"Internationalism"
in·ter·na·tion·al·ism ( n t r-n sh -n -l z m) n.
1. The condition or quality of being international in character, principles, concern, or attitude.
2. A policy or practice of cooperation among nations, especially in politics and economic matters.
3. The doctrine that nations should cooperate because their common interests are more important than their differences.internationalist - a member of a socialist or communist international .
It is such a mighty-sounding word, one that gets thrown around in Japan often. But very confusing. The slogan for the Jet Programme even goes: "Grass roots international Exchange". I will try to explain the meaning of this word as I have come to understand it.
I don't know how long this will stay up, but go to the above link- the Tonami City website, and under the 3rd small photo there is a set of 4 links. Our article is the first link. This was the international festival on the weekend. Yes, Tonami is now, apparently, a booming International city, if this article is anything to go by. (no)
Another photo was placed in the Toyama Prefecture newspaper. It wasn't huge, but there was a small article that went along with it.
The article, while short, tells about the large number of international residents in Tonami. About 370 Chinese, and 200 Brazilians, with a total of about 700 foreigners from 19 different countries. This was a revelation for me. I never knew there were so many. The article goes on to tell about the Brazilian food, and all the Japanese cultural activities on offer. The small article uses the word "International exchange" at least four times. It must have been a very successful festival.
Last week, we (white) ALT's were told about this small international festival. It was on a Sunday, so we weren't obliged to go. Still, my neighbor Tim and I thought it'd be best to show our faces for a little while. It turns out, that is all they wanted. Before we even got to the entrance, a photographer accosted us, and spoke to us in wild gesture. It apparently never occurred to him to try speak Japanese. That white foreigners may be able to speak Japanese is a crazy concept to most Japanese. I guess that is one reason why they had this festival.
Apparently, the photographer had a deadline to meet, to have the most "international looking" photo by midday. I was told later on, that even the Mayor was wondering where his 4 ALT's were. I mean, his thinking is perfectly reasonable: he imported them at great expense for "internationalisation", and his town would not look very international if there were only Asians in the photo for the newspaper.
Tim and I got whisked to a different building where people were playing a traditional Japanese fan-throwing game. We waited patiently our turn, but the photographer and his 2 goons (perhaps editors? They never introduced themselves, probably because they didn't know the international gesture for "Newspaper Editor"), they got very restless. They whispered something to the old ladies supervising the current game. I wonder what they said (maybe it was a threat), because within 30 seconds, the game finished. (It was a young boy vs. a young-middle aged woman). Tim and I sat down, (with difficulty- if you've had to sit on the floor in Japan, you'll know why.), and we played a game against each other. All the while we were treated to the soundtrack of a semi-automatic camera. I want to state for the record, that the result of our game was unimportant.
We went back inside to have some Brazilian food and talk to the origami ladies. (No, they weren't made from origami.) All the while, the cameraman was still going paparazzi on us. It was really quite odd.
This all illustrates the problem with internationalism in Japan. I saw the article with our photo today, and not only does it not mention New Zealand, it doesn't even mention our names. They just want the white face, the blond hair and the "tall" nose. Of the 700 alleged foreigners in the city, they specifically needed one of the 5 white ones for the photo. At times like this, I feel bad for being white. There were Brazilians and Chinese who were actually helping at the festival, but they aren't "international enough". All that is important to the Japanese is to appear "international", which they aren't. I mean, 700 foreigners in a city of 50, 000 isn't very much. My university of 12,000 had over 2,200 people born outside New Zealand. And what about 19 countries? I, personally, am 2 of those countries!
Moreover, lately in the news it has been highlighted how difficult it is to get Japanese Nationality. Nine children born out of wedlock to a Japanese Father and a Non-Japanese mother (Filipino, not that it's important) had to go to court in a landmark case to get Japanese Nationality. I cannot comprehend why Japanese people are so afraid of letting other people be Japanese. Every few weeks the newspapers come out with some article about how low the birthrate is, and this will cripple the nation in 30 years, and there is this unhealthy obsession with "internationalism". It doesn't make sense.
