The PM of Japan Visits the U.S.!

Hi! So as you may or may not know, the Prime Minister of Japan flew to the U.S. to visit President Trump. I think by this time I upload this post, the two will have already gone through all the agenda, and the Prime Minister will have been flying home.

Overall, the meeting seems to went very well. The President has left some pretty positive comments about the PM of Japan on Twitter. The President even wrote "Prime Minister Shinzō"! That seemed to attract some attention. Some replied to that tweet, asking whether or not he was aware that it was "Prime Minister Abe" as "Shinzō" is his first name, and "Abe" is his last name. I want to think that President Trump wanted imply their close relationship. I actually have no idea what American people think or feel about the U.S.-Japan relationship, but I am interested in this relationship. Which means... I am going to do another Mini Report!

I read articles from The Huffington Post, Time, and The New York Times.

First, the article from The Huffington Post doesn't actually talk about the meeting itself (e.g., what was talked about, the future view of the U.S.-Japan alliance, etc.). I mean, look at that. The article is even categorized as comedy! The article writes about the handshake between the two, the PM of Japan, and the President of the United States. Ok, so for those of you who are not familiar with Japanese, here is a supplementary explanation. If you watch the video, you can witness the "awkward" handshake. You can hear the sound of cameras, and a foreign language in male voices, which is Japanese. The voices is asking the two to look at the cameras. President Trump asks Prime Minister Abe, "What are they saying?" because he doesn't understand Japanese. PM Abe answers, "Please, look at me." Well, he should've said, "They are telling us to look at them (= cameras)," instead. He meant to say, "They are saying, 'Look at me (the press),'"  but you know, that was kind of misleading. I want to think that the President kept holing hands for the press; they were taking pictures of them holding each other's hands. But I don't know. Watch the video clip attached at the end of the article. I mean, look at that handshake!

About the other articles... Time writes PM Abe's flattery paid off. I agree. I don't think the word "flattery" is inappropriate. I have not heard anything related to TPP from the two, though. But other than that, the PM has always showed how Japan was willing to work with the United States, and that made the President like him very much. The President has made harsh comments on Japan, and many people in Japan has expressed concerns towards our future relationship. I'm sure at this time, those people are relieved to hear those public statements from the President.

So, you can watch a video clip on their public statements if you go click the URL to the article from The New York Times. The PM do not hesitate to say, "The United States is the champion of democracy." And said the fact that the President was elected through the tough campaign even though he has no experience in politics, is "the dynamism of democracy." Then he continued to congratulate the President's inauguration. The video is cut off right in the middle of the PM's speech, but you can hear the PM says the U.S. is filled with chances and opportunities. Wow, that was a lot of positive comments! The democracy elected the most unpopular President in the U.S. history??? Ok, so he may not be the most unpopular President (I have to looked at the numbers...), but all the protests make me wonder. And, lots of chances and opportunities... Perhaps he is talking about the American Dream...? I never want to say that there's no dream or chance or whatever you call it in the U.S. But what President Trump says makes me worried. You know, the wall, Muslim Ban, and all... America is being exclusive, and I don't feel that is the sign of a lot of chances and dreams.

I have been to the United States, and I have lots of friends there. I love that country. And I am happy to hear that the two is getting alone very well, and to think that the two countries will build a good relationship. But I am also worried. I hope other countries don't associate Japan with exclusiveness. I hope other countries think Japan also agrees with the wall, and the Muslim Ban, etc. The PM actually refrained from giving a comment on Muslim Ban the other day, which you can read about in my older post. I value the U.S.-Japan alliance, but I also really hope that this alliance does not make Japan alone in the international community.

References:

• Strachan, M. (2017, February 10). So, Trump's Handshake With The Japanese Prime Minister Got ... - The Huffington Post. Retrieved February 12, 2017, from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-handshake_us_589e1a10e4b094a129eafc3c
• Miller, Z. J. (2017, February 11). Japan's Prime Minister Showed the Way to Trump's Heart. - Time. Retrieved February 12, 2017, from http://time.com/4667744/donald-trump-shinzo-abe-flattery/?xid=homepage
• Davis, J. H., & Baker, P. (2017, February 10). In Welcoming Shinzo Abe, Trump Affirms U.S. Commitment to Defending Japan. - The New York Times. Retrieved February 12, 2017, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/10/world/asia/trump-shinzo-abe-meeting.html?_r=1

Are We Somewhat Racist?

So I love reading random articles on the Internet. And I thought it would be a good idea to start a small project called "mini report." It works like this: 1) I pick a topic, or a theme, 2) read some articles about the decided topic, and 3) write what I learned from the articles, and also what I thought.

Before I jump into today's topic, here's a disclaimer. This is a really casual research; this is nothing like an academic thesis. So, I would not be reading a hundred articles for each topic. This project is not intended to be professional, so please don't come to me and say, "Hey, this is so unprofessional." 

