Pondering Upon A Number of Matters

Hello~ everyone? how are u guys all doing?
Last monday's topic was somewhat politically complicated issue to talk about.
but in general i think it was gone well with some lessons as well.

I expected some responses but at the same time was a bit surprised by others from WU
on different questions asked during the session, regarding japan's military and nuclear issues.

I happened to read editorials on asahi newspaper and it was talking about that matter.
It was not exactly focusing on the nuclear issue itself but it was about different perspectives/voices being made inside of the jp gov on nuclear debate.
(the article is 2006/10/20 asahi editorial: "核”議論、外務の答弁は不適切だ。is the title. To see the original content, u may visit www.asahi.com 社設section)

And the main theme I wanted to convey to u guys at the end of our session last monday was maybe somewhat well- but yet not exactly- summarized in the 6th paragraph of the editorial. That might have been why the reaction and expectation regarding this nuclear issue were taken quite differently by KU and WU sides. jp ppl think the development of a-bomb will never be possible under the restraints of constitution and the three principles of nuclear non-proliferation which was reaffirmed by prime minister abe's public statement. However, such speculation is still being actively debated in the field of internationl politics by numerous scholars and many do not underestimate the possiblity of jp having one in the near future.
(If u read the rest of article, u might see vague picture of the context yet not enough for the detailed explanation of it. therefore, i hope u guys find more info on that and let others(esp. those of KU who do not have as easy and direct access to jp sources as WU members) know of what's really going in debates inside the japanese society.

Yet another, I found out that the difference in response b/w KU and WU sides have derived from their exposure and recognition of nationalism, which are greatly affected by education and social environment. And I came up with the feeling of my own, that nationalistic character is much stronger in Korea and China than in Japan. As we talked about during our session on 'part-time job', jp youngsters tend to be more independent, liberal, individualistic and these characteristics resulted in most jp youngsters caring more about their own individual lives and conditions than about their nation(japan) whereas koreans are comparatively more devoted toward their nation.
(I actually want to explicate more on this matter in details but the length of my writing would get too extended, thus i have to restrain myself here...^^;;)

Finally, as I had a chance to learn about nationalism thru some lectures on international relations after last monday's session(what a coincidence!!^^;;), I come to think that there's only a slight difference between patriotism, nationalism, and chauvinism. and the worrisome part is that one cannot easily tell the difference from one another if you're immersed in such a society.
It's like a big water swirl[like the one in the picture i posted above] so if one is drowned there u cannot get out of it easily. This might be why I was making that 'scared or worried(?) face' on the picture above. haha
This was just a joke but nationalism out of control is likely to entail disasterous consequences as you guys might have seen from the case in china with chinese ppl attacking jp property and embassy.

Whoa~~that's it for now.-_-;; sorry for its ridiculous length!! (but this is just like a summary of what i really want to talk about.) so if u guys are more interested in this matter, maybe we can talk about this in more depth at some other time.

Before rapping up, I was very impressed with what mayu had posted here with her two writings and got to think that how nice it would for many of us to express what they have felt and thought during or even after each session here on the blog. There would be lots of u who had some thoughts but could not express them at all or could do so but no clearly during the session because of lack of organizing(including myself^^;;) can actually think about it more deeply and write them all out here. Then you can organize your thoughts once more and express it more effectively and clearly so that others can understand better how u feel or think. This would also not only help us to practice our 'idea-conveying' skills but also facilitate the process of understanding one another.^^ Through these processes of understanding korea and japan's views from different perspectives and sources, maybe we'll be able to gradually complete the clear picture by which we can see not only 'the forest(context)' but also 'the trees in the forest(details)' at the same time.

Thanks for your time and pain(?) >_<; reading my writing.
긴 글 읽으시느라 수고하셨습니다;;
僕の超長い文を最後まで読むため、皆さん大変だったと思います；； お疲れ様でした。。

Anyways, I hope this would trigger everybody to make this blog all the more active by filling it with your opinions and thoughts. Then we would be able interact even outside the session cuz i think it's the time for us to SHARE more of our honest thoughts and hearts, right? ^^