"The Last Samurai" revisited

Last Friday for movie night, my wife and I selected "The Last Samurai." We had seen it before, but when it was on TV recently, my wife caught a glimpse of it and decided it was time to see it again. I posted on this movie once before, but am moved to do so again.

Much of the movie is factually unbelievable. I don't believe all the hype about honor in Bushido. The warrior class oppressed the lower classes in the same ways that happen through history. The last scene where Algren pops in on the Meiji Emperor and gives him foreign policy advise that causes him to reject a trade agreement with the US is hardly imaginable. What one has left if the historical fact is distorted at best, is a story about an expatriate who ends up fighting Americans/American interests in his assumed land.

The movie started me thinking about American expats, who they are, where they are, and what moves them to go somewhere else, and to Japan specifically. Their motivations are individual matters, and vary with the person, but there are some general ideas.

"Some westerners, on the other hand, needed Japan to lend them an escape from themselves. "Indian Wars, Vietnam and Orientalist Fantasy GARY LEUPP

There is most certainly some escapism involved for some people, escaping spouses, the law, the draft, taxes, any number of things. However, that can't be the only reason. I mean people can't all be running from something.

On the positive side - the numbers of migrants leaving the US in search of a brand new life abroad have been increasing steadily since around 1910 as a result of more wealth, better transport links and an American’s natural desire to travel and explore.

On the negative side - there is a growing feeling of disillusionment prevalent in the US today, and as this feeling intensifies so the numbers of citizens seeking out an overseas haven away from the glare of big brother and away from the aggressive and conservative political situation increases. Those leaving today are leaving for the same reasons as the ‘Lost Generation’ left back in 1918. Following the end of the First World War record numbers of Americans began leaving the US to escape their nation’s restrictions, the horrors of war and America’s ultra conservatism...between 1910 and 1920 the numbers of US citizens who fled abroad more than doubled from 55,608 in 1910 to 117,238 by 1920...today that figure now stands at 4 million. Record Numbers of Americans Living Abroad

No one is exactly sure about how many Americans live abroad. The Census Bureau has said it is impossible to determine the numbers. ( Census Bureau finds it can't count Americans abroad ) What we can see, if the number 4 million is reliable, is that many are finding their homes outside the boundaries of the US.

As an expat myself, I can vouch for my chosing to live abroad by saying that my reasons for being here now are much different than they were before the Bush regime, which were different from five years before that, which were different from five years before that. This is my home now. Quite unromantic, possibly, but that's all there is.

'Tis the season to relive World War 2. Today is Hiroshima Day

'Tis the season here in Japan to relive World War 2, and today is an especially important day, because it is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Hiroshima is a really lovely town, a lively downtown area and a pleasant riverside walk way. It is a shame that all it is remembered for is that the Americans dropped nuclear weapon on it.

I listened to the radio this morning; there was coverage of the commemoration ceremony in the Peace Park. I found it all to be far too ironic and cynical to listen to for long. The people in attendance were focused on the events in 1945 that led to the death or injury of thousands of people. Then at 8:15 came the ringing of the bell that signified the time that that bomb was dropped. Afterward there were speeches by various people. By now the have almost all trundled off in their gasoline powered cars or on public transportation that is powered by electricity generated by oil-fired generators without a thought to the death and injury that they are sponsoring by supporting the US, by allowing their country to be just another colony of the American empire.

A whole bunch of people get their cathartic therapy for what is happening in Iraq by moaning about a bombing that happened even before the present prime minister was born. They can't do anything about that bombing now, though Abe promised to consider what more the government can do for the survivors... Japanese survivors, mind you. (For information on how Korean survivors are being treated, read this article.) This group turns on their TV's and snivel into their Kleenexes as the bell tolls in Hiroshima, and vows that this should never be any more Hiroshimas. 140,000 people are believed to have died in Hiroshima as a direct result of the bombing and through other related injuries and sickness. As of October, 2006, a Washington Post article reports that there had been 655,ooo "excess deaths" since US troops arrived in March, 2003. For what? Bush won't level with you, even if he knows, but we all know now, as we knew before the conflict even started, that it's all for oil. Oil for America and its colonies, of which Japan is one. That means that there have been roughly five more Hiroshimas in Iraq since 2003. That's roughly one Hiroshima a year.

I hope no one brings this up with me today. They'll get an earful if they do.

Is there life after... Tefl | TEFL

This article is the kind of dialog that goes on in my head nearly everyday of my existence here in Japan. Anna Blackaby starts her article by voicing the thought I have at least once a day, "maybe it's time to go back." But as time goes on for me, another question rises, "What does it mean to go back"? I mean when does one not qualify for going back? My home is here as far as my personal situation is concerned. I have some family in the US, but I have more here. Every home that I lived in is now occupied by someone other than my family. I've lost contact with nearly every friend I ever had there.

"Go back to what," is how my self dialogs usually end nowdays. I am back.

What to do after Tefl | TEFL | EducationGuardian.co.uk