The rumors are true. Bjorn is moving back to Japan

[Cajunrider]

I lived in Atlanta and Orlando in the last 8 years and I have not noticed the anti-China sentiment… Maybe it differs by location.

Are you Asian, though? If there’s anything I’ve learned about bigots and other bullies, it’s that they know their behavior isn’t acceptable and, so, they usually wait until they’ve got their victim alone with no one else to witness before they act on their worst impulses. So, I wouldn’t expect that I, as a white guy, would necessarily witness the extent of the problem of anti-Asian sentiment.

I am Asian and have traveled to many corners of the world. Bigots and bullies exist everywhere, same with decent and kind people. If I use anecdotal evidence, I can say I experience far more racial prejudice in Europe than in the heart of the South in the US. For the US in the past 10 years, the changes in political scenes have spilled over into racial relationship and there no doubt have been an uptick in racial attacks from the bigots and bullies. In response, there is also an outpouring of sympathy and kind acts. Nevertheless, I have to be more vigilant now because I belong to the favorite victim population group: Old Asians.

Does all this change my opinion of the US? Absolutely not! The US is my country and my children's country now. When I swore in to be a US citizen, I swore to take up arms and defend her. I then knew what it takes and meant what I swore. There is no place where I would rather be. Each of us can make our own choice on the best place for us. I wish Bjorn the best of luck even though I don't think he needs any. A skilled artisan is an extremely rare commodity that every society wants.

PS: Perhaps I should walk around with my Root Slayer

 

[IzzyG]

You need to be Asian to be able to know if there is discrimination against Asians. On top of that, even in areas where there is known xenophobia or racism against Asian people, there are always (local/assimilated) Asians who say they have never experienced it, for whatever reason.

There was a huge uptick of xenophobia against Asian people after covid. And there has been a slumbering racism, even sometimes 'positive' 'all Asians are good at math'-type racial stereotypes in every western countries.
With geopolitical tensions between the US and China, surely that must also play a role.

However, I think people are going a bit too far in speculating this is the reason why Bjorn is leaving for Japan, without any comment from him. And as noticed in this thread already, Japan and China have their own tensions, partially because of governments trying to stir tensions because of internal politics. And partially because of their history and lack of apology and reparations.
That said, you wouldn't be immune from racism as a Chinese person in Japan either.

Probably, there is this thing called 'bonsai' that made Bjorn move to Japan. But that might just be my speculation.

I believe the point made about speculation is exceptionally important. We only KNOW what Bjorn has shared. Beyond that, it is all speculation. And we all know that speculating about others’ personal lives is much like speculating in the market; dangerous and often bears no fruit.

 

[rockm]

I think Bjorn's move is a great loss for American bonsai. He was one of the biggest champions (and consumer and seller) of big, old collected Western conifers and native species. He made a point of searching that material out to master it using a set of skills honed in Japan. That's not common. There are more such teachers around, but he is one of the most well-known and drove innovation in how native material is developed and collected (wonder what the guys at Backcountry Bonsai are thinking--he is/was a pretty good customer).

Can't help but think it's a downsizing for him--less land, fewer trees. I don't know the bonsai market in Japan, but he's swimming with whales over there, while in the U.S., he is one of a handful of whales in a faster, younger, developing market with more diversity in species. Of course he has access to spectacular old Japanese trees over there, but it's not really what he was doing here. Maybe he is looking to make a mark at shows such as Kokufu, along with other Americans like Doug Paul...

As for the bottom-line motivation for moving to Japan, who knows. It's nobody's business but his. You can speculate all ya want. We'll never know.

I made a "contribution" to the move by buying an Eisei-En T-shirt...

 

[Mikecheck123]

I don’t consider Bjorn’s move to Japan a loss, necessarily, to the American bonsai community… as others have mentioned, we are living in the age of social media… we own the means to remain connected with people/businesses we interact with remotely. I think there’s tremendous value in having a well known and accomplished American bonsai artist living and growing their business in a foreign country, especially Japan. Best to Bjorn and his family.

Good point. I might actually visit his nursery in Kyoto, but I was never going to Tennessee.

 

[flor1]

I think you’ll see Bjorn get deeper into the tour business .
Unless he has a well funded backer to help start a business.

