"Are there zombies in the Japanese Diet? Telling them not to look for their families even if a tsunami hits?"
Neither textbooks nor media told me
Read about the vivid inside story of neighboring Japan through 30 key keywords!

From the loss of national sovereignty to comfort women and the Dokdo issue…
Korea and Japan are close on the map, but psychologically they are very far apart.
Perhaps that's why even the media uses "emotion" when introducing Japan.
As we encounter stories about Japan in the media that are full of criticism and nothing to learn from, we are left with a sense of wariness about historical and diplomatic issues, and the will to learn about neighboring countries' cultures is diminishing day by day.
In an age where reciprocity with the world is increasingly required, will these two countries inevitably grow further apart as time passes?

To help you break free from the narrow-minded information provided by the media and gain a broader perspective on the world, this book, "Japanese Cultural History You Never Knew You Knew," aims to broadly cover Japanese politics, society, economy, and culture from the most objective perspective possible, setting aside prejudices and preconceptions stemming from the past.
“There is a ‘peace clause’ in the Japanese constitution that prohibits the establishment of an army?”, “There are zombies and cows in the Japanese Diet?”, “Japan, the country of 800,000 gods, has more believers than people?”, “Why are there so many Brazilians in Japan?”, etc., and it tells a more exciting story of modern Japan than YouTube, focusing on questions and events that will arouse your curiosity.
In addition, the book is organized around 30 key keywords, including the bubble economy, aging population, natural disasters, nuclear energy, and otaku culture, allowing anyone to easily and lightly experience our neighboring country, Japan.


This book also helps us think about the connections between Korea and Japan, and furthermore, the two countries in the world.
For example, the story of Japan's bubble economy reminds us of the dangers of our current real estate boom, and Korea and Japan also share many similarities when it comes to the issue of aging populations.
Korea is no longer safe from natural disasters such as earthquakes.
The world faces the same dilemma, with only a time difference, and this is precisely why we need to understand Japan.
Because humanity can progress the moment we realize the world's diversity and see the world with a broader perspective.

A filibuster is when a minority party in the National Assembly blocks the progress of a motion by making a long speech or other means to prevent the majority party from monopolizing the proceedings.
In Korea, the filibuster was first used in 1964 when the late President Kim Dae-jung spoke for 5 hours and 19 minutes when a motion to arrest a fellow lawmaker was brought up in the plenary session, thereby preventing the motion from being processed.
Does Japan have a filibuster?

It is a little different from our country, but there are two tactics commonly called obstructionism: the cow-tonguing tactics and the cow-bo tactics.
The filibuster is recognized as a tactic in Japan.
It is a method of disrupting the progress of a meeting by giving a long speech.
However, in the Japanese Diet, since the time for speeches and answers is limited, the Speaker issues orders to stop or exclude people after the allotted time has passed, so it does not actually have much effect.
(…)

The tactic of the swarm is literally a tactic of small steps.
In the Japanese Diet, a roll call vote is required if requested by more than one-fifth of the members.
Normally, you vote by pressing a button, but in the case of a write-in vote, you have to go up to the podium and vote in person.
When the minority does not vote right away and moves very slowly, this is called a right-wing tactic.
They can travel distances of less than 10 to 20 meters over several hours.
In particular, when the PKO Cooperation Act was signed in 1992, when the Self-Defense Forces were first dispatched overseas, a resolution to hold Shinichiro Shimojo, then the chairman of the special committee, accountable continued for 13 hours and 8 minutes.
---From "The Legislature / Are There Zombies and Cows in the Japanese Diet?"

Hometown tax is a donation made to one's hometown or local government with which one has a connection, and in return, one receives tax benefits and other benefits.
Its purpose is to transfer taxes paid to the central government to local governments.
You can donate not only to your hometown but also to other regions, and you can choose how your donation will be used, such as education, medical care, the environment, or tourism.
Moreover, since they send a gift in return from the area where the donation was made, it is quite attractive from the donor's and taxpayer's perspective.


For example, if you donate to Nagasaki City, you can receive Nagasaki Castella, a specialty product, and receive a tax deduction equivalent to a portion of the donation amount.
Japan's local governments are facing financial difficulties and a declining population due to aging, so this system could be of great help to them.

But there are also problems.
Local governments are fiercely competing with each other to receive donations.
"Donate to our community and get a tax break! We'll even give you a generous gift!"
The gift sets are diverse, with everything from local specialties like meat to light bulbs, watches, toilet paper, and lunch boxes.


As competition for gift items becomes fierce, in some regions, public officials systematically visit websites that introduce gift items and raise the ranking of local gift items.
In some areas, donations are raised not only with local specialties but also with products from other regions, or even with Amazon gift cards or low-cost airline points.
A representative example is Izumisano City in Osaka, which achieved the highest donation amount in 2017.

