From: yeonwook@hardy.u.washington.edu (Mark Choi)
Subject: Re: What do most of Japanese think of Korean (Re: An open letter..)
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 09:20:13 GMT

In article <Aug22.082002.36712@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:
>In article <1992Aug21.192258.3227@ducvax.auburn.edu> kim@magneto.physics.auburn.edu (Han-jung Kim) writes:
>
>[stuff deleted]
>>
>>However in my feeling and from the side news or whatever, most of Japanese
>>have a bad feeling against Korean too. 
>
>	As a Japanese, I doubt this.  But at the same time, I *know* there
>	are people who have bad feelings toward the Korean.  Not "most" but 
>	yes, there are more than some.

Like everywhere, prejudice exists. Perhaps the "normal" prejudices between
Japanese and Koreans tend to be viewed on as "not normal" because long and
historical reasons.

>>
>>This is the point I can not understand so far. Koreans did some harm to
>>Japanese? or Japanese has found something they dislike in korean, such as 
>>not well educated, filthy etc.
>
>	Before you read, please remember that what you are about to read is 
>	MY opinion based on MY observation and this has NOTHING to do with
>	how mojority or many Japanese would think.
>
>	Japan had been isolated from other countries for a long time until 
>	she opened the country in late 1860's.  Not only was it because of
>	the policies of the government at the time, e.g. Tokugawa Shogun Family,	but also because of physically isolated situation of the Japanese
>	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,
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.

>	Now, what do you think would happen when people think that they are 
>	*pure* race?
>
>	Some Japanese seem to think that Asian people other than Japanese are 
>	*inferior* because they are not pure.  (actually the fact is the 
>	opposite)

Explained above. Again, Japan is just part of the North-East Asian historical
picture. It would be like saying Californians are pure, and they think everyone
else in the U.S. are inferior, even though "everyone else" and Californians
are all U.S. citizens. It's contradicting the common historical relationship.

>			*********************************
>
>	As many of the netters may know, Japan rapidly recovered and developed
>	after WW II, while some of the Asian nations have long suffered from 
>	the damage from WW II, some or many of which were caused by Imperial 
>	Army.
>
>	Now, what do you think would happen when one nation looks at another
>	that is still struggling far behind them?

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

>	Some Japanese seem to think that some Asian nations are *inferior*
>	because they did not work hard enough to recover their countries 
>	within the same amount of time in which Japan recovered.
>			*********************************

"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 have though that the koreans living in Japan may have some problems which
>>the Japanese hate to see or to be with.( more crime rate, lazy, more lie ...)
>
>	Above statement, I think, applies to some aged Japanese, especially
>	among men.

Yes, this is true because aged Japanese men were taught when they were born to
dislike Koreans, and were taught militaristic altered East Asian history, 
favoring Japan and encouraging a fierce fighting spirit. It is like, "racism
is taught by your parents". Except, the only difference is that the "parent"
is the old imperialist Japanese government.

>	The case of the youth is a bit different.  The following statement 
>	is based on my experience as a teacher at a high school.
>
>	When I worked at a boys high school with 2800 students, I sometimes
>	heard that some of the students sometimes had a quarrel or a small fight	with the students of a Korean School in the city.  When I heard that 
>	some of my students had one, I asked why they had had the fight.
>
>	What they said was that they hadn't fight but actually they had run.
>	The reasons they gave me were that 1)the Korean students usually had 
>	many companies, and 2)when they do it, they do it like a hell.
>	So the truth was, they had not had a fight so often and if they had,
>	they usually ran, and ended up with just speaking ill of them using
>	the words similar to Jap, which I do not want to write here.

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

>	They, of course, had some fights agaist other Japanese students from 
>	different schools, too.
>
>>
>>Or Japanese has a kind of another prejudice against koreans in Japan.
>
>	As I stated above, for young people, they do not necessarily hate or
>	dislike the Koreans in Japan.  
>
>	Some of my students at the time once asked me why there were Koreans
>	living in the city.  They didn't know what had happened to their 
>	ancestors until I told them what I had read and learned.
>		"Most of them did not choose to come here."

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.

>	I am not sure what older people think about the issue.
>
>
>
>>To tell the truth, I do not know why if this problem exsist in today's Japan.
>> In my mind Japanese have no reason to dislike korean in Japan. 
>
>	I agree.
>
>	As far as I know and have experienced, many youths are just ignorant
>	about the issue.  When they are given proper and enough information to 
>	help them consider the situation, they can learn.  Of course there are
>	and should be some people that will show explicit hate toward another
>	group of people, just like we have experienced on this net and every-
>	where.
>
>	I just stated my personal opinion and observation without mentioning
>	any possible solutions.
>
>	Just for a reference.
>
>>
>>                        Hanjung Kim from Alabama.
>>.
>
>					Tetsuya Nishimura

						
-- 
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  --|--|      | Mark Yeon Wook Choi             |
   /.\ |      | yeonwook@hardy.u.washington.edu |
  --|--|      +---------------------------------+  
Newsgroups: soc.culture.japan