Bunmei Ibuki's controversial comments

Last weekend, Bunmei Ibuki, the Minister of Education in Japan made some contentious remarks.

According to at least one source: "Officials at the education ministry and the Liberal Democratic Party said they did not have a transcript of the remarks."

So here I will compile what comments I can, first in English and then in Japanese.

Comments in English:

1. "Japan has stressed the individual point of view too much ..." Source: UK Telegraph

2. "No matter how nutritious it is, if one ate only butter every single day, one would get metabolic syndrome. Human rights are important, but if we respect them too much, Japanese society will end up having human rights metabolic syndrome." Source: Mainichi Shimbun

3. "Japan has been historically governed by the Yamato (Japanese) race. Japan is an extremely homogenous country..." Source: The Japan Times

4. "In its long, multifaceted history, Japan has been governed by the Japanese all the way," Source: The Japan Times

Comments in Japanese, followed by my translation (numbers correspond to those above):

1. ... (can't find)

2 「どんなに栄養があっても、毎日バターばかり食べていればメタボリック症候群になる。人権は大切だが、尊重しすぎたら、日本社会は人権メタボリック症候群になる」 Source: Nikkei Net Translation: However nutritious it may be, if you eat nothing but butter everyday, you will get a metabolic syndrome. Human rights are important, but if you respect them too much, then Japanese society will get a human rights metabolic syndrome.

3 「大和民族がずっと日本の国を統治してきたのは歴史的に間違いのない事実。極めて同質的な国」 Source: Infoseek Translation: There is no mistaking the historical fact that the Yamato race (minzoku) has always ruled the country of Japan. (Japan is) an extremely homogenous country.

4 「悠久の歴史の中で、日本は日本人がずっと治めてきた」 Source: Infoseek Translation: For as long as there has been history, Japan has been governed by Japanese.

5.「権利と自由だけを振り回している社会はいずれだめになる。これが今回の教育基本法改正の一番のポイント」) Source: Excite Translation: A society which is centered only on freedom and rights will be a useless (one). This is the number one point we will bear in mind for the next revision of the educational law.

6. In reference to Iraq,「宗教的対立が激しいと、同じイスラムの中でも宗派が違うだけであれだけ厳しく対立する」 Source: Excite Translation: [phrase is very partial and hard to translate, something like](In Iraq) in the case where drastic religious conflicts exists, then even among Islam believers there are great conflicts between factions. (?)

7. In reference to Japan,「宗教的に極めて自由かったつな国民が作っている」 Source: Excite Translation: [I frankly can't follow this, perhaps this:] We, Japanese, are free from religious conflict (that other nations have.)

8. 「受験に有利なことだけ教えたっていうのは未履修問題。教育の世界における村上ファンドやライブドアみたいなもの」 Excite Translation: [Paraphrasing] There is a big problem in the schools of only teaching what needs to be taught to pass tests. In the educational world this is the equivalent of the actions performed by the Murakmi fund and Livedoor (executives).

Here is a blog link to a collection of articles on this topic.