HEIL HIROHITO!

by Colin Liddell

Today (April 29th) is Showa Day here in Japan. This is a national holiday, held in honour of the Emperor Hirohito. Showa is his death name and the name of the period defined by his reign (1926-89), a period when Japan made two distinct grabs at world domination and came reasonably close in both cases, before the constrictions of being a relatively small island nation kicked in.

VANGUARD (16): ALIEN NATION REDUX

The 16th of the Vanguard Podcasts, featuring Richard Spencer, Andy Nowicki, and Colin Liddell. In this edition they are joined by VDARE.com's Peter Brimelow to discuss America's ongoing immigration disaster,  the limitations of the Tea Party, and the Japanese approach to immigration.

SHORTPOD (11): DEATH IN VEGAS AND THE JAPANESE ELECTIONS

Colin Liddell talks about the Las Vegas Massacre, the Catalonian Crisis, and the Japanese general election, in which a new party, ominously led by a woman, is challenging Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Colin Liddell’s article on the Las Vegas Massacre: To Live and Die in Las Vegas

Colin Liddell’s article on the Catalonian situation: Damage to Catalonia?

DISASTER PLANET THINKING

by Colin Liddell

You've probably heard of Murphy's Law: if it can go wrong it will go wrong. And over the years it certainly has gone wrong, again and again and again, and on a massive scale. That's how we mammals got our big chance – when an asteroid levelled the playing field with our original reptilian overlords some 66 million years ago.

AMERICA: THE EMPIRE BUILT ON FAT AND SHIT

Matthew Calbraith Perry, American Imperialist

by Empire & Revolution

The end, as the philosophers often say, is in the beginning. This may or may not be true, but if it is, it is particularly interesting to consider the beginning of the American Empire.

Some would say that America hardly needs an Empire, as it is a vast continent-sized nation with enough of the resources and none of the inherent costs that come with being an empire. Isolationism has always been the default common-sense position for this impressive amalgamation of natural resources and human capital. However, instead of making the most of what they have, Americans have embroiled themselves—often at great cost in terms of blood, finance, and internal corruption—in the affairs of the World. It does not seem to be a project that will have a happy end.

BOOK REVIEW: "JAPAN-NESS IN ARCHITECTURE" BY ARATA ISOZAKI

This book review was published ten years ago in the largely degenerate Metropolis magazine. The subject, nationalism in architecture, is a subject of obvious interest to the Alt-Right.

Ise Jingu, spiritual centre of the nation.

by Colin Liddell

Modern Japanese architecture seems to be rooted somewhere in the Space Age, but this informative book by Arata Isozaki, an important architect and writer on architecture, shows that to understand the present you often have to look at the very distant past. 

For example, the fact that buildings in Tokyo are constantly being knocked down and rebuilt every five minutes somehow makes more sense when you consider Ise Jingu, the nation’s most venerated shrine. Every twenty years, this 'holy of holies' – the Japanese equivalent of the Vatican or Mecca – is ritually leveled with the ground as an identical building is reared up alongside it.

According to Isozaki, the main problem that Japanese architects have always faced has not been keeping the rain off people's heads, resisting earthquakes, or looking nice next to cherry trees, but instead successfully internalizing and 'Japanizing' foreign influences. 

"Japanese history repeats this pattern over and over," Isozaki writes. "First external pressure strikes Japan; triggered by it, social turmoil occurs and brings civil disturbance in its wake; and, finally, society is restabilized by a cultural Japanization."

Japanese architects have worked harder than most in the national struggle of a country that has forever been in the cultural and technological debt of foreigners to retain its sense of national identity and self worth.

Although the book's structure is not chronological or even logical, the picture that emerges is consistent and compelling, presenting a Japan that alternates time and again between periods of intense receptivity to foreign influences and periods where these influences are either assimilated or rejected. 

With his deep understanding of his own country’s architecture, Isozaki is able to point to many examples left in the architectural landscape, including the quintessentially 'Japanese' Ise Jingu shrine, which Isozaki shows has undergone several changes over the years in the attempt to make it seem as purely Japanese as possible.

The writer also identifies the characteristics on both sides of the main stylistic tension in historical Japanese architecture: indigenous Japanese vs. imported Chinese, and is not afraid to give reasons for these differences. For example, the use of the round, lacquered wooden pillar in Chinese design, as opposed to the square-shaped, lightly varnished or unvarnished wooden pillar in Japanese design, was caused by the scarcity of wood in Northern China, which was itself the result of the denudation of forests to provide the wood to bake the bricks to make the Great Wall of China.

Often these little snippets of information are more fascinating than some of the larger points Isozaki is endeavoring to make, like his belief that pursuing Japan-ness in architecture is somehow flawed and his assertion that globalization is eradicating the 'borderline' on which Japan-ness relies. 

He is particularly critical of the pre-war teikan style, a self-consciously nationalist but not unbecoming style promoted to counter the international modernist trend in architecture. Interestingly, for keen students of architecture, both styles can be studied relatively close together in Ueno Park, where the Tokyo National Museum's Honkan is the embodiment of the teikan, while the Tokyo Bunka Kaikan is an equally fine example of international modernism.

