"Now I finally understand why all those kids in Harajuku proudly wear the swastika: they are saluting the innovation of the Autobahn!"

I wonder if this applies on this Awa Odori dancer as well!

http://timesonline.typepad.com/times_tokyo_weblog/images/swastika_1.jpg

How fringe-y is this stuff, anyways? I mean, wander into the wrong English bookstore, and you could find stuff just as wacky, albeit probably with less direct cover art.

Oh my, hail Autobahn and Volkswagen.

And you know...if only Hennecke Kardel had written in Japanese, they would know you dont even have to chose, read one book and you already have the story of the other as...: Hitler was Jewish! What a discovery...

http://www.memri.jp/bin/articles.cgi?ID=SP140807

whoa. marxy, aren't you treating japan like a two-bit country here? These books only seem remarkable if you imagine that Japan either has no right to talk about these things, or that they the country only publishes a few books per year.

also renkinjutsu is not dubious in the least. It's usually used to denote any unique or inexplicable talent. trading scandal aside, apple has been granted some renkinjutsu by a lot of authors.

"I wonder if this applies on this Awa Odori dancer as well!"

This piece is predicated on the idea that we know the difference between the manji　(卍） and the Nazi swastika.

”How fringe-y is this stuff, anyways? I mean, wander into the wrong English bookstore”

I went to my normal bookstore in Akasaka and found these lying out. The Jew one is by a pretty established author, and the theme has been covered by lots of other Japanese tomes, including best-seller　”The (Jewish) Millionare's Guide to a Happy Life"
http://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%A6%E3%83%80%E3%83%A4%E4%BA%BA%E5%A4%A7%E5%AF%8C%E8%B1%AA%E3%81%AE%E6%95%99%E3%81%88-%E5%B9%B8%E3%81%9B%E3%81%AA%E9%87%91%E6%8C%81%E3%81%A1%E3%81%AB%E3%81%AA%E3%82%8B17%E3%81%AE%E7%A7%98%E8%A8%A3-%E6%9C%AC%E7%94%B0-%E5%81%A5/dp/4479300082/sr=8-4/qid=1168995474/ref=sr_1_4/503-6433720-7221504?ie=UTF8&s=books

The publisher of the Jews-control-world-finances book is "ビジネス社” - who sell mostly business books. I think its more damning that this idea is the basis of a "understand world finances book/self-help book" rather than a tirade against Jews. I doubt the guy has any ill will against the sons of Abraham, but it still makes it a bit of a touchy topic.

"These books only seem remarkable if you imagine that Japan either has no right to talk about these things, or that they the country only publishes a few books per year."

These books are being sold in mainstream bookstores, not hidden. Here are some English-language analogs to the first one:

But you can't have this both ways: either these are mainstream books that Japanese companies have a right to publish or they are "fringe works." I think the first one is more fringe than the second, but it is trying to sell the idea as an objective one - despite the somewhat exploitative packaging and topics. (The golden Star of David is a nice touch though.)

"Nazi Science: Myth, Truth, and the German Atomic Bomb (Paperback) " - (Was there a peculiarly "Nazi science"? Were there uniquely "Nazi scientists"?)
http://www.amazon.com/Nazi-Science-Truth-German-Atomic/dp/0738205850/sr=8-1/qid=1168995114/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-0888615-4007029?ie=UTF8&s=books

I think it would be hard to publish a book with the same tone on the same topic in the United States. Is that because Americans "don't have the right to talk about it"?

"also renkinjutsu is not dubious in the least"

The definition on JDIC said "with an implication of being dubious." Also, alchemy has the connotation of being "magical" and not explained by normal science/rationality. This, however, is less of a problem than the central conceit.

Nate is spot on but i'm really concerned about the future of neomarxisme.

did you use some advanced visual-scan software on amazon covers or how on earth do you find these actual two titles within probably the world's most fertile publishing industry. Cheap.

//This piece is predicated on the idea that we know the difference between the manji　(卍） and the Nazi swastika.//

BTW the symbol relatively briefly known as the nazi swastika is an essential part of hindu iconography and can be seen in temples all over the world.

"how on earth do you find these actual two titles within probably the world's most fertile publishing industry. Cheap."

