Why is it "Multilingual age"?
After all, it has returned in the protection of the Japanese racialism

(From "Storm Petrel" Aug 31, 1977)

People talk easily about the multilingual age. It is an idea that the liberals willingly scatter around. They say it is nonsense and reactionary to stick to a specific language like Japanese and English, and the like, for the development of traffic, the global enlargement of the market, and the integration of the hole world at the present time. However, the one they take out is not an ideal of promoting the language evolution to raise "Race language" and "National language" but a fantasy of the current state confirming, and of the petty bourgeois as is "Multilingual principle." We wish examine this concept that the liberals actively scatter around, and let's expose how much reactionary and what a vulgar concept it is only to temporize to this capitalism world.

Of course, it might be as they say that it is nonsense to stick to the language only of one, for instance Japanese and the like, when it makes the world more and more. (However, the one they actually sticking to is the reality that English appears in fact as a universal language and overwhelms the other race language like Japanese, that is, the nationalistic consideration of liberal's "The language of Japan is dangerous" appears and disappears behind their hysteria.)

However, what do the liberals oppose to the racial language? Do they oppose some universal languages or Esperantoes?

They do not such kind of things at all. They only confirm the current state, that is, they say it is the best and the most desirable that there are a lot of languages as now.

They say it is interesting for "the Multipole" and the change that the hole world, that is, the human race is divided to 200 of "Nations," and the each has "Race language" respectively, and is politically and again culturally (even economically) divided, and is even conflicting in some cases. Shuichi Kato is alone complacent to see the devided world and the devided human race, to say "It is just interesting that there are various cultures in the world." ( "The Japanese Economy Newspaper" 18 Aug, the same as follows )

The liberals are emphasizing that the world is about to become one more and more now in one side, and are chatting about the world of the multilingualism (the multi-culturelism) on the other hand. Excluding whether we can easily call the world one in the world order of the race nation, and whether it is too optimistic, why do they become "the cultural pluralism" the more one becomes the world?

The liberals never answer this question, no, cannot answer. Because there might be nothing but the simple and plain trueth as that if the world will become one the world will become one in culture, and we cannot talk about the race culture but the "world culture" in the literal meaning at least, or rather should talk ablut it.

Of course, this is not to deny all the regional, "Racial" differences and distinctions. The regional, racial, and "national" differences will remain if we will win the world integration of the human race, as is similar that the regional difference and distinction remained after achieving the national union by the overcoming of the feudal division and decentralization. But it does not deny the huge meaning of the aquisition of the international union of the culture at all.

Where is the necessary and the necessity that the human race remain in cultural devision, that is, to speak hundeds of different languages not understood mutually, and to use many different character even cannot read and cannot write each other when "become one" on the whole?

The liberals are strange existence on earth. They talk with making the present, bourgeois world absolute and on the assumption of it, saying "The world is more interesting by the change and the color when there are hundreds of language."

They are quite numb and insensible how much the difference of the language disturb the free and close exchange and mutual understanding of the working class all over the world and become the cancer actually. Moreover, everyone knows what a big trouble it becomes for the development of the science. Though a lot of valuable and profitable ability and energy (That is, it is a big useless) of the human race are spent for the master and the translation of the language, and so on, the liberals are quite indifferent in these kind of things.

Of course, this is the one besides the suppression, erasure, or "Prohibition" of the language and culture of the minority.

We approve the inevitable progress of the human race history from the race language (the race culture) to the universal language (the world culture) and admit it is progressive.

A lot of languages not possible to count have been "Disappeared" or absorbed to the predominant language in the condition up to now, and such a process will continue in the future. We only approve the necessity of this human race history. We cannot believe such a thing at all that the human race after hundreds of year --- they already will live in the world wide single communistic world, will not? --- will be "sffered" with the divsion to the hundreds of languages and disturbed the communication of the will, can we?

