Your precious opinion

I don’t really understand why I can’t disagree with someone without them getting upset. Is it so important that I am in total agreement with everyone’s opinion and view, such that voices need to be raised when I suggest a counter to them?

I’m not one to take things at face value, if you tell me something you’d better have a ‘for example’ to back it up and that's not because I’m being obtuse, it’s not just because I’m sceptical, it’s because I understand there’s no absolute truth, there’s (at least) two sides to every story and no one person has all the answers.

Suggesting an alternative to a viewpoint is called conversation or debate, it doesn’t have to be World War 3, but some people can’t have their opinions questioned without having their feelings hurt, their ego’s bruised and their tempers flared.

experience will differ from that and shape their own opinion thus

Also, why are people so insistent on making others see things their way? Then they’re so surprised when they fail to make a person see things their way. People are always going to differ on matters of opinion, that's a matter of fact. And no matter what experience of a situation a person has that they want to educate upon, someone else’s experience will differ from that and shape their own opinion thus.

Let’s look at the opinion that “All men are bastards” for example. This is a phrase that turns up when discussing matters of the heart with women who have had poor to terrible experiences with men. However ask a gay man who has had bad experiences with his lovers whether all men are bastards or not and how do you think he would answer.

a creature with no soul, no heart and no redeeming features called man

Where as the woman feels she has become a victim through circumstance brought on by loving a creature with no soul, no heart and no redeeming features called man, the homosexual man in my argument realises that men are in possession of a heart, a soul and redeeming features but he is a victim of love and not of men.

The above argument may seem redundant as most intelligent humans realise that sweeping generalisations like “All men are bastards” just don’t hold water. Yet I’ve spoken to intelligent humans who will stridently defend similar sweeping statements answering any attempt of moderation with sulky silence or with angry retorts.

And what is with the sulky silences? You can feel sufficiently emotionally invested in an opinion to argue it, but, at the slightest resistance to that idea you no longer have a voice to argue it. That’s poor.

The Nippon Negro

Watching TV, think it was some topical news program and they cut to a piece about some people fighting in a courtroom in America, one man was in cuffs with a orange jumpsuit on and the other men seemed to be relatives of a victim, maybe, they were beating and hollering at him and had to be dragged out of court by the guards and other people.

All of the offending parties were black and all of the people restraining them were white.

When I noticed this I realised that this was the first time I had seen a black person on Japanese television. I don’t have a TV at home but I catch it every once in a while and whilst I’ve seen white people, Asian people of all descriptions, Italians in Fiat adverts. I’ve never seen a black person.

handcuffs, hateful angry faces, prison uniforms

But, my first look at black people on TV and they’re fighting each other violently in a courtroom of all places. The scene could not have held any more negative symbolism, handcuffs, hateful angry faces, prison uniforms and bewildered and scared onlookers.

Now I would like to believe that there are positive representations of black people in Japan, but from the evidence I’ve seen the only positive black figure who can be seen in Japanese popular culture is Bob Marley and the problem there is that his messages of one love and living with Jah in your heart are lost in the Karaeoke bars. It seems that the most appealing thing about Bob Marley is the fact that he smoked Marijuana and sung reggae, not what he said or what he believed.

Other black people in Japanese pop culture include self-proclaimed gangster rappers like 50 Cent and 2 Pac. Again, not a word of their songs are understood, which is a blessing in 50’s case, but their attitude and lifestyle is admired.

And this is the image of the black person in Japan. There are no black characters in Japanese cartoons, comics, and melodramas. Conversely no one blinks twice at a redheaded hero in a manga or anime.

weed, guns, violence and poverty

So, what of my role as a black British ambassador? How do I communicate without the necessary tools to do so, such as vocabulary, that being black isn’t all about 40’s, weed and guns, violence and poverty? There are people in the western world who have an opinion to the contrary, fully aware that the media manipulates but unable to commit to the fact. If people exposed to the truth of the matter can’t shake the stereotype and see black culture as a multitude of differences, then how can Japanese children who are so very sheltered?

These are questions that leave me without answers, and pondering them too long leads me to become vexed and frustrated at my inability to speak louder than the voice of the media. I can’t be heard over the hollering in the court and my image (in suit, hardworking, generous with my time and approachable will never be as ingrained as the stereotype I’m associated with.

Below, a video about young black womens self image in America, the dole test is very interesting.





