Interesting Takes on "KenKanRyu" (嫌韓流)

My immediate take on learning of Norimitsu Onishi's article on the KenKanRyu (嫌韓流, i.e., "Against* the Korean Wave") book was that he'd yet again managed to completely miss the point, and in so doing painted a highly misleading impression for all those Western readers whose only knowledge of East Asia comes through news organs like the NYT. As it turns out, I'm not alone in feeling this way: The Marmot's Hole makes the same point I did in noting that the feelings of contempt and dislike expressed in the book are far from one-sided, while a commenter named Matt argues in his blog that Onishi engaged in selective, out-of-context quotation of material to juice up the story.

The facts of the matter are simple: the attitudes reflected in this manga are hardly a harbinger of some imminent return to the bad old days of Japanese militarism, the sentiments are far from exclusive to Japan but actually far more virulent on the Korean side, and the history laid out in the book, while highly distorted, contains enough truths of the sort Koreans cannot bring themselves to admit to that it gives the entire undertaking a lustre of credibility in Japanese eyes (which is how all effective propaganda works, by the way). Finally, a sales run of 360,000 in a market of 80 million manga consumers simply isn't all that high, and one can only wonder how many of those buyers picked up the book precisely because of the controversy it stirred up, to see what the outcry was all about. Norimitsu Onishi's article does the facts a great disservice, and is so lacking in balance and context that it reads almost like a PR dispatch by the Korean government: one would never guess from it that opinion polls show that the Japanese entertain far more favorable attitudes towards their Korean neighbors than the Koreans do towards them.

*A more literal translation than the inflammatory alternative Onishi opts for.

Comments

[Curzon]

"Hating" the Korean Wave is a far more accurate translation.

But you and the Marmot are right that the bias is overwhelming. A few comics in Japan say they hate Korea or China and it's a clear example of Japanese bigotry, whereas if China or Korea say they hate Japan and it's totally understandable because of the history.

[Abiola Lapite]

I'd have thought 憎悪 would have been a better choice to convey the intensity of animosity implied by the word "hate"; the gloss on 嫌 with which I'm familiar is "disagreeable" or "unpleasant."

[giles]

http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1122/p01s04-woap.html

[Curzon]

Against: 非、反
Hate: 嫌、憎悪、

From alc.co.jp:

・ Few figures are as hated as Bob. ボブほど嫌われている人物はいない。
・ I hate waiting. 待つのは嫌だ。
・ I hate being fat. 太ってるのは嫌だ。
・ I hate going to school. 学校へ行くのは嫌だ。
・ I hate paying taxes. 税金を払うのは嫌だ。
・ I hate speaking in public. 人前で話をするのは嫌だ。

[Huang-sensei]

Sir, while I praise your aim to present an alternative opinion in an effort to preserve journalistic balance, I must disagree with your support of Occidentalism's take on the matter. I fear that, in Matthew's zeal to defend a country and culture that he may hold dear, he is, in fact, the one who is completely missing the point and is doing his best to justify something that is simply unjustifiable.

1) As others before me have confirmed, the kanji, 嫌, means "hate" no matter how you slice it. Matthew's choice of a less harsh (and therefore less accurate) translation signifies an attempt to mask something.

2) Whether or not the two mentioned quotes have been taken completely out of context, please keep in mind that that does not, in any way, make the book's message any more acceptable. Unless the manga is a comedy poking harmless fun at the over-saturation of Korean entertainment in the Japanese media these days (which, from the looks of it, it is not), it contains a message of hate that is inexcusable in this day and age.

3) Norimitsu Onishi's ethnic heritage should have nothing to do with anybody's interpretation of the situation he presents. Furthermore, distrust of the journalistic integrity of the Times should not cloud your judgment of an article that may contain more balance and factual information than you might give it credit for.

The bottom line: 360,000 is certainly a paltry amount in comparison to the millions of manga publications that are sold in a day, and the premature conclusion that Japan is a hotbed of ethnic and racial tension is, indeed, a sensationalistic notion quite far from the truth. Yet, the fact that a book of that nature was published without any sort of public outcry or backlash is a travesty. If there has been a public condemnation against the distribution of either book, however, I'd be grateful if somebody could direct me to a newslink (either in English or Japanese).