Shuuichi Katou is clamoring if we make light of Japanese and syaing English and English in whatever, the race culture of Japan will be absorbed to the Anglo-Saxon culture with overwhelming power and will disappear, because the language is the culture, too.

Certainly, English substitutes the universal language in the present world actually, and Kato fears this reality, thinks to fight against it.

He announces the innocent wisdom that we should learn not only English but also another foreign language so as not to permit the rule of the Anglo-Saxon culture because if we do so we can stand in an equal standpoint with England's and United States' people in the another foreign language, we can oppose them, and we are "liberated from the inferiority complex."

The conscious workers are without relation to the intellectual's and liberal's strange inferiority complexes leaving aside the intellectuals as Katou, etc. Therefore, there is not a necessity to oppose it for the workers to push forcibly the national standpoint out at all, too.

Kato and the like advocate the multilingualism and the multi-culturlism, however there is the nationalism and the stunted crisis consideration that the Japanese culture might be overwhelmed by the culture of England and United States in the basis.

"The multilingalism falls on the multi-culturlism. If the Japanese culture opposes the Anglo-Saxon culture singly, it will be absobed to it in the 21 century. However if it is the multi-culturlism it will be able to oppose the single-culturlism. There is no way to secure the Japanese culture besides the multi-culturlism."

What does Katou try to say on the whole? I wonder whether this is another expression of the nationalism. The libelals are also the stunted nationalist ( the shy nationalist! ), too. Therefore they probably had surrendered and temporized to the nationalism, and have converted in such many number and with such ease during the Pacific War.

In short, does Katou say that Japan cannot do nothing but be defeated under the overwelming culture of England and United States if to defend the Japanese itself, and if so it is secured in the multi-culturlism, that is, in the relativism, in the making Japanese relativity?

Neither English nor Japanese, nor any languages of all other nations are absolute languages, and should not so. As all nations are relatively independent and each nation is peculiar, the language is not also in the English absolutism, all the languages must also be located and evaluated as peculiar one in the multilingualism, and the like.

However, what a miserable and narrow-minded petty bourgeois nationalism this might be, too!

The reason why Japanese became the common language of the Japanese people is that it was the language of the predominant race of Japan. And, this language union was a essential opportunity of the race nation. This language union had developed with political union, and was the one important condition that Japan had won the rapid, capitalistic development. In that sense, the language union of Japan was inevitable and a definitely progressive phenomenon.

Though we do not understand whether the development from the race language to the world language will trace the similar process to the development of the race language, of course we might not able to identify easily, the progressive meaning and the necessity of this process might be clear. It might be a consultation not to be done as long as we do not assume the human race is very foolish to think that the human race will be useing the languages divided into hundreds and each "People" will importantly persist in each language at the future life thousands of years afterwards.

Though it is English to occupy the position of the present "Universal language," English has not won this by some compulsion but by the economical, political overwhelming abilities. We still do not know whether the position of English will be reinforced further and will occupy the position of the universal language of future human race or human race will find another method. However, the evolution of human race from the race language to the universal language is inevitable. It might be completely nonsense, confoundedness, and a silly talk to think that human race will stay in the limitted and inconvenient stage of the useing of over 200 national languages (and moreover hundreds of "race" languages), and also that it is more interesting and glad because there are more varieties of culture.

The "Imperialistic" rule and tyranny of English has invented the thought of cultural multipole principle together with the age of the uplift of nationalism, and the liberals are shouting that this is just the one that shows the human race's appearance in the future.

They say that the resistance of the cultures and the languages suppressed and on the verge of the crisis of ruin starts and the "Rehabilitation" is requested with the revival of nationalism and relating to it.

However, such "struggle" against the development of the monopolistic capital and the imperialism is the reactionary struggle of petty bourgeoisie and the liberals who have lost sight of the direction, the backward "struggle" trying to return the history, so any one aggressive and with meaning will be not born from there.

(Hiroyoshi Hayashi)