Recent discourse on Japan has me thinking. It’s unacceptable to deny its fascist history of violent imperialism in various East and Southeast Asian countries. We also can’t forget that Japan oppresses Indigenous people, such as the Ainu and Ryukyuan people. 1/12

American acceptance of Japan is completely built on the two capitalist countries’ alliance, which portrays Japan as “the good Asian country” and China and the DPRK as “the bad Asian countries.” This is all very ironic considering Japan’s imperialist history in China & Korea. 2/12

American military presence in Japan also cannot be detached from a Cold War context. The American military in Japan (predominantly located in Ryukyu) serves as a strategic foothold in East Asia to threaten China and the DPRK, & also as a colonial force to oppress Ryukyuans. 3/12

Japan is not my friend, and should not be the friend of any communist who seeks to defend AES states (China and the DPRK in this case) from Western imperialism, who seeks to stand with people who suffered from Japanese imperialism, & who fights for decolonization worldwide. 4/12

To complicate the matter even more, the rise of modern Japanese culture in the global market, which is tied to Western acceptance of Japan, is also connected to dehumanization of Asians as a whole. We see this particularly with the dehumanization of Asian women. 5/12

The hyper-sexual way women in anime are portrayed has led to hyper-sexual perceptions of real life Asian women. Western views on imagery that sexualizes feminine aspects of Asian cultures lends to their sexualization of actual Asian women. 6/12

Another example I could give is how sexualized traditional clothing (most notably the Chinese qipao) also leads to the sexualization of Chinese women. We could also look at kpop in this case — how its rise has led to extreme fetishization & objectification of Korean people. 7/12

This is all connected to capitalism, because the way Japanese culture is seen as acceptable & better in the Western eye has made it more readily consumed, which consequently created the idea that real Asian people can be similarly consumed & used merely for Western pleasure. 8/12

The issue is, because too many average Americans view Asians as a monolith, Japanese people are not protected from this racist objectifying culture either. 9/12

For example, when I think about Asian women who have suffered from fetishization, one person who comes to mind is Saki Kondo, a Japanese woman who was beheaded by an American tourist who said he always dreamed of marrying a Japanese woman. 10/12

All this demonstrates the dangers of the American state’s alliance & the American people’s obsession with Japan. The former increases geopolitical violence against certain Asian countries, the latter increases interpersonal violence against all East Asian presenting people. 11/12

Last thing I want to say is that if you’re a Japanese person who fights against the objectification of Japanese people that came with the rise of anime (which you have the right to do) you have to also fight against Japan & the US’s capitalist alliance that led to its rise. 12/12