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IMPress Polly
08-10-2015, 11:58 AM
For any who don't know, Hayao Miyazaki is a legendary animator and filmmaker sometimes referred to as "the Walt Disney of Japan" for the fairy tale stylings of his work and the relatively young (mostly female) audience they principally target. Many of Miyazaki's works have won a global audience and numerous awards. Among these, he has become the first anime director to win an Academy lifetime achievement award. To list just a few of the Miyazaki's masterpieces that I've had the great privilege of growing up on and enjoying of the years, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke (my favorite!), Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, The Wind Rises, and his latest work (which I consider the best movie of the current year so far) When Marnie Was There all come to mind. His Studio Chibli never seems to miss!

I just love Miyazaki movies! The man is an absolute genius! His films routinely show a unique ability to feature subtle meaning in a way that let's the movie grow up with you. In other words, the presentation is simple enough that the main target audience, children (girls in particular) will get and appreciate the most obvious message it contains, but as you grow up and mature, you start to discover more layers of meaning through the filmmakers' brilliant use of symbolism, and these subtle layers introduce more mature themes that adults will appreciate. In that way, you never really outgrow any of his movies. It takes a true artistic genius to regularly push out quality films like that!

There is more than filmmaking to the man though. Miyazaki is also known for his liberalism, environmentalism, and pacifism. To this end, he has recently come out against his government's recent decision to authorize the deployment of Japanese combat troops abroad for the first time since World War II (http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/07/21/miya-j21.html). "I think we are going in completely the wrong direction", he has recently said, elaborating: "Prime Minister Abe seems to want to be remembered in history as the man who revised the constitution and remilitarised Japan, but this is despicable."

Tensions between Japan and China have been on the rise recently amid conflicts over control of the South China Sea, but Miyazaki's views are nevertheless well within the Japanese cultural mainstream. On passage of the remilitarization plan recently, support for Shinzo Abe's conservative government dropped nearly ten points, falling to a new approval rating of less than 38%. 70% of poll respondents said they disapproved of the hurried manner in which the authorization had been passed and the passage has been met by protests attended by tens of thousands. I for one think he's absolutely correct about this, just as he is about many things, including in his calls for the Japanese government to finally provide financial compensation to the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese "comfort women" enslaved by the latter's military during the Second World War.

Thought it was worth mentioning.

Private Pickle
08-10-2015, 12:06 PM
In his vision of Japan's re militarization does he see huge multi-tentacled monsters having intercourse with innocent doe-eyed damsels?

GrassrootsConservative
08-10-2015, 12:08 PM
In his vision of Japan's re militarization does he see huge multi-tentacled monsters having intercourse with innocent doe-eyed damsels?

You know you've been spending too much time on the internet when...

Captain Obvious
08-10-2015, 12:10 PM
In his vision of Japan's re militarization does he see huge multi-tentacled monsters having intercourse with innocent doe-eyed damsels?

gohzirra

Ethereal
08-10-2015, 12:13 PM
For any who don't know, Hayao Miyazaki is a legendary animator and filmmaker sometimes referred to as "the Walt Disney of Japan" for the fairy tale stylings of his work and the relatively young (mostly female) audience they principally target. Many of Miyazaki's works have won a global audience and numerous awards. Among these, he has become the first anime director to win an Academy lifetime achievement award. To list just a few of the Miyazaki's masterpieces that I've had the great privilege of growing up on and enjoying of the years, Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, Princess Mononoke (my favorite!), Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Ponyo, The Wind Rises, and his latest work (which I consider the best movie of the current year so far) When Marnie Was There all come to mind. His Studio Chibli never seems to miss!

I just love Miyazaki movies! The man is an absolute genius! His films routinely show a unique ability to feature subtle meaning in a way that let's the movie grow up with you. In other words, the presentation is simple enough that the main target audience, children (girls in particular) will get and appreciate the most obvious message it contains, but as you grow up and mature, you start to discover more layers of meaning through the filmmakers' brilliant use of symbolism, and these subtle layers introduce more mature themes that adults will appreciate. In that way, you never really outgrow any of his movies. It takes a true artistic genius to regularly push out quality films like that!