 

[Maiden69]

No real estate in Japan and cost of living is less than US

100% accurate, the only thing that I dislike is the income tax brackets, which is where they will get you if you make a decent amount of money. The highest bracket goes to 55% vs 37% for the US. Below chart is from 2021.



I have been following Marty Friedman career for a long time, ever since he was in Cacophony with Jason Becker, he moved to Japan when he left Megadeth in 2004 and has done a few interviews on why he did, and why he wouldn't move back into the US.

I lived in Atlanta and Orlando in the last 8 years and I have not noticed the anti-China sentiment… Maybe it differs by location.

Without getting too much into politics, the cities that have the highest anti-Asian (don't have to be Chinese) are major cities run by the democrat party. Image from axios.com, I didn't search every city, but I do know most of them are Dem. It has gotten stupid since the COVID shutdown. There were a few incidents here in downtown San Antonio, again a democrat city in a red state... but that got squashed pretty quickly.

I also think that it all depends on the Asian community in the area, probably the sentiment will be lower if it is strong.

My experience in Japan was largely that they don't care so much about where your from but they do care if you know the Language.

I can not state the importance of this bolded statement... this is every where. I have been to a few countries, and all you have to do is try to speak the language and the treatment you will receive will be 10 times better than if you don't.

From Germany, South Korea, Filipinas, Afghanistan, and even back home in PR. If the first thing that comes out of your mouth is "English please", be ready to have marginal service or help. But as soon as you try, they will even do their best to try their English to help you out as much as they can. To get a grasp of this, if you have a little time check out xiaomanyc channel in YT, the guy is near native speaker for Mandarin Chinese, and he recently started learning other languages and going to markets and restaurants trying it out. 9/10 he ends up with amazing service and free food. That was my experience in South Korea.

 

[BrianBay9]

Without getting too much into politics, the cities that have the highest anti-Asian (don't have to be Chinese) are major cities run by the democrat party. Image from axios.com, I didn't search every city, but I do know most of them are Dem. It has gotten stupid since the COVID shutdown. There were a few incidents here in downtown San Antonio, again a democrat city in a red state... but that got squashed pretty quickly.

All the major US cities have Democratic mayors. You have to get down to Ft. Worth (15th) and Oklahoma City (23) to hit Republicans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_the_50_largest_cities_in_the_United_States

 

[jandslegate]

I believe the point made about speculation is exceptionally important. We only KNOW what Bjorn has shared. Beyond that, it is all speculation. And we all know that speculating about others’ personal lives is much like speculating in the market; dangerous and often bears no fruit.

Solid point. He's made it clear many times over how he feels about Japan. It seems rather clear this move was a goal all along. Maybe concerns over social climate have a part in it, maybe they don't. Either way it's their decision to make and if it's something they want to do and they have the ability to do it then more power to him and his family.

I mean, I'm sorry to see him and Eisei-en go. We're only a few hours away despite that we never got the chance to get back there this year but it is what it is. He and his family are great people and ultimately I'm happy for them. Sometimes it's as simple as they're going because they want to.

 

[Glaucus]

Guess what! Asians don't report hate crimes in areas where there are no Asians at all. Doesn't mean the people are more racist in big democratic cities.
Anyway, we Europeans don't want to see how some Americans try to defend the views of certain politicians that have been way too popular.
Generally, we see there is more xenophobia in rural areas where there aren't a lot of people of colour. True both in Europe and in the US.
The more multicultural a place actually is, the more acceptance.

And besides that, the US does have some red states. But mostly, all states contain blue urban areas and red rural areas. Including Texas. The big cities there will probably be blue in 1 or 2 election cycles.
And guess what! If you pack hundreds of thousands of people together, forming a city, you get a ton of economic activity, Off which the government can tax a lot. To fund roads, energy, the military, education, in subsidizing the rural areas.
But putting hundreds of thousands of people together in a city also causes all kinds of problems, including crime.
That doesn't mean that Democratic mayors turn people into criminals or racists.

