Kyoto lodging asks Israeli guest if he committed war crimes | The Asahi Shimbun

It's different because no jury in Israel will convict someone of warcrimes (against Palestinians).

No conviction, no crime. EZ.

This isn't "whataboutism", this is pointing out a "pot and kettle" situation.

The Japanese government won't acknowledge many of its war crimes or paid reparations to its still living victims.

If Germany said the Holocaust never happened, that would reflect very poorly on the German citizens that continue to elect the Holocaust denying government officials and you would be justified in asking German tourists if they acknowledged the Holocaust.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whataboutism

Probably, but what a government chooses to do and what the populace chooses are two inherently different things.

There are likely only a couple hundred or maybe thousand Japanese left who even had the opportunity to commit a war crime, yet that Israeli guy might've committed one prior to the last full moon.

So not really the same thing, nice try though, you'll get there one day.

I don't know why you are being down voted.

I love that the Japanese are treating Israeli's as members of the apartheid genocidal state that they are.

Japan also hasn't recognized or paid reparations for many of the horrendous war crimes they've committed themselves.

Both things can be true at the same time.

Same with Turks

IDF service is compulsory for Israeli citizens, so it was a legitimate question to ask.

Japan is not doing this. A private business is.

Yeah, it feels slightly tone-deaf for Japan to be doing this. It’s not quite as bad as the USA dong this but it is close

Is "asking" messed up or committing war crimes more messed up?

The embassy thinks it is messed up to ask people if they committed war crimes.

This is ignoring they ask people from 10 different nations this question.

>They are asking random Israelis.

Did you not read the comment above you? They ask people who served in the military.

Israel has mandatory military service for all citizens so that's probably why "randomly Israelis" may be screened. They're ex-military.

It's not random. It targets specifically individuals who recently served in a military which is accused of committing war crimes.

They are asking random Israelis.

This is of course ignoring Japan’s history and glorification of their war crimes which is ongoing.

Based on the article there's nothing random about it and it's not just any citizen. They ask it of people who served on nations that have active conflicts. So basically, people who might have been in position to commit war crimes.

No, their point is you shouldn’t be randomly asking Israelis if they committed war crimes.

The article points out there are ten nations whose citizens they ask this question.

2 years and 8 months for men?

My love for round numbers is offended.

>Military service is compulsory for Jews and Druze, both men and women, and for Circassian men. The active-duty period is 32 months for men and 24 months for women, followed by reserve duty until age 40.

If they're Israeli simply check if they're younger than 50.

Because if they're Israeli citizens, there's like a 99% chance that they were in the military at some point.

Their grunt style tee

Me, too, man. Me, too.

I wish you didn't exist.

I hope not

Too right. Pip pip, cheerio!

That's how English aristocrats (and aristocrat wannabes) say rugby. Whether that's what they mean I dunno though

It's the bog standard for saying rugby. Don't get yer daks tied up, not trying to get you mad as a cut snake. Ruggers is exy, mate.

Of course everything I'm saying might be furphy.

Yeah. The shit they were doing with geishas is fucky.

This one is comical to me.

From what I've heard, there are "Japanese Nationals" only spaces. But there are also many (if hazard to guess a majority of these locations) places that, due to their lack of English skills, put signs that mean to them "Japanese language only", that is to say, they the proprietors of said location can only speak and write in Japanese, and therefore if you try to speak to them in your language, will not likely be able to service you properly. Some of these places will try their best to service you and let you in as well. Granted there are also places that will deny service if you don't speak any Japanese, and that is ridiculous, but I'd like to think those places are few and far between as well.

What country you even from, that you do not have your own racism problems to deal with?

Start at home.

That is different from their "Japanese people only" spaces.

Japan is an overtly racist nation and the history of their racism is just as evil as any European colonial power. We did not leave Germany to solve its problem with racism and we should not trust Japan to do the same. They have made little effort to do soup to this point

We got plenty of our own problems, best to leave it to Japan to figure out their own.

