▽その例証だが、日本ほど国民の数あたりの国旗掲揚の数が少ない国も珍しい。祭日、祝日でも国旗を掲げる一般家庭は少なく、公立学校でも長い年月、教員が率先して国旗のボイコットを生徒に奨励してきた。国歌についても同じことがいえる。
ＡＭ 日本人』という映画で知らされた。この映画では１８歳の日系米人少女が日本の大学に留学して、日本人学生が国旗にも国歌にも敬意を表さないのをみて、驚き、怒るというストーリーだった。
▽もちろん国旗や国歌への態度だけで、一国のナショナリズムの状態を判定はできないが、日本では他の諸国で当然とされる「私は自国を愛する」「私は母国を誇りに思う」というような心情の表明でさえ、忌避される。そういう言葉を述べる人は場合によっては「右翼反動」などとレッテルを貼られる。
▽他の国でならごく自然の自国を愛する気持ちの表明も、日本では軍国主義のような反民主主義の価値観に結びつけられるが、アメリカなどでは民主主義の大前提の下で愛国主義、愛国心が堂々と表明される。
▽この日本でのナショナリズム欠落は昨年の教育基本法の内容をめぐる論議でも証明された。教育の目標や指針としての「愛国心」「国を愛する心」は排除され、「国と郷土を愛する態度」という記述が採用された。国を愛するのは「心」であってはならず、単なる表面の「態度」だけがよい、ということなのか。こんな国は他にないだろう。
▽日本では国家への忠誠という概念が存在しない。だから国家機密もない。ここでも「日本のナショナリズムは危険」だとする断定の虚構が証明されている。主権国家のメンバーの間でなら自然、当然の愛国心さえ、ほとんど否定されているのだ。
▽この日本の異様な反ナショナリズムの風潮と、それに基づく制度を変え、日本を正常な国にしようと努める政治家もたまには存在する。安倍晋三氏はその一例だ。だがその努力は往々にして「タカ派的」「軍国主義的」「ナショナリスティック」という不当なレッテルを貼られて、逆に攻撃される。
▽反ナショナリズムを排し、国家としての要件をきちんと制度化するという作業は、近代的主権国家の指導部にとっての自明の責務である。そうした作業はすでにアメリカだけでなくイギリス、フランス、中国、そして新生イラクでさえ、実行されてきた。日本だけは、それをしてはならない、というのだ。
▽日本は戦後の長い年月、民主主義の道を歩んできた。民主主義的な価値観を保ってきた。だから外部からたとえいかに「ナショナリズム的」とみえる措置でも、基本的には民主主義の範疇である。だがそれでも危険だというのは、日本に対する偏見や独特のゆがんだ認識のせいだろう。
以上です。
以下はそのスピーチの英文の後半です。
WASHINGTON AND SOUTHEAST JAPAN SEMINAR
FALL MEETING
December 8, 2007
Japan’s Nationalism: Myth and Reality
Comments of Yoshihisa Komori
(continued from the Dec.10 entry)
One of the most distinct features of post-war Japan is its rejection of nationalism and dilution of national identity. We might call this “Japan’s anti-nationalism.” Let us first look at the tangibles.
Japan is the country where one sees perhaps the smallest number of national flags per capita hoisted in public. The vast majority of contemporary Japanese still avoid its display at home, even on celebratory occasions. School teachers, many of whom are members of certain public school teachers unions, still resist raising the flag at commencement and entrance ceremonies. Instead, they actively teach students not to show respect for this national symbol.
Many Japanese show the same attitude toward their national anthem. Again post-war public school teachers traditionally refuse to sing the anthem and discourage their students from singing it too. I, for one, belonging to the first batch of the post-war generation of Japanese, was taught in elementary school not to show respect for either the flag or the national anthem.
The American ritual of pledging allegiance to the national flag would have been totally inconceivable in Japan in those days, as it still is in contemporary Japan. Again speaking from personal experience, I will never forget my own feeling of great shock when I first saw American school children pledge allegiance to the Stars and Stripes. That was upon my first visit to the United States, when at the age of 22 I went to Seattle to study at the University of Washington.
