#Japanese Revisionism

[xbuster]

Why do so many people think City Pop is this only Japanese musical genre 😭

[japanese-american-woman]

Un-remembering the Massacre: How Japan’s “History Wars” are Challenging Research Integrity Domestically and Abroad

[unidentifiedfuckingthing]

wikipedia daycare is fun until you try to read a page that mentions any nonwhite group of people in any way

[spider-xan]

Obviously, the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were horrific war crimes, but I will not forgive the liberals and even some leftists who engaged in historical revisionism and apologia for fascism, imperialism, and genocide by framing Japan as 'the Gaza of WWII' and how they were just poor little innocent colonized underdogs that everyone was mean to for no reason and in the same geopolitical position during WWII as Palestinians and especially Gazans are in today, like, put down the Japanese nationalist propaganda like G*dzilla Minus One and that stupid M*yazaki film about the poor little warplane inventor plagued by nightmares of the evil Chinese.

[last-tarrasque]

what exactly does marxism-leninism-maoism add to marxism-leninism? i know part of it is the theory of protracted peoples war but honestly that seems like it would only work in countries with larger rural areas. this isn't me trying to disprove you or anything i just don't think i understand maoism. (i've also heard mixed opinions on abimael guzman from some people so i'm curious about him too)

That is a great question! The advancements of Maoism can be split into two main categories. The first category is the qualitative advancements with build on the core of Marxism, and mark the transformation of Marxism-Leninism into Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. The second is the advances which advance Maoism itself, but do not propel revolutionary science into a qualitatively higher stage.

In terms of the first category, three main advancements were made which qualitatively advanced the knowledge of revolutionary science along the lines of the three essential aspects of Marxism. These were made during the 3rd world historic revolution, that being the Chinese Revolution, up till the end of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. These are;

Advancements in the field of Political Economy: Chairman Mao Zedung was the first to seriously advance the study of imperialism beyond the great discoveries of Lenin and analyze Imperialism in it's modern Semi-Colonial form. This investigation led to the discovery of Bureaucrat-Comprador Capitalism and Semi-Feudalism, the ruling classes within Semi-Colonies.

Advancements in the field of Class Struggle 1: Following the analysis of Bureaucrat-Comprador Capitalism and Semi-Feudalism, along with analysis of both the RUssian and Chinese Revolution's, Mao discovered a crucial revolutionary stage for all countries under the boot of feudalism and imperialism, that of the New Democratic Revolution. The NDR is a national revolution against Feudalism and Imperialism headed principally by the Proletariat, in alliance with all progressive classes of society, including the national bourgeoises (For example the CPC-Kuomintang united fount against the Japanese, or the united front against the Tzar in Russia) The NDR must be completed before socialist revolution can occur.

Advancements in the field of Class Struggle 2: Another Key advancement of Mao was the discovery that, contrary to popular opinion at the time, class struggle continues under socialism. Under socialism new bureaucratic bourgeoisie emerge from within the party and state structure (following the principle of one dividing into two) and from remaining inequalities in society (following the principle of unequal development). Following the defeat of soviet socialism buy such forces and the rise of Khrushchevite Revisionism, and even the rise of such Revisionism in the CPC, Mao and the socialist line in the party waged a struggle against Khrushchtevite Revisionism and later internal revolution, culminating with the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. The GPCR targeted both old feudal and capitalist structures as well as the new bourgeoisie who promoted the capitalist line in the party, and pushed the development of socialism to its farthest point so far (which is why it the 3rd world historic revolution).

Advancements in the field of Dialectical Materialism: Mao's book On Contradictions is edental reading for any serious communist, it contains Mao's contribution to the philosophical foundations of Marxism. It puts forward key concepts such as the relationship between antagonistic and non antagonistic contradiction, differentiates between principle and secondary contractions, and the universality and particularity of contractions. Mao also puts forward in other works how contractions should be handled. Contradictions amongst the people vs contradictions with ractionares, and importantly contractions between the masses and the party, which is solved with the mass line.

There is also the topic of People's War, however that is a topic I personally do not know enough about yet in order to speak on it with any authority. After all, no investigation, no right to speak.

[alexandriaisburning]

+005: Tetris Forever is marketing disguised as a documentary

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The latest in Digital Eclipse’s game/documentary hybrids, Tetris Forever presents a view of history that omits so much it’s nearly historical revisionism. Ironically, for a documentary about a Soviet export, Tetris Forever is more concerned with its capitalist success than anything else. 

Multiple chapters are spent on the saga of Henk Rogers’ acquisition of the rights to the game, the business deals that led to its financial success, and the total ownership that the Tetris Company finally achieved.