Japanese people have a right to ask questions about issues they are concerned about.

Asking whether or not you have actively participated in crimes against humanity is a reasonable question to ask, and if you do not want to answer it, then you can just go elsewhere.

There's a difference between being respectful of the space and racial exclusion. What they are backing is racism.

Japan is a nation that has intense issues with racism that they have never confronted and it is fucking weird how often people are willing to forgive their overt racism.

Ironically, I've never heard any complaints about Japanese tourists, as they often arrived well-educated about local customs and behave respectfully.

Ooh ooh I have a good one! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

They're not rude, just very upset.

It's almost time to take a walk up on the Sunrise side to see the flowers, isn't it?

complaining about Chinese and Indian tourists on american soil is so ironic considering what american tourists usually do when abroad

If you go into someone else's house, you need to be respectful of their space.

Many Chinese and Indian tourists regularly trample the alpine flower fields at Mt. Rainier National Park for selfies or just as a shortcut when they get tired of walking on the hiking paths.

When confronted, instead of being apologetic, they get defensive and diminish the impact of their actions by demeaning American culture and spaces.

"It's just some flowers. They'll grow back!"

Yeah, maybe. But that will take eighty years and it may not even happen due to climate change.

These kind of behaviors are what sours locals against tourism, especially when it is consistent across a cultural tourist groups.

We all need to do better when visiting each other's spaces, and that starts by owning our cultural shortfalls and poor behavior, with the goal of personally improving our own.

Ironically, I've never heard any complaints about Japanese tourists, as they often arrived well-educated about local customs and behave respectfully.

Intolerance of genocide...?

Military service is compulsory for Israeli citizens. The IDF has been committing war crimes daily for literal decades. It was a legitimate question to ask.

Some parts of Japan, such as Hokkaido, can be considered to be colonized as its native people are the Ainus, not the Yamato people (the Japanese ethnicity).

The Yamato themselves didn't didn't exist for 40'000 years. It was during the 4th century BC to the 7th century CE that their main ancestors, the Yayoi and the Toraijin, migrated to Japan and displacd the Joumon people to the North. The latter had been in Japan for a much longer time.

They replaced Emmett till's signs so often they decided to use digital ones instead of physical.

If you are referencing the image I think you are- that was debunked a good few years back. Can't remember the link, but basically, it was a one off move by someone that got shared around facebook a bunch.

And every day that ends in Y is "shoot memorials to black people" day.

Correction, that's a thursday. Tuesday is the cross burning. Wednesday is the driving around and entering stores with AR15's day.

not every country wants foreigners

It's their right to dictate that

That's an extremely complicated philosophical argument that goes beyond two simple sentences, I hope you realise

If my culture had a term 'n-wordass' I would not have the unmitigated gall to try and argue it wasn't racist.

Seriously, what is wrong with you?

Oh, that's right, you're trying to defend the use of an obviously racist term. You're a racist. That's what is wrong with you.

Why is it when people who are wrong and know they're wrong, doing dumbass shit always respond with "BWAHAHAHAHAAaa" as if it means anything? Without fail, these dip-shits always do this.

>some working-class Cajuns may regard the word "coonass" as a badge of ethnic pride, whereas it may be frowned upon by some middle- and upper-class Cajuns who may be more likely to regard the term as insulting or degrading, even when used by fellow Cajuns in reference to themselves.

BAHAHAHhahahaha! Oh man. Sure, yeah well-if the intertubes says it huh.

Lemme clarify then: That is _bull shit._

And “coon” is a racist term, so don’t use it. What is wrong with you.

It is both. But since your C---ass can't be bothered to spell it the supposedly "non-racist" way, you're getting called out.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coonass

https://jimcrowmuseum.ferris.edu/coon/homepage.htm

Why are you using racist terms here?

