Mike Rhodes(FB account) is an American living in Tanabe City, Wakayama, Japan. He is a private English teacher and he attends some extraordinary English classes for Shinjo Middle School as an Assistant Language Teacher. (He testified that he teaches English in a public middle school there. But those English-speaking teachers don’t teach English or so in ordinary classes of public schools in our education system. English-speakers can become ALTs without knowing English grammar well.) He started the argument with this. (It’s the comments on the post of Prime Minister’s Office of Japan FB page. So the emphases are put by me.)
Mike Rhodes Fine, just stop trying to rewrite history, crushing grassroots business once supported before the war, catering to hardliners who would like to see war criminals as martyrs not as the human exterminators they were, and supporting a dysfunctional education system that hasn’t adopted but continues to encourage rote learning and stagnation.
1 · 2 May at 00:30
訳(Japanese Translation):
マイク・ローズ： いいぞ、ただ歴史を書き換えようという試みや、戦争前に一度支援した草の根ビジネスの破壊や、戦犯を実際そうであったような虐殺者ではなく殉教者と見たがる強硬派を満足させたり、受け入れず、暗記学習や停滞を勇気づける反機能的な教育システムを支援するのをやめろ。
Sarsha Geo Excuse me, rewrite history? What do you mean?
6 · 2 May at 05:48
訳:
サーシャ・ゲオ: すみません、歴史の書き換え？どういう意味でしょうか？
Jennifer Ramirez There are many instances in modern and recent Japanese history where a story was fabricated after the fact and that story came to be recognized as “correct history” around the world. Mike Rhodes uses fabricated story as an excuse to propagate anti-Japanese sentiment. You are totally racist. You should stop racism against Japanese.
9 · 2 May at 06:28
訳:
ジェニファー・ラミレス 事実の後に物語が捏造され、物語が正しい歴史と世界に認識される日本近現代史には沢山の事例があります。マイク・ローズは捏造された物語を、反日感情を免罪にするのに用いています。あなたは全体的に人種差別主義者です。反日差別主義をやめるべきです。
Matthew Chang Mike Rhodes, Japan liberated Asian countries from oppressive white colonizers like yourself. You should stop trying to rewrite your anti-Japanese propaganda history.
5 · 2 May at 06:35
訳:
マシュー・チャン： マイク・ローズ、日本はアジアをあなたのような抑圧的な白人植民者から解放した。あなたは反日プロパガンダを歴史に書き換えようとするのをやめるべきだ。
Sarsha Geo 歴史を書き換える、とはどういうことでしょうか？具体的な説明が欲しいですね。根拠は？曖昧すぎて、何を仰りたいのかわかりません。しかし、平和国家日本を批判して、現在も侵略し虐殺を続ける中国のことを何も言わないのは、不思議ですね。
See Translation
7 · 2 May at 06:38
Emmanuel Chanel Mike Rhodes:
First of all, what do you mean by “exterminators”, huh? Few of us would agree that Japan in WW II was all clean hand, too. But we have never done a holocaust.
>a dysfunctional education system that hasn’t adopted but continues to encourage rote learning and stagnation
Huh? If so, Osaka Shoseki(大阪書籍) couldn’t publish a primary school textbook with this picture. Our MEXT permitted it once although the picture got deleted by unreliability.http://wwwi.netwave.or.jp/~mot-take/jhistd/jhist1_1_3_1.htm
Have you really checked any textbooks even in Wakayama Prefecture where you live, huh? What shall I call you? Lier? Revisionist? In the case of your comment, it’s clear that you rewrote our history.
