Man,. i bought this beast on 1995.,… not once this baby ever let me down,… we went to many undiscovered trails,… I could par my stock pajero with somewhat modified landy boys and land cruisers alike… I event ever to pull out one FJ40 out of a mud.
Untill now,. am not intend to let go this baby,…
Rising Sun, you are always a treat. I must tell you that for many years up until I left my parent’s house in Houston, buying Japanese was not an issue - it was merely unthinkable.
My father worked for a rather large American petrochemicals company, and one day in the late 1950s he announced that he had to entertain some executives from Japan, from, in fact, Mitsubishi. My mother had a fit. She clenched her jaw and did what any self-respecting American housewife would have done in the 50s, she buckled down and prepared dinner for our Japanese guests. I remember them as being shy, smiling, always nodding and polite to a fault. I can’t recall my mother saying a word and her smiles were grimaces.
What lay behind this, Rising Sun, is that both my parents are about 40%-50% Indonesian and the rest is Dutch. As it happens, neither one was in Indonesia during WW2. Instead, they enjoyed life in German-occupied Holland for the duration. But my grandmother on my mother’s side as well as my adoptive grandparents on my father’s side were prisoners of the Japanese. Much worse, is the fact the mother’s mother was in a rest home for people with mental problems in a place called “Buitenzorg”. The Japanese simply could not be bothered with these people, and the story goes that they set the home on fire and machine-gunned those who had the presence of mind to run for it.
I do not blame the generations that came after the war for the war, but I am very suspicious of the Japanese disinclination even up until the present day to acknowledge to admit any responsibility for their role in starting the War in the Pacific, to recognize that they were much worse custodians of prisoners of war than the Germans, that they behaved in extremelly cruel, nasty and, yes, subhuman ways not only towards the Dutch, British, French, and Americans, but also towards their fellow Asians.
If you’ve heard the emperor’s recording of the decision to surrender, nowhere in it does he say that Japan “lost the war”, nor is there any hint of the culpability of the empire of Japan in starting it in the first place.
These are shameful facts that the continued Japanese unwillingness to recognize makes them into a rather shameful people. Any country, including the US, that cannot face up to its own failings, has some very serious problems indeed. I realize fully well, as do you, that all of this took place a very long time ago, but as long as there are people who remember, it will not be forgotten, either.
I share your understanding and concerns.
There is a continuing and disturbing duplicity and dishonesty in Japan’s governmental (as distinct from the Japanese people’s) conduct and position which makes it impossible to treat it with confidence as a nation which has anything approaching a real understanding of its past, or any ability to recognise its past, which are pre-conditions to treating it now as a mature modern nation.
It’s not unlike the problem one has with one’s children from time to time. Until they recognise their responsibility for causing their own unhappy situation by their bad conduct, they don’t get privileges back. But Japan got its privileges back, without accepting responsibility for its own unhappy situation caused by its own bad conduct.
I make a distinction between accepting responsibility and apologising. Japan has made several national ‘apologies’, none of them in a clear “We’re sorry for launching the war and killing millions in barbaric circumstances etc”, but those equivocal apologies demonstrate a complete inability to accept responsibility for what it did. Going back to dealing with errant children, an apology means nothing if it isn’t accompanied by some understanding of why the act apologised for was wrong, whether that understanding comes from an internal realisation or is forced upon them by educating them in how their act was wrong so that they understand it and are discouraged from repeating it.
The real problem is not the average Japanese person nowadays, for most of whom WWII is of no more significance than it is for most Americans or Australians, most of the latter of whom are informed about the war by such educational cinematic triumphs of stereotypical Hollywood bullshit as Pearl Harbor, which as I type is irritating me on free to air TV with modern computer stuff over modern dialogue and Hollywood drivel which appears to be based on any of a number of 1942 – 45 Hollywood propaganda movies, or possibly a Bruce Willis kills King Kong movie. Typical Hollywood. Too much talk, too much action, too little historical accuracy, and no bloody substance. Which is where many of your and my people get their simplistic understanding of the Pacific War, and no doubt the Japanese get theirs from equally histrionic, selective, inaccurate and historically meaningless presentations of the war.
The real problem in Japan is largely with the still powerful remnants of the same regime which took them to war and which is still a significant element in its conservative political party and in promoting a revisionist history of Japan’s war.
And it’s exactly that element which in a more rabid form got Japan into WWII.
Hirohito’s ‘surrender’ speech has to be one of, if not the, most spectacular pieces of bullshit in the long history of bullshit political statements. I don’t need to comment on some of the following extracts from his speech, apart from me being unable to resist noting the outstanding absurdity that if Japan didn’t surrender the A bombs would continue to be dropped by the US until it had wiped out the whole human race, which forced Japan to surrender to save civilisation. Presumably before the US started bombing itself into extinction.
