From: ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.china,soc.culture.hongkong,soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: What do most of Japanese think of Korean (Re: An open letter..)
Date: 22 Aug 92 17:07:35 GMT
Organization: Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO  80523

In article <1992Aug22.092013.9018@u.washington.edu> yeonwook@hardy.u.washington.edu (Mark Choi) writes:

[stuff deleted]

>>	Islands.  This situation had made *almost* pure-like Japanese race.
>>	(I do not forget about the Ainu)  Or at least an imagination that the
>>	Japanese are constituted with one pure race of people.
>
>Yes, I agree in part. But many Koreans either emigrated or were forced to
>Japan. I can think of some historical cases:
>
>1. Yayoi people
>3. Silla and Tang Dynasty artisans, monks, etc.
>2. Paekche refugees after Paekche was destroyed by Silla Kingdom
>3. Maybe some Koryo dynasty people fleeing from Mongol
>4. Hideyoshi invasion and kidnappings.
>
>Those are the big migrations in history of Korea and Japan. No one can doubt
>the various influences these Koreans had on Japanese either small or big,

	I have known three of five examples above.  And yes, their influence
	was NOT at all small.  It was those immigrants from either China or
	Korea that brought us many new way of thinking, religions, and tech-
	nologies.

>but influences they remain. So we can see, even in a historical sense, Japan
>never remained a "pure" nation, although these Koreans (and probably an equal
>amount of Chinese) gradually lost their ancient roots in Korea or China, and
>became Japanese, and since no real migration from Korea or China came after
>Japan adopted isolationism as a national decree, one would easily deduce that
>Japan is relatively a homogeneous nation. However,the rhistorical relationship
>between Korea and Japan, and especially Korea and China, tends to disillusion
>the idea of the "barrier-nation". The China-Korea-Japan historical relationship
>and people interracted so much, I believe a person in any of those nations
>could trace ties to the other two fairly easily. So it is basically difficult
>to not be familiar with China or Japan, if you're a Korean, or China and Korea,
>if you're Japanese.

	I agree.

[stuff deleted]

>I hope your not suggesting Korea is still struggling far behind Japan.

	No.

>I realize that you're only trying to deduce what you think the general
>Japanese population's attitudes are, so I am not making an attack. 

	As I stated earlier in my previous posting, this is what I think and
	feel from some or more than some Japanese' attitude and behavior.
	But if you feel that I am talking about the Japanese in general, that 
	is my problem of writing making you think that way.


>However, the Japanese are not, in my view, taught enough correct E. Asian
>history (China, Korea) to recognize Japan's own role in the past, and how
>it was different then it is today. This is due to general government policies,
>of course. I do not believe Japanese are genetically allergic to history books.
>=).
	One of the biggest problems resides here.  For Japanese students *in
	general*, learning about histories of other nations, including Asian
	nations, is NOT AT ALL interesting thing just like they feel learning
	Japanese history is NOT interesting.  This is because they are learnig
	histories almost exclusively for examinations and NOT for educating 
	themselves.  This is the case for other subjects, too.  Yes, there are
	students studying and learning NOT just for examinations.


>"hard enough"? I wonder what the Japanese people would be thinking if this 
>deduction was true. Koreans still work harder then anyone on Earth, at 54 
>hours a week. Again, I am not attacking you.

	I understand.

>
>When was this? I certainly hope to believe this sort of ethnic separation in
>Japan between Koreans and Japanese is not alive today.

	I'm sorry to say this, but it was only 4 years ago.

	And please do not misunderstand.  There are NO official ethnic 
	separation, as long as education is concerned, in Japan.  Those who go
	to Korean schools did choose to go there just like some American 
	students choose to go to American schools.  There ARE many Japanese 
	students who go to American schools or International schools.  And there	are many foreign students who go to Japanese elementary and junior and
	senior high schools.  Of course there are Korean students.

	As a matter of fact, one of my good friends was a Korean national, who
	was born and raised in Japan and could not speak Korean at all.  His
	last name on his driver's license, which he showed me after we graduated 	the same high school, was Li and that I had not know since we met for
	the first time when we were 10.  His nationality appeard on the license
	was Korean.  This incident did not affect our relationship at all.

	Plenty of similar cases will be found all over Japanese schools.  And
	I don't deny there are cases NOT like this.



>Yes, you are correct, they didn't learn. But then again, I bet many of those
>students are descendents of Koreans, whether it be the 1st, 2nd, or whatever
>migration wave.

	Yes, and that's what I often told my students.

>-- 
>    .  .      +---------------------------------+
>  --|--|      | Mark Yeon Wook Choi             |
>   /.\ |      | yeonwook@hardy.u.washington.edu |
>  --|--|      +---------------------------------+  

 	I just wanted to make some of my unclear points clearer.

					Tetsuya Nishimura