乳房切り残虐壁画
左の挿し絵は、後ろ手に縛った女性の乳房を兵士が短刀でえぐり血が流れている図である。兵士の足…
wwwi.netwave.or.jp
5 · 2 May at 06:39
訳:
エマヌエル・シャネル(私)： そもそも、虐殺者とはどういう意味だ、はぁ？第二次世界大戦時の日本が全くクリーンだというのに同意する人間は我々の中にも少ししかいない。だが、我々はホロコーストは全くしていない。
>受け入れず、暗記学習や停滞を勇気づける反機能的な教育システム
はぁ？もしそうなら、大阪書籍はこの写真の載った教科書を出版し得なかった。我々の文部省は一度許可した。後で信頼できないとして削除されたが。
http://wwwi.netwave.or.jp/~mot-take/jhistd/jhist1_1_3_1.htm
本当に住んでいる和歌山県の教科書さえチェックしたのか、はぁ？どう呼べばいいの？嘘つき？歴史修正主義者？あなたのコメントの件については、明らかにあなたは我々の歴史を書き換えている。
* Tanabe City uses primary school society study textbooks published by 日本文教出版(Nippon Bunkyo Shuppan, Nichibun) for years.(Source: 和歌山県教科書販売株式会社(the source about 2011-2014).) And it’s the successor of Osaka Shoseki’s since Nichibun bought its publishing rights from bankrupt Osaka Shoseki.(Source: 大阪書籍株式会社ホーム-ページ)
Joshua Hotta Sarsha Geo, “The accusing finger that China points at Japan is pointing back to the horrific truth that is China. China has been and is the home of the greatest war criminals in human history. Even Nazis did not reach the level of Chinese crimes against humanity.”
4 · 2 May at 06:53
訳:
ジョシュア・堀田 Sarsha Geo、”中国が日本を指している告発の指は、中国の恐るべき真実に返る。過去も今も中国は人類史の最大の戦争犯罪の家だ。ナチスさえ中国の人道に対する罪のレベルには届かない。”
Sarsha Geo Yes, right. Before accsing Japan, accuse China. China never stop torutre and kill Tibetian ,and other countries. This is happning now. Not 70years ago history. He is a hypocrite .Mike doesn’t look reality.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-fI3KEgy6c
3 · 2 May at 07:00 · Edited
訳：
サーシャ・ゲオ： そうです、日本を非難する前に中国を非難しろ。中国はチベット人や他の国への殺害・拷問をやめていない。これは今起こっている事で、７０年前の歴史ではない。彼は偽善者です。マイクは現実が見えない。
Koizumi Masataka Let’s leave him, Mike Rhodes alone as he is. A liar is a liar. An idiot is an idiot. There is no medicine which can wake him up from a day dream as playing a miserable hero.
3 · 2 May at 07:22
訳:
マサタカ・コイズミ： マイク・ローズを一人そのままに放っておけ。嘘つきは嘘つき、馬鹿は馬鹿だ。彼を惨めな英雄を演じている白昼夢から目覚めさせる薬はない。
Mike Rhodes What? No “Liar, liar pants on fire?” That would have really gotten me.
1 · 3 May at 03:17
訳は省略(Japanese Translation is omitted.)
Mike Rhodes I like when a defense is made of Japan’s actions during and after the war, some Japanese or Japanese Americans (safe in their own lives, usually young people with opinions but no experience or former soldiers) usually lead with the words “Yeh, but then look at the Chinese! They are worse!” Which really doesn’t justify anything, does it. Or when someone is quick to use the word “racist” when they have a chip on their shoulder about a neighboring country. Or when Japanese feel its okay to rewrite textbooks to demark names of seas and islands to support Old World claims to lands they lost during a World War. How about this: how about all Asian countries stop pointing fingers at one another and using post-war jingoism to inflate nationalism to support their current political situation to get people to forget about real issues like fraud, scandal, poverty, poor economy, failing educational system, decreased population, pollution and crime. Abe is not a bad guy, no worse than any popular politician, but he’s no genius, no saint. And one example of a textbook with a controversial picture in it is no example of a change in the educational system. I live here, my kids go to school here. I see their textbooks, I teach teachers here English. The prefecture I live in, albeit one of the poorest and poorest ranking in the country for educational resources and graduation scores on national Japanese testing, still uses the same junior high school textbooks used by my generation. A lot of words, but no change from the government. No discussion about the war, not even an open one, with its students. So, students have no opinion. Honestly, I don’t think MacArthur gave the Japanese an opportunity to deal internally having lost the war, ridding itself of guilt as the losing nation, without building it up for the future. Now, we have conservatives asking for a changed constitution, under the guise of asking for military right to protect its land, its waters, ally boats, fight terrorists and potentially make pre-emptive strikes against foreign enemies about to strike against Japan. But, there is an obvious lack of remorse, a bias against and continuing tension with neighboring Asian powers, and a distorted memory of race-based slaughter of Chinese, association with Nazi Germany who themselves were bent on Jewish genocide. It doesn’t mean all Japanese are bad. I think normal Japanese who live in their communities are peace-loving, kind considerate, community oriented, healthy nature-conscious. I love this about Japan. But, and America is no saint either, Japan has a bloody history it doesn’t seem to have come to terms with. Now, please do me a favor and if you respond, do so with more thought this time and less bile. That way, I might learn something, and you won’t just be making a fool out of yourself again.
