Personal Vendettas, Credibility, Collateral Damage, 天の邪鬼対策

I have a talent for pissing people off. I'm sure it comes from a personality defect, of which I have many, and I will strive to work on improving my generally surly nature.

It has come to my attention that one disgruntled journalist has decided to launch a personal vendetta against me. He is angry that I would not take up his cause or defend him. I don't know him well and I didn't think he had a position that I could defend and I politely declined to offer my support. By asking one pointed question, he perhaps feels that I sprung a hole in his credibility dyke, which caused him a flood of attack and ridicule.

I don't know;  I'm not a mind reader.

In the West, we call them "trolls." In Japan, we call them 天の邪鬼 (ama-no-jaku). The anti-social side of social media. If I was more civil, I probably wouldn't be bothered by them. 反省します。

 

It's not often that someone takes the time to warn you that they plan to attack you so I suppose I should be grateful. I don't mind assaults on my reputation. I already have such a terrible reputation as a reckless, thrill-seeking, womanizing, chain-smoking, nearly alcoholic, would do anything for a story, CIA affiliated, Jewish conspiracy controlled, just plain awful hack– that I don't imagine there is much more damage that any allegations could do to me. However, I do mind when people, in an effort to cause me some considerable amount of pain and shame, also decide to target my friends and colleagues.

I don't like being threatened but it doesn't make me angry or very upset. However, when someone threatens to ruin the lives of my friends to spite me, this makes me very angry.

The problem with the new age of social media is that it makes such a wonderful tool for anti-social sociopaths with plenty of time on their hands. In Western parlance, we call them "trolls" in Japan, they are the inspiration for a sort of monster known as 天の邪鬼 (ama no jaku). Ama-no-jaku are ugly and nasty beasts that derive pleasure and sustenance from the misfortune of others and causing trouble.

So before the first round is fired, I'll address the issues that have been brought before me.

The Grievances

Quakebook, the charity project I contributed to along with many others is a sham and the editor kept all the money for himself. 

That's a terrible and malicious lie. The money is well accounted for (it all went to the Red Cross) and the Quakebook team will release an accounting of how much was raised probably by the end of this month.

The spiritual sequel to Quakebook, Reconstructing 3/11 (provisional title) is not a charity project. Many of the contributors are donating their share of the profits to charity but not all of them. I will donate my earnings to two charities and post records of the transactions on this blog later.

One of the contributions to 3/11 is a work of plagiarism (not mine). Since multiple journalists report on the same news story, it is always easy to make that accusation. One problem increasingly in the world of free-lance journalism is that what once were called "fixers" now also write as journalists as well. In fact, I consider it a problem that many journalists take credit for articles that are actually mostly written by the fixers.

Japansubculture.com is just a forum used by me to post the works of my romantic partners.

This is rather insulting to every woman who has written or contributed to the blog and to female journalists in general. Journalism is not a field where women have to sleep with men to get published. It also insults the men who have written for the blog as well.

The blog is a labor of love, created to inform and entertain people about Japan, and to be a reference source to those interested in the Japanese Underword. It interests me and I try to post material that may be of value to those doing research on Japan's subculture and also sometimes just for the amusement of our readers.

I like to write and share what I know and as a writer, I like to be read.

I'm a fake and all my stuff is made up. I am a conspiracy theorist who blames everything on the yakuza.

Well, I wish I could cite sources better than I do. There is a problem with that in Japan especially because if a public official talks to reporter or releases information without permission they can lose their jobs and be prosecuted for violating the National Public Services Law, which bans public servants from divulging sensitive information obtained in the course of their work. If I named my all my sources, I could cost them their jobs and get them thrown into jail. I'm not willing to do that. Source confidentiality is an even more sensitive issue when involving articles about the yakuza. Revealing a source could cost them their job, their finger or maybe even their life.

I don't see the yakuza as behind every problem in Japan and I think the word "the yakuza" is a misnomer. There are 22 yakuza groups, each with different codes and characteristics. In addition to "the yakuza" aka "boryokudan/暴力団/violent groups" there are "anti-social forces" which encompass stock manipulators, yakuza front companies, right wing groups, fraudsters and any number of criminal groups with loose and sometimes very tight ties to the yakuza.

I will be more careful in the usage of the words "yakuza" and "anti-social forces" being as specific as possible in the future.

I'm a sleazebag. 

Yes, it's true. The result of that is I'm getting legally separated from my wife, which is a matter of public record. I'm trying to be a better person, support my kids, and honor my debts, moral and financial. If any woman is kind enough to date me for more than a week, I would be grateful and respect her privacy and hope she hasn't read my book.

Mr. Matsumura, The Buddha Of Fukushima is fake and a swindler. He probably doesn't even live in the forbidden zone.

I admire Mr. Matsumura immensely and I have no evidence to suggest that he is insincere. If someone wants to suggest that he is a liar and not living in the area, please let me know and I'll be happy to buy them a ticket to the nuclear wasteland where he lives and loan them a camera so they can get to the truth.

The subject of my next book and my long-time driver and bodyguard who is an ex-yakuza boss is a scumbag, 病理集団の病理の権化, and I am a scumbag for employing him.

The nature of being a yakuza boss means that he engaged in criminal activity. He did some awful things in the past. He did some good things as well. Since leaving the yakuza, he has been a good father, a good friend, and helped people less fortunate than himself. I believe that anyone can change and that people can atone for their past mistakes. Unlike one yakuza boss who retired, became a Buddhist priest, and then had one of his former soldiers killed to avoid going to jail, Mr. M, has had a genuine change of heart. He carried food and supplies to irradiated areas after 3/11 something that I didn't do and wish I had done.

Also, yakuza hate to be called 病理集団(びょうりしゅうだん). (Pathologically sick groups). You can call them "anti-social groups" (反社会的勢力) and 暴力団 (violent groups) but calling them 病理集団 is not wise if you're going to live in work and Japan.

I don't have a personal vendetta against any one other than one individual who is a dishonorable, cold-blooded, and unrepentant killer. I'd be willing to forgive him to if he showed any actual signs of remorse. Perhaps, my arrogant and uncouth personality is responsible for arousing the ire of aforementioned journalist. So be it.

If I wanted to be liked by everyone, I'd get a job at Disneyland dressing up as Mickey Mouse.

Conclusion

I've always considered having enemies part of being a good journalist. My mentor, Detective Sekiguchi said it best.

「敵のない刑事かフン屋は無害でもあり、無価値でもある。男の真価を知りたいなら、その人の友達を見るよりその人の敵を見た方がいい。男の敵がその男の価値を語ることもある」

If people have a problem with me, I'd appreciate it if they just attacked me. I've been responsible for enough collateral damage in my life not to want to have to carry any more.

I'm not naming the disgruntled journalist even if he names himself because I have no desire to get in a war where there is no victory or end. I have nothing more to say on the matter than what I am posting here now.

I apologize for any lack of diplomacy I've made that resulted in me having to post this here and my flaws in character. I apologize to any friend of mine who may become a target for misdirected anger.

By the way, contributions to this blog are always welcome. We have almost no budget but we welcome articles. Sometimes, we can even scrape up enough money to pay a pittance for the work people contribute.

Thank you gentle reader for taking the time to peruse this.