To all English speaking people of Japanese ancestry,

As you know, communism, socialism, post-war democracy and leftist feelings have had a large impact on this country. Especially on the pride and love for this country felt by Japanese, from those born and raised in Japan to those born and raised abroad. We know that there are many people with Japanese faces who wish they were white or of other races, or even ashamed to be of Japanese ancestry. There are many who try to pass off as American or whatever, betraying themselves for who they are by trying to associate mainly with white people, talking like them, acting like them, and even thinking like them. Although this complex may be subconscious to many, it affects the whole course of their day - from the moment they see their black hair, wishing it were of fairer color, like their friends or their heroes in American movies, to the time they are ready to go to bed, having spent another day denying their true ancestry, not considering that their friends might respect them more if they would acknowledge their own cultures more. We hope that they won't deny to themselves the possibility that they might even be called sell-outs behind their backs.

Some people say, as human beings, we'd be better off not having any boundaries to separate each other. But there are boundaries in every form, everywhere, whether we like it or not. Being a nationalist, ultranationalist, rightist, or patriot doesn't necessarily mean having appreciation for these boundaries. It means loving and respecting your country while acknowledging them.

In other countries, like America, you see their national flag everywhere in the streets and in the media. But if the Hinomaru flag is seen in a place you normally don't see one, too many people automatically assume that there is a right-winger nearby. Can't we see how stupid this is? The Hinomaru flag isn't the flag of the far right. It is the flag of Japan and the Japanese people and it has been so since way before the law that made it official. Not only is it that, it's also the flag of anyone of Japanese ancestry whose heart tells them that they have the right to be accepted as Japanese knowing that they have 127,000,000 brothers and sisters in this land. Forget anyone who says it isn't and forget anyone who says that our flag has war crimes interwoven in it. The Hinomaru flag has been around since before the so-called Pacific War and even before Japan has started being accused of unproven war crimes. What we usually ask of native Japanese listeners is if they have any pride as Japanese people, and if they have a Hinomaru flag, feel free to put it up in public with pride.

But what is this reluctant feeling towards the flag? Where did this completely justifiable feeling of pride for our beautiful country and culture go? Why do so many Japanese-blooded people raised in foreign countries not want to come back to the land of their ancestors and insist on calling themselves American or something? A very big reason is the influence of the leftists. They are the ones who control the media. They have so much influence over peoples' thoughts, therefore have the responsibility to keep peoples' hopes up without bending the facts. But they don't do so half as much as they should. All they do is just report the negative things, and not to mention lies (Asahi had denied the North Korean abduction cases for years until it became evident in 2002) because that's what keeps the news exciting. And that's what sells. Everyone knows that that's true with every country that has any form of commercial media. But what does this negative outlook and masochistic lies of our country do to the children who read the textbooks that are written by these pessimists and traitors? It gives them a negative outlook on themselves. This is an undeniable essence of the left wing in Japan - doing anything they can to give Japan a negative image, inside this country and outside this country. It exists all around the world. Think about what you have been told about the country of your forefathers when you were growing up in a foreign country - Kamikaze pilots were all terrorists or crazy Japs that FOOLISHLY crashed their planes while they were high on speed?! Of course many try to tell you this or make you feel so, but how was their mentality any different from any country's definition of a wartime patriot's? Anyone who feels that soldiers who give their lives during a war should be honored, but at the same time calls Kamikaze pilots crazy is a hypocrite. The reason why so many of those brave boys and men are now antagonized is because that's what happens to people of countries that lose in war. No matter how noble their deeds were, if their country lost, they will be antagonized. What is noble? They sacrificed their lives for their country. Their country not only means the land that they walked on, but it includes their culture and loved ones.

Many Japanese raised abroad, as well as in Japan, were told that the reason why Japan entered the war was for selfish reasons. And that Japan started attacking innocent people in the pacific and in the Asian mainland because of oil and steel embargoes. And that Japan just wanted to spread its territory so she started invading her closest neighbors. What many aren't told is the fact that Asia was gradually being invaded by the Whites and Japan was on the list of targets. If you can't believe what the textbooks say about the war because of so many interpretations, then listen to or read the militant wartime song lyrics that the soldiers themselves listened to and sang. None of them say anything about taking over the world, enslaving the inhabitants, and killing innocent people in the process. Many of them urge fighting FOR THE SAKE OF ASIA. Of course there were some "evil" soldiers, politicians, etc. on the Japanese side during the war - just like there are in any country during wartime. But that doesn't make Japan an evil country. One reason why Asia isn't plagued with an inferiority complex that once existed was because Japan showed that we can ward off invaders - ever since the Russo-Japanese war.

If you are ashamed at all, DON'T be. Be proud to be Japanese.

藤田淳