Rogers talks about buying out the remains of the Soviet ministry of computer technology, shutting down a successful Tetris clone keychain, taking ownership of Bombliss from designer--and Pokemon founder--Tsunekazu Ishihara, and it's presented as if they were inspirational stories, not ruthless business decisions. He even adds that he paid Ishihara 100 Yen per unit, “because it was the right thing to do”, even though he legally didn’t need to.

Tetris Forever’s narrative is not the story of Tetris, but the Tetris Company. It’s a story of great men doing great things, mythmaking for people who have very literally already bought in. You can see it in the collection’s roster of games, which only includes titles developed by Bullet Proof Software, games that Rogers had a hand in directly, and are outright owned by the Tetris Company.

For as much as they hype up the Game Boy as a key to the Tetris’ worldwide success, its absence leaves a gaping hole in what’s supposed to be a historical collection. Even if it's already well known to many, its absence makes it hard to take Tetris Forever seriously as a historical archive. 

Alongside Tengen Tetris, which they fought a protracted legal battle to bury, and NES Tetris, which has exploded in popularity recently with a number of world records, a growing competitive scene and a recreation in Tetris Effect, there’s several milestone releases that are not only not playable, but not given little focus in the documentary. 

The greatest of these omissions is easily SEGA Tetris. While Tetris dominated the console space in the West, SEGA’s arcade entry was highly influential in Japan, becoming the de facto representative of the series there, spinning off into competitive entries, and becoming the groundwork for several fan games of the time, and eventually Tetris the Grand Master. 

Together with TGM, SEGA Tetris would play a huge part in defining the “feel” of Tetris. Mechanics like lock delay, ghost pieces and wall kicks were created here, in arcades, then rolled into the official Tetris Guideline, the blueprint of what a modern Tetris game should look like. Rogers himself has said as much in other interviews. 

In leaving out those entries, Tetris Forever buries a slew of other stories. The stories of how a collaboration between ex-Street Fighter devs and Japanese comedians would change the series forever, how feedback from an office lady led to a game defining mechanic, and how the game would make an international name for itself years after its release due to streaming. 

Instead SEGA Tetris is limited to a single paragraph, a short video of Tetsuya Mizuguchi talking about watching it in arcades, and a summary basically saying “it’s influential” TGM and Arika are given even less, with the only comment being that TGM is known for its speed. It’s about the same level of attention as they give to the times they made Tetris cabinets that were REALLY BIG. 

And where are the stories of the NES game champions? THe ridiculous limitations that make the NES version uniquely difficulty to play, the absurd techniques that players developed to get around the physical limitations of the controller they play with? 

Where are the showcases of speedruns and high level competition? Why aren’t there interviews with the devs of different titles, like the experimental N64 entries from H2O Entertainment, or the composer of the CDI Tetris? Digital Eclipse had a chance to showcase the diversity of people and ideas that have touched Tetris, but all of that is barely mentioned, if at all. 

Licensing was surely a factor here, but as Tetris Forever points out, the Tetris Company has fought many battles over rights. Why stop when it's time to tell your story? 

Instead what we get itls historical revisionism by exclusion. A story canonizing what we already know, and leaving out the contributions of the many hands that have touched the game in the decades since its success. 

Tetris Forever would have you believe that's Tetris’ success is the story of Alexi Pajitnov discovering a diamond, and Henk Rogers convincing everyone it was valuable. But a gem's value isn't in its raw material but the refining process--something I'm sure the son of a gem merchant like Rogers would know.

Tetris’ refinements have come as a result of decades of community contributions. From fans making works in both official and unofficial capacities. Tetris is the story of a conversation between a game and its players. It's a cultural phenomenon built by many hands. 

Perhaps, comrades, that's the real legacy of what they once called THE SOVIET MIND GAME.

[bucketsquid]

every time someone calls octavio "fascist" i want to physically hit them with my slosher.

have you considered that maybe it's seriously ignorant to use this term for a society that's had countless numbers of its people die to Actual in-universe fascism?? like commander tartar is right there. THAT is a fascist, not a guy who hates the people that started a war on his own race + made them live in the wastelands.

and that this term is extremely loaded + it feels very weird to call the "we've suffered incredibly from war, we were erased from history, and continue to struggle to exist", heavily-minority-coded people that?

it's not funny, it really isn't.

please please do some reading about the sino-japanese war. about the r/ape of nanking. about japanese historical revisionism. the octarians are pretty specifically meant to be commentary on awful real world events.

maybe I'm just cranky bc I really love the octarians and how they + their wacky leader are written, but I feel like a lot of the western fandom just Say Shit and don't read deeper into what's being said in this series!!!