1 · 3 May at 03:49 · Edited
訳：
マイク・ローズ： (前の部分は略…一行に長いコメントが訳しづらい… Abe の下りより)安倍は悪い人じゃない、他の人気政治家より悪い訳ではない。でも、彼は天才でもなければ聖人でもない。
また、一つの物議を醸す写真の入った一つの教科書の例は、教育システムの変化の例にはならない。私はここに住んで、子どもたちはここの学校に通っている。私は子どもたちの教科書を見たし、ここの教師に英語を教えている。私の住んでいる県は、たとえ一番貧しく、国の試験で教育資源と卒業成績で一番ランキングが貧しいにもしろ、まだ私の世代と同じ中学教科書を使っている。沢山の単語、でも政府からの変更はない。
戦争について議論しない、生徒と一つも。だから生徒は意見を持たない。正直、マッカーサーが日本人に内部で敗戦を扱う機会を与えたとは思えない。敗戦国民としての罪から逃れて、未来への構築をさせず。
今、我々は、軍事権を領土・領海・同盟国の船を守り、テロリストと戦い、潜在的に日本を攻撃する敵への先制攻撃をし得る外観を持つ改正憲法を求める保守派がいる。
でも、近隣アジア列強への反感と続く緊張感、そして、中国人への人種による殺害やユダヤ人虐殺に熱心だったナチスとの同盟への歪んだ記憶で、明らかに自責の念に欠ける。それは全ての日本人が悪いという意味ではない。自分たちのコミュニティに生きている普通の日本人は平和主義者で、優しく思いやりがあり、コミュニティ志向で、健全に自然愛好だ。私は日本のこれを愛する。でも、アメリカも全く聖人ではないし、日本も言葉に出来ないような血塗られた歴史がある。さあ、一つ頼みがある。もし反応するなら、もっと考えてもっと癇癪なくやってくれ。その方法で、私は何かを学ぶかも知れないし、また自分で自分を馬鹿にしないかも知れない。
Emmanuel Chanel >And one example of a textbook with a controversial picture in it is no example of a change in the educational system.
I said that this part: “a dysfunctional education system that hasn’t adopted but continues to encourage rote learning and stagnation” is lie because of that picture. Can’t you understand that?
>I live here, my kids go to school here. I see their textbooks, I teach teachers here English. The prefecture I live in, albeit one of the poorest and poorest ranking in the country for educational resources and graduation scores on national Japanese testing, still uses the same junior high school textbooks used by my generation.
LoL! Then answer how old are your kids and the publishers of those textbooks? Could it be that you think that I don’t know the answer since Tanabe is in a countryside? And wasn’t that textbook with that picture by Osaka Shoseki used between 1996 and 1999?4 · 3 May at 05:32
訳：
>また、一つの物議を醸す写真の入った一つの教科書の例は、教育システムの変化の例にはならない。
私はこの部分：”受け入れず、暗記学習や停滞を勇気づける反機能的な教育システム”が嘘だと、その写真から言っているんだ。わからんのか？
>私はここに住んで、子どもたちはここの学校に通っている。私は子どもたちの教科書を見たし、ここの教師に英語を教えている。私の住んでいる県は、たとえ一番貧しく、国の試験で教育資源と卒業成績で一番ランキングが貧しいにもしろ、まだ私の世代と同じ中学教科書を使っている。
爆笑。じゃあ、その子どもたちの年齢と教科書の出版社を答えてみろ！もしかして、田辺は田舎だから私が答えを知らないと思っている？それと、その写真を使った大阪書籍の教科書は、1996年から1999年の間に使われていたんじゃないのか？
* Who defend Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on this argument? Nobody does. Mike Rhodes linked Abe to this argument. What a stupid believer of Shinzo Abe’s power!