[Maw]

In Japan,the kanji 嫌 means "dislike"
Hate in Kanji is 憎.
Abiola is correct.

"・ I hate waiting. 待つのは嫌だ。"
English and Japanese are not same.

By the way, Korea has been publishing seriese of Hate-Japan books like "Ilbonun Eopta"(1993) which was sold more than 1 million copies and vol2,vol3 were released later.
"Ilbonun Eopta" was just like "KenKanRyu" but difference is that Kenkanryu's author was just a cartoonist and Ilbonun Eopta's author was journalist.(she is currently spokes woman of Han-nara political party)
That means the level of Korean journalism is like cartoon.

There is another difference.
"Ilbonun Eopta" was published in Japan but "Kenkanryu" is not allowed to be published in Korea.

Why?

A Korean professor said "Because Korea is not island country, we do not have to listen to critical opinion"
(Translation from http://www.mainichi-msn.co.jp/kokusai/asia/korea/news/20051104org00m030152000c.html"

Does it make sense?

[Huang-sensei]

Does the existence of Ilbonum Eopta somehow justify the unchallenged publication of Kenkanryu? I certainly hope not, if it's any indication of how far we've come as a species.

[chaimaru]

" the fact that a book of that nature was published without any sort of public outcry or backlash is a travesty. If there has been a public condemnation against the distribution of either book, however, I'd be grateful if somebody could direct me to a newslink (either in English or Japanese)."
The book was rejected by main stream publishers, which made the comic book very famous among the internet users before the publication. So it sold well.Japanese reactions varies:Some says they are enlightened, others says they hate it as you do.
Here is how Japanese reacted to kenkanryu.
http://wiki.fdiary.net/rir6/?%C3%A6%A1%A6%A5%DE%A5%F3%A5%AC%B7%F9%B4%DA%CE%AE
http://adon-k.seesaa.net/article/5647704.html
http://adon-k.seesaa.net/article/6014117.html
http://adon-k.seesaa.net/article/6198061.html
I can not comment on your comment because you are far from specific about the content of the book you so hate.
I agree with the blogger of this site for the most part.

[Maw]

correction

Kenkanryu was sold 300,000 copies.
Japanese population is 120 million.

Ilbonun Eopta vol-1 was sold 1 million copies.
S.Koream population is 40 million.

Korean school project "Fuck Japan"
http://uqmgp.hp.infoseek.co.jp/

[Chaimaru]

Any publications are all right as far as it does not cause lebel nor aparante present danger to society.
Some challenged Kenkanryuu(main stream publishers rejected it) and others welcomed it, still others are indiffernt to it.
While it is all right to publish anti-Japanese books and comics to spread anti-Japanese feelings in various ways in Korea, it is outragous to criticize Korea as Matthew does----I am afraid that is a little bit skewed.

[Lawrence]

Curzon wrote:

"they hate Korea or China and it's a clear example of Japanese bigotry, whereas if China or Korea say they hate Japan and it's totally understandable because of the history."

Which version of the history did Curzon believe, the real history or the history doctored by Korean and Chinese? Swallowing the doctored history by itself is evidence of Curzon's bigotry and naiveté.

[kix]

Mutual pain breeds mutual hate. Both nations felt much pain before, during, and after the war; and now, they're reaping each other's wrath...I am a Filipino, my grandfather was a war veteran. he fought the japs. he saw their many atrocities against our countrymen. and despite of these and that murder, rape, destruction; he forgave the japanese. we also forgave them. i hope the koreans would do the same.

[nanashi]

I personally have read the kenkanryu book and am reading the second book right now. The definition of the word "ken" is obviously hate. BUT, this is hatred of the "kanryu" the "korean wave." It is not a "hate korea" "wave." It never comes to rash conclusions and backs up all its claims. It clearly explains misconceptions held by people who irrationally hate Koreans (like the real meaning of hwappyon) and informs Japanese how there is a large hatred of Japan in Korea (because Japanese people are naive and unaware of this fact). This NYT article is clearly biased and the fact that the writer is a 2nd generation Korean-Japanese clearly shows from what direction the writer is coming from.