Well, no. I went to the bookstore yesterday. I saw these two titles laying out. Kinda hard to miss. I wasn't really searching for "explosive titles" on Amazon or something. If anyone wants to follow my footsteps, I will happily recommend the bookstore to you.

Ah, the "socialism of fools" rears its ugly head again. Here's a decent article http://sicsa.huji.ac.il/goodman2.pdf
(which coincidentally I was just reading a few days ago) about the widespread popularity of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion (and several books repackaging its content) in Japan in the 1980's, as well as the history of its reception here. Apparently at the same time that American businessmen were wringing their hands at the thought of the Japanese buying up Manhattan, salarymen over here were eating up recycled Tzarist propaganda to similar hysterical ends.
I'm sure the latter book will touch upon the Fugu Plan, wherein Imperial Japan wanted to set up a colony of Jews to cop some of that financial wisdom (as misguided as the Nazis' belief in Hollow Earth theory and other gonzo shit). I guess considering how prevalent antisemitism is becoming, even in the US progressive culture (zionists pulled off 911, etc) and how ubiquitous Saudi petro-dollars are in the worlwide media industry (AOL Time-warner is essentially controlled by a minority consortium of Saudi princes led by Prince Al-Waleed, who is also the second largest stockholder (behind Rupie) in Fox) one shouldn't be too surprised that Protocols-type books are making a comeback in Japan.
One of my students was referencing the wonders of Nazi technology a few days ago, and I wouldn't disagree with him, slave labor and huge pools of test subjects will get you a lot of bang for your buck. I would guess your first title was the book he was referencing, so it might not be so fringe.
At least there's not a holocaust denial section at Tsutaya yet.

For all of the book's problems, "A Public Betrayed" by Takesato Watanabe and Adam Gamble has an informative chapter on the history of anti-semitic publishing in Japan - most famously, the closing of the mainstream magazine Marco Polo for running a piece that denied the holocaust in 1995

Here's another link for you:

"Anti-Semitic Articles and Books Not Uncommon in Japan"
http://www.ojr.org/japan/media/1064022502.php

//bookstore yesterday. I saw these two titles laying out.

yes, i can picture that. they do actually go quite well together

They were in two sections. I will give you that, at least. Jews in the business/society section and Nazis in the arts/culture section. The placement of the Nazi book absolves it from being a "serious scientific book" but then, what is it for outside of a celebration of Nazi achievements?

Japan is not the only place where books heaping slightly uncomfortable and unwanted praise upon Jews are popular. In Taiwan I saw a lady who had just bought a book with a title like "The secret wisdom of Jewish child rearing practices" and was told by the owner that there were others. If you tell people you are Jewish, the reply "oh, Jews are so smart!" is not uncommon. How should one respond to that? Is "my people love your cuisine!" an inappropriate comeback?

The Japanese realize how good the Jews are at finances, because Asians are really good at math and science.

Reading the customer review of the Nazi technology book seems to indicate that it starts out with a fairly low-level inquiry into the technology, (考察のレベルがかなり低い) and then the second half is an investigation of the history of National Socialism and whether the Nazis were the only bad guys. A wolf in sheep's clothing it would seem, come for the light and entertaining pseudo-science, stay for the apologist propaganda.

If you were going to write a serious, objective book about Nazi Technology, you would give some sort of balance in the title. Ie, you would say, here were the good sides, here were the bad sides. I am not sure that was the intention here.

"how ubiquitous Saudi petro-dollars are in the worlwide media industry (AOL Time-warner is essentially controlled by a minority consortium of Saudi princes led by Prince Al-Waleed, who is also the second largest stockholder (behind Rupie) in Fox) one shouldn't be too surprised that Protocols-type books are making a comeback in Japan"

"For all of the book's problems, "A Public Betrayed" by Takesato Watanabe and Adam Gamble has an informative chapter on the history of anti-semitic publishing in Japan - most famously, the closing of the mainstream magazine Marco Polo for running a piece that denied the holocaust in 1995"

Now waaaait a minuite!Laotree and Marxy.

