Japan's rising right-wing nationalism

Like many nations, Japan is undergoing a surge in right-wing nationalism, the brand of nationalism that is skeptical of globalization and outsiders. But while Japan's nationalism looks similar to other right-wing movements in the West, when you look under the surface, you see a totally different story.

How Brexit could create a crisis at the Irish border

Northern Ireland is part of the UK, but because of a special power-sharing agreement, it has an open border with Republic of Ireland. This was designed as a compromise that ended 30 years of conflict and violence in Northern Ireland between Nationalist and Unionist paramilitaries. Today, Brexit means that the UK needs to close its borders and the issue of the Irish border is one of the hardest things to negotiate with the EU. Closing this border could undermine the compromise that kept the peace for 20 years.

Donald Trump's 4 Days Of Hate Convention Opens In Cleveland

America's Nationalist party (Republicans) opened their presidential nominating convention in Cleveland Ohio today.  Chaos ensued when the never Trump faction of the party demanded a roll call vote which would have, if successful unbound the delegates allowing them to vote for any candidate of their choice.  Ken Cuccinelli former Attorney General of Virginia  who while serving in that post sought to disenfranchise voters and make abortion illegal led the charge.

After quashing his insurgency a parade of speakers followed a theme that would be recognised by any nationalist. Blame the others: Crime blame minorities, terrorism blame muslims and those refugees from Syria and Iraq who were granted the right to resettle in America, accuse liberals of fostering a war on police,  state without any evidence that  Hillary  Clinton was solely  responsible for the deaths of four Americans at Benghazi in September of 2012 and attributes all the other ills facing America to President Obama.

This is how nationalists operate claim victimhood and accuse the others (those not like them) of being at the root cause of their alleged victimhood.  Nationalists in America see a clear path to solving these problems.   The Immigration Act  of 1924 included the Asian exclusion act which set limits on the number of Japanese that could be admitted into the country the earlier Chinese Exclusion Act was passed for the same purpose.    

Donald Trump playing upon the unfounded fears of older white conservatives as proposed similar policies, with the sole purpose of excluding all muslims instead of those from Asia.


Harking back to 1968 and the campaign of Richard Nixon other speakers sought to portray America as land of the lawless.  Nixon stated that if elected he would return law and order to America.   Who's to blame or who can the nationalists point to and say, this group they caused this slide into lawlessness.  They are? Black Lives Matter. In the nationalists mindset it's these types of organizations stirring up trouble amongst those have been beaten down by the system that must be dealt with.


Donald Trump started this road to nationalism  when he announced his candidacy for President of the United States last year.  

Our country is in serious trouble. We don’t have victories anymore. We used to have victories, but we don’t have them. When was the last time anybody saw us beating, let’s say, China in a trade deal? They kill us. I beat China all the time. All the time.

When did we beat Japan at anything? They send their cars over by the millions, and what do we do? When was the last time you saw a Chevrolet in Tokyo? It doesn’t exist, folks. They beat us all the time.

When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity. And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically.

The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.

Texas Daddy The American Loved By Japanese Nationalists

Tony Marano is an American living Dallas Texas producing right wing videos. What's unusual about Tony is that his views have been embraced  by Japanese Nationalists.   Even though Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would deny any association with these groups they share similar views on history especially  that of the Second World War.  One of the most contentious issues in East Asia concerns comfort women.  Mostly Koreans, but included women from many the territories Japan invaded during World War II.   Last December the Japanese government gave and the South Korean government accepted an official apology and monetary compensation dealing with the comfort women issue.  On February 3 of this year the Japanese government issued a finding to the United Nations stating there was no evidence of forced corrosion of these women to work at the comfort stations by the Japanese Imperial Army.   Except that there is clear evidence of just that happening.

Videos he posted from Texas made their way to Japan, where they developed a following.

He became more intrigued about Japan, conducting more research and posting more videos. His notoriety snowballed as more people began paying attention.

A publishing deal followed and within a few years, his Japanese supporters set up an office called the Texas Daddy Japan Secretariat. He has published seven books in Japanese and is set for more exposure with another three books this year, the office said.

Marano is a former telephone company employee who has spent about half of his life in Texas and put together a YouTube video channel called "PropagandaBuster." He speaks little Japanese.

Marano says his mission is to bolster a military alliance among the United States, South Korea and ally Japan, and to speak truth to power.

He has released more than 80 videos in the past year that run with Japanese subtitles provided by the Secretariat, which has seven translators and three editors to prepare the works for the Japanese audience.