Yes, I do. But I am a foreigner there. When we don't observe their traditions and disrupt their society, I feel like it's okay for them to set boundaries.

I get why it's not right, but I also accept it. It's not my country, not my rules, not my traditions. So, I am willing to live by their rules.

>imagine a deep southern U.S town instituting an English-only policy and aggressively turning away for example Spanish or Arabic-speakers.

Yeah that's called Tuesday in the rural south.

I'm not saying it's the right thing to do but a big difference here is that up until VERY recently, the US did not have an official language, so for them to say "English only" would be a bit more offensive than for Japan (whose official language is Japanese) to say "japanese only".

Additionally, the US is on colonized land, so English wouldn't be the native language of the land. Japan on the other hand has existed for close to 40,000 years and was not colonized in the same way (Not saying that the Japanese historically haven't been colonizers, but the island of Japan is generally not). I genuinely wouldn't even be mad about it if someone in Manitoba made a rule that was like "Ojibwe only".

But also to your point, yeah the US did recently pick an official language AND launch an "English only" campaign for a whole profession and it is extremely fucked up.

You realize not every country wants foreigners right? It’s their right to dictate that. There was this whole thing about how America and England literally threatened Japan with artillery until they opened their borders.

Because it still keeps up the bs mist of "undiscovered fancy place to visit" that attracts dumbasses and neckbeards who spend their days taking up-skirt pics, riding e-scooters like idiots, and getting cheapshit games for their old consoles at barely cheaper than US prices.

Ohhh, I gotcha. Makes sense. I agree, it's a bit of a stretch but regardless I see the logic in the reference. And yeah, I think I've heard of that thought experiment before.

I suspect they're referencing a story told on Twitter back in the day:

https://www.boredpanda.com/bar-bartender-nazi-punk-iamragesparkle/

TL;DR: If you let the "nice" ones in, eventually their less nice associates will come along and before you know it, your bar is a Nazi bar. Or, in this case, your restaurant/town is now a haven for obnoxious tourists.

It's not quite the same because you can't equate a "nice" Nazi with a respectful tourist, but similar logic applies otherwise.

Never heard of it, can you elaborate?

Not only that, it's not a hard and fast rule. The operative word is "discourage." If you're polite, ask nicely, have at least a rudimentary level of skill in the language, the staff will most assuredly seat you.

I was trying to get into this one sushi place in Nagano for weeks when I was there, finally threw up my hands and just walked over. Very modest, very simple, and probably the best I had while I was in the country.


I have no idea why the west is so ok with Japan's ranked competitive racism...

Yeah, that's racism.

Reminds me of the Nazi bar analogy.

Not literally those words. From what I've seen online, various establishments, if not entire towns, have thrown up "Japanese only" or "Japanese language only" to discourage foreigners. They generally only do this after there's been a trend of tourists making asses of themselves, but since the first places to do it kind of went viral, it's not too surprising if the habit has sprung up elsewhere.

Sure, it's only a handful of disrespectful tourists when all the rest are fine, but if you allow any non-Japanese (person or language, pick your preference) eventually you'll get those tourists.

Like it or not, it's a simple way to say no to that.

So, to be clear, you get how that's more than a little bit fucked up, right?

To demonstrate, imagine a deep southern U.S town instituting an English-only policy and aggressively turning away for example Spanish or Arabic-speakers.

This is not something to be celebrated. Ban the thing you actually want to prevent instead of pushing through unmitigated xenophobia.

What was the policy? Or was it just that they literally said "fuck you?"

Not only that, but it happened in Kyoto which is verryyy traditional. Plus it’s a small city that’s getting overrun with tourists. It was the only place where I felt bad for visiting. I mean it’s packed at especially the temples, you’re slow walking in this sea of people.

As an Australian, what the fuck is a ruggers?

What you love about Japan is it’s cultural intolerance?