 

[Srt8madness]

Guess what! Asians don't report hate crimes in areas where there are no Asians at all. Doesn't mean the people are more racist in big democratic cities.
Anyway, we Europeans don't want to see how some Americans try to defend the views of certain politicians that have been way too popular.
Generally, we see there is more xenophobia in rural areas where there aren't a lot of people of colour. True both in Europe and in the US.
The more multicultural a place actually is, the more acceptance.

And besides that, the US does have some red states. But mostly, all states contain blue urban areas and red rural areas. Including Texas. The big cities there will probably be blue in 1 or 2 election cycles.
And guess what! If you pack hundreds of thousands of people together, forming a city, you get a ton of economic activity, Off which the government can tax a lot. To fund roads, energy, the military, education, in subsidizing the rural areas.
But putting hundreds of thousands of people together in a city also causes all kinds of problems, including crime.
That doesn't mean that Democratic mayors turn people into criminals or racists.

Their policies absolutely contribute to crime growth and severity. It's beyond naive to think otherwise.

 

[Maiden69]

Guess what! Asians don't report hate crimes in areas where there are no Asians at all. Doesn't mean the people are more racist in big democratic cities.
Anyway, we Europeans don't want to see how some Americans try to defend the views of certain politicians that have been way too popular.
Generally, we see there is more xenophobia in rural areas where there aren't a lot of people of colour. True both in Europe and in the US.
The more multicultural a place actually is, the more acceptance.

And besides that, the US does have some red states. But mostly, all states contain blue urban areas and red rural areas. Including Texas. The big cities there will probably be blue in 1 or 2 election cycles.
And guess what! If you pack hundreds of thousands of people together, forming a city, you get a ton of economic activity, Off which the government can tax a lot. To fund roads, energy, the military, education, in subsidizing the rural areas.
But putting hundreds of thousands of people together in a city also causes all kinds of problems, including crime.
That doesn't mean that Democratic mayors turn people into criminals or racists.

hmmmm... you clearly only see the headlines in the news and not the context of the situation.

The more multicultural a place actually is, the more acceptance.

So, if this is true, why is it that in those "multicultural" places is where the most of the hate crimes take place? Yes, rural areas tend to be more exclusive vs inclusive, but you don't see the crap that happens in the big cities. Yes, they look at you weird, as if you were an alien, but that's where it ends. I'm a latino from Puerto Rico, and I have been discriminated by every freaking race there is, except Asians. Hell, the worse one was from a First Sergeant of Mexican descent, a latino above all. Don't come preaching the EU crap here if you haven't lived in any of the big cities in the US and experienced it yourself. I didn't experience any of this in Germany, and I was on a few rural and major cities. So it doesn't happen "just because" there's a lot of people in one area.

 

[Nybonsai12]

And guess what! If you pack hundreds of thousands of people together, forming a city, you get a ton of economic activity, Off which the government can tax a lot. To fund roads, energy, the military, education, in subsidizing the rural areas.

Ah that must be the reason they are bussing thousands of illegal immigrants and dropping them off in NYC.....for the tax revenue

 

[roberthu]

I am Asian and have traveled to many corners of the world. Bigots and bullies exist everywhere, same with decent and kind people. If I use anecdotal evidence, I can say I experience far more racial prejudice in Europe than in the heart of the South in the US. For the US in the past 10 years, the changes in political scenes have spilled over into racial relationship and there no doubt have been an uptick in racial attacks from the bigots and bullies. In response, there is also an outpouring of sympathy and kind acts. Nevertheless, I have to be more vigilant now because I belong to the favorite victim population group: Old Asians.

Does all this change my opinion of the US? Absolutely not! The US is my country and my children's country now. When I swore in to be a US citizen, I swore to take up arms and defend her. I then knew what it takes and meant what I swore. There is no place where I would rather be. Each of us can make our own choice on the best place for us. I wish Bjorn the best of luck even though I don't think he needs any. A skilled artisan is an extremely rare commodity that every society wants.

PS: Perhaps I should walk around with my Root Slayer

Haha Sir, I can totally relate to what you said and I feel like I am following your steps very closely!

 

[Glaucus]

Their policies absolutely contribute to crime growth and severity. It's beyond naive to think otherwise.

Which is why maybe Democrats in US cities should have policies more like those on say Denmark, right?

So, if this is true, why is it that in those "multicultural" places is where the most of the hate crimes take place?

