The following is from a serialized column by Masayuki Takayama that appeared in the final issue of the weekly magazine Shinchō, released on November 28th.
This article also proves that he is a journalist like no other in the post-war world.
Long ago, an elderly professor from the Royal Ballet School of Monaco, highly respected by prima ballerinas worldwide, came to Japan.
At that time, she said the following about the significance of artists
Artists are important because they are the only ones who can shed light on hidden, concealed truths and express them.'
No one would argue with her words.
It is no exaggeration to say that Takayama Masayuki is not only a unique journalist but also a unique artist in the postwar world.
This thesis also brilliantly proves the correctness of my statement that, in the current world, no one is more deserving of the Nobel Prize in Literature than Masayuki Takayama.
It is a must-read not only for the Japanese people but also for people worldwide.
A theory on Korea that leaves everything to other countries
Toshiaki Ohno, a junior colleague from the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, writes a column for the monthly magazine "Kokutai Bunka."
(omission)
The theme of the current column is about Koreans.
In it, he wrote about the eight provinces of Korea.
These eight blocks are not only administrative districts, but each has its own unique character and strong feelings of love and hate.
For example, Jeolla-do and Chungcheong-do have a sense of camaraderie, but when it comes to Gyeongsang-do, they have a strong sense of hatred.
They won't even take wives from Gyeongsang Province.
It is because the first two provinces were part of the ancient kingdom of Baekje, while Gyeongsang Province was part of the ancient kingdom of Silla.
In those days, they would be enslaved and humiliated if they lost a battle.
This resentment remains today.
When Ohno visited Chungcheong Province for an interview, a local person complained to him.
The former Silla-related Gyeongsang Province has produced presidents such as Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan, and many people have succeeded in business and are doing well.
On the other hand, the people from the old Baekje Kingdom are still being mistreated.
He then added:
"In the past, Japan helped Baekje fight against Silla. Won't you help us (the descendants of Baekje) once again and fight against Silla?"
He was not joking and was quite serious.
The "helped Baekje" battle he is referring to is the Battle of Baekgang in the 7th century.
At the time, Baekje had been destroyed by Silla, and Japan set out to conquer Silla in order to restore Baekje.
When they arrived, they found a large army from the Tang Dynasty waiting for them.
It was because Silla had asked the Tang Dynasty for reinforcements, and the Japanese army suffered a crushing defeat.
That's to be expected.
The Tang Dynasty was a country created by the Xianbei, who had conquered Central Asia.
It was a large empire that also included Persians under its control, and it quickly destroyed Goguryeo, which had given Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty a hard time.
The Japanese army fled home.
Prince Nakatomi (Emperor Tenji) was so afraid of a Tang invasion that he built a water castle in Fukuoka and moved the capital from the seaside city of Naniwa to Otsu.
The problem, however, is Baekje and Silla.
Even though it was their war, when the people around them realized what was happening, they let Japan and Tang fight it.
They decide to sit on the sidelines.
In fact, "leaving everything to others" is their nature.
After the Russo-Japanese War, Theodore Roosevelt forced Korea onto Japan.
He saw through the nature of Korea and made Japan carry the burden.
Ito Hirobumi, who opposed any involvement with Korea, was assassinated, and thanks to this, Korea was forced to provide Japan with free services for everything from infrastructure to the modernization of the country.
After the war, the Silla-Baekje alliance fought against Goguryeo.
It is what is known as the Korean War.
In this case, too, the US and China fought each other, with the US and China acting as proxies for South Korea and North Korea, respectively.
The South Korean military, which had its hands free, went around capturing Japanese fishing boats that were violating the Lee Line.
This practice of leaving things to others continued afterward, too.
For example, Vietnam, a divided nation during the Cold War, quickly unified itself in the 1970s, and East and West Germany also tore down the wall themselves at the same time as the end of the Cold War.
However, North and South Korea were different.
Instead of unification, the division deepened.
Each side has a seat at the United Nations, and they appear to be full-fledged countries.
What's more, they are the same people, speaking the same language, and they even have two teams in the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics.
They enjoy being divided.
On the other hand, during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, it was discovered that North Korea had abducted people.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon, who visited Japan, not only failed to apologize for the abduction of his countrymen, but instead, thinking about the poverty of the North, he said, "It is the common mission of Japan and South Korea to make North Korea a proper country. Further efforts by Japan are desirable."
He is calling for Japan to provide aid of around 1 trillion yen.
They believe that when Koreans are in trouble, the world will work hard for them.
With Trump's re-election, some say that the North's possession of nuclear weapons will be recognized.
South Korea is worried about this and calls for even closer security cooperation between Japan, the US, and South Korea.
Here, too, they are trying to get other countries involved.
What do you think?
Why not leave it to them this time?
War is OK, and unification is fine.
This time, the world wants to watch from the sidelines.
2024/11/28 in Kyoto
