Whoi knew a bunch of Japanese textbook could cause such trouble?

[Bosh]

And now the ONLY Japanese electronic dictionary (Casio) has been ranked from Korean store shelves because it contains the following entry (and damn does the local english language newspaper has incompetant ****s for copy editors):

Takeshima: islets located northwest in the Sea of Japan. It has been recognized in Japan for long. It became known to Europe in 1849 when a French ship Liancourt discovered it and named it 'Liancourt Rocks.' It became Shimane Prefecture's territory in 1905. Since Korea's independence, it has been in dispute as Korea claims it. It has an area of .2 square kilometers.

[mindseye]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse

Oh I know grudges are held in various parts of Asia - but it took the Japanese to show just how bad colonialism could be. It made the European powers look better than they deserved.

There has been so much to comment on in this thread, I haven't had a chance to say that IMO AH's posts have been spot-on.

I have often been struck by how benign Chinese attitudes are towards westerners, given our recent mutual histories. In how many other countries are Americans, for example, welcomed and treated so favorably (fewer with each ongoing day of the Bush administration, I'm afraid).

It's no secret that China has a deep strain of victimhood running through its national psyche and coloring it's form of nationalistic pride. It helps explain the intensity of public actions like the current anti-Japanese protests.

Here is an excellent Salon article by respected American sinologist Orville Schell, very insightful and well-written, well worth reading if you are interested in better understanding Chinese attitudes and behavior on the international stage.

[Imran Siddiqui]

Liancourt Rocks

Potential band name!

[mindseye]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten

From what I can gather, the voice of the Japanese ultra-rightists is amplified by the international press to something well beyond their actual influence. (I would love to hear from those who know something about this.)

Well duh...

Normally I can't see your posts because you are on my Ignore List. But this time I took a chance and clicked on your hidden response to see if you could contribute something to our collective understanding on this topic by virtue of your local presence on the scene in Japan.

I won't make that mistake again.

Sayanara.

[Drake Tungsten]

Maybe if you didn't ignore me you wouldn't have made the same point I've been making for god knows how long now...

[Ned]

Mindseye, are the Chinese people told of American's support during the Sino-Japanese war of 1936-45? It is genuinely hard to believe that any Chinese could have anti-American feelings at all, even despite the Korean War, as the United States was there for China in its darkest hour.

[DinoDoc]

/me thinks Ned has never seen or talked with a Frenchman or anyone else from Europe

[Kidlicious]

The only foreigners who like us are right wing dictators.

[DinoDoc]

/me also thinks Kid is doing a Fez impression

[Ned]

Originally posted by Kidicious
The only foreigners who like us are right wing dictators.

Well that certainly includes the current communist party of China, does it not?

[Kidlicious]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
* DinoDoc also thinks Kid is doing a Fez impression

Shut up. You know nothing. I should throw you from a hellicopter you communist.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by mindseye
I think you can ask just about any foreigner who lives here - or any mainland Chinese, for that matter, It's not like it's a secret. In fact, I'm quite surprised you doubt this. Don't you ever spend time in the mainland?

I do, though just limited to Gaungzhou/Shenzhen and surrounding areas. I have never met anybody expressing such racism.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by mindseye
My dictionary says the first character is "ya", meaning something like "low status", as in "ya tou" (slave girl). The second character is "bi", which means "vagina" or "c*nt", as in "niu bi" ("ox c*nt, a common enough Chinese curse term).

The phrase "ya bi" literally means something like "low-down c*nt", but the way it's used in Chinese is probably closer to American English "f*cker" or "b*astard". It's a strong expletive, I just confirmed this with one of my students.

So my original translation of "Ya bi wang!" as "Die, f*cker!" next to Koizumi's X-ed over face was correct.

You know, I teach English to Chinese everyday, but it's not often I teach Chinese to a Chinese!

Hm, no

There's only one meaning to bi, and that is "must." Maybe there are other slang meanings, but my dictionary doesn't say.

ya could mean a bunch of things when combined into terms, such as ya tau (little girl) or shu ya (where a tree grows a branch), but it doesn't mean anything by itself.

Besides, the three characters don't make sense combined that way. It's not grammatical - or at least nobody ever writes like that.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by mindseye
Here is an excellent Salon article by respected American sinologist Orville Schell, very insightful and well-written, well worth reading if you are interested in better understanding Chinese attitudes and behavior on the international stage.

I am not sure how big a factor that is, given that a stream of constant US meddling, interfering, finger-pointing and obstructing acts directed at China (at least as perceived, but then, perception is everything here) during the recent years. Particularly casted in the context of the US being the international hegemon.

For example, I have read several accounts of the PRC joining the WTC, and there are lots of incidents where the US tabled unreasonable demands and errected obstacles. Put that together with the recent emergence of protectionism in the US and the constant lip services the US is paying "free market." None of these goes down well.

Then there is the recent case of the US and Japan putting Taiwan Strait as part of the mutually defensive treaty "strategic objective." Such a wise move...

[Drake Tungsten]

Besides, the three characters don't make sense combined that way. It's not grammatical - or at least nobody ever writes like that.

So you're saying a Chinese protestor failed to write an understandable phrase in Chinese?

Sorry, but I'm finding mindseye's interpretation far more believable...