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I'm continually amazed that Abe's assassin appears to have successfully turned the media spotlight exactly where he wanted it to be, and so successfully turned
by thematrixturtle 4y ago
I'm continually amazed that Abe's assassin appears to have successfully turned the media spotlight exactly where he wanted it to be, and so successfully turned public sentiment against Abe that a vast majority of the population now opposes a state funeral for him.
- oxff 4y agoSomeone over at Twitter called it the most successful robloxing in a while for this exact reason.
- deepdriver 4y agoIs "Robloxing" the new "but in Minecraft?" https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/in-minecraft
- ajay-d 4y agoIt really astounding how much of a success it was. Related article and discussions: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32571989 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32571989
- PaulHoule 4y agoJapan is a strange place. Polls show very low trust in the government, but the LDP has been in power since WWII almost continuously. A low faction of Japanese people claim to "believe in God" but Japanese participate in religious rituals at a high rate. Abe was controversial because he wanted to amend Japan's pacifist contribution which is a huge can of worms. Because Japan is so culturally homogeneous I think they'd have a very easy time picking an outgroup to blame for problems.
- blowski 4y ago> A low faction of Japanese people claim to "believe in God" but Japanese participate in religious rituals at a high rate. Most people in the UK celebrate Christmas, including atheists.
- Hamuko 4y agoGiving my mom a pair of headphones doesn't feel that religious to me.
- baby 4y agoDon’t you set up a tree and listen to Christmas music
- soperj 4y agoChristmas tree has it's roots in Pagan traditions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule
- vorpalhex 4y agoThat is still religious.
- bialpio 4y agoDoing something that has religious roots doesn't automatically make it religious. The question is: what are you getting out of it? We're setting up a (now fake) tree during holidays, but treat it as tradition and a nice decoration for winter. Another example: Halloween.
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- beebmam 4y ago>Because Japan is so culturally homogeneous I think they'd have a very easy time picking an outgroup to blame for problems. The US is the opposite, and its diversity doesn't stop them from doing it. Often, fully justified too, like in the case of the Soviet Union or Communist China. So I'm not very persuaded by this reasoning.
- kadoban 4y ago> A low faction of Japanese people claim to "believe in God" but Japanese participate in religious rituals at a high rate. Wouldn't both a Buddhist and a believer in Shintoism tend to answer no to "belief in God"? Also my impression is that the Japanese are generally just into rituals, they don't seem to need much excuse.
- someperson 4y agoThe word is superstitious. Other parts of Asia (like China) often claim no religious belief but are _very_ superstitious too.
- vorpalhex 4y agoIt's not just superstition. Rituals play an important part for the human mind even in the absence of supernatural belief.
- sangnoir 4y agoReciting the Pledge of Allegiance at school, or singing national anthems at non-national events come to mind as rituals not affiliated with the supernatural[1] I hazard a majority of Americans (religious or not) voluntarily partake in those rituals. 1. I suppose rituals require venerated objects/subjects, and this is often religious, but does not have to be
- Retric 4y agoSort of, the pledge includes a “One nation under God” bit but few take it in a religious context.
- vorpalhex 4y agoThat also came much later and if we take it in the same sense many of the founding fathers used the word "God", it would not be compatible with mainstream Christian theology.
- 082349872349872 4y ago> ...but the LDP has been in power since WWII almost continuously. My impression is that gerrymandering initially associated with the Reverse Course[0] has much to do with those electoral results. (But maybe not? A cursory search turns up an article[1] complaining that voters in a rural district had —only— twice the voting power of urban voters, which certainly sounds inferior to the extent of US practise) [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Course https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_Course [1] https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/04/29/fixing-japans-gerrymander/ https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2022/04/29/fixing-japans-gerry...
- staringback 4y agoRural districts having more "voting power" is not gerrymandering.
- HereIGoAgain 4y agoThis! It's not a good mentality to have in this regard anyway.. Not unless you like growing your on food etc. lol
- bergenty 4y agoThere is something to say that people in a rural district have 10x the voting power but they are heavily subsidized by money made in urban areas.
- bamboozled 4y agoNo real opposition. Just factions within the LDP.
