Sanada Ten Braves Statues

Hattori Hanzo

Response to ChosonNinja's video Questions &Answers
He now wants Hattori Hanzo to be Korean.
He has an amzing Uriginal mentality.
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Give us a sign that all are welcome
BY LION CALANDRA
Tuesday, August 14th 2007, 4:00 AM
I'm sorry to say it, but it must be said: My love affair with Flushing is over. It's too bad, really, because I've always been crazy about Flushing. Actually, I love everything about New York City. I was born and raised in New York, and Flushing to me has always embodied the best of what this city is: bustling street life, punctuated by the cacophony of the No. 7 line that signals all roads lead to Main St.

There's great baseball.

Tennis.

A fantastic library.

And it's home to the Unisphere. Who doesn't love the Unisphere?

But the love affair hit the skids recently following a meal of (the most amazing and to-die-for) soup dumplings at Joe's Shanghai. (Another reason to love Flushing.)

After dinner, a friend and I strolled up 37th Ave. As we peeked into store windows, I realized that I couldn't identify any of the businesses. Travel agent? Real estate? Dentist? Card store? One shop seemed to sell housewares, but every sign in the front window was written in Korean. Or was it Chinese?

Sure, business owners can have signs in any language they choose, but why would they want to shut out a huge section of their potential customer base?

Aside from being exclusionary, it's bad economics. Offering signs only in Korean fosters a closed culture; it says, in essence, that If you can't read this, you can't shop here. That's wrong. That's un-American.

I know there have been controversies about this very issue. In 2003, an uproar over a Korean billboard on 162nd St. prompted City Councilman Tony Avella (D-Queens) to call for a crackdown on merchant signs written entirely in foreign languages. Avella urged the enforcement of an obscure state law that requires signs to include some English.

That's not a bad idea.

It cannot be said enough that this country was built by the tireless work ethic of immigrants from everywhere in the world. They come here, huddled masses yearning to breathe free.

They are included. Of course, it's not perfect. There is discrimination. I'm no Pollyanna; I'm well aware of the bias that can permeate this city.

But I've also been witness to the extraordinary good fellowship of people from myriad cultures. Just being here means they were not shut out. I'm grateful for that. It would be nice to know that Flushing's merchants are, too.

Which is why it so outrages me that any group of people would systematically try to shut out other groups. It goes against the principles that attracted them to these shores in the first place.

When I find myself on foreign shores, I don't expect to see signs posted in English. Of course, in many countries there are signs written in multiple languages for the benefit of tourists.

Ninja Fraud and Cult