You can only have racial hate crimes when you have a ethnically diverse population. Cities almost without exception are more ethnically diverse than rural areas.
Why do ethnic minorities prefer to lvie in cities over rural areas? Well, that's a good question. Maybe think about it!

This is true for both US and EU.

 

[namnhi]

I am Asian and have traveled to many corners of the world. Bigots and bullies exist everywhere, same with decent and kind people. If I use anecdotal evidence, I can say I experience far more racial prejudice in Europe than in the heart of the South in the US. For the US in the past 10 years, the changes in political scenes have spilled over into racial relationship and there no doubt have been an uptick in racial attacks from the bigots and bullies. In response, there is also an outpouring of sympathy and kind acts. Nevertheless, I have to be more vigilant now because I belong to the favorite victim population group: Old Asians.

Does all this change my opinion of the US? Absolutely not! The US is my country and my children's country now. When I swore in to be a US citizen, I swore to take up arms and defend her. I then knew what it takes and meant what I swore. There is no place where I would rather be. Each of us can make our own choice on the best place for us. I wish Bjorn the best of luck even though I don't think he needs any. A skilled artisan is an extremely rare commodity that every society wants.

PS: Perhaps I should walk around with my Root Slayer

Uncle, Am sure there will be chances you can you the root slayer..... to dig up a few interesting trees a long the way.

 

[pandacular]

Another thread successfully destroyed by a barely tangential topic. Great work everyone!! See you next week.

 

[Cajunrider]

Guess what! Asians don't report hate crimes in areas where there are no Asians at all. Doesn't mean the people are more racist in big democratic cities.
Anyway, we Europeans don't want to see how some Americans try to defend the views of certain politicians that have been way too popular.
Generally, we see there is more xenophobia in rural areas where there aren't a lot of people of colour. True both in Europe and in the US.
The more multicultural a place actually is, the more acceptance.

And besides that, the US does have some red states. But mostly, all states contain blue urban areas and red rural areas. Including Texas. The big cities there will probably be blue in 1 or 2 election cycles.
And guess what! If you pack hundreds of thousands of people together, forming a city, you get a ton of economic activity, Off which the government can tax a lot. To fund roads, energy, the military, education, in subsidizing the rural areas.
But putting hundreds of thousands of people together in a city also causes all kinds of problems, including crime.
That doesn't mean that Democratic mayors turn people into criminals or racists.

Be careful when you make general statements. I've spent the last 40 years living in rural areas in various states in the US. I absolutely do NOT see more xenophobia in rural areas. There is a cautious approach people in rural areas take when it comes to newcomers. Once they get to know us, they are about as warm and helpful as they could be. At the last rural area in Louisiana we lived, we were there for 15 years. We hardly ever locked our doors unless traveling for extended periods. My neighbors have the key to my house and I do theirs to check things out when we see something wrong. We now live in the city and have to install automatic locks, monitoring cameras, and we routinely see prowlers walking the neighborhood looking for unlocked cars and houses to break in.

I used to do the evening stroll with my wife at the rural house. We stopped at have treats and tea at the neighbors sometimes. We never felt threatened and never carried protection.
Now we walk in the city park at the same time in the evening. I carry protection with me to protect myself and my loved ones. I wouldn't be doing that unless the threat is real.

Also how do you know Asians don't report hate crimes in areas where there are no Asian at all. I've been in many places where there are no Asians and I will report any crime. Actually I reported a trespassing on my land in the rural area I used to live. The kids drove their ATV onto my land and made a few donuts. The sheriff rounded them up and asked me if I wanted to prosecute. I was about to but then they and their parents came to my house and apologized. Of course I didn't prosecute because the kids meant no harm. We became good neighbors. Lemme tell ya, they made good gumbo.

 

[Maiden69]

You can only have racial hate crimes when you have a ethnically diverse population.

Completely false... the biggest issues the US had in the past was towards one race. If you look at history, its been the same for eons. from the Mesopotamian and Sumerian civilizations, to the Egyptian, the Greeks, Romans and the Vikings... there has always been a kind of racial hate crime/compounded with slavery.