Indeed, we declared war on America and Britain out of our sincere desire to insure Japan’s self-preservation and the stabilization of East Asia, it being far from our thought either to infringe upon the sovereignty of other nations or to embark upon territorial aggrandizement.
…
the war situation has developed not necessarily to Japan’s advantage, while the general trends of the world have all turned against her interest.
…
Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should we continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.
…
We cannot but express the deepest sense of regret to our allied nations of East Asia, who have consistently cooperated with the Empire toward the emancipation of East Asia.
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/hirohito.htm
But it’s that refusal to face Japan’s responsibility for what it did that continues in similar forms today, which is bloody worrying so long after the event. It’s as if Japan has spent the past sixty odd years constructing and reinforcing its own myth about its benevolent mission in Asia being resisted by the Allies’, largely America’s, brutal determination to obliterate Japan for no good reason, without the slightest understanding that America didn’t actually attack Japan or start the war, regardless of the various factors affecting Japan imposed by the Western powers which impelled it to war.
As for post-war sentiments, I knew people in the 1960s and 1970s who wouldn’t even get into a Japanese car, and they weren’t necessarily those who fought Japan or suffered under Japan as POW’s but relatives of theirs, or just people who shared the same sentiments. A bloke who turned up at the RSL (licensed – i.e. allowed to serve liquor – clubs for returned servicemen in many suburbs and towns - http://www.rsl.org.au/ - don’t know if America has similar) in a Toyota etc – but rarely the same treatment for a German car- could expect a hard time then. That’s diminished greatly by now. Not least because most of the RSL’s are just bloody gaming venues for poker machines.
I remember as a kid in the 1950s being pissed off with the derision visited upon some prized motorised tin - car? - toy I got, because my father’s mates loathed its Japanese origin, and most of them weren’t even returned servicemen. The toy wasn’t very good, to the extent that I can remember, but I don’t recall Australia producing any tin toy cars or whatever it was at the time, which says something about Japan’s ability to rise from the ashes and Australia having false conceit.
Similarly, I knew Jews who wouldn’t get in a Mercedes for similar reasons about the Germans in the 1960s and 1970s. My city, Melbourne, is said to be home to the largest group of Jewish survivors of the Holocaust outside Israel. I’ve lost touch with that aspect, but given the number of prominent Jews in Mercs and BMWs nowadays I think that’s changed too.
We’re also said to be about the second or third largest Greek city outside Athens, so it gets a bit crowded. I think the Greeks will get into any car, as they should because they used to be the taxi drivers who didn’t know where they were going before the Asians took over, and were then displaced by the current lot from Mogadishu or wherever they don’t learn to use street directories or GPS. 
P.S. Where have you been?
I miss your informed contributions.
You should post more.
Some people drive a car for status, some just use it to get from point A to B, regardless of the flafla$$$. Intersting trend about Mercedes: here in canada, the clientèle for this brand is upper class. (doctors, layers, etc.) But if you go to Paris, France, or French Antilla, the cars are used mostly by taxis. Given the prices they charge, I’m not surprised…
My first car was a used GM Chevy Nova, a great car, solid as a tank, until it was turned into a rust-bucket by the salt we use on roads in winter.
My second car was a Pontiac sunbird, which after a year of spending money to get it fixed, I got tired of and gave away for free… to the condition that It would be off my driveway the following day. Since then (1999), I drive a small Suzuki station wagon, very reliable and agile in traffic, and also very efficient fuel consumption. I would never go back to american cars, ever! Especially that now, I have a 22 ft sea-kayak on top!
If I had to change cars now, there would be almost no car that could accomodate such a large item on the to rails. I would have to buy a truck or a Volvo or a SUV.
And given the price of gaz nowadays, it would be like shooting myself in the foot…
…most of the latter of whom are informed about the war by such educational cinematic triumphs of stereotypical Hollywood bullshit as Pearl Harbor, which as I type is irritating me on free to air TV with modern computer stuff over modern dialogue and Hollywood drivel which appears to be based on any of a number of 1942 – 45 Hollywood propaganda movies, or possibly a Bruce Willis kills King Kong movie…
What? You mean WWII wasn’t a love affair punctuated by some bombing? Next you’ll try to tell me that the Eagle Squadron, comprised of US Army Air Corp men, didn’t save Britain’s arse! LOL What a God-awful shit movie and a waste of a pretty good attack sequence – save for the post war, modern destroyers in the Harbor being “bombed” and a few other acceptable glitches, and maybe some nice actress T&A.
It was a shameless, pompous attempt at nostalgia that came off very shallow and had glaring factual inaccuracies. I recall seeing an interview with one of the of the arrogant tools, either Jerry Bruckheimer or Mike Bay, as he waxed how seriously he showed he took the project by firing a bunch of extras that were “laughing” in the hospital sequence between takes because they were being disrespectful. Maybe. But I also think his pseudohistory of bullshit and trying to cover everything from the Battle of Britain to the Doolittle raid using the same superhero protagonist as pretty trite and disrespectful. His film was also little more than a shameless rip off of “Tora Tora Tora” and “From Here too Eternity.”