[wardevilwins]

Why is it the War Devil?

Obviously, I am fascinated by the concept of the War Devil. There is a way in which her presence in the story is uniquely Japanese. Since WWII, the question of how to process the Empire’s defeat has hung over Japanese society. On the conservative side, there is a long project to minimize the realities of the War, especially atrocities committed by the Japanese Imperial Army. Alongside this, there is the concerted effort within the legislature to repeal Article 9 of the constitution, the article which forbids the Japanese government from raising an army. On the left, there is a desire for genuine reconciliation and strong support for article 9. However, the effort has not gained much of a foothold. Japan is, much like the United States, a strongly conservative country.

For example, when the historian Ienaga Saburo wrote his textbook “New Japanese History” for public schools in 1953, the government initially approved his manuscript, but when he resubmitted a revised version two years later, they demanded that 216 revisions be made. Revisions included minimizing the Rape of Nanking, adding a mention of public support for the Russo-Japanese war, etc. Straightforward government censorship of established historical fact.

Ienaga sued the government for damages arguing that he was protected by Article 21, the right to free speech. Note: his book was not a state standard. It was simply one of many textbooks available for use by schools. A district court ruled that the government’s demands didn’t constitute censorship, but did constitute an abuse of authority and granted monetary settlement. An appeal to the High court rejected the monetary settlement, and the Supreme Court upheld the appeal.

In other words, the Japanese Government was granted the right to dictate the facts of history “for the public good” in the words of the rulings. Realities of war were erased from the public consciousness with the intent to control the narrative around the Fallen Empire. And the state reasoning was a paternalistic appeal to the greater good of humanity. If this reminds you of Makima’s plan in part one, I am sure that is not a coincidence.

This is a metaphor that I think was broadly missed by the international audience. The idea that War should be forgotten for the sake of humanity, this is the ideology behind historical revisionism. Fujimoto is looking directly at the way that political power in Japan is used to manipulate public understanding of history. Pieces of the past are erased, eaten, and forgotten.

This is why I don’t lend much credence to the idea that Chainsaw Man actually modifies the fabric of the universe somehow when he eats a devil. It is not that the world changes, it is that people forget about it. It’s not that our forgotten sixth sense was deleted. We just forgot it used to exist. It disappeared, perhaps as a part of Chainsaw Man’s attack. And then we forgot.

The main reason I think of it this way is because of the parallel with historical revisionism. Right now in Florida the state government is attempting to erase the suffering of African slaves brought to America from the school curriculum. If they maintain this for three generations, no one in the state of Florida will know of this true part of history. It will be forgotten. Humanity in Florida will have forgotten a part of slavery. We don’t need supernatural mechanics to explain historical ignorance. This happens all the time.

Yoru describes this phenomenon in more detail: “War became a thing of books and movies.” Yoru became weakened as humanity became less afraid of war. Parts of the war that really happened are not gone, but have been consigned to unreality. They exist only at a distance. It is only one step further along this axis until they are completely forgotten, until they aren’t thought about at all.

This idea of forgetting War is directly relevant to the political conflicts around Article 9. This conflict is split as I mentioned, but the reality of the situation is more complex. During the occupation, the US Government directed the drafting of the new Japanese constitution. In a real sense, Japan was literally Americanized. The text of Article 9 reads:

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.

This is part of Chapter 2 in the Articles of the Japanese Constitution. Other chapters contain multiple articles. This is the only article in chapter 2 which is titled “Renunciation of War.” To date, Japan is the only country in the world to include a renunciation of war in its constitution.

Of course, Article 9 doesn’t exist out of the kindness of the Japanese people’s peace loving hearts. It exists because the US military thought that the Japanese people were so intrinsically bloodthirsty, that if they didn’t dismantle the empire and remove their ability to raise an army, there could never be peace.

That said, Japanese politicians were involved in the drafting of the constitution as well. Since the war began in China in 1928, a significant faction even among the hawkish types were exasperated with the boneheaded aggression. But the fascists had control of the Emperor, the key figurehead. Once that was lost, cooler heads who were open to the idea of a peaceful Japan stepped in.

So Article 9 starts with this complex identity. On the one hand, it is an imposition by the occupying force, on the other hand, it is a reconciliation within Japan around mistakes the nation made. This remains the case going forward. Because soon after the occupation ends, the Korean War begins.