Most often, the places with diverse population don't exert that kind of racial hate, it is only when one race thinks of themselves as superior, or in the instance of this new cases, inferior that hate towards other races flourish. Most of the people that have been target of this "hate crimes" are successful individuals, that stand out in a crowd. People that immigrated into the US to better themselves and provide a better life for their families. Now look at the aggressors, entitled teenage punks most of them that think they are above everyone. And that everyone owes them something.

Which is why maybe Democrats in US cities should have policies more like those on say Denmark, right?

Nope again... the only reason Denmark policies work is because they have been in place for a long time, and the government actually perform their duties. Denmark is one of the few countries that is running a surplus budget, their debt skyrocketed with COVID, but they have been in surplus since 2021, where in the US, some people think that they can support policies like the ones in Denmark with a multi-trillion deficit.

Another plus for Denmark is their education system and the fact that they have a VERY strong sense of family. According to research, in 2002 they had to tighten the immigration policies (wonder why the Dems think that softening them would be a good thing). Immigrants in both countries is similar to 113.8 and 13.6 %, the main issue in the US is the illegal immigration, which Denmark has very good control of.

We could go on for days... there is no way to try to compare the US and Denmark as equals because the policies that work there, don't work here. Blame the management company.

 

[SouthernMaple]

100% accurate, the only thing that I dislike is the income tax brackets, which is where they will get you if you make a decent amount of money. The highest bracket goes to 55% vs 37% for the US. Below chart is from 2021.

View attachment 506825

I have been following Marty Friedman career for a long time, ever since he was in Cacophony with Jason Becker, he moved to Japan when he left Megadeth in 2004 and has done a few interviews on why he did, and why he wouldn't move back into the US.


Without getting too much into politics, the cities that have the highest anti-Asian (don't have to be Chinese) are major cities run by the democrat party. Image from axios.com, I didn't search every city, but I do know most of them are Dem. It has gotten stupid since the COVID shutdown. There were a few incidents here in downtown San Antonio, again a democrat city in a red state... but that got squashed pretty quickly.

I also think that it all depends on the Asian community in the area, probably the sentiment will be lower if it is strong.

View attachment 506828


I can not state the importance of this bolded statement... this is every where. I have been to a few countries, and all you have to do is try to speak the language and the treatment you will receive will be 10 times better than if you don't.

From Germany, South Korea, Filipinas, Afghanistan, and even back home in PR. If the first thing that comes out of your mouth is "English please", be ready to have marginal service or help. But as soon as you try, they will even do their best to try their English to help you out as much as they can. To get a grasp of this, if you have a little time check out xiaomanyc channel in YT, the guy is near native speaker for Mandarin Chinese, and he recently started learning other languages and going to markets and restaurants trying it out. 9/10 he ends up with amazing service and free food. That was my experience in South Korea.

Yeah but in Japan they get benefits for their taxes unlike we do here in the states, here is the best explanation of how screwed up our system is:

 

[Glaucus]

Completely false... the biggest issues the US had in the past was towards one race. If you look at history, its been the same for eons. from the Mesopotamian and Sumerian civilizations, to the Egyptian, the Greeks, Romans and the Vikings... there has always been a kind of racial hate crime/compounded with slavery.

It is literally pure logic. You first need to be an ethnic minority. Then you need to be a victim. And then you need to report. Each is a percentage of the other. If the first number is zero, the other numbers could be very high, but you'd still have almost no hate crime reports. So you don't know how statistics work.
If you have a community that is completely white, or complete Japanese, or completely African, no one is going to report a racial hate crime.
Are you even reading and thinking? Because everything else about the ancient greeks and Mesopotamian, I have absolutely no idea what you even think that is supposed to mean. YOU were the one posting a graph with hate crimes, showing big bars for cities like DC, SanFran, LA, and then talking about democratic mayors, and connecting this to Bjorn. somehow. If you want to talk about hate crimes towards Persians in 200 BC Ionia, or transgender roles in ancient viking rading parties, go to a niche ancient history politics forum. This is a bonsai forum.

Some people just shouldn't even talk about politics. You are allowed to vote, but please don't voice your opinion.

You saw the word 'Denmark' and you are literally rambling about government debt, covid19 policy, etc. If someone Danish or someone an expert of Danish politics read that comment, they'd know you have absolutely no idea.