Laotree did you actually read the book by John Goodman?I've read it in Japanese translation and I found it was too much of an expolitation from the descent Japanese co-authors work on the History of the Japanese perception of the Jewish image.Goodman added the chapter reffering to this foolish socialists in the late 60's and early 70's about how the Japanese new left tendency of leaning to the cause of the Palestinean liberation and supporting Japanese Red Army's adventure in the Beqaa valley.I understand his anger since he spend 70's in one of the Japanese underground theater company who were undoubtly the new left radicals .But these people were Anti Israel and Zionism,putting them as an anti-semites leave us a lot of problems. These radicalism should have been criticized for supporting terrorism.
And in that perspective I'm kind of uneasy about ex-red army member,Adachi Masao is directing a new film"The Terrorist" said to be made from the angle of the red army guy jailed in the Israeli prison after shoot out at the Rod airport in Tel Aviv in'72.(although the name of Palestine and Israel is not used in the movie)

Marxy,"Public Betrayed"?You've got to be kidding me!Marco-Polo stuff had covered almost every media known to Japanese at the time.The Soka-Gakkai influenced authors of that book didn't even have to do any original reserch on it.
Always makes me uneasy about gaijin criticism on flawed-Japanese-media debate,they ALWAYS count on the information taken from the very institution they are hacking on.
You guys are falling into the danger of stepping in to the 'realm of the socilaist fools ' yourselves.You don't really want to fill in the shoes of Canadian ex-Forbes employee and self procaliming journalist Benjamin Fulford,Do you?
He is now publishing　911 is a comspiracy created by Washington for heavens sake!

P.S
Oddly enough there seems to be somekind of conflict between Fulford and Gamble on Fulford's new work on Ikeda Daisaku.Are we influencing fake journalism practice to the gaijins,or do Japan atttracts them?

I will recant on A Public Betrayed. I have actually read it and it's a mess, besides the obvious SG angle. I just remembered that they have a whole chapter on the Marco Polo case and how it went down. If you search "Marco Polo holocaust," you get a site from "revisionist historians" saluting Japanese revisionist authors. I am sure there are better sources, and I didn't mean to lend my support to that particular work.

Anyway, yeah, I don't believe in 911 conspiracy theories either.

I'd be interested in seeing Adachi's film and how they justify the slaughtering of Puerto Ricans in Tel Aviv.

"This piece is predicated on the idea that we know the difference between the manji　(卍） and the Nazi swastika."

You bet all those Harajuku kids do?

There is some overlap between those Japanese who, like you, believe that Dentsu is over-powerful and those who believe in Jewish conspiracy theories. See for instance:

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/HEAT666/diary/200410030000/

The commentators there accuse Hideo Yoshida of learning the insidious ways of the Jews on Madison Avenue and using them in Japan.

This type of thinking arises partly because some Japanese who mistrust their local media and political system begin to see conspiracies everywhere and tend to buy into a broader portfolio of conspiracy theories when they come across them. Also, as Aceface points out, 60's radicals were often pro-Palestine and anti-American imperialism. If you conclude that the U.S. is controlled by Jews and that powerful elites in Japan were backed by the CIA after the war, then it's not a big leap to decide that "Jewish ways" control Japan too.

Barking mad, of course. It can be very depressing to hear what seems like a wonderfully cogent analysis of the structure and exercise of power in Japan from someone who then goes on to tell you that George Bush and Queen Elizabeth are really reptiles.

On Adachi Masao:
There was a retrospective of Adachi in Shimokitazawa about even years ago.It was suited with the timing that Adachi and his comrade was released from Lebanese prison and sent to exile in Jordan.I watched 赤軍ＰＦＬＰ世界革命宣言and略称連続射殺魔.There was also Masao Matsuda,comrade of Adachi and radical movie critic.I took a glance at him but he gave me the full eye contact. Perhaps he thought I was a plain cloth or something.
The next day,when I was out doing some other research for my assignment,my cellular rung.It was my boss and he told me to go straight to Narita.Saying the Red Armies are sent back to Japan after being kept under restraint by the Jordanian authority and handed over to the Japanse police.Me and about 200 reporters stood in the cold windy runway waiting for the chartered Aeroflot flying from Anman.
I was thinking I could be the only one among them who had just seen Adachi's film.
Then the plane came and police took them away to the waited van,one by one with jacket being covered all over their upper body,no one had any idea who was who being carried away.