- SenHeng 4y agoAs is often mentioned in motorsport: "To finish first, first you must finish". The Japanese can be pragmatic to a fault. Being in the LDP more or less guarantees that you'll 'finish'. You may then focus your efforts on implementing the changes you're able to.
- coliveira 4y agoBelief in gods and participation in rituals are different things. Japanese people are very traditional, they like to maintain the rituals of their predecessors. However, this doesn't imply that they believe in traditional gods. This may be strange for people that grew up on Christianity, but it is natural once you stop believing in supernatural beings.
- vorpalhex 4y agoPlenty of religions were happy to add Jesus to their pantheon too.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Bakary 4y agoDoes a ritual, if performed with some expectation of it having an effect on your life beyond the act of its own doing, not also imply a belief in supernatural entities?
- naniwaduni 4y agoNah, it implies a belief in natural forces.
- Bakary 4y agoI'm not seeing a meaningful difference since the boundary between a passive or active supernatural force is not always clear in any regional belief system. Christians will pray to Saints, which appear to be beings, but the rituals having to do with their invocation often seem to be treating them like forces. The difference is orientalism and the compulsion to label Asian beliefs as more mysterious and wise than usual.
- naniwaduni 4y agoIt's not a difference. Take a look at proposed mechanisms of fan death, and consider, does that seem like a belief in the supernatural? Or a belief in a natural process that, incidentally, shouldn't actually be true? People generally believe their own beliefs, and this includes believing that the way they think the world works is natural, not supernatural.
- thanhhaimai 4y ago> A low faction of Japanese people claim to "believe in God" but Japanese participate in religious rituals at a high rate This is similar to what we have in Vietnam. A very large portion of the country, last estimated about 80%, consider themselves atheists. They don't believe God exists, and they are superstitious only in a joking way. However, most of us also go to the temple for "religious activities". It's not because people truly believe in God, but because many traditional activities like Tet holidays (Lunar New Year), funerals, or anniversaries have usually associated with them. Also, people don't mind going to the temples even when they don't believe in God because the temples are much more relax (chill/zen). When I was young, I visit the temple myself just to chill and enjoy the scenery despite having no association with Buddhism.
- bell-cot 4y ago>..."believe in God"... In context (modern Japanese, capital-G "God"), I suspect that phrase would generally be interpreted to mean "believe in the monotheistic God of Christianity and other Western/Middle Eastern Abrahamic religions".
- supercheetah 4y agoIs it that unusual? LDP is a conservative party that holds a majority with the voting public, and the opposition to conservatives everywhere is often much more fractured.
- krapp 4y agoSeeing it from the outside, the LDP seems like Japan's Republican party, Komeito is the Evangelical Christian bloc, and Abe is your basic Conservative running on American exceptionalism and traditional cultural values. The biggest obvious difference is the failure of the LDP to successfully repeal Article 9, but as I understand it, that doesn't have nearly as much popular support in Japan as war posturing does in the US.
- PaulHoule 4y agoBritain lurched to the right after Margaret Thatcher but that didn't keep Labor from being in power for a few years (by co-opting the Tory program the same way Clinton co-opted Reagan) Germany, Israel, France, and numerous countries with parliamentary systems have power alternate between parties. As for "opposition to conservatives everywhere is often much more fractured" that makes me think of an observation I've had which is that conservatives in the US are united by the idea that there is a way that things are "spozed" to be whereas what passes for the left in the US are a groups of people who perceive themselves to either be outgroups or be supportive of outgroups. The problem is that racial/ethnic groups such as blacks or latinos don't automatically support, say, transsexual maximalism. Environmentalism is still perceived as a "white thing" even though blacks are worse off when it comes to exposure to toxics. "Environmental racism" as an issue just hasn't sold.
- wahnfrieden 4y agoless strange, more that you are projecting when you say a country with behaviors that appear like unfamiliar paradoxes to yourself is itself a strange place, instead of it being yourself that is the stranger
- boxed 4y ago> very low trust in the government, but the LDP has been in power since WWII almost continuously US Congress has an almost 80% (!!!) disapproval rating. https://www.statista.com/statistics/207579/public-approval-rating-of-the-us-congress/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/207579/public-approval-r... yet people are basically lifers in there. The Japanese system was largely modeled after the US, so seems logical...
