My EDSA, your EDSA; Japanese culture in best-selling French book

All of us will have different ways of celebrating EDSA. I was abroad during the first EDSA. Having been in exile for many years, you can imagine what it meant to my family and me. We would be going home.

Just a day before the peaceful revolution, a taxi had sideswiped me as I crossed the street (luckily it hit only the grocery bags I was carrying), my daughter berated me for not being more careful. Imagine if I had died before we could return home. Well, I did not only survived to see the first EDSA, I am still alive on the 26th EDSA anniversary.

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Looking at an album of interesting articles commemorating EDSA, I found one on Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and what he said three years ago on its 23rd anniversary. He said he has been hurting and that is why he had not come to any of the celebrations.

But on that year he decided to attend. At wreath-laying ceremony at the Libingan ng mga Bayani he said that Feb. 25 “deserves the nation’s remembrance,” and tells why he was hurting.

“I have long nursed a certain discomfiture at being paraded as an EDSA hero, while those who bravely dared to fight the hard battle with us seemed to have been forgotten, their idealism ignored, and even their heroic contribution belittled,” Enrile said.

History would be the final judge, Enrile said.

The time will come when “To recall what transpired since Feb. 22, 1986, to put the blame where the blame lies, and to place credit where much credit has not been acknowledged, will simply make one a sour grape,” he said.

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It is right that former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has pleaded not guilty to an electoral fraud charge. I am not a lawyer but if she were to plead guilty or if any court would judge her as guilty then it would have to reckon with all elections in modern Philippine history even the May 10 elections.

It seems to me, that her guilt, if any, should be judged under the constitutional principle behind the Supreme Court’s decision when they voted 10-5 on a truth commission.

“The majority, among others, held that EO 1 [Executive Order 1] violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution in as much as it singles out for investigation the reports of graft and corruption in the previous administration.”

In other words the former President is being selectively charged for alleged crimes that have characterized all elections in the Philippines under our presidential system. (President Aquino gave the Ampatuan patriarch his break as OIC mayor after EDSA 1!)

We may need electoral reforms but it should be made through constitutional change and not through vindictive acts aimed at one person and one administration. It would need more than a column to fully and justly discuss the issue of electoral fraud in Philippine history. But we can question the injustice and unfairness of the accusations of electoral fraud against former President Arroyo.

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I am still thrilled by the Japan night that was held recently in Dusit Nikko. The event was a joint cooperation between the magazine Travelife and the Embassy of Japan. It was good to know that the embassy will continue organizing such events to encourage Filipinos to visit and revisit this lovely country.

I interviewed Shinsuke Shimizu, the head of chancery by email and he kindly sent us his comments. “As you rightly mentioned, our objective in bringing Maiko to Manila was to get Filipino people familiarized with Japanese culture, thereby encouraging them to visit Japan. We expected such impact not only among guests of Japan Night, but also with a larger population through media, as you kindly did by your column.

In fact, Japan, especially Tohoku region, suffers from a significant drop in the number of tourists after the earthquake, because of unfounded fear about radiation.

That was why the Embassy decided to promote Yamagata, a part of Tohoku region, as tourist destination. First we did it at last year’s Emperor’s birthday reception by serving their food specialties. This time we chose Yamagata Maiko, instead of Kyoto Maiko as performers at Japan Night. They readily accepted invitation from the Embassy, which then arranged their trip all the way to Manila by ensuring JAL’s sponsorship.

Aside from Kyoto, Yamagata is the only city where we still have Maiko, because Yamagata used to be in the sphere of influence of Kyoto culture in the Edo era. In fact Yamagata was closely tied to Kyoto through trade through the Sea of Japan.”

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While other Japanophiles reached for “Memoirs of a Geisha” after the party I pulled out Muriel Burberry’s “The Elegance of the Hedgehog,” from my bookshelves. It was, says one review “a best seller in France and several other countries, belongs to a distinct subgenre: the accessible book that flatters readers with its intellectual veneer.”

It is set in Paris but it has a lot of Japanese influence in the book. One of the things of Japanese culture that it takes up is the manga, the Japanese comic book. Frankly I did not even know about Japanese manga so my children laughed at my ignorance.

There are other symbols in the book, one of them being the camellia. The central character is Renee, a nondescript concierge in an elegant Paris residence. She is also fond of great literature but she hides it from outsiders. She befriends 12-year-old Paloma who is also searching for a reason to make life worth living.  

One of the minor characters is a wealthy Japanese businessman who moves into the building. Through him the concierge and the young girl become friends.

She said “Okay, a Bacon (a typical scene from Bacon the painter) came to life before my very eyes, does that make it worth it?” She finally finds meaning in a rosebud falling to the table. “Oh my gosh, I thought, does this mean that this is how we must live our lives? Constantly poised between beauty and death, between movement and its disappearance?”

The book makes you want to visit Japan and know more about a culture that urges you to think deeper about what life should be about. The author now lives in Japan.