A Black TV personality interviewed in 2001, read the whole interview.

Snow Ball

Snow Ball II: Las Vegas was a learning experience. The first time (and last for that matter) that I've organised/help to organise an event without once talking to the management, without hearing the soundsystem before hand, without knowing what drinks would be available.
Yep, it was a learning experience. This is what I learnt:

1. Everything is better when its kept simple.
2. People need a focal point to get things done i.e. actual goals, actual instructions and an actual figure head taking charge.
3. Don't expect good behaviour from drunk people.

So, lets talk about the last point in particular. I totally lost my cool when after 15 minutes of trying to empty the venue and asking people politely to leave, the dirty looks from the management and harrasment from the other volunteers, I started yelling at the top of my voice for people to get out! That didn't work either.

How it became my responsibility to empty the venue is a mystery to me. All I signed up to do was promotion and when that job was taken away from me I was put on the games and entertainment, a role I was happy with, I didn't realise it extended to crowd control... oh well, ho hum.

When a person is drunk, it doesn't matter if you spent all night bent over backwards so that they will have a good time, oh no, they've got a few drinks inside them and that means that they can't empathise or sympathise. So, they're not leaving, I'm tired and sober and in need of a drink, I want to get my party on but can't until these mugs get out of the venue. And why aren't they leaving? There's no drink being sold, the music is off and I'm breathing down their necks... LEAVE!! Oh well, ho hum.

That little moan over, the night was a success. We raised 80,000 yen for the charity, everyone seemed to have a good time and enjoy the card games and performances (which were fantastic), the DJing was spot on too.

Web 2.0 (Being a tag slag)

So, I was browsing on Youtube today and came accross this video.

This is everything I've been getting excited about about the Web for years now and no one else in my circle o'friends seems to notice or care about.



Don't get me wrong, they catch up eventually but they all seem happy to leave the internet shaped as it is and not shape it theirselves.

Photos, videos, blogs... it's our space to do with what we please. Opinion, memories, information! It is all here for us to sculpt in the way we see fit.

Tagging is a huge part of the web right now and I know many people who tag in their personal spaces (email, organising documents on their own computer) but few who tag socially (Flickr, Last.fm, del.icio,us), which is odd because it isn't hard at all.

I've recently started on a new project, I'm trying to update and expand the Saito City Wikipedia entry. Saito is the name of the place I live, it is a city in the prefecture of Japan. The English language version of this page is non-exsistent, but its growing slowly with help from myself and Amanda.

Here is a link to the Saito City Wikipedia entry, bookmark it and you can see the progress we make.

This is the letter I sent to the Ken-List (Yahoo Group for foreigners in Miyazaki):

Hi Ken,

You may be aware that interviews are taking place now for the new JETs, those lucky few who will be boarding a plane in the summer and finding their
selves in Miyazakian paradise.

I don’t know about you knowledgeable fellows but when I was told that I would be going to Saito, Miyazaki I responded with a dumbfounded “huh?” which was quickly disguised as an inquisitive “Huuuuuhhhh?” to mask my ignorance. I then sprinted to the nearest Library and went straight to Wikipedia, because if Wikipedia doesn’t know, no one does.

It turned out that there really isn’t much about Saito on Wikipedia in English, which worried me before I arrived but worries me even more now I’m here because there is so much going on here you could dwarf Wiki-entries for New York and Gotham City combined!

Before I get ahead of myself let me explain what a Wiki is. It's a basically a web-page which can be altered by anyone who has access to it. Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that anyone can access and alter.

I think that we, the English/French/German speaking members of the Ken should try and improve the state of the Miyazaki Wiki pages, and here are my reasons.

1. In doing so we will discover and understand more about the places we live.
2. In doing so we will be giving back to the community we are in by teaching people around the world about our towns and villages.
3. We will help any prospective JETs better understand Miyazaki and all the area’s in Miyazaki.
4. Also this will prove that we are more knowledgeable about our prefecture and our individual communities that other JETs.
5. It is also an opportunity to show Miyazaki in a positive and not just as the place that has Avian Flu and bent governors.

Also, on a related note, please add to MSG with any recommendations for doctors, hair dressers, barbers, restaurants, things to do and places to see.

And... there is now a new upload category on MSG called Japanese Self Study Material, where you can share any study materials, tips, vocab lists, etc.

OK, hope you're all well.Take care,

Stephen Alexander Walrond