There is more than filmmaking to the man though. Miyazaki is also known for his liberalism, environmentalism, and pacifism. To this end, he has recently come out against his government's recent decision to authorize the deployment of Japanese combat troops abroad for the first time since World War II (http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/07/21/miya-j21.html). "I think we are going in completely the wrong direction", he has recently said, elaborating: "Prime Minister Abe seems to want to be remembered in history as the man who revised the constitution and remilitarised Japan, but this is despicable."

Tensions between Japan and China have been on the rise recently amid conflicts over control of the South China Sea, but Miyazaki's views are nevertheless well within the Japanese cultural mainstream. On passage of the remilitarization plan recently, support for Shinzo Abe's conservative government dropped nearly ten points, falling to a new approval rating of less than 38%. 70% of poll respondents said they disapproved of the hurried manner in which the authorization had been passed and the passage has been met by protests attended by tens of thousands. I for one think he's absolutely correct about this, just as he is about many things, including in his calls for the Japanese government to finally provide financial compensation to the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese "comfort women" enslaved by the latter's military during the Second World War.

Thought it was worth mentioning.

It seems like the US government wants this more than the Japanese people do.

Private Pickle
08-10-2015, 12:14 PM
It seems like the US government wants this more than the Japanese people do.

I think it boils down for the
necessity for a military competent Japan in the face of North Korea and China.

AeonPax
08-10-2015, 12:14 PM
`
My spirit is with Hayao Miyazakion this. Through I'm no pacifist, militarization robs the people of their lives. Along with that is the inevitable corruption. Spend money on people, not war.

Mister D
08-10-2015, 12:38 PM
`
My spirit is with Hayao Miyazakion this. Through I'm no pacifist, militarization robs the people of their lives. Along with that is the inevitable corruption. Spend money on people, not war.

You're confusing two concepts: militarization and militarism.

Mister D
08-10-2015, 12:39 PM
Japan desperately needs to man up. I support her "remilitarization" 100%. Europe's as well.

southwest88
08-10-2015, 12:46 PM
In his vision of Japan's re militarization does he see huge multi-tentacled monsters having intercourse with innocent doe-eyed damsels?

Nah, he doesn't do the tentacle stuff. Although he does have some moving scenes in Princess Mononoke, for example, on the disordering effect that evil has, & its physical manifestations in disordered minds/spirits, unnatural strength. But see some of his work.

He does elevating work, epic & tremendously sweeping images. You might come to appreciate his mastery of the form.

Ethereal
08-10-2015, 12:59 PM
I think it boils down for the
necessity for a military competent Japan in the face of North Korea and China.

I don't think North Korea or China want conflict. I think they want to integrate with the world economy and the international community. It's the US government who is usually trying to stir up a conflict.

Ethereal
08-10-2015, 01:01 PM
Japan desperately needs to man up. I support her "remilitarization" 100%. Europe's as well.

I would support it if they paid for it and were liable for the consequences, but neither is likely to be the case under the current political arrangement.

Mister D
08-10-2015, 01:15 PM
I would support it if they paid for it and were liable for the consequences, but neither is likely to be the case under the current political arrangement.

Remilitarization is the first step toward altering the current political arrangement. That said, rearmament funded primarily by the USA is hardly remilitarization. Is that what this Abe has in mind?

Captain Obvious
08-10-2015, 01:44 PM
I don't think North Korea or China want conflict. I think they want to integrate with the world economy and the international community. It's the US government who is usually trying to stir up a conflict.

Sure, North Korea is the very model of "good neighbor"

Private Pickle
08-10-2015, 03:10 PM
Nah, he doesn't do the tentacle stuff. Although he does have some moving scenes in Princess Mononoke, for example, on the disordering effect that evil has, & its physical manifestations in disordered minds/spirits, unnatural strength. But see some of his work.

He does elevating work, epic & tremendously sweeping images. You might come to appreciate his mastery of the form.

Sorry..gotta go... 'Dating Naked' is on!

Private Pickle
08-10-2015, 03:21 PM
I don't think North Korea or China want conflict. I think they want to integrate with the world economy and the international community. It's the US government who is usually trying to stir up a conflict.

There are plenty of examples of sword rattling on both sides however; NK's recent attacks, exercises and missile tests not to mention some artillery shelling is all on NK. Shooting missiles over Japan is an act of war by itself.

Green Arrow
08-10-2015, 03:38 PM
As Mister D pointed out, there's a difference between militarization and militarism. Militarization is not bad at all, that's just one of the fundamental, core duties of a nation: provide for the common defense. You have to be able to defend your country against those who mean it ill, so to that end, militarization is necessary and proper.