BTW, I don’t know if you know this, but “Pearl Harbor” was also a big hit in Japan for featuring the Japanese guile and ingenuity in the planning the attacks…
Some people drive a car for status, some just use it to get from point A to B, regardless of the flafla$$$. Intersting trend about Mercedes: here in canada, the clientèle for this brand is upper class. (doctors, layers, etc.) But if you go to Paris, France, or French Antilla, the cars are used mostly by taxis. Given the prices they charge, I’m not surprised…
yeah, right. here in germany 95% of all taxis are mercedes-benz with diesel engines. but the main reason is that those are tough built cars with very long lasting engines. beside the fact that these autos are too expensive, they are great cars by means of ruggedness and sturdyness.
in a newspaper there was a small hint on a turkish taxi-driver that used a mercedes 200 diesel (model W123) and hat over 3 million metric kilometers on the gauge. I would doubt that a suzuki would have gone so far…
jens
I didn’t know that, but it probably deserved its Japanese audience. From the limited attention I paid to the film, the Japanese subtitles seemed to be closer to the historical record than the rest of the shambolic cinematic farce.
I may be prejudiced as, apart from the endless love story that was even more offensive that a film entitled Love Story which I haven’t seen nor has any bloke I know ever seen (well, one bloke, but he reckoned he’d get a root out of it for being sensitive, but she was too upset by the film to deliver :D), a few minor aspects made it a little hard to take. Like Admiral Kimmel being played by an actor about fourteen years old.
John Belushi was more convincing and historically accurate in Spielberg’s 1941 about an event that occurred in 1942! At least they knew they were making a comedy.
I changed this thread to the off-topic forum because, well, people like to talk cars. Specifically, I was reading the comments and thinking what a huge change is happening in the US auto market. In my humble opine, it’s for the better. Higher gas prices and the resulting loss from putting their eggs in the SUV/pickup market meant that less was spent on the small cars and resulted in bigger cars with inferior fit-and-finish and quality, or cars that were a generation behind their Euro or Aussie counterparts.
Starting next year Ford, and to an extent GM has already done this, is ditching their segmented market and body styling policies and are going with one world car in almost every segment. This means we’ll finally have the same Ford Focus that Europe has in 2010, when they move to the “third generation” Focus. While both continents received the first Focuses in 2001 I believe, Europe received a significant upgrade around 2006 called the 2nd gen, that was skipped in North America in favor of crappy updates. We’re also getting some nice small cars (something I’ve always preferred). And cars such as the Ford Fiesta, Honda Fit, Yaris, and the Mazda 2 that never would have been here in say 1999.
GM is borrowing heavily from its Holden and Opel brands to bring in the Astra and Chevy Cruz here. And change is, as they say, GOOD!
Don’t forget the new Volkswagen Clean Diesel Jetta, also coming to America!
Anyone mildly interested in cars and a few very lucky blokes who make a living from applying Myth Busters boy fun standards to cars and related stuff has to follow Top Gear. http://www.topgear.com/
Ford boss quits as job losses mount
August 22, 2008FORD Australia took another hit today when its president Bill Osborne resigned hours after announcing 350 job cuts in Victoria.
Mr Osborne has been in the job for only six months but has worked at Ford Motor Company for 18 years in engineering and executive roles.
He will relocate to America to take up a chief executive position for an independently-owned publicly listed company, company spokeswoman Sinead McAlary said.
She said the timing of the two events were unrelated.
“He has received an offer that fulfils a career dream for him,” Ms McAlary said.
She would not say which company Mr Osborne was joining but said it was outside the automotive industry.
John Parker, Ford Motor Company executive vice president of Asia Pacific and Africa, said in the statement a replacement would be announced “in due course”.
“Bill has made significant contributions during his career with Ford Motor Company, and we wish him and his family all the best with his future endeavour,” said Mr Parker.
“Ford Australia will continue to play a vital role in the future success of Ford Motor Company and within the Asia Pacific and Africa region, with greater input and alignment across all areas of the business, particularly product development, information technology, purchasing and marketing and sales.”
Mr Osborne was unavailable for comment.
More at
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=56377
I read a story in the Wall Street Journal that said that Subaru is really an American-owned company. That was some time ago.
AFAIK Subaru was owned Fuji Heavy Industries…
I used to own a Volvo. It looked very “respectable”, like a staid preacher who lives in a well-kept house, but mileage was poor, electronics less reliable than my pocket calculator, and was mostly “made in England”. I never bought another one, but the bumpers were 1/4" thick solid metal.
I owned a Datsun Maxima way back when they were first produced. Best, most reliable car I ever owned. 100,000 miles without a single serious repair. I had an extended warranty and NEVER used it nor needed it.
Now I own a Toyota Prius. Also a complete winner. I am very suspicious of the Japanese people, but at least some of them make great cars.