-empire-in-japan/260373/
  25. http://www.japanconsidered.com/Podcasts/Scripts/060407JapanConsideredPodcastTranscript.html#korea
  26. [1]
  27. [2]
  28. [3]
  29. [4]
  30. When In Tokyo, Don't Speak As The Japanese Do, Chicago Tribune, 27 October 1996
  31. "You should give up trying to learn Japanese", Whoa, I'm in Japan?
  32. Short Biography, European Graduate School
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