>then yes I think logically it would mean people funding the war crimes in any capacity would then be war criminals themselves

Maybe this is why so many Americans (including myself) are absolutely fucking furious and speaking out about Israel's war crimes and America's direct support of it. I don't want to be complicit and want there to be zero confusion on this matter. I want to distance myself from it as much as possible.

The purpose of my comment was kind of to call out the ridiculousness of the question being on the form, because if that broad definition is how were defining war criminals, then yes I think logically it would mean people funding the war crimes in any capacity would then be war criminals themselves. Again, by the definition assumed based on the question being on the questionnaire. When I read it my first thought was that I could probably not say no to that question as a US taxpayer

Personally I dont think aiding & abetting in *any* way, especially through involuntary taxation, is enough to define someone as a war criminal. But its fair to say we (collectively) arent doing enough to stop the bad shit our taxes are funding, which is true of any Israeli citizen right now as well.

People could refuse to pay their taxes and risk arrest, but I dont think thats an effective form of protest. Better to not be in prison and have a voice. But there would be a logical consistency in doing it

Considering your other reply, I am appalled and disgusted. In addition, it appears to me you have either not read or understood my comment, and I am not sure which is worse.

This honestly doesn't make much sense. The implication would be that all citizens are culpable for their government's actions once they start paying taxes.

Funding your government isn't a voluntary act, so your last parenthetical already invalidates most of what you said.

So by that logic, are all Americans war criminals because Americans pay taxes, which go to fund drone strikes that murder civilians overseas, domestic militarization of police, prisons, etc?

This is the same logic as "all Palastinians support Hamas."

So ... we should've hanged all the Germans in '45? The child soldiers drafted in Berlin? Shot the entire Japanese army? Drag all US-citizens to court for acting against the constitution?

I am going to be downvoted to oblivion, but: Lock up all Palestinians for not extraditing terrorists and war criminals?

Where do you think this will go, honestly? How is any of that justified, or fair? Should we commit a genocide of our own upon the Israelis? I know that's not what you said and I very much hope it's not what you meant.

This platform sometimes, fuck me.

This right here is what I love about Japan.

When I was there a few years ago to snowboard, they had a "fuck you" policy to non-Japanese speakers in some towns because the Aussies basically run around rough shod and turn everything into a loud party.

Imagine being in a sleepy resort town while 7 dudes are walking down your cobbled street screaming about Ruggers, then one falls into the cold stream because they're drunk, so a rescue team is sent out... On a weekly basis.

There's simply a no more bullshit cap.

Classic Japanese. No dancing around or confusion about anti-semitism, just straight out asking the Israeli about recent war crimes.

Had the same as a Swiss guy living there: sure, everybody loves Roger Federer, but they also know about Nazi gold and the banking secret protecting dictatorships. And they just ask about it directly. Would never happen on Japanese topics though.

Wait, so Israel is not even trying to distance itself from war crimes... Their actual point is "not all war crimes are equal and it's difamatory to label everyone who commits war crimes with the same 'war criminal' label"... Wtf is wrong with those people.

If being asked to confirm that you have not committed war crimes makes you uncomfortable, then you might be a war criminal.

I'm pretty sure Japan's immigration asks if you've ever been convicted of a crime, so how is this any different?

Japan: "did you commit war crimes?"

Israel: "i'm outraged"

Japan:"that isn't a 'no'..."

Its what the free market wants ;)

If israel doesn't like this treatment then they should stop the policy of forcing israeli citizens to serve in the israel genocide forces.

What's the protest? "We don't want to be pointed at when we commit war crimes" ?

How could any Israeli citizen say no on #3 At this point. Even if you arent directly committing atrocities yourself you still are funding the government engaging in it. Not to mention most all of them have served in one capacity or another (involuntary aspects nonwithstanding)

>the same amount of war crimes as happened in Nanjing

Japanese man scribbles down zero

How do you know if a future guest has been in the military in the past 10 years?