Samurai Yujiro, Japan Broadcasting.net whale eating correspondent
Soviet’s death
When the Berlin Wall was torn down in November 1989, U.S.S.R de facto died.
‘Ronald’ prevailed, ‘Nancy’ cheered, ‘Mikhail’ vanquished and ‘Donald’ was merely a flamboyant real-estate celebrity.
Just 3 months prior to this “end of East-Germany”, thousands of Chinese students and innocent protesters were massacred in Tiananmen.
The date was June 4th.
Communist autocrat Deng Xiao ping’s tanks ruthlessly ran over his ‘worthless traitors’ demanding democracy.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the U.S realized that it had lost its longstanding menace since September 1945. Washington was simultaneously deprived of its crucial objective during the cold war – to “crush the Russians”.
That left the U.S to give priority and focus on the domestic issues, such as racism, gun violence, teenage pregnancy and “creating jobs” for the Americans.
The end of the cold war meant the beginning of American isolationism.
Therefore, it is natural to think that Donald Trump’s protectionism and “America First” policy in fact has its basic roots back then, nearly three decades ago. And that may be why the incumbent 45th Mr President is keen on maintaining amicable relationship with Kremlin.
Or am I digging in too far?! Too hypothetical?
Anyways, one thing for certain and unshakable is that the fall of the Soviet Union automatically left the U.S as the sole superpower.
Dog steak in Beijing
But now in 2017, a brand new ‘superpower’ is on the rise.
Eating dogs is ubiquitous in this authoritarian state, where Google, YouTube and Facebook are banned. And what’s worse, this rising power is eating up all the “islands” in South China sea, reclaiming it, then renovating them to artificial military bases.
Some call them ‘man-made islands’.
7 of them purportedly have been built so far.
Does VP Mike Pence eat dog steak with some mash potato and ketchup? I doubt it. For the Americans, dogs are not edible, but “walkable”….. I mean, Californians love walking dogs along the beaches of Santa Monica.
That goes the same from Tokyo, Milano to San Francisco, worldwide.
So, what do we make out of it?!
Dog Meat Festival
According to Clair Huot, the Associate Professor at the University of Calgary, “dog meat was three times cheaper than a pig by the Eastern Han dynasty”.
Dog eating and killing is widely practiced even today, and the Chinese often eat them as a hotpot. Dog head, dog brain, dog tongue, puppies are a lavish meal.
“Dog Meat Festival” began in the province of Jiangsu in 2007.
Ms Huot has also pointed out that on January 10, 2016, Nanjing local news reported a gruesome scene of a 60 year old man skinning the dog alive on Dachang street.
I may be a vulgar, abrasive man, but still regard myself as a catalyst for peace. Furthermore, I do not club dogs to death like the Chinese butchers do today. That’s blatantly barbaric.
And I sincerely would like to notify you great readers that if we don’t remain vigilant, the corrupt, sneaky Beijing officials will start treating you and I like a Saint Bernard or a local street dog sent to the the famous Dog Meat Festival.
International law is “rubbish”
Last year in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in Hague ruled that the so called the “9 dash line” claimed by China is baseless and illicit under the international law. While Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Taiwan claim sovereignty over the scattered islands in South China Sea where $5 trillion worth world trade passes through, Beijing somehow defiantly argues “90% of the sea ‘historically’ belongs to China” – whatever that means.
Whats’ s even more ludicrous, Beijing downplayed last year’s historic, decisive ruling by The Hague calling it a “rubbish”.
Boy, what an inhumane response, just like butchering dogs.
And of course, I emphatically refute Beijing’s inexplicable, unsubstantiated claims that hilariously undermines the international law.
For the PRC, all its surrounding waters and territories as well as its Asian neighbors are de facto ‘dogs’ – edible to say the least. Credit Suisse think tank report ranks Beijing as the world’s 3rd largest military, just behind U.S and Russia with annual budget of $215 billion (2016).
That’s far larger than that of all the Asian nations combined.
Nuked Pyongyang
Then comes the famous fat turd, Mr Kim Jong un.
The hugely overweight totalitarian ruler has already made irretrievable damages in its foreign relations by conducting ICBM tests almost “weekly”, while his people are eating shoes.
From east to west, the world today faces tumultuous catastrophes and political turmoil more than ever before, and that especially in east Asia.
Nuked Pyongyang has already become a irrefutable reality, while the troublesome former Seoul president is behind bars. I am a big fan of the classic novel “Moon and the Six pence” by Maugham, but the new ‘MOON’ in the Blue house (Seoul presidential HQ) seems to be nothing but a pro-North Korean populist and a successor of the late disgraced ultra -left president Roh Moohyung.
I do anticipate that the Tokyo-Seoul relationship will be crucially undermined under this Moon presidency that’s just took off.
Dog Eating Alliance
We the Japanese eat Whale meat, both raw and cooked. I must admit that it’s awfully smelly, but at the same time its finger lickin’ good, so give it a try when you visit Tokyo on your next trip.
Just a 90 minute train ride from the Tokyo station will carry you to this coastal town of Tateyama in Chiba (not China) prefecture. Yes, please hop off at the Tateyama station. Why? Because you can enjoy the yummy cuisine unavailable in London, Hong kong or San Paulo. Yes, the famous whale meat lunch box is available for just 900 yen, so give it a shot of your lifetime!
But we don’t eat dogs.