Alright. Now let's talk about today's topic. Is everyone racist for some extent? Discussions concerning racism and tensions between different race or ethnic groups are very sensitive, yet it is also a very important thing to talk about. I read 3 articles from 3 different sites (Psychology Today, The Guardian, and The New York Times). I will list the links to all of the articles at the end of this post, so go check them if you're interested. 

2 of the articles (Psychology Today, and The New York Times) say that like it or not, everyone is built to think or act in certain ways. We are all biased or prejudiced. Oh yes, I think the words "biased" and "prejudiced" are better in this context. People can be biased and prejudiced towards various things. The word "racism" does not describe the whole picture about ourselves. The article from Psychology Today says that humans have mechanisms, that is, "inborn behavioral capacities that drive automatic, unconscious decisions" in the author's words. This means, as I have already wrote, that we are built to think and act in certain ways. We all can be biased and prejudiced without the intention to be so.

Now, think about yourself. It's actually impossible to be always fair. Maybe because of cultural backgrounds. They teach what is right and wrong; appropriate and inappropriate. Or maybe because of ignorance. You cannot know everything. And also because of human nature. We love categorizing things because it makes things easier and more comprehensive. We all know that there are always some exceptions, but we tend to label things, and be surprised when we encounter the exceptions.

In Japan, most people are ethnically Japanese. But you don't have to be ethnically Japanese to be a member of Japanese nation (i.e., Japanese). Some people don't look like "typical" Japanese. Well, look at my boyfriend. His dad is from the U.S., which makes him look a little different from most of Japanese. He was born in Japan, and raised in Japan; he's really a Japanese like rest of us. But there have been many times when people who don't know him didn't see him as "normal" Japanese. He has been told, "Wow, your Japanese is very good!" or asked, "Are you from here (Japan)?" by Japanese people. Some people are impressed when he writes kanji. (He may look like a "gaijin" (= foreigner, in Japanese), but he went through Japanese education system just like rest of Japanese, so he knows lots of kanji! Duh!) See? He has experienced so many biases and prejudices in his life, even though all those people who made those comments didn't mean to be rude, which is good that he knows it. These are biases are prejudices, not necessarily racism. I have asked him, "Do you ever feel mad at those comments or at those people who make those comments? Don't you feel tired of having to explain who you are?" He answered, "Well, no, I'm OK with that. Because first of all, I'm used to it. And I know that those people are not trying to be mean by asking those questions or making those comments."

What is important is for us to know that we are biased in some ways as the 2 articles say. The article from Psychology Today writes, "nature is not destiny." We can do better, and go beyond of our nature. But we cannot do this without knowing and admitting we're biased and prejudiced. And I think we have hope.

The article from The Guardian gives some interesting insights about the results of a survey that looked into racial prejudice in the United Kingdom, and the media headlines that make people think British people have become more racist than the past. You can jump to the data of the survey from the article, if you're interested. The author suggests that the data may be a sign that more people in the U.K. "are willing to admit to prejudice." Because the data was collected by asking people to self-report their attitudes, only people who admit that they may be prejudiced say that they are prejudiced. The most prejudiced people do not see that they are prejudiced, and most probably report that they are not prejudiced.

So, in conclusion, we are all biased whether we like it or not. What we need to do is to know it, and keep in mind of it. We need to know that "normal" is a social construct; it's not the ultimate, universal truth. It's important that we be open and accepting, and make sure to avoid or at least minimize bias and prejudice when we say things or make decisions. And also, we need to study, and learn about things we don't know, things we aren't familiar with, things we have taken for granted, etc. If you learn more, you'll quickly learn that there are so many things you don't know, and you can't just assume or say things decisively. It's not fun to admit that we're ignorant, and it's harder to admit that we may be wrong. But in a world like this, it's getting more and more important to admit that to move on, and make the world a better place.

References:

• Praet, D. V. (2015, December 15). Is The Internet Making Us Racist? - Psychology Today. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/unconscious-branding/201512/is-the-internet-making-us-racist 
• Kristof, N. (2014, August 27). Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist? - The New York Times. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=F2B22EE4BA7440CAAB8315DE5DAE8D5A&CID=29C72670352169731A082C5434106868&rd=1&h=ioKzrhMKgoqIq5YJuMPURdipG3BLt34NgV9ZB0eWMs4&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.nytimes.com%2f2014%2f08%2f28%2fopinion%2fnicholas-kristof-is-everyone-a-little-bit-racist.html&p=DevEx,5063.1
• Burnett, D. (2014, May 29). Everyone's a little bit racist, sometimes. - The Guardian. Retrieved February 10, 2017, from https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2014/may/29/racist-racism-study-uk