葉音均
As the world is spinning, everything is also changing. When we look
back on history, we can easily find some ironic developments. Chinese
attitudes toward things Japanese serve as a good example.
Explosion of bombs, ring of gunfire and tanks were everywhere on Chinese
lands. Thousands of refugees fled like ants and were needlessly
slaughtered in the battlefield with panic, angry screaming, cry and
curse. From 「Ja-Wu War,」 「918 Event,」 to 「Nanjing Massacre,」 it seemed
that the battles between Japan and China would never end. Even after
the narrow, hard-won victory over Japanese autocratic occupation,
memories of Japanese wartime brutality were still in every Chinese mind.
The old generations in Taiwan always showed hostility to Japanese,
called them 「Japanese ghosts,」 and boycotted everything from there. We
could see evidences of the obvious and enormous racial hatred in
numerous articles and editorials.
However, none of these seem to matter to the younger generations in
Taiwan today. With the importation of comic books and Hello Kitty,
youngsters are becoming crazy about Japanese things. There are countless
yellow-dyed hair teenagers in thick platform shoes and mini-skirts, the
same outfit as in Tokyo, strolling down the Xi-Men –Ting fashion area.
The number of people traveling to Japan--their shopping paradise and
the symbol of romance in Japanese dramas-- have increased dramatically.
Turning on TV, quite a few channels are filled with Japanese stars,
programs, and songs. When we』re still wondering what had happened, the
goods 「 made in Japan」 have already overwhelmed us.
It』s a generational thing. Younger people like us may read horrible
history or see bloody pictures about the invasion of Japan, but we』ve
never experienced it and can』t really feel the pain of losing our own
country and family. But the older people did. They witnessed the whole
history, and they』re the real victims. In addition, the Japanese are as
successful as the Americans in selling their commodities, Asian designs
that appropriately match Taiwanese bodies--yellow skin, short and
slimmer figure. So it is ironic to see the following picture: After the
eight-year anti-Japanese war, Taiwan seemed to have escaped from the
rule of Japan; however, we can say that in some ways we』re ruled by
their culture now.