Talk:Shinchō Kōki

Recent edits

I notice editor Between work and an IP user have recently been busy editing this article. Their edits/sources feel very WP:COATRACK (compare the section on the Maeda version vs. any other version), especially with his inclusion of articles from Alaric Naudé (a professor and pop historian whose wikipedia article he helped edit under his previous IP and which was later deleted and whose work was found to be WP:Fringe previously* that he has tried and failed to get included in the article on Yasuke more than once), among other questionable sources that I'm sure would get shot down on most well edited articles if he tried to include them there. Their timing on their editing of the Shinchō Kōki article feels rather suspicious as well (no idea if it's the same guy working from yet another new IP or what's going on there).

*In the time since the the study was not deemed reliable by that RSN, the Publisher has apparently completely given up the illusion of being unconnected to Alaric Naudé. It's listed as operating from 301 Nosong Building, Geumho Rd., Suwon, Republic of Korea (the city Alaric currently lives and is registered in his birth country of Australia) and it's Editorial Review Panel is made up almost exclusively of University of Suwon/Suwon Science College staff. The only one listed not from there is listed as a professor from "Jungbu University" (I'm sure they mean Joongbu University). DragonBrickLayer (talk) 21:58, 22 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The usage of Japan Forward and Alaric Naude to add specifically text related to a coatrack, especially given the RSN on Naude's work, should be removed entirely. Naude's work has been shown to be of dubious academic integrity, and Japan Forward is the English-Language arm of Sankei Shimbun which primarily exists to deny atrocities committed by Japan during ww2. I'll do it myself later in the week if no one else does so. Relm (talk) 22:46, 22 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you! I don't want to seem like I'm bullying the guy, but he's been told repeatedly that Alaric Naudé isn't a credible reference (as recently as April on the Yasuke Talk page). Like, it's to the point that it feels like he has a personal stake in the guy. I'm afraid I'm just a noob editor and don't really know much, but I found it all rather suspicious (especially with the two editors in question doing multiple edits on alternating days). I wouldn't have even noticed had I not removed a previous Alaric Naudé ref Between work had made (linking a multi-part interview with a single line about the original being destroyed in a fire as the ref for that line in this article) and been the most current edit on the article last I checked. DragonBrickLayer (talk) 23:16, 22 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You have a tendency to judge past events by current American values, ignoring the circumstances of the time. Furthermore, your view of Asia and Japan appears to be discriminatory.

Would you judge the truth of all information based on whether a media outlet supports the Republican or Democratic Party? You wouldn't. Would you never trust a media outlet again just because they supported the continuation of the Vietnam War? You wouldn't. Would you dismiss everything they say just because you don't agree with the LGBTQ+ community? You wouldn't. You would judge the content.

I don't believe the Comfort Women incident never happened. Such incidents are common wherever war breaks out. Looking at the aftermath of World War II alone, for example, Soviet troops in occupied Germany, US troops in occupied Japan and Korean troops in the midst of the Vietnam War caused similar problems. Some of the information circulating may be true. The rest is fiction created by Korean propaganda and lobby diplomacy. In Korea, criticising the issue was taboo, but the fact that the Korean government spent the reparations paid by the Japanese government without permission, and that aid groups embezzled donations from the Korean people, has turned the tide. I suggest you re-examine the facts.

Where does your claim that the Sankei Shimbun glorifies war come from? Is it based on its reporting during the Second World War? At that time, there was military censorship and all anti-war and pro-peace reporting was suppressed. Journalists were arrested and only war glorification was permitted. Are you aware of this and are you making this claim based on this knowledge? It is true that Sankei Shimbun is a right-wing newspaper. Having said that, I cannot agree with you dismissing all articles and information. One of the sources for this article is Chunichi Shimbun, a left-wing newspaper with a pro-China and pro-Korea stance. It is also a local newspaper, not a national one. You don't seem to see that as a problem, though.

Anyway, I shouldn't get into a political discussion here, so I'll stop now. Incidentally, I dislike the Fujisankei Group, Sankei Shimbun and Fuji TV. Of the Fujisankei Group, however, I like Nippon Cultural Broadcasting. The newspaper I read at home is the Yomiuri Shimbun.

You say that Naudé's paper is not credible. That is a strange thing to say. It is a university-reviewed paper, so it is not strange that you take it as a source. Moreover, the main theme of this paper is "Shinchō Kōki." So, because it is a paper from an educational university, it is not credible? That is strange. Even educational universities may have departments of international studies or humanities. You might also argue that he is a linguist rather than a scholar of Japanese history. Sociolinguistics is a discipline that approaches both linguistics and history. In other words, he is an expert in both, not one or the other. He should be judged by his content, not by what he likes or dislikes. You are free to read it and then criticize it. Because that is what papers and scholarly books are for.

What do you think of this paper used in the article about Yasuke? This paper is published in a collection of essays from the School of Law, not the School of International Studies or the School of Japanese Studies, and the author is an English teacher, not a historian.

Lockley, Thomas (February 2016). "The Story of Yasuke: Nobunaga's African Retainer" 桜文論叢

I know it's a long story, but did you understand? What I'm saying is that we should stop changing our positions and standards just for the sake of convenience.

Finally, I will be traveling on business starting tomorrow and will not have access to the internet for about a month. You don't have to reply. Why don't you edit it however you like? Between work (talk) 06:09, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Oh, I forgot. IP editors seem to be editing from time to time, but I have no idea who they are, so please deal with them if necessary. The content I edited is sometimes rewritten, and I don't collaborate with that person. I think the direction of the editing is similar. Between work (talk) 06:32, 24 July 2025 (UTC)[reply]