America, having secured a foothold in the region, realizes that militarily neutering their nearest ally may have been a tactical mistake. But they also still don’t really trust the Japanese government. So they make a move. The US signs a controversial security-treaty with Japan that creates the “National Security Force” to act as a military police. Japanese conservatives then use this precedent to begin building a military under the premise of it being for “self defense.” Thus the JSDF, Japanese Self Defense Force, is born. This was all done with explicit American support.

The American’s didn’t want to team up with the JSDF per se. They wanted Japan to manufacture weapons to create a short supply line towards the Korean front. The creation of the JSDF gives the Japanese government permission to permit manufacturing of military machinery, which was originally taken to be forbidden by Article 9.

Since it’s founding, the JSDF has gradually crept further and further towards active military activity. The final line was crossed in the Iraq war. At the behest of George W. Bush, Prime Minister Koizumi approved a battalion of Japanese soldiers to act in conjunction with the US military for the invasion of Iraq.

This occurs in 2004, in the wake of the 90s. Japan re-enters war in a real way. At this point, article 9 is essentially window dressing on a country which has what amounts to a fully functional military force. But, the existence of article 9 creates a public perception of Japan as being removed from war, even as it actively participates.

You can see now why when Yoru appeared in chapter 98 I was immediately excited. The idea of the War Devil coming back is a stab at the powers that be trying to paper over their militaristic intentions with political rhetoric. Conservatives are currently moving to repeal article 9. This was one of Shinzo Abe’s major objectives. But he failed to achieve it.

So the struggle continues under the current leadership. And in that context, Fujimoto is placing War front and center. War that has been forgotten but will come back. War that, should she return to full power, will turn legions of young men into weapons.

It’s a subtle but also daring message. The debate plays out in politics but is notably absent from public discourse. Japan is different from American in that political conflict doesn’t dominate its media landscape. Generally speaking, the media is running cover for the government.

So to see someone go after this idea of forgotten war, of war coming back from a weakened state, and to highlight the latent threat it poses, is quite refreshing. Once again, Fujimoto manages to subtly weave a cogent political message into the threads of his story, not necessarily by trying to push a particular narrative, but simply by reflecting in his work the political realities he sees in his society.

[broodingnightgoddess]

Here's a list of countries that call Hamas a terrorist organization and, by proxy, support Israel.

In case you don't see what I see, here's a few examples of why these countries support the colony of Israel. This is by no means an exhaustive list, as my knowledge only goes so far.

USA, Canada and Australia: settler colonies that mistreat the native populations. Canada has and is commiting atrocities to their native population and Australia denied the aboriginals their own council in a referendum voted by...the white settlers.

Spain: Scared of the separatist movements in it's own territory and still celebrates the conquest of America post 1492. The day of the arrival of Colombus to America is celebrated as a national celebration every 12th of October. I live here, I'd know.

France: possessed Algeria until the '60s and actively advocated for an "Israel solution" in Algeria, that is, creating a separate state composed of the french settlers that hoarder the resources. Also killed hundreds of thousands of Algerians to try and stop their independence movement. In short, France walked so Israel could walk.

Germany: uses the fallacy of the Holocaust guilt to follow Israel like a dog. Germany supporting the genocidal regime of Israel shows they don't feel guilty at all. As Germany and France de facto rule the EU, the rest of states follow them as well.

UK: Israel and Zionism were promoted by the British Empire, they're responsible of the existence of the colony of Israel.

Egypt: sold their fellow Arabs to the Israelies after the war that ended on Israel occupying the Sinai peninsula. Egypt was also colonized by the British, so that's the nail in the coffin.

Japan: committed and subsequently got away with, a genocide in China and Korea bigger than the Holocaust with mass rapes and atrocities and and have still to recognize and apologize for the genocide. Employs mass propaganda and historical revisionism to convince it's populace that it was the real victim and/or diminish the Japanese crimes in the early to mid 20th century.

Notice how countries that colonized support Israel and the colonized countries support Palestine.

If you know of any more reasons why these countries would support the settler colony and occupier Zionist entity of Israel please add in reblogs.