However, the central government began to impose sanctions on this indiscriminate competition for gifts.
This is also the reason why the conflict between Izumisano City and the central government, which was mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, arose.
Among the return gifts, meat, rice, and crab are the most popular.
Izumisano City claimed that it would be difficult for local governments without such special products to collect donations, and provided Amazon gift certificates and other items, but the central government, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, excluded Izumisano City from the hometown tax system.
Eventually, a dispute arose between the central government and local governments, which led to them going to court.
---From "Local Autonomy / Local Cities, Filing a Lawsuit Against the Central Government?"

Eta (穢多) has been an expression used to refer to the common people since the Edo period.
Along with eta, there was also the word hinin (non-human).
If you look closely at the Chinese characters, it is shocking.
Not human! If the Eta were people divided into lower classes based on bloodline, the Hinin were people engaged in taboo activities.
These were people who worked in occupations such as undertakers, butchers, and leather workers.
Although there was a class system of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants during the Edo period, it was a different lower class.


As the Edo period collapsed and the Meiji period began, and the social classes disappeared, they were all incorporated into the commoners.
However, the common people, who felt a sense of crisis and discontent at the fact that the commoners, who were originally a lower class than themselves, had become commoners like themselves, called them the 'new commoners', and discrimination remained regardless of the system that had become equal.

Even in modern times, discrimination based on bloodline and region continues.
The area where they lived was called Pichabyeongbu-rak, abbreviated as Burak, and pronounced as Buraku in Japanese.
The word buraku came into being as a term to refer to a discriminated area or group.
Discrimination exists in any society, separate from the system, but Buraku have a unique characteristic that sets them apart from other discriminated groups.
The point is that we are discriminated against even though we are not different in terms of skin color, race, ethnicity, religion, or culture.
This is what is called ‘unreasonable discrimination.’
(…)

"I can't marry you because you're of Buraku descent." Is this a story from the Meiji era? No.
It's not that long ago, it was recent.
According to a 2017 public opinion poll on human rights advocacy conducted by the Japanese Cabinet Office, the biggest human rights issue for Buraku was “opposition to marriage from those around them (40.1%).”
'Discriminatory remarks (27.9 percent)' and 'personal investigations (27.6 percent)' followed.
This data shows that although discrimination against Buraku has largely disappeared, it still remains in Japanese society.

As can be seen from the results above, marriage is a very difficult process and discrimination for those of Buraku origin.
There are many cases of divorce lawsuits filed because couples did not marry after revealing their Buraku origins, and there are also cases of couples breaking up due to parental opposition after revealing their Buraku origins before marriage.

---From "Minority, Buraku / Do I have to come out when I get married?"

Professor Toshitaka Katada had significant concerns about Japan's tsunami preparedness after visiting the site of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
I thought that a high level of awareness and education about disaster preparedness was necessary, but schools focused more on academic classes than disaster prevention education, and disaster prevention lectures for adults did not have a significant impact on people.
But fortunately, he was able to provide disaster prevention education to elementary and middle school students in Kamaishi, and this led to a miracle.
(…)

Before conducting disaster prevention training, Professor Katada asked the children in the area, “What should you do if a tsunami comes while you are home alone?”
But, dangerously, most of the children answered, “I’ll call Mom” or “I’ll wait until Mom comes.”
But the day after I received the training was different.

On March 11, a tsunami warning was issued in Kamaishi.
"are you okay.
3 meters.
“There’s a six-meter-high embankment in front of our house,” my grandfather said casually.
Then the grandson cried and cried.
“No, you never know what will happen in a tsunami! Let’s run away together quickly.” In front of his grandson, who was crying and clinging to him, the grandfather pretended to be defeated and said, “Okay, okay,” and evacuated.
At that time, many families in Kamaishi saved their lives in this way.
The tsunami in Kamaishi that day was not 3 meters high, but over 9 meters high.

Another thing I learned in disaster prevention training was to tell my parents, “Don’t come looking for me, I’ll run away on my own.”
This is because there are many cases where people sacrifice themselves while wasting time trying to find their families.
And this education saved many lives when the tsunami struck.
Originally, this area was prone to tsunamis, so there was a saying, “When a tsunami strikes, everyone evacuate.”
However, it is difficult to act like that because I think it is very unethical to evacuate alone, leaving behind family or close friends.
That is why we must save our own lives by regularly confirming these beliefs.

A tsunami occurred and the children ran to higher ground as best they could.
Middle school students left notes at each house saying they were evacuating, and they took elementary school students by the hand and carried daycare children on a cart to evacuate to higher ground.
99.8 percent survival rate.
It is said to be a miracle, but it was the result of education created by a few people with conviction.
The reason we still call this a miracle is probably because so many people and regions have been sacrificed due to a lack of safety awareness that has become a part of reality.

---From "Don't look for your family even if a natural disaster/tsunami occurs?"