My conclusion is that Internationalism is something the Japanese say often enough to please the Americans. As long as it looks that way, people will be happy (except the actual foreigners). It is a word hollowed out by politics and devoid of any meaning.
I can say this, because, it wasn't an "International" festival until I showed up.
Another photo was placed in the Toyama Prefecture newspaper. It wasn't huge, but there was a small article that went along with it.
The article, while short, tells about the large number of international residents in Tonami. About 370 Chinese, and 200 Brazilians, with a total of about 700 foreigners from 19 different countries. This was a revelation for me. I never knew there were so many. The article goes on to tell about the Brazilian food, and all the Japanese cultural activities on offer. The small article uses the word "International exchange" at least four times. It must have been a very successful festival.
Last week, we (white) ALT's were told about this small international festival. It was on a Sunday, so we weren't obliged to go. Still, my neighbor Tim and I thought it'd be best to show our faces for a little while. It turns out, that is all they wanted. Before we even got to the entrance, a photographer accosted us, and spoke to us in wild gesture. It apparently never occurred to him to try speak Japanese. That white foreigners may be able to speak Japanese is a crazy concept to most Japanese. I guess that is one reason why they had this festival.
Apparently, the photographer had a deadline to meet, to have the most "international looking" photo by midday. I was told later on, that even the Mayor was wondering where his 4 ALT's were. I mean, his thinking is perfectly reasonable: he imported them at great expense for "internationalisation", and his town would not look very international if there were only Asians in the photo for the newspaper.
Tim and I got whisked to a different building where people were playing a traditional Japanese fan-throwing game. We waited patiently our turn, but the photographer and his 2 goons (perhaps editors? They never introduced themselves, probably because they didn't know the international gesture for "Newspaper Editor"), they got very restless. They whispered something to the old ladies supervising the current game. I wonder what they said (maybe it was a threat), because within 30 seconds, the game finished. (It was a young boy vs. a young-middle aged woman). Tim and I sat down, (with difficulty- if you've had to sit on the floor in Japan, you'll know why.), and we played a game against each other. All the while we were treated to the soundtrack of a semi-automatic camera. I want to state for the record, that the result of our game was unimportant.
We went back inside to have some Brazilian food and talk to the origami ladies. (No, they weren't made from origami.) All the while, the cameraman was still going paparazzi on us. It was really quite odd.
This all illustrates the problem with internationalism in Japan. I saw the article with our photo today, and not only does it not mention New Zealand, it doesn't even mention our names. They just want the white face, the blond hair and the "tall" nose. Of the 700 alleged foreigners in the city, they specifically needed one of the 5 white ones for the photo. At times like this, I feel bad for being white. There were Brazilians and Chinese who were actually helping at the festival, but they aren't "international enough". All that is important to the Japanese is to appear "international", which they aren't. I mean, 700 foreigners in a city of 50, 000 isn't very much. My university of 12,000 had over 2,200 people born outside New Zealand. And what about 19 countries? I, personally, am 2 of those countries!
Moreover, lately in the news it has been highlighted how difficult it is to get Japanese Nationality. Nine children born out of wedlock to a Japanese Father and a Non-Japanese mother (Filipino, not that it's important) had to go to court in a landmark case to get Japanese Nationality. I cannot comprehend why Japanese people are so afraid of letting other people be Japanese. Every few weeks the newspapers come out with some article about how low the birthrate is, and this will cripple the nation in 30 years, and there is this unhealthy obsession with "internationalism". It doesn't make sense.
My conclusion is that Internationalism is something the Japanese say often enough to please the Americans. As long as it looks that way, people will be happy (except the actual foreigners). It is a word hollowed out by politics and devoid of any meaning.
I can say this, because, it wasn't an "International" festival until I showed up.
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