Tokyo National Museum's Honkan

Another key thread in Isozaki's account of Japanese architecture concerns the refugee German Jewish architect Bruno Taut and his modernist appreciation of traditional Japanese structures like Ise Jingu and the Edo period Imperial villa at Katsura, Chiba. After a visit to Ise, Taut, who had fled Nazi Germany in 1933, enthused that "Ise Jingu will become an ultimate destination of architectural pilgrimage, like the Acropolis."

As in so many other fields, the appreciation of a pair of foreign eyes helped the Japanese to discover their own merits. The result was that Japanese architects gained the confidence to apply their own traditions to modernist architecture, culminating in post-war architectural masterpieces like Kenzo Tange's Olympic Gymnasium.

The fact that Isozaki, a generation younger than Tange, never conceived of anything as impressive as this, seems to have left a note of bitterness that occasionally finds voice in an otherwise fascinating narrative. 

Yoyogi Gymnasium: the Battleship Yamato re-born as an architectural masterpiece.

 

THE ANTI-CIVILIZATION OF THE WEST

First published in Radix: The Great Erasure in 2012.

by Colin Liddell

In his book The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of the New World Order (1996) Samuel P. Huntington put forward the thesis, popular with large sections of the 'Right,' that the post-Cold-War world would be shaped by its major civilizations and their interactions.

For some it was the gently coded recognition of race that appealed, for others it was the stigmatization of Islam as a rather unpleasant civilization that rang true, so that the book became, for better or worse, a landmark of political science. This makes it an ideal starting point for considering the topic of civilizations in general and the problematic nature of the West in particular.

REDDIT "ASK ME ANYTHING" INTERVIEW WITH COLIN LIDDELL

On November 11th, Alternative Right's Chief Editor Colin Liddell fielded an "Ask Me Anything" on Reddit. Here are the questions and answers.

A still from one of Liddell's recent "Omega Man" inspired videos

Fratrick_Swayze: What event or series of events red-pilled you into the Alternative Right?

Colin Liddell: Being born. Prior to that I was living in a wonderful Socialistic welfare state called the Womb. Then I met my brothers...More seriously I grew up (ages 5 to 11) in South Africa, then a relatively traditionalist White dominated state (no TV or porn), then came back to a Leftist dominated Britain with its various social problems. That gave me a strong rightist slant, but politically I had to wait for the rise of the BNP in the early zeroes to start seeing things in a way beyond my immediate situation.

DOING THE RIGHT THING: AN INTERVIEW WITH COLIN LIDDELL

In the Summer of 2014, Colin Liddell, Chief Editor of Alternative Right was interviewed by Manticore Press, who produce the excellent journal Aristokratia. The interview covered a variety of topics, including the Alt Right, paganism, the essence of aristocracy, and much else.

**************

Manticore: You have had a prolific and long writing career encompassing many different projects. When did you start writing, and what are some of the topics you have worked on over the years?

Liddell: I started writing as a teenager, when I was drawn to poetry, as many are. I liked the intensity of the medium and also the fact that it was economical with paper. I have also done a few short stories and have even attempted longer forms, but I have had no interest in the marketing side, so I let that wither and die; although I keep thinking, if Andy Nowicki can do it, so can I. Yes, he’s a real inspiration!

My first properly published material was for Riff Raff, a London-based rock magazine that existed from 1989 to around 1995, which was founded by Mark Crampton, initially a friend of my brother. My first piece for them was a live review of the Rolling Stones. Since then I have branched out to cover almost anything – economics, politics, art, philosophy, speculative science, you name it. Over the years I have been quoted by a number of eminent people, from Jack Donovan to Bono.

PODCAST 36: TRANS PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP - GLOBALISM'S LAST GRASP?

One of Donald Trump's campaign claims is that he would make much better deals for America. Colin and Andy are joined by Alt-Right contributors Siryako Akda (Philippines) and Daniel Spaulding (Korea) to look at America's latest deal – the Transpacific Partnership, a major new trade treaty that aims to lower tariffs and impose common standards on a culturally diverse group of nations.

LAST LETTERS HOME FROM KAMIKAZE PILOTS

                                                                       

by Andy Nowicki

Lately, I have been reading The Divine Wind, a book which details the kamikaze campaign launched by the Japanese air force during the waning months of World War II.

Kamikaze literally translates to "divine wind"; the word obtains its origin from a legend of two mighty typhoons which were ostensibly sent by the gods to protect Japan from Mongol invasions in the thirteenth century. Of course the definition of the term with which we're most familiar is the one synonymous with "suicide pilot."

MISHIMA AS MODERN ART

Today is the birthday of Yukio Mishima, the Japanese writer and nationalist revered by many on the alternative right. His fame was sealed by his ritual suicide on the 25th of November, 1970, after he had failed to incite a nationalist coup at the Ichigaya Bararcks in central Tokyo.