* Looks much better to have pointed out that his elder kid would’ve used Osaka Shoseki’s society study textbooks from their 3rd grade era to (coming) 6th grade era.
* If he could check his kids’ textbooks well enough as an expert, he should’ve asked us when Osaka Shoseki’s textbook with that picture was used. But he thought that it was a new texbook of the publisher that he doesn’t know. And in Japan, the inspected textbooks are bought by Japanese government to each pupils.(cf. 12．教科書無償給与制度：文部科学省( The System Giving Textbooks Without Pay: MEXT ))
* We don’t take his testimony for not one of expert witnesses of Japanese school teachers. ALTs are one a some schools. And they don’t teach in ordinary English classes or need to train for that. Looks Mike Rhodes studied English at his college. But he cannot learn Japanese education law and custom without knowing Japanese. And in the fact, he shows ignorance like this post. It’s too bad that he testifies stereotypical false accusation with pretending to be an expert of Japanese public education system.
Jessica Garcia Gonzalez Mike Rhodes, you hate Japanese and why are you in Japan? Get lost, stupid racist scum!
5 · 3 May at 05:40
訳：
ジェシカ・ガルシア・ゴンザレス マイク・ローズ、あなたは日本人を憎んでいる。なぜ日本に住んでいる？ 負けろ、馬鹿な人種差別クズ！
Jessica Garcia Gonzalez Let`s report that this guy is propagating anti-Japanese sentiment and he is racist against Japanese. https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mike-rhodes/8/682/340
5 · 3 May at 05:45
訳：
ジェシカ・ガルシア・ゴンザレス こいつの反日プロパガンダと彼が反日差別主義者である事を通報しよう。 https://www.linkedin.com/pub/mike-rhodes/8/682/340
Cliff Richards Mike, I have a question for ya. Do you believe the claims made by the PRC and the ROK governments?
4 · 3 May at 06:07
訳：
クリフ・リチャーズ 質問がある。中華人民共和国と韓国政府の主張を信じるのか？
Sarsha Geo Mike＞結局、質問には答えてくださらない。ということは、ただの感情論か憶測でコメントということでしょうか。
See Translation
2 · 3 May at 06:53 · Edited
English Translation:
Sarsha Geo: Mike > After all, you don’t answer my question. Thus you mean that it’s the comment just by your emotionally-charged argument and by guess?
Emmanuel Chanel Mike Rhodes:
Huh… You say that our government had a holocaust on Chinese… It’s not true. If yes, we would’ve exterminated Taiwanese first. But they fought for us, Japan in WW II actually.
And Nanjing Massacre isn’t a planned genocide even if we accept it as true. Don’t you know that?
2 · 3 May at 07:33
訳：
はぁ…われわれの政府が中国人にホロコーストをしたと言っているのか。事実ではない。だったら、まず台湾人を虐殺している。でも、実際は、彼らは大戦中、我々日本のために戦った。
それと、南京大虐殺は、事実と認めてさえ、計画的な虐殺ではない。そんな事も知らないのか？
Kirsten Lassen-Smith Japan is stuck in the past and your economy tanks due to lack of creative and innovative thinking so PM Abe has to travel to Silicon Valley to educate himself. Follow the rest of the World into the 21st Century by leaving your cruel, authoritarian traditions behind as currently, you’re a nation despised by most and we boycott your trade, tourism and 2020 Olympics because of it!
1 · 21 hrs
Kirsten Lassen-Smith Jessica, nobody is racist here, except for you and the rest of your vile friends!
1 · 21 hrs
Emmanuel Chanel Kirsten Lassen-Smith comments something although she blocks me and many of my other allies.
Kirsten Lassen-Smith:
>Japan is stuck in the past and your economy tanks due to lack of creative and innovative thinking so PM Abe has to travel to Silicon Valley to educate himself.
LoL! Don’t you know that Intel CPU is invented by a Japanese in Japan? And if so, why 3 Japanese researchers got Nobel Prize of Physics for blue LED? All our Nobel Prize winners except few graduated Japanese universities. Such a word itself is white’s typical racial slur, though. Oh, do you are a bird brain? What a pity!
