TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/121189/12118900.053

Text File | 1990-09-22 | 2KB | 39 lines

LETTERS, Page 6

Japan's View of the U.S.


    As a Japanese citizen living overseas, I read with interest
and apprehension the interview with Shintaro Ishihara (IDEAS, Nov.
20), a right-wing Japanese politician. Ishihara is correct when
he speaks of the need for Japanese leaders to say yes or no
clearly. His claim that Japan can assume a global leadership role
on the strength of its advanced technology deserves serious
consideration. However, his assertion that Americans exhibit
"foolish pride and racial prejudice" toward the Japanese is an
insult to the citizens of a country that has accepted millions of
different people from all over the world. His idea of Asia being
Japan's franchise is nostalgically anachronistic in this age of
global interdependence and integration.

    Eiichi Katahara
    Canberra

    Ishihara is right. New economic superpowers are emerging,
taking the place of the old military superpowers of the cold war.
It is time the American ego stepped down from its outdated
high-and-mighty prominence. The U.S. may be the first victim of the
struggle between two new superpowers. Make no mistake, an economic
war is in its own way as devastating as other wars, and maybe
worse.

    Guy Hasson
    Mizpe Ramon, Israel

    Wasn't it a recent Japanese Prime Minister who suggested that
black and Hispanic Americans were lowering the intellectual level
of the U.S., and isn't Japan the country that until lately had
Little Black Sambo dolls for sale? It appears that both countries
-- like all other nations -- have something to learn about racial
equality.

    Kevin Short
    Toronto