EQUALITY, EQUALITY EVERYWHERE, BUT NOT A DROP TO DRINK

Odaiba, Tokyo.

by Colin Liddell

Recently I ventured on foot across the ominously named "Rainbow Bridge," which spans Tokyo Bay, to visit the artificially created land of Odaiba. When Tokyo holds the Olympics in 2020, this is the area that will host the athletes' village as well as many of the other facilities and venues.

I say ominously-named, because "rainbow," rather than pleasant associations of sunshine after rain or pots of gold left by leprechauns, now has more disturbing ideological connotations; whether it is the "Rainbow Nation" of South Africa, with its genocidal tendencies, or the rainbow flag used to promote the deconstruction of gender roles in the West and the promotion of mass, multi-partner buggery.

But while Japan keeps a tight watch on its borders – at least for now – the nation and its culture occasionally pay lip service to the globalized Western (ab)norms now symbolized by the borderless gradations of the chromatic spectrum.

ALT-RIGHT PODCAST 20: THE ASIAN CENTURY?

Colin is joined by the legendary Matt Forney and Daniel Spaulding, a contributor to Alternative Right to discuss – and dispense 'fortune cookie' wisdom on – "The Asian Question." Will the 21st century be the Asian (or Chinese) century? Other topics include Confucian values, Asian intelligence and conformity, and demographic trends.

THE TRUE GLOBAL MINORITY

by Bay Area Guy

Our liberal leaning mainstream media never hesitates to inform us that whites are slowly but surely becoming minorities within Western countries. Most of the time such trends are reported in a mildly enthusiastic manner, with naysayers depicted as paranoid and alarmist racists. I guess according to leftist logic, objecting to your group’s eventual extinction renders you a horrible extremist.

However, another refrain that I’ve heard from many online leftists on blogs and elsewhere is that whites are already a global minority. Therefore, recent demographic changes are only natural. When reading through Studs Terkel’s book Race, one black woman that he interviewed emphatically rejected the term “minority” in favor of “people of color,” arguing that non-whites like her are the global majority.

Putting aside the foolish notion of a united “people of color” coalition and the fact that all groups are global minorities (as once pointed out by Jared Taylor), I’ll accept the argument that whites are a global minority at face value. After all, one cannot technically dispute such a claim. However, in the spirit of my post on the left and collective responsibility, I’m going to play the fun game of taking leftist logic and applying it to other groups. In this case, the intended target of my game are leftists themselves.

THE ECONOMIST WOULD BENEFIT FROM MASS IMMIGRATION

Mass immigration – Neo-Liberalism's poisoned panacea

by Colin Liddell

The Economist is one of those smug, know-it-all publications that think they've got the inside track on the way the world works but in essence know nothing, or even worse than nothing, existing as veritable black holes of anti-wisdom.

You can tell they know nothing because in any given situation, regardless of differing circumstances, they invariably repeat the same message. I notice this particularly in their Japanese coverage, which I had a chance to peruse again in a recent article "Why the Japanese are having so few babies" prompted by a Japanese public official's suggestion that the country could boost its low birth rate by issuing secretly punctured condoms.

YASUKUNI JINJA – THE MISUNDERSTOOD SHRINE TO JAPAN'S WAR DEAD

"I'm a Belieber" – Justin Bieber pays his respects.

by Colin Liddell

April is a big month in the calendar of Yasukuni, the shrine in downtown Tokyo dedicated to the souls of all those who have died in the service of the Japanese Emperors since the Meiji Revolution. It is therefore also a big month for making a fuss about the enshrinement of a group of men, who since the post-War trials carried out by the US occupation forces, have been called "war criminals."

Aside from the quaint notions that war should be some kind of sport played by gentlemen and that "war criminals" can only come from the losing side, Yasukuni Jinja never fails to create major misunderstandings between Japan and the West, misunderstandings that are quickly latched onto by interested parties in North East Asia who probably know a lot better.

PODCAST 7: DUGIN LOOKS EAST

Colin Liddell does a one-to-one with Alexandr Dugin, the leader of the Russian Eurasianist movement. Topics covered include the Sochi Olympics' opening ceremony, Japan, North East Asia, the interference of America in this region, hidden colonialism, and cultural & historical sovereignty.

TOKYO HATEFEST

by Colin Liddell

Race relations in Japan are in meltdown after Japanese airline carrier All Nippon Airlines ran an ad, which showed the cruelly offensive racist stereotype of the big-nosed gaijin (Nihongo for 'foreigner'). Luckily, the nose in question wasn't hooked or it would have been anti-Semitic as well.

Actually, no... People with actual things to do are not in the least bit bothered, and while some internet warriors thousands of miles away might think that something is amiss, the actual gaijins condemned to live in the "racist hellhole of Tokyo" have hardly noticed the internet shit storm.

MANDATE OF THE HEAVENS

by Siryako Akda

The extension of China’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) recently generated a lot of not so subtle butthurt in regional geopolitics here in Asia, so it is prudent to examine this particular issue within a broader context.