
Old Japanese maps on Google Earth unveil prejudices  - juanpablo
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090502/ap_on_hi_te/as_japan_google_dark_secrets
======
ekiru
The bizarre thing about the complaints about the maps is that Matsuoka
initially criticized Google for displaying the maps and even complained to the
Justice Minister about them, but when the references to burakumin communities
about which he complained were removed, a representative of the organization
of which he is secretary-general asserted that removing them was an act of
prejudice. It seems as though there is nothing Google can do regarding these
maps besides not making them available. In a situation in which the only
option that would not be considered prejudiced is to not provide useful
information, the complainers are probably being oversensitive. The information
about discrimination against descendants of burakumin in Japan does somewhat
justify their oversensitivity, but prejudice in Japanese culture is no reason
to suppress these maps.

~~~
nunb
>Two weeks later, after the public comments and at least one reporter
contacted Google, the old Japanese maps were suddenly changed, wiped clean of
any references to the buraku villages.

What else was Google supposed to do? They don't want to get involved in these
crazy cultural wars. They just make information available: it's the culture
which attaches weird connotations to it.

>There was no note made of the changes, and they were seen by some as an
attempt to quietly dodge the issue.

Circular. Who are the unnamed "some"?

>"This is like saying those people didn't exist. There are people for whom
this is their hometown, who are still living there now," said Takashi Uchino
from the Buraku Liberation League headquarters in Tokyo.

Bizarre. If Google Earth did not exist, would these people cease to exist?

>The League also sent a letter to Google, a copy of which was provided to The
Associated Press. It wants a meeting to discuss its knowledge of the buraku
issue and position on the use of its services for discrimination.

Google has no knowledge of the buraku issue, doesn't care like you idiots do,
and are in a much saner headspace than the lot of you.

Quoting ekiru: The information about discrimination against descendants of
burakumin in Japan does somewhat justify their oversensitivity, but prejudice
in Japanese culture is no reason to suppress these maps.

\-- right, while they are totally unable to actually fix ongoing prejudice,
and can do nothing in the face of large well-known companies following the
same discriminatory policy, they target the one company that probably truly
does not discriminate based on their pet issue.

------
jwvgoethe
simply displaying a historical document is not prejudice; what this is instead
is just another indication that the japanese are incapable of coming to terms
with their past and that their supposedly modern society continues to harbor a
primitive mentality that would be considered distasteful and shocking in a
westerner.

~~~
Luc
Let's say Google Maps puts up an old map of some major city in your country
with certain neighbourhoods marked 'negro'. How would that go down? I agree
that information itself cannot be evil (and I would probably disagree with the
reasons this Japanese gentleman is against the maps), but there is an editing
involved in choosing which information to publish, and which not. This is poor
editing on the part of Google.

~~~
anigbrowl
That's between the people who made or refer to the map and the people who
were/are discriminated against. You don't deal with unpleasant history by
erasing it and pretending it didn't happen. On the more serious issue of
actual genocide, the most bitter political feuds are between the people who
were hurt by it and those who want to pretend it never happened and needn't be
talked about.

I don't think it's poor editing on the part of Google at all. Poor editing
would be altering the historical record in order to assuage the feelings of
one group who might be made uncomfortable. To run with your example, if you're
going to alter the map why not go the whole way and replace 'negro' with
'happy black people live here'?

It's a sad but seemingly universal fact that when one social group oppresses
another and later people ask 'why are the conditions of (oppressed group) so
awful?', the self-serving response of oppressing group is 'they choose to live
that way', ascribing their negative situation to some inherent defect on the
part of the oppressed.

~~~
sho
_"You don't deal with unpleasant history by erasing it and pretending it
didn't happen."_

Unfortunately, this is exactly how Japanese society (and others) tend to "deal
with" unpleasant history.

Here's an apropos anecdote: I have a Japanese friend who came to Australia to
study. One day, her and her friends were in the city on Anzac day - a national
holiday to commemorate war dead, basically. They were standing at a bus stop,
talking, when some youths in a car threw some eggs at them. They were, of
course, horrified, and had no idea why anyone would do that.

It was only some time later it was explained to her - while the egg-throwing
was just stupid, it was probably because she was loudly speaking Japanese in
the city, near the war memorial, on Anzac day, and Japan had attacked
Australia numerous times, causing many of the dead the day is supposed to
commemorate. Imagine my amazement when I realised she had absolutely no idea
Japan had attacked Australia in WWII. Just never been mentioned. There were
over 100 attacks, in (from memory) 5 places. These are, of course, famous in
our culture - it's the only time the country has ever actually been attacked.
She had no idea.

Un-fucking-believable. And btw, please don't take this as racist or anything
else - I'm just stating facts, and I fear us whiteys do not hold much higher a
moral ground - I doubt your average American college graduate, for example, is
as well-informed as she perhaps ought to be about her Government's
reprehensible actions in Latin America in the second half of the 20th century
either.

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pavlov
In 14th century Venice, Jews were only permitted to live in an area of the
city known as Ghetto. The word has since acquired many more layers of
unpleasant antisemitic connotations, yet Ghetto is marked on tourist maps of
Venice today.

Maybe Tokyo will eventually become as open about its history -- but before
that can happen, quite a few people will have to stop thinking about others by
17th century Edo period standards, it seems.

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soundsop
About the Japan's buraku: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=436453>

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gojomo
The layers just need a localized disclaimer: "For the satisfying of history
curious only. Not to be used for the other purpose. (Prejudicing.)"

~~~
eli
So _you're_ the guy who buys the Grateful Dead 420 Bong and only uses it for
tobacco. :)

------
staunch
Well now I _really_ want to see the uncensored maps. Anyone got a link?

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jobeirne
Is this some sort of long-winded joke?

