Thursday, March 16, 2006

Blogs I Read 閱 讀 的 部 落 客 訪ねるブログ

This post is basically to introduce just some of the blogs i read....it won't introduce all the ones i read which are in my links section and it does not mean that the ones i did not introduce specifically are not good enough cos if there is a link,they are good, but cos of time limitations, i will only point out some:
(1) The Plunge: Fantastic Korea related blog written by a Westerner married with a Korean wife. His blog is the ONLY one in english i've come across so far whose ideas and thinking i almost completely agree with! in fact, he is one of the very few westerners who is so concerned about the Japan and WW2 issue that his 'all important posts' links are all related to japanese apology and compensation for WW2 issues....he basically supports the chinese/korean viewpoint on japanese lack of sincerety on the war issue....in fact all that he has written on his blog about japan and WW2 I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH so please go and have a look at his arguements cos they represent mine as well and it saves me from writing about it when someone else can write it better for me...and yes i am deeply passionate about the Japanese war atrocity issue though i haven't written much about it lately....and he has also been very kind to write 2 posts recommending my blog to others on his own blog somethin which has increased my readership, so pls go and take a look at his blog sometime, in the 'korea blogs' link section below.

(2) kimcafe: fantastic japanese language blog showcasing where to find cheap and delicious food in Japan and the rest of Asia from the writer's personal travels....nice pics too..

(3) What does the world look like/Clayton/Alexander: Three blogs which are incredibly frank and filled with the real emotions of the authors....

(4) Bedtime stories/Confetti in the Wind: Bedtime Stories is the authoritative blog for blogs representing a certain community, the tongzhi community, so check it out, the other blog is also an interesting read and written by a pilot...(note i have explained what tongzhi means in my archives so go check if u dun know the meaning)

(5) beijing or bust: Intelligently written by a social activist in beijing who is quite popular in the blogsphere, also has a taiwanese boyfriend which is always nice given that i am half-taiwanese myself.....

(6)Asia pages: one of my favourite korea blogs written by an intelligent and insightful korean-american woman currently living in Pusan...just love reading about all the topics she writes about...

(7) ESWN blog: Very important news source for english translations of chinese media sources...

(8) Gay Japan News: an extremely useful website for info on gay news around the globe in Japanese....

(9) Multi-Colour dreams of Krungthep: Thai-Malaysian blog which is funny, witty and hilarious at times giving some insight into a certain community and their life.....

(10) Nanking Atrocities/Korean council for comfort women: Informative sites on Japanese war atrocities during WW2....

9 comments:

Mikke said...

Hi,

Is there a chance you could post the web addresses to these blogs, can't find some of them when I do a regular search?

hcpen said...

Mikke: they are all in my link section right at the bottom of my blog so scroll ALL THE WAY DOWN and u will see all of the mentioned blogs and their links....do check them out!!

Anonymous said...

Actually, you are mistaken with Plunge. I know people who personally know him. He had once been turned down by a Japanese woman before in his life and was made fun of for his uncouth social graces. He used to be a fan of Japan, but then after he was rejected by that woman and creeping her out with his stalking behavior, she told him to bugger off and never to contact her again. From that point on, he has directed his insecurity and hatred to all things Japanese now.

Hatred of Japan is an obsession for those Korea-philes who have jealousy and envy towards Japan. In plunge's case, it is a quite a sad and pathetic story (although very funny). Notice that he cannot say even one good thing or positive comment about Japan. Actually, he even gets upset when someone compliments or says something positive about Japan such as "Japanese products are very high quality". That, my friend, is not a reaction that is from an objective person. That type of reaction shows a mentality of a person who goes beyond rightful criticism. It is one thing to point out and criticize negatives about a culture. However, when you start to scream and go crazy angry just because you hate to hear compliments about another country from other people, that is a sign that you are obsessed with smearing and hatred of another culture, just like plunge.

kobukson said...

Hi hcpen,

I was directed here via Kushibo's blog.

From an Asian-American perspective, we find native Asia's (particularly Korea/China) chronic obsession with Japanese WW2 atrocities, the war shrine issue, nationalism, and all related issues to be quite frustrating. If Korea or China had been in Japan's place during that period, they would have done the same things that Japan is accused of. It's simple power dynamics logic.

Alot of it is also a political manipulation tool used by the governments to deflect the public's attention away from the inadequacies of political leaders, home policies and domestic problems.

Koreans and Chinese alike are dwelling way too much on the past and letting their nationalistic outrage jeopardize intra-Asian cooperation and pan-Asian unity for the sake of the future.

hcpen said...

anon: ur lies are so ridiculous that i just have to laugh to think that u would belittle my intelligence to actually believe that i would believe in 3rd rate script writing like that...

plunge: no problems:)

bluejives: dun be ridiculous...it is not asia's obsession about japan's ww2 crimes, its about justice and reconciliation...and the thing about political manipulation is something the western media and the japanese love to point to but it is TOTALLY IRRELEVANT whether or not its political or not...the only concern i have is that there are good solid grounds for the anger...and also bout distracting attention from domestic probs...hello? i am NOT chinese nor south korean so why am i angry or concerned? i couldn't care much personally for china's and korea's domestic problems, i have no connections with them anymore, even ancestral relatives in china i dun keep in touch with them(neither do my parents!) at all...so why am i and many other overseas chinese/korean angry? we have never been 'brainwashed' by 'anti-japanese' education..i was not even taught about japan's crimes in school and my parents certainly didn't go on and on about japan's crimes...the thing is u must understand, my generation grew up relatively properous so we could think about the injustice of japan's war, whilst my parents and grandparents generation did not have time to worry about japanese apology/reparations when getting food on the table was a problem in itself or not being able to enjoy a prosperous life....so thats y its a hot topic now when it wasn't 10 20 yrs ago....and talking about politics, the chinese govt actually tried to SUPPRESS japanese compensation redress movements in the past due to political reasons, so why doesn;t anyone complain about the suppression of the chinese govt' on japanese war apology movement? in the end, japan faces a formidable force, the 1 billion chinese 47 million south koreans and countless overseas asians who all demand justice from Japan....do not forget that in the midst of this talk about politics,etc we are missing the crucial point of what the victims went thru and those who did not survive...if i were one of the countless women raped by the japanese army, i certainly would take great offence at ur suggestion that the current movement to help me regain my dignity and honour is merely political and that my suffering is not worth any attention...

Anonymous said...

Be warned. You will attract a lot of Japanese and Japanophile trolls who will attack you if you keep on supporting Plunge.

hcpen said...

anon: it does not matter, i agree with plunge's standpoint, anyways, its kinda hard to attack me when i have lived in tokyo, learning japanese, using japanese in my blog and even buying a yukata....hardly anti-japanese i would say....

Alex said...

Thanks for the mention dude!

Cheers,
Alex

hcpen said...

alex: no probs!