Plus la meme chose

Writing in the 1890s, Hearn observes "Of the nine or ten English papers published in the open ports, the majority expressed, day after day, one side of this dislike, in the language of ridicule or contempt..." The "open ports" are the five Japanese ports opened to foreign trade in the 1850s and home to foreign concessions, entire 'alien' communities enjoying complete extra-territoriality, a colonialist arrangement regarded by most Japanese of the day as a national embarrassment and insult. The foreign community rarely traveled beyond its narrow precincts, and in its interactions with Japanese was insufferably haughty and condescending. As for "the language of ridicule or cotempt", one may simply peruse the comments (and the occasional article) in Japan Today to discover how little has changed. * Just imagine: "nine or ten English papers", some publishing morning and evening editions daily for a decidedly small readership.