Comment by Cal Hobbs

October 3, 2006 @ 3:57 am

Is the song sung at the start of Seijiri #6 the national anthem?

Are these teachers singing it?

If the answer to both is yes, then the Japanese courts definitely made the right decision.

If that is the case, I am troubled as I have a personal opinion that court’s rarely get it right and that supports my opinion that wearing dresses does NOT make men smarter. (In England it is sadly proven that adding wigs to the costume does not help either.)

My opinion is not scientific but i do wish some future Nobel Laureate would explore this further and, if I am correct, they might be able to expose these dressing affectations as mere fetishes.

I apologize that i have digressed from the essence of this Seijiri.

Comment by DeOrio

October 3, 2006 @ 4:58 am

That was indeed “Kimigayo.” I don’t know who was singing it. We used that recording because it had the words in it. Take a look at “Law:1, Disturbing Side of Nationalism:0″ to hear an orchestral version. Musically, it’s not bad.
I disagree with you on the issue of courts. Assuming you’re referring to the US, I think we’re seeing a string of decisions that are doing exactly what American courts were intended to do: act as a counterweight to political decisions that are to the detriment of the country in the long run or deprive individuals of their inalienable rights.
In Japan, I often find myself agreeing with the courts, too. since the politicians often don’t even bother to interpret the law in fancy ways and just ignore it or complain that it doesn’t fit with what they think is right. Wait. Who does that sound like?
As for the robes, in the US, they’re often not required; in the UK, I’ve heard they are. In Japan, the thing not to trust is where the Justices came from. On the Supreme Court (which is not the court mentioned in Seijigiri #6), seven of the fifteen Justices graduated from the Law Department of the University of Tokyo and, of those, most were there at the same time.

Comment by Adamu

October 4, 2006 @ 5:39 pm

Interesting views on the beautiful country ideas, though I don’t see this lower court decision as having much impact at all.

If you’re interested in what the two best US “Japan hands” have to say about the new administration you might be interested in listening to between Mike Green and Gerald Curtis held last week. Curtis shares your view that pretty much no one knows what Abe thinks would constitute a “beautiful” Japan.

Comment by ken

October 5, 2006 @ 1:01 am

Hey Adamu,

Thanks for the link.

Do you think the lower court decision won’t matter because it will just be overturned, or because Abe’s plan will steamroll through it? Or both?