Militarism, on the other hand, is quite a different animal. Militarism is when you use that military as an aggressive force to secure national interests and act as world police, along with a culture or form of government in which the military is in control. We are an example of the latter, with countries like Egypt and North Korea being the extreme example where the military exerts control over government.

IMPress Polly
08-11-2015, 06:02 AM
Green Arrow wrote:
As @Mister D (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=4) pointed out, there's a difference between militarization and militarism. Militarization is not bad at all, that's just one of the fundamental, core duties of a nation: provide for the common defense. You have to be able to defend your country against those who mean it ill, so to that end, militarization is necessary and proper.

Militarism, on the other hand, is quite a different animal. Militarism is when you use that military as an aggressive force to secure national interests and act as world police, along with a culture or form of government in which the military is in control. We are an example of the latter, with countries like Egypt and North Korea being the extreme example where the military exerts control over government.

You do realize that Japan already has a military, right? It's already perfectly legal under Japanese law for that military to be used for self-defense in the event of say an invasion. What the unpopular measure recently passed does is go one step further than that by authorizing the country to send combat troops abroad for the first time since World War II. Are you sure that's "one of the fundamental, core duties of a nation"?

Incidentally, I don't even see why it should be necessary to have a permanent military at all. I mean look at Iceland, for example. They don't even have one and you don't see anyone invading them! You know why? Because everybody knows that Iceland is a threat to no one. You know who terrorists attack? Countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Russia, etc. Countries with great big militaries stretched across large chunks of the globe.


Ethereal wrote:
It seems like the US government wants this more than the Japanese people do.

Bingo! Japan's conservatives are much more sympathetic to the United States than the country's liberals are. As the article I linked to in the OP pointed out, really the essential, immediate-term purpose of this measure is to get Japan authorized to send combat troops into Iraq to help us fight ISIS; ISIS being a non-issue for the Japanese. The people who support remilitarization are the same ones supporting the construction of a new U.S. military base inside Japan. Most Japanese people would prefer their country have its own foreign policy rather than tailing ours and our interests, just as they oppose the arbitrary official "reinterpretation" of their nation's constitution that was required to pass the measure. Whatever support for the measure exists in Japan is related to the South China Sea issue.


I don't think North Korea or China want conflict. I think they want to integrate with the world economy and the international community. It's the US government who is usually trying to stir up a conflict.

What one must bear in mind is that North Korea's government is basically a military government these days. Military governments struggle to maintain their legitimacy in the eyes of the public in the absence of a national emergency...and yet the regime is not stupid enough to actually start a war because they know what the outcome would be. What they do hence is make a regular habit of brinkmanship so that it always appears to the local population as though they are on the verge of being invaded. The things they do to that end are pretty toothless in reality. They threaten to invade South Korea every year and it never happens, for example. Why not? Well their chief ally and patron, China, has large investments in both countries and wouldn't much like for a war between the Koreas. The threats are about the regime maintaining legitimacy with the local population. Starting to get the idea?


Private Pickle wrote:
In his vision of Japan's re militarization does he see huge multi-tentacled monsters having intercourse with innocent doe-eyed damsels?

Yeah that's definitely it: the Academy gave him a lifetime achievement award for tentacle porn. :rollseyes:

PolWatch
08-11-2015, 06:21 AM
I admit that I don't know enough about the situations that would give Japan cause to feel threatened. I do know that the destruction of the USSR produced a large reduction in sales of military equipment to our military. Iraq helped to provide a boost in their bottom line. War & militarization is very profitable for some.

I would not be surprised if our government (owned by industrial interests) is encouraging Japan to create a more robust military just for profit.

IMPress Polly
08-11-2015, 10:30 AM
PolWatch wrote:
I admit that I don't know enough about the situations that would give Japan cause to feel threatened. I do know that the destruction of the USSR produced a large reduction in sales of military equipment to our military. Iraq helped to provide a boost in their bottom line. War & militarization is very profitable for some.

I would not be surprised if our government (owned by industrial interests) is encouraging Japan to create a more robust military just for profit.

I think that's exactly it, PolWatch.

Mister D
08-11-2015, 12:29 PM
I admit that I don't know enough about the situations that would give Japan cause to feel threatened. I do know that the destruction of the USSR produced a large reduction in sales of military equipment to our military. Iraq helped to provide a boost in their bottom line. War & militarization is very profitable for some.

