False information alert! ⚠️
Your article is based on factually incorrect claims.

@unseenjapan.com — if accuracy is your goal, I’m happy to share the relevant primary sources.

I discuss other cases where I believe posts from this X account present Japanese politics in a potentially misleading way on my blog.

unitedreasoning.com/2025/07/31/j...

The X account is blue-verified, but I have not independently confirmed whether it is operated by Dr. Hall of Kanda University of International Studies.

that could give the impression that Ms. Umemura asserted cremation is traditionally Japanese, despite Japan’s historically mixed practices of both burial and cremation.

Caveat: It is possible that Ms. Umemura made such a claim in contexts not shown in this clip.

x.com/mrjeffu/stat...

In other words, she suggests that burial holds cultural significance for some Japanese people, while acknowledging contemporary norms around cremation. In my view, the account claiming to represent Dr. Jeffrey James Hall presents the clip in a way ...

ah, "emailing to" -> "email to" 🙈

Now, however, Western outlets readily explain that Japan fears becoming like Europe, as if Japan's fear of "becoming like Europe" is natural or unsurprising. 😮

Time flies indeed, and society is changing at a pace far exceeding my expectations. 🥲

Just a decade ago, some Europeans were still ridiculing Japanese people for "Paris Syndrome," laughing at our impossibly high expectations for Europe with confidence.

Still, I stop short of calling it outright disinformation since intent is hard to prove and defamation claims are a risk.

First spread in Japanese, these claims are now echoed in English on YouTube by foreign outlets—originating from scholars at reputable Japanese universities. What a mess. 😭