Prisoners in Their Own Land

The Cool Reception of Hostages Released from Iraq is So Quintessentially -- and Infuriatingly -- Japanese

By Gil Asakawa, NikkeiView

April 26, 2004 - The great thing about being Japanese American is that sometimes I can feel more Japanese, and sometimes more American. These days, I'm wanting to feel more American.

I've been following the sad story of the Japanese hostages who were released by Iraq and returned to Japan.

Instead of being welcomed back, they've suffered nothing but criticism for placing themselves in peril, and for the shame the incidence caused the people of Japan. It's as if the honor of the country itself had been smeared by the reckless result of these poor brave Japanese, who were just trying to make a difference.

The three hostages being subjected to this ignoble return are Noriaki Imai, 18, and Nahoko Takato, 34, aid workers, and freelance photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32, who quit his job at a small newspaper to go to chronicle what's going on in Iraq. (There were also two others kidnapped and later released in a separate incident who have been deemed equally guilty, but these three have become the poster children of bad behavior.)

A psychiatrist who's attended them said that all three agree that the stress of coming home and finding the fury of the Japanese people and government facing them was worse than the stress of being threatened with a knife on-camera by their rebel kidnappers.

The three had gone to Iraq despite the warning by the Japanese Foreign Ministry not to travel to the country, and they were abducted at gunpoint. The militia threatened to kill them if Japan didn't withdraw its troops from the coalition forces in Iraq, but released the hostages when Sunni clerics made a plea.

The hostages had to pay for their medical exams and lodging in Dubai, and now they've been charged a total of $21,000 for the trip back to Japan. Now, they've gone into hiding and they're virtual prisoners in their homes.

I wonder what would have happened if they'd been killed instead? Would they have been treated as martyrs, their spirits enshrined along the war dead at Yasukuni shrine?

Not likely - the reason they're facing a barrage of criticism is that they ignored the government warning to stay out of Iraq, therefore they deserved what happened to them. They're being called selfish and reckless - they were even greeted with critical signs when they arrived back in Tokyo.

This is so quintessentially Japanese, it made me think immediately of a teenager who goes out and despite his parents' warning to come home before a certain time, stays out late. Then he gets in trouble - say, he's attacked by a mugger and ends up in a hospital with minor injuries. When his parents hear about the attack, they don't rush to the hospital on a wave of worry and relief that he's OK. Instead, they swoop down on the poor kid with scorn and a scolding for getting himself in trouble.

What's with that?

It's a deep-rooted cultural need to always put the welfare (and in this case, the reputation) of the group above the concerns of the individual.

Now, let's see what would happen if American hostages were taken in Iraq.

There would be a national fervor for the hostages' welfare, and the government would fight like hell through every diplomatic channel to get them back. Then, when they were released, they would be hailed as heroes upon their return, for surviving such a harrowing experience.

Hell, they'd become celebrities - they'd be on the "Today Show," "Letterman" and make the cover of People magazine.

Instead, the three former hostages are being castigated in the Japanese media. If I were those three, I'd move right away, to the United States. Secretary of State Colin Powell even announced upon their release, "I'm pleased that these Japanese citizens were willing to put themselves at risk for a greater good, for a better purpose. And the Japanese people should be very proud that they have citizens like this willing to do that."

Uh, nope.

I'm not saying that the Japanese should change the way they've been taught to think for centuries.

But it's worth pointing out that this tendency to hold back, not make waves, be the nail that stays down instead of sticking out (and therefore get hammered), not take risks and listen absolutely to authority has maybe held back Japanese people in the great world scheme of things.

It certainly held Japan back for several centuries during the shogunate era, just because the guy at the top decided he didn't want any foreigners in Japan or allow Japanese to explore the world like the Chinese had for centuries before.

It might even be worth pointing out that unquestioning obeisance to authority led a largely uncomplaining population into the horror of "The Pacific War" - it brings to mind the image of tens thousands of civilians in Okinawa dying needlessly by sealing themselves in caves or leaping off cliffs, just because they were told that they can't be captured by the Americans, and they'd be protecting the honor of their country with their death.

No, I'm not saying the Japanese should change overnight. But I do think that such fundamental values should be looked at closely if they're not serving the country's best interests. Certainly, the Japanese have a penchant for embracing change - the country's remarkable recovery after World War II has proven that. Let's face it, young Japanese today think differently than their elders did a generation or certainly two generations ago.

And there's the rub.

The three hostages are all young people. To them, it was more important to go to Iraq instead of stay at home, to try and capture the reality of the ongoing war (since all the major Japanese media pulled out at the first government warning, and there's virtually no Japanese coverage of the war), or more important, help the Iraqi children in the wake of the devastation.

Doesn't anybody in Japan remember the terrible tragedy of the children left in the wake of WWII? A 1948 report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare estimated that there were almost 124,000 homeless and orphaned children in Japan. And no doubt, many tens of thousands had already died of malnutrition by then. The U.S. Occupation helped the homeless of all ages, and jumpstarted the process of rebuilding Japan.

It's one thing for the Japanese people to have an ongoing debate over their military and its role in the world's hotspots. But they should remember the helping hand of aid agencies and relief organizations, staffed by civilian volunteers - not soldiers - who were essential in the postwar years.

Oddly, when it comes to those things, the Japanese seem to have a short memory. Shame on them.

I love Japan and the Japanese, but this week I'm glad that I'm an American.