My shock at the American-Japanese gap in this regard some decades ago recently was echoed by an 18 year old Japanese-American girl. Actually, this girl is a character in a Japanese movie titled “I am 日本人” that was released last year. The film is interesting because, while it is fictitious, it seems to be based on a mosaic of actual experiences and observations by real people. The movie was produced by popular actor-turned-politician Kensaku Morita. Mr. Morita was elected to the Lower House of the Diet and appointed Deputy Minister of Education. I happened to watch it on a trans-Pacific flight a few months ago and found it unexpectedly illuminating.
By sheer coincidence, the girl in this story was born and raised in Seattle. She goes to a Japanese university and finds her Japanese classmates completely disrespectful of the Japanese flag and national anthem. She was astounded, shocked, intrigued, and mad, shouting at them, Why? Why? Why? The message of the movie is to show the significant absence of “National consciousness” among Japanese youth from an American perspective.
Of course, you cannot judge the extent of the prevalence of nationalism in one country simply by looking at how the people face up to their national flag and anthem, but they are indicators at least of the general trend. In this case, polls, studies and other evidence showing a broad absence of “national awareness” or “national identity” abound in Japan.
On less tangible matters, what would be considered a mere expression of one’s inherent feelings of appreciation toward his or her nation in most countries around the world, such as “I love America” or “I am proud of my country,” is almost unheard of in Japan. If a public figure like a member of the national Diet says that “I love my country.” he would very likely be labeled a “rightwing reactionary.” And he would be running a risk of having his statement misinterpreted as praising pre-war undemocratic values. Yet in the United States and most other countries, these words are heard in public and private statements and even in songs and are taken positively as a matter of course.
Many contemporary Japanese still have an aversion to the word “patriotism.” This was demonstrated, for example, in the debate last year on adoption of the new “Basic Education Law.” The word “patriotism” as an objective of teaching was proposed by some members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, but opposed by other colleagues of their own party as well as opposition members. Opponents asserted that use of this word in the law could lead to revival of a prewar-like autocratic imposition of values on individuals.
As a compromise, some suggested the phrase “kuni wo aisuru kokoro,” the sense of mind for love of country, only to be told by opponents that it would be still too strong. Then others put forth another phrase, “kuni to kyoudo wo aisuru taido,” the attitude to love the country and the homeland. And after a long heated debate not just in the Diet but in the press and many other public fora, the Diet adopted this last phrase “the attitude to love the country and the homeland.” Perhaps difference between “taido” (attitude) and “kokoro” (sense of mind) in Japanese is that the former could be just a façade and the latter real conviction. They opted after all for the emotionally shallower word.
Japan is still a country that does not recognize the concept of allegiance to the state. As a result, there is no such thing as treason, nor are there “national secrets” in Japan. Internationally, as well, post-war Japan’s propensity has been to go against the norm by putting the wishes of the United States above its own interests.
The bottom line is that last year’s turn of events in the Diet clearly underscores Japan’s aversion at the national level to the word and concept of “patriotism,” and, going back to the lesser meanings of the dictionary definition, Japanese collective rejection of any “exaltation of [Japan] above all other [nations], and an emphasis on loyalty to and the promotion of the culture and interests of one nation [Japan] as opposed to other nations and supranational groups.”
Some Japanese political leaders in the past, most recently including Prime Minister Abe but also some of his predecessors, tried to make institutional changes that would help reduce the climate of anti-nationalism. They successfully promoted measures in the areas of education, are continuing to consider constitutional revision and failed to enact measures that would protect national secrets. These measures were generally encouraged by the U.S. government although, in return, the Japanese leaders were labeled by some Japanese and western observers as “hawkish” ”militaristic” “nationalists”.
The measures they promoted, however, are considered self-evident responsibilities of any other modern sovereign nation, rights exercised by good friends and allies like the United States, Britain, and France, as well as by other countries like China and even Iraq. It has raised the question in many Japanese minds as to whether there isn’t another kind of bias or possibly patronizing habit at play and why we never hear about a “Nationalist” Hu Jintao or a “Nationalist” George Bush.
Japan is a democracy that has matured over sixty years of post-war experience with democratic values that have become an inseparable part of the national landscape. So whatever Japanese do that observers may like to label as “nationalistic” measures, they all fall within the framework of a contemporary democracy that thrives under the rule of law.
These are some of the thoughts evoked when I see the phrase “Japan’s nationalism.”
END
by staro
日本のナショナリズム再考――な…