The struggle of Tibetans under Chinese oppression I had long been aware of, since 1987, after meeting the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala.
Whilst living in Tokyo in 1989 the Tiananmen square massacre erupted on the Full Moon in June. In 1986 I visited Burma, one of the most magical places, yet heavily aggrieved with heavy handed, political patriarchal, hegemony.
Such authoritarian regimes, and including North Korea, are able to feed off Asian collective socialism. Also in Japan, the ruling LDP party has been in power since WW 2, and is rife with corruption and nepotism. Vigorous political debate and questioning of government is absent. Most young people have no awareness of national current affairs or foreign policy.
Passive acceptance and the need to maintain harmony are characteristic socialistic themes in Asia, generally. This collective, socialist, psychological syndrome is in striking contrast to Western individualism, and the focus on the self, and personal rights: The freedom to question authority, rules and regulations.
The Olympic torch relay in Nagano was marred by anti China protests in support of the Tibetan cause. Underneath this untypical display of public emotion in Japan in reaction to seeing huge red Chinese flags unfurled in the name of Beijin Olympic nationalism, it has stirred deeper anxieties about China's emerging economic ascendancy and militaristic might. There are deep frayed memories of historical clashes between Japan and China. These wounds have been reactivated.
The pertinent issue for Japan is for its youth is to awaken to the moribund state of their own country's political direction and general mood of political passive apathy. Especially in an age when there is a power shift in the world toward Asia.