I would not be surprised if our government (owned by industrial interests) is encouraging Japan to create a more robust military just for profit.


It's not like China's blustering causes her neighbors any anxiety. I mean look at Iceland. They aren't threatened. :rollseyes:

Mister D
08-11-2015, 12:29 PM
I think that's exactly it, PolWatch.

Yes, I'm sure you do.

Guerilla
08-11-2015, 05:07 PM
The Japanese don't really have a need to send combat forces abroad, it's all being done to help the US with it's military and economic goals around the world. The elite are playing pattycake with each other; the Japanese people don't want militarization, and are actively opposing it, and I don't remember any Americans calling for the encirclement of China. I don't understand how encircling China is supposed to decrease tensions in the area.

Ethereal
08-11-2015, 05:13 PM
The Japanese don't really have a need to send combat forces abroad, it's all being done to help the US with it's military and economic goals around the world. The elite are playing pattycake with each other; the Japanese people don't want militarization, and are actively opposing it, and I don't remember any Americans calling for the encirclement of China. I don't understand how encircling China is supposed to decrease tensions in the area.

It's not supposed to decrease tensions. The ruling class rather likes war. But because China and Russia have nukes, the wars against them have to be fought largely indirectly and covertly.

Ethereal
08-11-2015, 05:16 PM
Sure, North Korea is the very model of "good neighbor"

They've been trying to engage in peace talks with the US for decades, but the US government refuses to negotiate. Kind of hard to have a diplomatic resolution when one side categorically refuses to talk with the other.

Ethereal
08-11-2015, 05:19 PM
As @Mister D (http://thepoliticalforums.com/member.php?u=4) pointed out, there's a difference between militarization and militarism. Militarization is not bad at all, that's just one of the fundamental, core duties of a nation: provide for the common defense. You have to be able to defend your country against those who mean it ill, so to that end, militarization is necessary and proper.

Militarism, on the other hand, is quite a different animal. Militarism is when you use that military as an aggressive force to secure national interests and act as world police, along with a culture or form of government in which the military is in control. We are an example of the latter, with countries like Egypt and North Korea being the extreme example where the military exerts control over government.

Although, in many instances, militarization is a prelude to militarism.

Mister D
08-11-2015, 05:34 PM
The Japanese don't really have a need to send combat forces abroad, it's all being done to help the US with it's military and economic goals around the world. The elite are playing pattycake with each other; the Japanese people don't want militarization, and are actively opposing it, and I don't remember any Americans calling for the encirclement of China. I don't understand how encircling China is supposed to decrease tensions in the area.

China is making the same mistake 2nd Reich Germany made. She complains about encirclement yet her clumsy foreign policy all but assures it.

Mister D
08-11-2015, 05:34 PM
Although, in many instances, militarization is a prelude to militarism.

They're often used interchangeably.

Mister D
08-11-2015, 05:35 PM
It's not supposed to decrease tensions. The ruling class rather likes war. But because China and Russia have nukes, the wars against them have to be fought largely indirectly and covertly.

The ruling class likes small, non-disruptive wars.

Green Arrow
08-11-2015, 08:20 PM
Although, in many instances, militarization is a prelude to militarism.

Well, I mean, it kinda has to be. You can't have militarism without militarization.

Green Arrow
08-11-2015, 08:24 PM
You do realize that Japan already has a military, right?

Yes, I do. That's why I corrected the word usage of your OP and Miyazaki. You guys are saying "militarization" but you mean "militarism."


It's already perfectly legal under Japanese law for that military to be used for self-defense in the event of say an invasion. What the unpopular measure recently passed does is go one step further than that by authorizing the country to send combat troops abroad for the first time since World War II. Are you sure that's "one of the fundamental, core duties of a nation"?

Again, I'm just correcting the improper word usage. I'm not saying what they are doing is good, bad, or meh. I'm just saying...what they are doing is militarism, not militarization.


Incidentally, I don't even see why it should be necessary to have a permanent military at all.

Because people like John McCain and Lindsey Graham exist.

PolWatch
08-11-2015, 08:27 PM
The ruling class likes small, non-disruptive wars.

Do you remember the Transactional Analysis rage? There was book called Games People Play that has a game that describes some American actions.....Let's You & Him Fight. Wars that serve our purpose but we are not directly involved.