In winter, I'm a Buddhist,
And in summer, I'm a nudist.
- Joe Gould
"My Religion"
In fact the whole of Japan is a pure invention. There is no such country, there are no such people.
- Oscar Wilde, aware in 1889 that popular conceptions about the country and its people are mostly fiction.
Not even 10% of what Japanese people are thinking is communicated overseas.
- Watanabe Tsuneo of CSIS
All foreign correspondents, whenever they desert statistics for judgments of opinion...become models of self-deception. They may call themselves, with proper gravity, ‘reporters’. But...they are nothing but quack psychiatrists who do not even know that this is the field they practise.
- Alistair Cooke
Where all news comes at second-hand, where all the testimony is uncertain, men cease to respond to truths, and respond simply to opinions. The environment in which they act is not the realities themselves, but the pseudo-environment of reports, rumors, and guesses.
- Walter Lippmann
We want...a revolution - a turning of the wheel, so that the state becomes once again the servant of the people, and not the other way around. We are the progressives now, comrades, (and) you the reactionaries.
- Daniel Hannan
If the textbook says, "It is well known that...", you can be sure that is a very good place to begin a research inquiry.
- Isaiah Bowman, geographer and former president of Johns Hopkins University
The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.
- Cicero (55 BC)
We do not need a censorship of the press. We have a censorship by the press. It is not we who silence the press. It is the press that silences us. It is not a case of the Commonwealth settling how much the editors shall say; it is a case of the editors settling how much the Commonwealth shall know. If we attack the press, we shall be rebelling, not repressing.
- G.K. Chesterton
You can see a lot by looking.
- Yogi Berra
All text copyright 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 by William Sakovich
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Tony said
I wouldn’t say his opinion of Fujiwara’s book is intriguing, rather amazingly simple minded.
Where to start…hmm how about the first of Fujiwara’s that he mentions where English is of little practical use for most Japanese. And that would make Japan different than what other non-English speaking country? Also, one wonders what is meant by practical use? To buy milk at the Morinaga, yeah probably. To go on a trip to a foreign country or work in a large company that has offices and markets overseas or is hoping to expand overseas? English seems to be practical, albeit not actually necessary. Just as buying milk at Morinaga is practical because it is cheaper, but it isn’t necessary since I can also get it at a convenience store to.
The second point, is an opinion expressed as a fact. Fujiwara says inordinate weight is put on English in the college exam. Really? That begs the question how much weight would be “ordinate”? Probably not much at all when he already believes English has no practical use for most Japanese. Also, it might be nice to see if this is indeed a fact if we were told exactly how much weight is put on the English for the exam. From the students I teach I would have to say, not very much obviously.
And then an “inordinate amount of time” is spent studying English in high school, 1/3 in fact. That statement is what is known as “pulling a number out of your ass” (presumably he got the number when he was looking for his head, which must be firmly stuck up there). That would mean, (correct me if my math is wrong) that Japanese high school students study English for 2 – 2 &1/2 hours every day! Amazing that the Japanese do so bad on English tests then and still score in the top 10 in science and math.
The next statement that high school English focuses on “oral” English. Apparently he hasn’t spent much time in the classroom because the university test he so badly hates isn’t an oral-based test. Teachers teach for the test therefore the teachers tend to fore go oral English classes and focus on what will get them the best score for the test. Namely reading, grammar, vocabulary, and some translation. Also, he says English proficiency has declined over the past 30 years. No proof is given but he could be right. After all, their math, science, reading scores have declined too as has their physical skills such as running, throwing balls and jumping. I guess oral English must be really bad to affect so many other things. Come to think of it, the economy isn’t as good either..damn English!
His fourth point is right on both accounts though. Even a broken clock gets the time right a couple of times a day I suppose. The amount of time to be spent on English in elementary schools is trivial, and one has to question why students at this age need to study English at all. It is a waste of time and money which could be better spent on other things.
Fujiwara goes off the rails again with the fifth point. He says that the Japanese who are so bad at communicating in English (as said in points 1-3) somehow manage to be as high as 50% of a native speaker in English ability. I would say that is pretty bloody good for a country that has no practical use of a language and is terrible at it. (How many numbers does he have up his ass anyway?). And then another number coming flying out that Japanese speakers are only 60% proficient in their own language!! So, they speak English nearly as well as they speak Japanese! Must mean this is a nation of near mutes then. Oh and he trotted out that old canard about “a thorough study of Japanese”, but he doesn’t tell us for what purpose. In fact, whenever we hear this there never is a purpose.
Point 6 is a continuation of 5. So now the International Japanese is 70%-80% as capable as a native American (not talking about Indians I think) or British. Beside the facts that he must be in dire need of a proctologist to pull the calculator out of that arse that is spitting out such outrageous numbers, we find out that an International Japanese is 20%-30% more capable than a native Japanese (who are only 50%) in English and 60% in Japanese. Fujiwara therefore contends that it would be much better for them to master their own language and culture. Let’s get this straight, an International Japanese (whatever that means) is 70%-80% capable whereas a non-international Japanese is only 60% capable in their native language. That makes an International Japanese 10%-20% more capable than a native Japanese. Perhaps they should all become International instead and be more efficient! Oh, and something being counter-productive usually is futile. Since I’m assuming that Fujiwara wrote his book in Japanese, I guess his redundancy there is a clear example that he is only 60% capable. Perhaps if he had written it as an International Japanese it would have been correct and therefore pack more of an impact.
Point 7 is a slightly tougher nut to crack. No relationship between English ability and international competitiveness. Well first of all, it is impossible to prove a negative (no relationship) so he frames the argument in a way he cannot be proven wrong. Secondly he brings up 3 example countries but this is a red herring. No one ever said that if a populace speaks English they are guaranteed international competitiveness although many people believe that it might help. Of course other factors have to be in place. ….Makes me wonder, how capable are the people of these countries, 40% 15%, 30% ??? Wish he would tell us as that is probably why they are in such a sad competitive state..
And the last point, Rakuten is destined to fail because they are implementing English only for company communications and naturally, talented mono-lingual Japanese will lose out in getting management positions to multi-lingual incompetent Japanese. Of course the multi-lingual will always be less talented than mono-linguals, otherwise his point would be wrong. Perhaps it is because the monolinguals know their own language and culture better, naturally embedding in them the needed business acumen. And this will happen despite the fact that the multi-lingual Japanese (aka international Japanese is a full 10% – 20% more capable than the mono-lingual Japanese…his words, not mine). Poor, poor Rakuten!
And that, my good friend is why Harner’s opinion on Fukiwara’s book is not intriguing at all. Simple minded? Oh yeah. Possibly stupid, and incredibly misguided? Yes, but certainly not intriguing.
————–
T: Thanks for the note.
I chose that word as a sort of teaser to attract attention to that post and perhaps have people visit the site. I haven’t read the book, so it’s not possible for me to have an opinion on it one way or the other, though I realize some non-Japanese don’t care for it.
- A.
Tony said
Rather than separate people attitudes towards the book on a non-Japanese vs Japanese basis, perhaps a different criteria would be better. Such as those who try to think critically and those who don’t.
One other point, if Mr. Harper actually accepts some of these points then I question his critical thinking skills in the investment business. Makes you wonder.