Koreans are no different from the Chinese when it comes to Saint Bernards. Though it may be not on a menu, go ask for a ‘dog’ at a Korean restaurant and they should offer you a ‘plan B’.
Ostensibly, Dog eating Beijing has implemented “tough sanctions” on Pyongyang by suspending the purchase of North Korean coal until the end of 2017. But still, the recent media reports suggest that China – North Korea trade grew by 37.4 % in the first quarter of this year compared to that of 2016.
This means that the “Dog Eating Alliance” (D.E.A) is still solid and robust behind the curtain.
We’ve all got to bear in mind that both countries have infatuation with dogs. And that not as pets, but as their evening buffet.
That, they have in common.
It pretty much stands out, since probably no other country does the same in a modern world these days. And my argument is that this DOG EATING ALLIANCE is unshakable, and unbreakable, just like dogs mate daily across the globe.
That being said, I’d like to conclude this article by contemplating Tokyo’s role in facing this hugely disruptive alliance.
Shameful Grass eaters
Let me make it crystal clear. Don’t count on us.
Why?
The answer is quite simple.
The Japanese don’t eat dogs. But instead, we are “Grass eaters”. I don’t mean cannabis, but just a plain grass in the countryside.
To make a long story short, the Japanese today has got no balls like Mr Trump. You may point out that his predecessor also had no balls, unable to intervene militarily in Syria or halt PRC’s military invasion in the South China sea.
But still, its just incomparable to the complacency and irresponsibility of the “diligent” Japanese regarding not only the national security, but peace and stability in the region.
Humans are apt to become belligerent by eating MEAT.
Your muscle becomes larger, with nutritious oily protein while the sexual desires soar also by consuming beef and pork, without a doubt DOGS for some people.
Though not public displayed, Koreans and the Chinese for a long time believed (and still do) that DOG STEW empowers you with resilience and stamina. Ancient Chinese also believed dog eating ward off evil spirit.
On the other hand, the Japanese were banned from eating “4 legged animals” until the Meiji Restoration that began in 1868. Therefore, the world famous “Sukiyaki” wasn’t even on our menu till Commodore Perry knocked Japan Shogunate’s door in 1853.
Instead, we eat fish.
You know that, and so do I.
However, what’s critical is that the modern Japanese are “Grass eaters” – not dogs, not fish, but GRASS.
Lambs eat grass.
While they eat all day, they don’t speak a word. They are horrendously quiet, polite and ‘enslaved’ by their master. All they care about is fulfilling its voracious appetite in a small world they live in.
That’s right. Flock of sheep – that’s what we are today, ladies and gentlemen.
If the American isolationism is said to have begun in the early 1990’s after the fall of the Soviet Union, well the Japanese isolationism is an ongoing issue. You may obviously point out “What the heck! The McDonalds in Shibuya and Shinjuku is packed with millennials and schoolgirls eating cheeseburger with coke” ;
Well, that is factually correct.
Our diet deeply relies on meat today, as well as fish. Bread than rice. Obesity has become a huge issue just like any other G7 nations.
That’s right. My “Grass eaters” narrative is all about our mentality, psychological-wise. Playing Playstation and Nintendo on Friday nights instead of asking a girl out for a pint of beer is nothing new these days, in Tokyo. The recent surveys discloses some deplorable reality that a common “DREAM” for elementary school kids and the millennials is to ‘become a bureaucrat at a local town office’ –
Sad.
Only 23.5% of the Japanese possesses passport today.
While over 300,000 Chinese students study in the U.S today, you rarely see a Japanese honor student at Harvard.
Pity.
Insular thinking roots deep in our society, undermining its resilience as a nation.
What’s worse, having eaten too much grass, the Japanese are now ‘brain dead’. Instead of revising our ‘Pussy-Cat constitution’ and building a truly sovereign state that has the capability to defend on its own, we are overly subservient in our relationship with Washington and count too heavily on Mr Trump’s military muscles.
Tokyo is a concubine of Washington.
And I don’t blame the Americans. They take measures based on their own national interest, and thats how politics work. The assertion Trump made during his presidential campaign last year in March, that “Japan should start thinking how to defend itself against North Korean threat. Pay more, or U.S forces will withdraw” perfectly makes sense.
It’s an irrefutable truth.
In order to sustain peace, stability in the region as well as the international law, Tokyo has a role to play – which is to beef up its military strength and at the same time revise article 9.2 of our constitution which stipulates “Land, Sea and Air forces will never be maintained. The right of the belligerency of the state will not be acknowledged” ; made by the U.S occupying forces in 1946 in just 7 days.
Not a dog meat, but a powerful North Korean nuclear missiles are hanging precariously in Mr Kim’s house, targeted at Tokyo and Kyoto. This may sound hilarious, but for the Japan-U.S alliance to prevail over the Dog Eating Alliance, we’ve got to get up on our own feet instead of being breast fed by mother Trump.
With over $20 trillion government debt, the “MILK” bottle is already empty. The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is pathetically sluggish in its reforms, from the constitution, de-regulation to childcare.
While Trump is highly likely to exit from the Paris climate deal, American protectionism and isolationism will inevitably accelerate. And it is truly a shame that I am a resident of a frail country that must be “protected” by this untrustworthy, unthinking property tycoon.
We’ve got no balls anymore.
Only Ichiro has.
Thank you.
Good Rising!
Yujiro Taniyama – Japan Broadcasting Editor in Chief