[angy-grrr]

Not sure if you know of HXH, but apparently its facing a similar ending to JJK and MHA bc the writer apparently revealed that Gon's ending would be marrying some girl at the end of the story. Like lmao, i wonder if its an obligation of shonen stories like this to have this sort of ending? Or if the writers just think this is the most fitting scenario for their MCs bc its traditional and more preferable?

so, HXH, BNHA and JJK, all from SJ, end with random ass hetero romance even tho the authors have expressed some intention/desire to show support for creativity and challenging the boundaries? Yeah im blaming the new editor in chief, this feels like propaganda*

*Traditionally, both comics and mangas have been used as mediums to sell things and ideas to younger audiences in an international level at this point, but particularly focusing on the country they come from; this doesnt mean ALL are like that, ofc not and many ppl can create many different things with it. However, just like books, movies, pictures and shows, these drawings and stories can be used with such purposes, and we can see it way more when focusing on the ones made with a younger male audience in mind; superheroes like superman showing how its heroic to go to war for the US made little boys normalize thats what they should and will do -that its brave, great, wonderful and makes them closer to the perfect man

Comics and manga are political tools too, they can be used with different intentions depending on the political climate, social pressures, and external interventions, besides the ideals the authors can have. Manga, anime and kawaii culture (even tho this one was a countercultural movement created by Japanese young women and teens), were used by Japan as a nation and empire to push the idea, after World War II, that they are not a threat like German nazis; it made the international public to enjoy these cultures and be open to it, even after all of those conflicts, it worked perfectly as a political strategy -I would say its also relevant to highlight how for many schools teaching about nazism is "censored" in one way or another, like in many countries; as far as I saw after making a little research, WWII is simplified, or avoid bringing up discussions about propaganda, racism, LGBT+phobia, far right ideologies, etc, even tho those were what led to the nazi party in the first place. Historical revisionism at its finest!

So, bc of this, I believe the possibility of SJ actively asking for hetero endings in a time where LGBT+ and women's rights and laws in Japan are so highly discussed and polarized, and considering the priorities of the Conservative party including the depopulation of the country (focused on making younger ppl have more babies; for this the government even tried to fund a dating app, so they can get creative with that form of propaganda and biocontrol lol). As another "fun fact", abortion is only legal under certain circumstances like other countries (health problems, income problems, or rape), which only makes things more... weird to me, outside of a manga I like. I dont speak Japanese, I dont live in Japan, I dont know what's going on there truly, but I think these are still important when talking about art, literature and music regardless of what exact country is it.

Idk if the authors just like those endings for some reason, and I dont deny that as an option at all -and nobody should when nothing can/is confirmed-, i just find it weird how super popular battle shonen arent ending with "not too focused/developed romance but still makes kinda sense for shonen standards" but with "omfg wtf is going on who is this character/why did the author destroy the relationship in one chapter".

And with this I mean that BNHA could confirm ochako and deku in easy ways, and instead chose to make them barely see each other in 7 years nor care about it until she saw him a little more in a month (still not talking), and he heard ppl talk about dating inevitably m/f classmates who were friends, and had to bring up random ppl into it for no reason -dead ppl on top of that.

[olderthannetfic]

Fujoshi, aka an example of queer history revisionism, Wester-defaultism, Wester-queer-defaultism, Western-female-idealism, Western-feminism and racism paired with ignorance as to how a completely different language works. Btw, I'm aware that not every Fujoshi, especially Japanese is queer, and that many probably a majority are cishet, but since it still pertains to queerness in it's depictions of M/M and the treatment of women in a conservative culture I feel like the label "queer" is apt.

--

[tagapagharaya]

I have not read To Gaze Upon Wicked Gods, so I cannot speak about its contents.

I can, however, speak about the utterly vile way people are talking about Molly X. Chang, a Chinese woman.

Can someone explain to me why they think calling a Chinese woman a comfort woman as an insult makes them the morally upright party in this situation?

The way this person, and others who echo this line, is using the term comfort woman as if it means traitor — in particular, a woman who betrays her own people to demean herself for the pleasure of their colonizers — is abhorrent and ahistorical.

Let me set the record straight: A comfort woman is a woman (or a girl, some as young as twelve-years-old) forced or tricked into sexual enslavement by the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces in occupied countries and territories (e.g. China, Korea, Taiwan, Burma, Indonesia, the Philippines), and even Japan itself, before and during World War II.

These women and girls were kept in "comfort stations" where they would be raped, physically abused and tortured by as many as 40 Imperial Japanese soldiers in a single night. Every night. For what reason? As "stress relief" for the soldiers.

In the mornings, they were forced to do backbreaking domestic labor for the Imperial Japanese garrisons, and at night they would be raped, beaten and tortured. They were given little food and kept in unsanitary conditions. Venereal disease was rampant. Many comfort women became infertile because of sexual violence and venereal diseases. Many women became pregnant during their enslavement, and were still not exempted from the nightly rapes. Many women miscarried and were not given medical attention.

I would remind you that the term comfort woman includes girls, some as young as twelve-years-old.

The level of dehumanization was so extreme that they were treated as inventory.

Comfort women are victims of colonial violence.