- fomine3 4y agoOne of the reason is election system is bad. People in 1990s wanted to have two big party like US so they introduced single-seat constituency system but it's failed. One big party (LDP) and other smaller parties is current situation. One big party don't want to change current system for obvious reason.
- Kukumber 4y agoI don't know why do you push this foreign view on their country (i kind of know, i'm just trying to be playful, hopefully you got the reference), maybe you have a specific agenda, i won't comment on it However i'll remind you that for the majority of Japanese, Abe is a 'traitor' (their word) [1] [1] - https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/abe-ignores-controversial-okinawa-referendum-on-us-base-move https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/abe-ignores-cont...
- yorwba 4y agoSeems like you linked the wrong article.
- Kukumber 4y agoNo, it's the proper article, journalist covering an information, up to various investigators to figure out the links As for the traitor thing, it's what the population is saying, try to get in touch with students, it's what contributed to the assassination of Abe and the current events (majority of the population against a national funeral, why? it was their prime minister, such figure this disliked?) My personal opinion: You don't assassinate your prime minister over a donation to a religious group, you do it because you are a nationalist and you punish act of treason
- tjpnz 4y agoI've lived here for close to a decade and was stunned by the reaction from the press. Even the NHK (which is a well known LDP mouthpiece) started covering the Unification Church angle early on. People like to bash the state of journalism here but I think this shows it to be worthy of more credit.
- skhr0680 4y agoI'd question if public sentiment was ever pro-Abe; he regularly antagonized and taxed the middle class while doing little or nothing to help them, even during the COVID pandemic. His connection to the Moonies is just the icing on the cake. Everyone has a relative or knows someone who lost all their money to a cult.
- maybelsyrup 4y agoDon't forget his strong family ties to psychotic Japanese fascism and racism [1,2], and his personal affinity for heinous war crimes and human experimentation in Imperial Japan [3]. Imagine your next door neighbor going out in public wearing a Dr. Mengele t-shirt and you start to get Abe's vibe. Complete ghoul. I know the Japanese aren't exactly excited to take responsibility for their role in WW2, but good for them all the same for seeing through this guy's bullshit. Every now and then these lone nuts get it right, I guess? [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Abe https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shintaro_Abe [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobusuke_Kishi [3] https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=2971580 https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.as...
- Laaas 4y agoI don't think these ties make him as unpopular as you think. The third link is also from a heavily biased source.
- maybelsyrup 4y ago> The third link is also from a heavily biased source. Say what you mean.
- mrcheesebreeze 4y agohe means its obviously biased, a korean publication will clearly try their best to portray the events as they see it. South korea is very anti-japan, not that I blame them, but its bad enough that I wouldn't trust news from it unless it has proved itsself to be particularly trustworthy. This goes the other way around too, to this day koreans in japan are mistreated and japan is always putting propaganda especially in relation to disputed areas like dokdo. from the recent japan olympics we see they are okay with pissing off all their neighbors as well as being two faced regarding these disputes. korean and japanese news don't act unbiased at all in relation to eachother.
- wahnfrieden 4y agoAn adjacent mental leap is to recognize how much power workers and the poor can have over corporate and politician behaviors (doesn't have to be violent assassination like this, that's besides the point - what was effective came from the resulting widespread awareness of the subject matter brought to attention). Hopefully LDP isn't able to whitewash it through mild reform.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- MomoXenosaga 4y agoAbe was always controversial for Japanese. Most people only know his foreign policy but he was socially ultra conservative- even by Japan standards.
- fomine3 4y agoHe was very conservative even in the party, but what he did as a prime minister is not much conservative (than expected) and some work are liberal-ish. He was very good at show himself conservative, so he was supported by conservatives.
- HereIGoAgain 4y agoA just over 50% approval rating, in a vote largely based along political party lines, does not a vast majority of opposition make. What I find most interesting is that among younger generations, the approval goes past 65%. Though that might have something to do with younger people not having the luxury of ignoring potential future threats, with respect to defense, energy and such.