This is in response to the April 28 article by Charles Chi Halevi on
”Jews, Japan, boycotts and bigotry.” I spent seven years married to a first generation Japanese woman, and on several occasions spent a substantial amount of time in Japan in this decade.
I was fascinated with the Japanese preoccupation with homogeneity and
”purity of blood.” I was shocked to learn that Koreans whose families have lived in Japan for the past 300 years were still required to have Korean passports and Japanese visas; no consideration was given to admitting them to citizenship.
The Japanese preoccupation with ”racial purity” and their cultural arrogance have created an astoundingly closed but internally efficient society. While I am, and have been, very supportive of the Japanese pride in hard work and high-quality craftmanship that produces generally superior products, I cannot condone those values inherent in their society that define rank in racial terms. And for that, in a world economy, they must now pay the price.