To this day, the Japanese government denies that the comfort women were sexually enslaved. Thousands of comfort women never received justice or reparations for the physical, psychological and emotional suffering they were subjected to.

The narrative that comfort women were volunteers or professionals, that they were treated well and compensated fairly, that they got rich from it, is historical revisionism peddled by the Japanese right-wing to deny its war crimes. This exact narrative is used to deny the victims of colonial violence justice.

So to see the term comfort woman used as an insult against a Chinese woman (of Manchu and Hui descent, no less) and to pretend it means she's "in love with her ancestors' colonizers and betrays her own people because of it (through her writing)" — an "Imperial Japan dickrider," if we're being crass — is vile and disgusting.

What do these people think they're accomplishing exactly? How are they criticizing an alleged "colonizer romance" novel by parroting the misogynist and racist historical revisionism of a real life former colonial power to demean a woman of color?

[theliterarywolf]

Gosh, sorry this is some unrelated shit, but I’ve been noticing this trend on Twitter and it feels like the biggest gaslight ever. People have been posting about Chainsaw Lollipop and saying shit like “How could anyone think this game was for those FILTHY cishets?!” and like… gee, you mean to tell me you don’t think boys would be playing a game about a hot cheerleader? They did this shit with Bayonetta too. Why are they trying to shove the target demographic out instead of being in solidarity?

I am NOT standing for this historical-revisionism

I was there, at ground-fucking-zero, when this game came out. I had to sit through so many people joking about how the game was made to cater to horny men and teenage boys. Do you know how many 'ugh, those perverted Japanese people'-adjacent comments I had to hear just because of the upskirt achievement?!

No, what we are not doing is pretending that Lollipop Chainsaw was originally marketed as a gay or camp game. Is it possible that it's gotten that kind of cult following in recent years? Yes, of course. But it sure as hell did not start that way!

[zhongwans]

Since QV is talking about the groom from the Nogi shrine wedding again, here's a summary of relevant info:

Aside from the Yasukuni shrine related smears, ZZH was also accused of attending a wedding held in a "politically sensitive" shrine with "far right-wing Japanese nationalists" in attendance as wedding guests.

Is the Nogi shrine really politically-sensitive?

Not nearly as much as the slimeballs behind 813 want people to think. The shrine was dedicated to a Japanese commander called Nogi Maresuke who was involved in the Battle of Lushunkou in the First Sino-Japanese war. According to his Baidu page, he was the head commander of the battle and was the mastermind behind the Lushunkou massacre which took place right after. But all of that is actually incorrect. The real head commander was an entirely different person, a man called Oyama Iwao. Nogi was only the leader of the 1st Infantry Brigade and was under the command of Lieutenant General Yamaji Motogaru, who was in turn under the command of Oyama Iwao. And furthermore, before the battle of Lushunkou ended, Nogi was commanded to head up north to reinforce Jinzhou, so he wasn't even present when the the massacre happened.

So what happened here was that all that false information was edited into Nogi Maresuke's Baidu page on the evening of August 12. And the Nogi shrine's Baidu page did not exist at all before all of this and was only created at the same time Nogi Maresuke's page was edited. So when all the smears dropped and people went to Baidu to do some research, this is what they all saw. Before this, the Nogi shrine was only really known in China for one thing: it was a popular wedding venue.

Were there really far right-wing nationalists in the wedding?

One of these so-called right wing nationalists was an older male wedding guest who people claimed was Motoya Toshio, the president of APA group. APA group ('Always Pleasant Amenities') operates in the Hospitality industry and runs Japan's APA hotels. Now this Motoya Toshio dude actually is a piece of shit. Aside from being the president of APA group, he's also an essayist who writes and distributes political propaganda touting Imperial Japan's WW2 atrocities as "fabricated stories made to dishonor Japan". He distributes his essays and other material containing historical revisionism through his very influential APA group, so you can see why so many people hate this rotten piece of horseshit.

But that old man in the wedding was not him. As far as we know, the only thing they have in common is that they're both old asian men and that's apparently enough for people to claim they're the same person.

The other supposed "right-wing nationalist" was Madame Dewi, the wife of former Indonesian president Sukarno. According to the smears, her husband was anti-China and perpetuated the genocide against Indonesian-Chinese people, so she in turn must be guilty as well. But the reality is that the one responsible for the genocide was a man named Suharto. Their names may sound similar but these two men were very different. Sukarno, Madame Dewi's husband, was a friend to China and the founder of the Bandung Conference. In fact, a major reason why he was overturned was because of his pro-Communist position. And the very man responsible for it (and eventually replaced him as president) was Suharto, who then launched a bloody genocide targetting Indonesian-Chinese people and anyone he deemed "communist friendly". Suharto's rule was considered to be one of the most violent and corrupt dictatorships of the 20th century.

