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 20:58:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug22.120724.3234@ducvax.auburn.edu> kim@magneto.physics.auburn.edu (Han-jung Kim) writes:
>>>[* preceding stuff omitted *]
>>The prejudices go back further, probably back to the Hideyoshi invasion.
>                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>Thank you for your post and sharing your opinion, sir.

No need to call me "sir". =)

>The underlined sentence above does not make me understood because of the poor
>ackowledge of mine.
>I have only one-dimensional and very plain understanding about that 
>invasion, such as JUST INVASION AS THE HISORY OF ANY COUNTRY HAS EXPERIENCED.

Ok, so you must understand the prejudices against the Japanese by Koreans after
the Hideyoshi invasion, but let me refresh what the T. Nishimura said about
the Japanese thinking they were a "pure" race. With that in mind, let's go to 
the next comment of yours...

>I fail to connect the invasion to the root of prejudice which today's
>some or 50% of Japanese have in mind.
>
>Would you explaine this sentence more in detail.

Certainly. As I made clear in an earlier post in response to Tetsuya, there 
atleast 5 major migration patterns from the Korean peninsula to Japan.
The last of which was the Hideyoshi invasion where many potters, artisans,
and valued people were kidnapped forcibly. Please keep in mind that the 
time between this mass influx of foreigners and the previous migration was
atleast 5 centuries. Although Korea and Japan maintained a relationship 
during those five centuries, Japan never really swallowed up any Korean 
people, as she did during earlier periods (Silla, Paekche, etc. 5 points).
These 5 centuries of international cooperation, but internal strengthening
(resulting in the unified Hideyoshi invasion, which many people consider to
be the first solid display of fuedal warrior clan unification in Japan). 
This period of 5 centuries, or internal "purification" resulted in people 
forgetting their ancient ties from previous generations in China or Korea,
and there were many people with such ties. Tetsuya did a good job of 
portraying what people think when they are in "pure" society, like supposedly
Japan and western European nations. After the Hideyoshi invasion, it can be
generally assumed that the migration of intellectuals from China and Korea 
came to a dead hault. This left another 5 centuries or so for people to
become "pure" in their minds. People would obviously feel antogonism towards
these Korean artisans, but following previous cases, you would think these 
people would forget their ancient ties like their predecessors did. It wasn't
exactly that easy, however. With the changing climate, the Japanese met,
for the first time, westerners. These westerners were of course the Portuguese.
This meeting had a huge impact on the way Japanese thought of their society,
and, consequently, others. It also had an impact on the way Japanese think
racially. Then we read in history books that the Japanese began a period of
modernization. However, this modernization was mercantilism. Mercantilism 
mixed capital growth with ultra-nationalism. The term "pure" race popped up.
Sooner or later, the symbol of the people, the Japanese people, had his power
restored. This, mixed in with mercantilism, many historical factors, samurai,
and other factors for the greater or lesser, made me begin to realize how 
large the Hideyoshi invasion really was. The last real contact between the two
nations before the Japanese isolation towards modernization, and in the middle
ages.

>What I can imagine about this invasion at most is
>that probably Japan might has begun to think that they were superior to korean
>from that era.  Is this what you mean, Sir? If so, I feel some difficulty
>to consider this sort of reason as the root of prejudice.
> Or you have more reasons to support that sentence. I am eager to learn 
>the truth or any possible answers of the topics I have born in my mind since
>I begun to recognize those problems.( about from 1982).

I would hardly think the Japanese would begin to think they were superior to
Koreans as a result of the Hideyoshi invasion, since the Japanese were really
the losers.

>I am learning and learning now and feel that I am not the man who was before
>I did not read those posts as long as the topic is related to the Imperial
> Japanese Army and today's Japanese. Great improvement!
>Specially the Japanese netter helped me to understand them so much.
>Thank you for all of you again.
>Waiting for another opinons.
>.

You got it =).



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