These things, along with their implictations, are most likely the reason why the current Japanese government is very upset.

And on top of that, coming from someone who is a gaigin would most likely upset the Japanese public.

(The reason most likely is used is because these I don’t know the minds of he government, but are based on logic and knowledge gathered as well as politics.)

Sadly, if Ben Hills’ intentions are indeed honest, this book may not reach much of the intended audience. If they’re not, then this broohaha over the book will probably work in his favor.

Too busy looking at the trees, to see the forest?

I’m amazed at how casually you explain away so many of these concerns as “not uncommon.” A small handful of oddities can be overlooked, but ignoring a huge pile of them is asking for trouble.

Staging welcomes may not be uncommon, but it’s still dishonest. Especially, when you’re staging it with people who won’t even be hearing the speech. It’d be an easier issue to ignore if they brought people out of the venue to cheer in front of the cameras. But no! They bussed in a large group of the elderly.

Seeing as the PlayStation 3 launch was mobbed by Chinese nationals hired to buy the consoles, I can see why you shrug this off so easily.

Pressuring a publisher to withhold a book is not the same as spewing vitriol at the book/author/publisher. It’s called censorship.

Having someone else check the Royal Poo for oddities seems strange to me. However, I can easily shrug that off. I certainly wouldn’t expect someone of royalty to do something as “common” as that. That said, having an official position for this function is a bit much.

It reminds me of a South Park episode. Half the town was driving around in their new, eco-friendly Prius sedans. They became so smug and full of themselves, that they would regurarly bend down to inhale their own farts, like they were vapors wafting off a delicious cup of mountain grown, full-bodied Folgers(R) coffee.

The thing you’re missing is that once you catalog all of these oddities, you end up with quite a book.

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@gman

How many peasant revolts has history seen resulting from the common people finally getting fed up with the excesses of their elite? How can you defend such an anachronism? Such institutions have been done away with, except in a few backwards looking countries that still haven’t gotten over the fall from their lofty perches.

As for those historic buildings in the UK, they weren’t built by any of the recent royal families. And most of the pieces in the Royal Collection are how old? I do think that some tourism revenue would be lost without a royal family, but I certainly don’t think it’d be catastrophe.

Then again, Richmond may have a very good point. I wonder how many tourists hope to catch a glimpse of something juicy they can gossip about when they get back home.

Forbes Magazine lists 946 billionaires. I think Haute Couture has nothing to worry about.

And my final counter arguments to your defense of keeping the Royal Family: most of the stuff you mention happened in the past, under the rule of monarchs that actually had something meaningful to do. Both these royal families are merely riding on the coattails of their ancestors, and serve not real purpose anymore.

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As for book: I’m pretty sure Ben Hill and his publisher purposely came up with a sensationalistic title, that would peak people’s curiosity.

I can’t speak for his intentions. However, this by itself doesn’t mean his only intention is to gain fame/notoriety and stuff his pockets. It could go either way.

Either he’s trying to take advantage of the Royal Family, by spreading gossip. Or, he’s trying to shed light on something that’s much easier for him to see as an outsider. I’m ambivalent about it as this point, as I don’t know much about the book or the author.

However, unlike some people, I’m convinced that a golden cage is still a cage, without being placed in one.

P.S. I sure hope this blog accepts anchor tags.

Ok so the basis of your arguement is purely economic…”it costs a lot of money therefore its bad” .
If thats the angle you wish to take then perhaps we need to see how much the UK makes on Tourism . Lets look at the top most visited sights and I can guarantee the historic buildings built due to the presence of Royalty dominate it. I am not familiar with these sites but please inform me. look at the products …high end luxury items developed for royalty and now major earners for the economy
The presence of royalty throughout history has formed the very identity and culture of your country and under the kings and queens a whole empire expanded and grew wealthy beyond imagination. trade rotes carved out and terrotories claimed under the name of royalty. Even now there must be revenue from whats left of the empire.

this is just a start…..

Care to argue?