>Follow the rest of the World into the 21st Century by leaving your cruel, authoritarian traditions behind as currently, you’re a nation despised by most and we boycott your trade, tourism and 2020 Olympics because of it!
LoL! Certainly in your barbarian racistic delusions, our enlightened mentality wouldn’t look civilized. So what? Go ahead! And live naked in the wild, getting out of the net!—- Below Reprinted for people blocked by her. —-
(Omitted)
[Source URI / Captured Image(FTP / HTTP)]
Additional comments on the original thread and my note. (Added at 01:56 on Nov 9, 2015 JST)
Emmanuel Chanel Mike Rhodes:
I posted this entry with this comment thread for exposure of your false accusation of our education system.
https://emmanuelchanel.com/2015/10/25/an-alt-in-tanabe-city-copied-stereotypical-false-accusation-against-japanese-education-system/(Omitted because it’s the preview of this entry)
1 · 25 October at 13:05
Mike Rhodes Good morning! woke to some extraordinary ultranationalist troll mail in my box this morning. (trash) I hope I don’t receive death wishes like other supposed “enemies” on your webpage, mon ami Emmanuel. Good use of your free time, and by the way, it adds to the journalistic integrity of your article if you do three things: 1) check your information for accuracy (not just scanning facebook pages), 2) don’t quote yourself as a source of information, as it undermines the veracity of your point, and 3) take the emotional voice out of your narrator as it makes you sound like a French-Japanese extremist. Good luck in Japan, and your tactics would make Sea Shepherd proud!
25 October at 17:24
Emmanuel Chanel Mike Rhodes:
Between the lines, you don’t want to face the facts that I show on the note on my entry’s log. The source on the bottom is just the source of this thread. You ignore these source URIs in the middle.
* This and web.archive.org of this show the lists demonstrating that Tanabe City uses the social study textbooks successing Osaka Shoseki’s for years.(**) This is the official website of Wakayama Prefecture’s official supplier of the inspected textbooks.
http://www.wakyohan.jp/* This shows Nippon Bunkyo Shuppan succeeded Osaka Shoseki’s education books including textbooks.
http://www.osaka-shoseki.co.jp/* The official website of Nippon Bunkyo Shuppan
http://www.nichibun-g.co.jp/* The official web page of our MEXT saying that the inspected textbooks are bought by Japanese government to each pupils.
http://www.mext.go.jp/a_menu/shotou/kyoukasho/gaiyou/04060901/1235098.htmEspecially, now I’ve posted https://emmanuelchanel.com/2015/08/18/i-uploaded-the-photography-of-minamata-disease-part-of-the-society-texbooks-for-5th-grade-and-the-nanjing-incident-part-of-ones-for-6th-grade/ showing the FTP directory with the pictures of Nanjing Indicent parts of all the 6th grade society textbooks used from April 2010 to March 2015.(From school year 2010 to school year 2014)
So I’ve proven your testimony of Tanabe City’s education is incompetent as an expert witness and the entry’s theme: you copied the false accusation.
>some extraordinary ultranationalist troll mail
I can’t make sure if that quote mean the FB notification mail of my reply. But if yes, do you mean that you can’t face any factual refutations from us, Japanese people? Don’t revise the history even of this thread and of my article! It’s too shameful since you say “Fine, just stop trying to rewrite history…”!
(Omitted because it’s a Preview of archive.org, Internet Archive: Wayback Machine)
27 October at 06:30
** Exactly, Tanabe City uses Osaka Shoseki’s primary school textbooks for social study, as I’ve explaint.
The note added at 03:27, 17 Jan 2016.
all the 6th grade society textbooks used from April 2010 to March 2015.(From school year 2010 to school year 2014)
That part contains mistake. The textbooks formerly shown on https://emmanuelchanel.com/2015/08/18/i-uploaded-the-photography-of-minamata-disease-part-of-the-society-texbooks-for-5th-grade-and-the-nanjing-incident-part-of-ones-for-6th-grade/ was used from April 2011(from school year 2011).
You can’t change Americas perspective of History.
For example The Philippines, during the Filipino-American War They never recognized their mistakes still insist it was just an Insurrection against them. Pride runs deep in their blood and they don’t like admitting to their mistakes.
They still believe that Asians can’t be right on anything.