"I'd be interested in seeing Adachi's film and how they justify the slaughtering of Puerto Ricans in Tel Aviv"
略称連続射殺魔 is a film based on experience of Nagayama Norio,killer of three by pistol in in 70's,later became known by writing novels from prison after sentenced to death.The movie just film the landscape by becoming the actual vision of Nagayama starting from his born town of Hokkaido and to Tokyo and then to HongKong, where Nagayama tried to be a stowaway on commercial freighter and failed.The film ends in the place where he commited crime.No Hollywood ending,in fact there is no dialogue in this one hour long film,not once.Very 70's.
So guessing from his previous work,even by discounting his politics,Adachi's new film could be a VERY subjective one.

Hey I just realize in my previous post says
'John Goodman'.It was David.not John.sorry.

Aceface, I think you misunderstood my reference, the "socialism of fools" is a euphemism for antisemitism coined by August Bebel, and quoted in Goodman's article (although I've heard it elsewhere as well). I was not referencing any real foolish socialists, although history's seen its share.
"I don't believe in 911 conspiracy theories either"
While the so-called 911 truth movement is a god-awful mess and stinks of cointelpro, I would recommend looking into the level-headed work of Dave Emory, http://spitfirelist.com/ftr.html an anti-fascist researcher who has extensively documented the Bormann flight capital network (Bank Al-Taqwa etc,) and other underground reich links, and Daniel Hopsicker, http://www.madcowprod.com/index.html who has been doing some interesting work about the heroin smuggling flight schools with which the 911 hijackers were involved down in Marxy's homestate. Guaranteed no reptoid talk in there!

Over the years, the only time my blog has ever received a hit from Palestine was a couple of months ago from someone there Googling "Masao Adachi" and hitting one of my old posts from 2004 (excuse the errors):

http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2004/06/adachi-masao-at-waseda.html

The official site of Adachi's new film『幽閉者 テロリスト』is here. The trailer gives some sense of the Lod massacre scene. Plenty of background info as well.

http://www.prisoner-m.com/

It opens at Shibuya's Eurospace next month.

Aceface, you're an interesting commenter. Think I saw your posts on Twitch as well?

Over the years, the only time my blog has ever received a hit from Palestine was a couple of months ago from someone there Googling "Masao Adachi" and hitting one of my old posts from 2004 (excuse the errors):

http://jasongray.blogspot.com/2004/06/adachi-masao-at-waseda.html

The official site of Adachi's new film『幽閉者 テロリスト』is here. The trailer gives some sense of the Lod massacre scene. Plenty of background info as well.

http://www.prisoner-m.com/

It opens at Shibuya's Eurospace next month.

Aceface, you're an interesting commenter. Think I saw your posts on Twitch as well?

Laotree:
OK,Maybe I misunderstood your references and you seem to be very informed.Just want to say no Saudis ever come up to me with chunk of money yet,and if they do read this blog I'd like to tell them I'm available.Only except writing something anti-semitic
By the way the semite also includes the Arabs,No?
Perhaps ,we should keep watch out both ways.

Jason Grey:
So it was Lod,not Rod.Thanks.
And yes I read Twitch everyday,I read your blog too.You know.
If you could read Japanese book(I know you can)
Try 四方田犬彦「パレスチナ・ナウ～戦争・映画～」
There is a report on current life of Okamoto Kozo,the only survivor of the Lod three,and whose experience Adachi's movie is based on.
When Yomota visited Okamoto seems to be living like a vegetable in an apartment in Beirut with the help of his 'supporters' , and had to left the place right after the interview because of the Israeli airraid against Hezbollah last year.

It is Gray,not Grey.Right?
What was I thinking?Ashamed.

Thanks for the book recommendation, I will check that out (I think I saw it displayed at Aoyama Book Center late last year). The whole Red Army/Palestine period is difficult to get one's head around.

From Wiki: "The JRA/PFLP joint operation of May 30, 1972 accounted for the largest number of U.S. civilian deaths in a single terror attack ever until the September 11, 2001 attacks."