So what happened here was that Madame Dewi's Baidu page was edited, and her husband's name was changed from Sukarno to Suharto. And this falsified information was what people saw when they went to Baidu to research the validity of the smears. Plus, people were claiming that Madam Dewi was a high-ranking right-wing politician in Japan, when she's actually a celebrity and socialite who is largely uninvolved in politics.

People were also pushing the story that ZZH and Madame Dewi were close because they took a photo together, but it seems they did not know each other at all and she only took a photo with him for her blog (where she then criticized his oufit as being unsuitable for a wedding).

Back to the groom:

So at the height of the controversy, the groom posted an apology letter on his instagram account:

I grabbed this from a reddit post because the groom's IG account is now private and I can't be bothered to install the app again to verify. I don't even remember his username or even the password to my own account, so uh...

Also note that the post contains the misinformation on Nogi Maresuke and the Nogi shrine from the maliciously edited Baidu pages.

This seemingly well-meaning apology ended up indirectly "confirming" the false information surrounding the Nogi shrine and Madame Dewi. "Sorry I didn't research the history of the shrine, sorry I did not know Madame Dewi's political background,"

Apologizing like this seemed to suggest that the falsified info was legitimate. It essentially had the same problem as ZZH's apology letter, which frustrated the fandom at the time as it was such a dumb move and only ended up making it look like he was admitting that the smears were correct. There's speculation that the apology letter was not actually from ZZH (or if it was, he was deliberately counseled in bad faith). The statement he gave months later in the presence of other government officials and Li Xuezheng, where he asserted his innocence, was a much better one.

At the time, it was believed by the fandom that the groom had panicked, and in his haste to defend ZZH, did not have time to fact-check the claims or reach out to a lawyer or PR firm. So while his apology only added to the flames, nobody really held it against him. But recently QV pointed out that the groom is friends with an influencer who had a hand in spreading the smears. The groom follows the influencer on social media and QV says (I have no idea how she knows of this, just keep that in mind) that they are also friends in real life. If true, then it's something to consider. Because the groom's "apology" absolutely did add fuel to the flames, and if he had only clarified—truly clarified—instead of apologizing for things that weren't true and making them look true, it really would have helped ZZH in that moment. And if there is a chance his terrible apology was made terrible on purpose....well.

[commajade]

blowback podcast connected something for me that i hadn't considered before. i'm very interested in the 1937 mass deportation of korean people from russia to central asia, i've researched it and written a play about it but i never connected it to the US and the 1942 japanese internment camps.

stalin claimed that it was because korean people may secretly be working with the japanese and it's too difficult to tell by looking who is secretly a japanese spy or not. this is plainly racist and hundreds of people died in the inhumane transport of people packed in cattle cars while starving or freezing to death for weeks. at the time, many korean revolutionaries that had been joining and climbing the ranks of the ussr. many korean revolutionaries were known to be be hardworking and not fear death or harsh conditions, as well as being well-read in marxist theory and morally principled. there was definitely a racial unease that came from foreigners that look similar to the japanese becoming so powerful in the ussr power structure so quickly, in only a couple decades. but all of these people were removed from power and exiled to uzbekistan or kazakhstan or other countries in the area and told to start farm communes on barren soil that had never been used for agriculture before during a cold winter. and some of these korean communes were miraculously successful and then used in ussr propaganda to show the unity among the many nations absorbed into the ussr. there is still a sizeable korean population in central asia called koryeo-saram.

the world powers were in close communication at this time and the US was definitely influenced by the ussr's treatment of korean people in the creation of japanese internet camps. it's the exact same process of rounding up japanese and some korean people regardless of their alliance to imperial japan and keeping them enclosed to one area in poor conditions for generations.

like the podcast points out, this connection rly strongly disproves the idea that the ussr and dprk have a master-slave relationship or that the people of the dprk are brainwashed puppets completely controlled by the greater and evil white power. the leaders of the dprk are not mindless evil, they were strategically skilled and morally principled communists that distrusted the ussr because of stalin's treatment of korean people in russia but nonetheless used their structures of politics and education as a foundation in creating their own sovereign korean communist state. the podcast points out that it's like the older relationship with china, korea didn't necessarily like china but they were the nearby powerful civilization that you have to take cues from when you are a small nation in their part of the world. the ussr was not that deeply involved in the formation of the nation of the dprk and certainly not controlling its leaders, it was simply an ally the dprk took as a model on a selective basis and a power they had to contend with. and had a certain gratitude for because they were the ones that militarily liberated the peninsula. there were not that many soviet advisors in the dprk, initially 200 and later 30. the korean people of the dprk were not subjugated under the ussr.

this connection also rly showcases the idea of an allied global whiteness forming as the world wars connect all parts of the globe. while i do not agree with the capitalist imperial propaganda that stalin was an evil villain comparable to hitler and mussolini and see the need to resist the historical revisionism about him, the way white communists revere him is also morally incorrect and not suitable to proper ideology.

