One thing I had worried about taking classes in Japan is that they would extremely biased and pro-Japan. Maybe this is a stereo-type based on the Ministry of Education's treatment of Japan's colonialism before and during WWII (Nanking, comfort women, etc). I've been pleasantly surprised in that most of my professors have been quite critical of the Japanese government.

I just got out of a very interesting session of my International Development class. Our teacher is a smart guy and selects interesting readings. He encourages a very interactive class with lots of discussion (far from the norm here). He also worked for JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) and is wonderfully jaded of the system.

Japan's official government statement on foreign development (in Ministry of Foreign Affairs documents and JICA charter) is not to help other countries. But to support other countries helping themselves. 'Needy' countries are supposed to come to Japan with their requests. But the reality is more something like this:

Maybe boring to you, but I think it's interesting to see the relationships of how these administrative entities work in reality. There is also constant jockeying for power within JICA itself between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economic Trade and Industry, and the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries. JICA and international development is used as a tool to explore the interests of the individual ministries.

Nothing about development and everything about protecting departmental interests. In the end, no suprise.
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