MSDF to do Somali Piracy Mission

Very surprised this bill went thru. The Japanese navy, er, Maritime Self Defense Forces (MSDF) will send 2 ships to the Indian Ocean to protect ships from pirates. (Japan has a navy?)

Well, they'll help Japanese ships anyway or ships connected to Japan, ie with Japanese cargo.

Better than nothing I guess, but it kinda seems like what if Australia sent rescue dogs to an Earthquake in Japan just to search for Australians?

People might ask me:
--Do American ships help any other ship?
--Yes. We've been doing it for months. So have the Canadians among others.
--Mmmm... well Japan likes peace! We are a small country!

One person got angry when I mentioned it because Japan isn't supposed to have a military and the US forced it to 50 years ago. There is some truth to the gripe, but it ignores the basis for this discussion: what are Japan's international obligations, can it promote peace entirely from the sidelines, and if not Japan, who should send people into harm's way? If a mission is considered worthy, can't Japan join? Most people just say "We don't like war." or "The UN should fix it." and that's the end of the thought process.

It would be really interesting to see the reaction if a Chinese destroyer saved a Japanese vessel.

Slum Dog Millionaire, Departures (Okuribito)

The Academy Awards have passed, and this was one of those years where a particular film seemed to take all the awards. That film would be British / Indian film Slum Dog Millionaire. I haven't seen it, and frankly am not a big Oscars fan, but for the past few weeks, turn on any news program or movie show and that was all you heard about.

In my classes, the talk is of a Japanese film "Departures" (Okuribito), a story about a man who prepares bodies for funeral, which won the "Best Foreign Film" category. A lot of my students talking about this movie have never heard of "Slum Dog Millionaire" and have no idea that it won any Oscars. It reminds me of the Olympics when all you hear about is the one figure skater or judo competitor who did well (or else maybe an uproar over a questionable call) and have no idea how other countries or sports fared. Ditto for the occasion when a Japanese wins a Nobel Prize. Pride in an accomplishment is fine. but one gets the impression that Japan has swept the Oscars this year.

If I were to bring this perspective up, invariably I'll be told "It's the mass media's fault" and "How are we supposed to know? We are a small island nation."