We can repay a fraction of the favor engraved in our history.
Unlike Korea, this would surely be something meaningful.
Jun 11, 2022
We have wasted 20% of our national budget for 36 years on a country like Korea.
This chapter, "Let's put even one-thirtieth of that money toward the U.K.," was originally published on 2019-11-12.
Kenzaburo Oe, flaunting his friendship with Shuichi Kato in a conversation with the foolish Hisashi Inoue, re-transmits the chapter he transmitted on 2018-12-29 titled Kato says there are only two geniuses in Japanese history, Kukai and Sugawara Michizane.
Masayuki Takayama's column in the Weekly Shincho New Year Special Issue also proves that he is the one and only journalist in the postwar world.
Subscribers must have read it with a good laugh and admiration.
However, no discerning soul can forget the importance of this paper.
They will be grateful for his presence in Japan.
Acknowledging the Anglo-Japanese Alliance
The first encounter between Japan and Britain was in the early 19th century when the Phaeton raided Nagasaki harbor.
The Japanese were very surprised at how violent a country it was.
To find a way to deal with the situation, he first compiled an English-Japanese dictionary, "Angeria Worind Taisei" (Angeria Dictionary).
Later, when Americans who spoke the same language and were more violent came, it was of great help.
Although this is counter-intuitive, the British did some good things.
At the end of the Edo period, the Russian ship Posadnick came to Tsushima, ravaged the villages, and demanded a harbor lease and prostitutes.
If the Shogunate had poorly responded, it could have occupied Tsushima.
In fact, in 1875, a Russian ship came to Sakhalin and made the same threat.
Japan could not resist the threat on its own, and Russia acquired Sakhalin.
When Tsushima was also in danger, British Minister Allcock dispatched two warships to drive the Russians away.
It was a good ending, but we cannot thank him enough.
When Japan faced Russia again across the Korean peninsula, the British formed a military alliance with Japan.
All Japan had to do was to fight Russia.
If Germany and France, which hated Japan, helped Russia, Britain promised to join the war immediately and defeat Germany and France.
No one wanted to fight against the most powerful country in the world, Britain.
The Baltic Fleet could have rested in Cam Ranh Bay, France, before entering the Sea of Japan, but the French government did not allow it to enter the port for fear of the Anglo-Japanese alliance.
The fleet's officers and men were still exhausted from the long voyage that took them halfway around the world, and they collided with the United Fleet off Tsushima Island.
About 20% of the great victory of annihilating the Russian fleet was due to the British.
The Anglo-Japanese Alliance was dissolved due to the cunning of the U.S. and the stupidity of Kijuro Shidehara.
That is why the last war broke out, and Japan lost.
After the war, Japan was at the mercy of the American monopoly, but even then, Britain responded usually.
The U.S. thoroughly destroyed the aircraft industry so that Japan could never again stand up to a white nation.
It banned the operation of aircraft, their manufacture, and courses in aerodynamics.
The same was true of the automobile industry.
They banned manufacturing and research and even stopped the local production of Ford and G.M., which they had been doing before the war.
The heavy industry was to be dismantled entirely as well, but North and South Korea started the war at a very opportune time.
Japan was able to keep its industrial strength alive as a rear base for the U.S. military.
At this time, the British became the savior of the Japanese automobile industry.
Austin signed a knockdown contract with Nissan and Hillman with Isuzu to fill the postwar void.
The last war began when the U.S. cut off oil supplies.
The postwar energy situation in Japan was the same.
The government considered introducing nuclear power plants, but the U.S. firmly rejected the idea.
They believed that if Japan possessed nuclear weapons, it would one day avenge the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Then, the British stepped in again.
Japan acquired a British-made graphite-moderated nuclear reactor and put it into operation.
The fuel is cheap natural uranium.
The United States was surprised by this.
Burning graphite reactors yields plutonium, which can be used to make nuclear bombs.
Japan would soon be able to possess nuclear weapons.
The U.S. panicked and changed course.
Instead of scrapping the graphite reactors, it decided to give Japan light water reactors.
This reactor would not produce plutonium that could be used to make nuclear weapons.
It allowed Japan to achieve a certain degree of energy self-sufficiency.
Japan has also acquired expertise in nuclear power plants, and Hitachi is now exporting light water reactors to the U.K. to repay the favor.
This will be very helpful to the U.K., which is suffering from its departure from the European Union.
However, Hitachi says it needs more capital to export the reactors and has no choice but to abandon the project.
The government hesitates to assist, perhaps fearing harassment from the anti-nuclear flag-waving Asahi Shimbun.
In the past, the government wasted 20% of the national budget for 36 years on a country like Korea.
Why don't we give even 1/36th of that money to the U.K.?
We can repay a fraction of the favor engraved in our history.
Unlike Korea, this would surely be something meaningful.
*I could not help but shed a few tears as I re-read this brilliant article by Masayuki Takayama. A man like him is a true nationalist.
People such as Kenzaburo Oe and Haruki Murakami are called treacherists or traitors.
They are the worst Japanese people ever seen in Japanese history.
Kenzaburo Oe, flaunting his friendship with Shuichi Kato, proudly claimed in an interview with the foolish Hisashi Inoue that Kato said there were only two geniuses in Japanese history: Kukai and Sugawara no Michizane. The time for the Japanese people to realize that Kukai and Sugawara Michizane more despise no one than Oe and Murakami came five years ago in August. *
Note 1: Angeria Gorin Taisei (諳厄利亜語林大成) was the first English-Japanese dictionary in Japan, compiled mainly by Shozaemon (Shoei) Motoki and completed in 1814 (Bunka 11).
The Shogunate, shocked by the Phaeton Incident of 1808, was keenly aware of the need for British research and ordered Dutch translators to learn English and compile the dictionary.
Under the guidance of Jan Kock Bronhoff, a Dutchman stationed in England, the dictionary contained approximately 6,000 words, with pronunciations written in katakana.
While the compilation of the first English-Japanese dictionary was a significant achievement, the pronunciation of the dictionary was inadequate, with a strong Dutch accent.
In addition to Motoki, the compilers included Sadareki Baba, Yoshimori Suenaga, Takami Narabayashi, and Nagayasu Yoshio.
2024/9/5 in Mihara, Hiroshima