Is that correct? Unbelievable.

Look at this picture of JRA members (including Okamoto) at Adachi's wedding in Beirut in 2000:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kozo_Okamoto

Any thoughts?

Will the film pay any kind of tribute to the victims, I wonder?

I think the JRA's line about all those Puerto Ricans killed was that "Anybody who steps into Israel steps into a war zone."

Kozo Okamoto is a complete loony. Read his story - he had no ideological leanings nor a history of interest in socialism - certainly not in Israel-Palestine relations. He just wanted to meet his brother who had flown off to North Korea in the original Yodo hijacking and had a vague sense that helping Shigebobu Fusako massacre people would reunite them.

Aceface,
You seem a lot more well informed about Goodman's work than I am; the article I linked to was something I came across by chance a few weeks ago that I thought dovetailed nicely with the discussion. My mention of the Saudi cashflow is just to illustrate a more realistic counterpoint to the myth of Jews controlling the world. Last time I heard there wasn't much oil in Israel. On the subject of Japanese leftists supporting terrorists, I would like to point your attention to the direct Nazi links to radical Islamic groups and nations. (Hassan Al-Banna's Muslim Brotherhood, the idealogical parent organization to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al-Qaeda, etc., Waffen SS officer Amin el-Husseini better known as the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Otto Scorzeny and other fugitive Nazis working as consultants to Nasser in the fight against Israel to name just a few) Last year people scoffed when Bush used the term "Islamofascist" and I suspect he didn't really understand what he was saying, but as they say "enven a broken clock is right twice a day." He forgot to mention that his family, toadies and familiars all tight with fascism, be it islamic or old-fashioned corporatist.
Admittedly I don't know too much about the Japanese radical left in relation to middle eastern terror, so I'll have to look into it some more. Thanks for an interesting discussion!

There was this article appeared on SEKAI世界magazine from liberal Iwanami,right after 911 by Gavan MacCormack,The Japanologist at the National University of Australia and current board member of editorial at JAPAN FOCUS , criticized Japanese decision of supporting the war on terror and deployment of the maritime self defence force vessel to the Indian ocean.
His logics,along with the usual line warning the potential danger of the revival of Japanese militarism ,it went on like this.

1)
Japanese attacked the Pearl Harbor and it was a surprise attack
2)
Japanese invented suicide attack mission using aircraft,widely known to human race as Kamikaze.

conclusion:
911 was a surprise and suicidal attack.Therfore Japan has no right to condemn Osama Bin Laden,
since Japan practiced these in more massive scale.and not only that,Japan might even have to take the blame of giving the jihadis ,some intellectual inspiration of the plot PERIOD.

He preached this to gentil readers of "the Sekai"with Sooo-in-your-face manner even though he knew "Sekai"readers are the last people on earth who would support Koizumi in any way.What MacCormack really wanted to say was even the gentil Japanese liberals are gentile enough to the western liberals NOT to be considered as one of them, since after all they too are nobody but Japanese.
Now, I knew MacCormack as an avid supporter of Kim Il Sung back in the day,teaming up with Mark"Long live people's commune"Selden and editing left leaning (to me)JAPAN FOCUS is very understandable.
So I know his politics.But even still, my blood boiled with rage when I read that. And I hate JAPANFOCUS just because of this.

Now what I want say here is ,some people spends their entire life devoting to pick on a chosen country for his or her political beliefs,connects out-of-context-bits-of-historical-facts taken from here and there , making a monster out of it.And start some imaginary armageddons.And this is perfectly making sense to them,since if you want to be a knight in a shining armour in the tenured radical way,you definitely need an actual ideological evil dragon otherwise everything look like a bit quixotic.

Israel,Japan and Arab nations all have these global opponents and image problems partly because of their efforts.Though I agree some are not just an image,and deserve good share of criticism ,none of these societies are truly inscrutable nor almighty.So people should draw a line between some conspiracy theory and indepth analysis.Acceptable political solution and moral judgements.And to do so we have to develop more literacy with the subject.

Come on Aceface, when are you going to start your own blog? Please don't restrict all that fascinating detail in your head to commenting.

Seriously.