[bookloure]

This is perhaps my most anticipated read of the year, and I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint. This novel has a lyrical, almost feverish prose that is brutal in (a lot of!) places. If you do not like flowery writing, I don’t think you’ll appreciate this.

On a sentence level, “But for the Lovers” demands a lot from the reader. The prose is dizzying, challenging, and is rife with code-switching. It is not a book that will coddle purely English speakers, which I laud. In the novel's foreword, Gina Apostol wrote that every time the Filipino employs the English language, the purpose is always subversion. BftL perfectly demonstrates this point. The way Nolledo used English in this book is very Filipino and very weaponized. And as I read, I got the sense that he was having a lot of fun writing this masterpiece. This book is not an easy read, but one that is worth the trudge.

So what is it about? “But for the Lovers” follows a cast of characters living in a rundown tenement building in a Japanese-occupied Manila at the tail end of World War II. This is a war novel with much waiting; the characters await their American “liberators.” And the reader waits too—knowing full well that when Americans do finally arrive, Manila will be razed to the ground.

The way Nolledo employs language in this book is really unique. It reads a lot like magical realism with its lyrical and flowery prose, but this book is very much grounded. And brutal. The seemingly magical things are actually happening in the physical world. For example, the opening sentence reads: “He was beginning to eat flowers, and the crescent moon was in his eyes when he awoke again.” It sounds a lot like a work of magical realism. But later in the chapter, we find that the man was literally eating flowers because he passed out under a flowering tree. And when he awoke, he saw the crescent moon. This push and pull of seemingly fantastical language against the physicality of the scenes continues throughout the novel. In magical realism, the fantastical elements are also usually employed to shield against the brutality of the physical world. In Nolledo’s novel, the brutality of the physical world disrupts the reader's enjoyment of its fantastical language. When brutality happens to the characters, it punches you in the gut.

So much trust is put in the ability of the reader. Whenever a chapter opens, the reader is plunged into the middle of the narrative and is expected to make sense of what’s happening—who’s the speaker in this chapter? Where am I? What is happening? And it’s only in the latter part of the chapter where things will start to make sense. Then, you’re on to a new chapter, and the disorientation starts again. I enjoyed trudging through the book, but can understand why people may be turned off by that.

Another marvel of this novel is that from start to finish, everything moves parallel along two realms: this is a physical novel, but it’s also very much an allegorical one. This beautifully reflects the poetic quality of our history and experiences. Of how we always seem to repeat the mistakes of the past. Of how, many years later, we seem to find ourselves in the same situations. And if we extend this to the rise of the Marcoses and the historical revisionism happening in the present… hay nako.

Which leads me to the way Nolledo wrote the novel's climactic moment: this war novel culminates in an overlap of memories. The parallel sentences hone in on the point that things that have happened before will happen again. America fooled us twice—first when they colonized us in 1899 and now in 1945 as they shelled Manila to the ground—both done in the pretense of being our liberators.

I found the allegories too in the nose at first. But thinking about it now, I’m glad the subtexts are simple and obvious, because the text itself is already challenging enough. Kung mahirap pa pati subtext san na lang ako pupulutin?

Some things I did not enjoy: I did not like the dream sequences in this novel. I did not like the woman (or, in the case of BftL, girl) as a nation trope employed. Especially since the waif who is the stand-in for the nation is worse than Maria Clara in Rizal’s novels. I don’t appreciate the sexist language (i.e., penetration), especially around the awakening of the nation’s soul. That said, I forgive Nolledo for his sexism. He’s a genius but still very much a product of his time.

The novel ends on a hopeful note, a promise of becoming, of blossoming for this nation. (Reading it today under another Marcos administration is bleak and depressing.) But one has to hold on to hope.

This novel is breathtaking, audacious, and blatantly anti-imperialist. It also tells us that the poor, the masa, carry the nation’s soul—not the educated middle class, not the wealthy landowners, not the ruthless authoritarians in power. But for the Lovers is a challenging read, but one that is well worth your time.

More photos from the book on my Instagram!