The Korean channel in the L.A. area showed it with English sub-titles. I got a kick out of it.
Posted on 05/11/2013 4:17:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
From time to time Japan’s political leaders visit the Yasukuni Shrine where Class A war criminals are included on the list of remembrance, then make controversial remarks that deny or gloss over the acts of aggression that Japan committed in the first half of the 20th century.
By so doing, they give legitimacy to a self-centered and distorted interpretation of Japan’s ignoble history that many Japanese harbor, as illustrated below.
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan embarked on an ambitious modernization program, modeling itself on advanced European countries such as Britain, France and Germany. To emulate those countries which had overseas colonies, Japan wanted to colonize its neighboring country, Korea.
To gain hegemony on the Korean peninsula, Japan fought wars successively against China and Russia. From the Sino-Japanese war and the Russo-Japanese war, Japan emerged victorious. And Korea fell into the hands of Japan among the spoils of war.
When it comes to Japan’s colonization of Korea, many Japanese people argue that Koreans wanted it. Then, how can they explain the widespread popular uprising by Koreans in March 1919?
Many Japanese blame the United States for the eruption of the Pacific War. They take the view that the United States left Japan no choice but go to war after placing embargos on oil and steel exports to Japan and demanding that Japan withdraw troops from China.
Some even argue that Japan was the real victim of the Pacific War on the grounds that numerous innocent Japanese citizens died when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Just because Japan fell victim to this horrendous bombing many Japanese people naively believe that their nation was absolved of the guilt associated with the atrocities that Japanese troops committed against other Asians during the war.
While waging the Pacific War the Japanese government proclaimed that its purpose was to liberate Asians from the yoke of Western imperialism and many Japanese still believe this to be the case. It is true that Japan kicked Western powers out of many parts of Asia during the war.
However, what Japan really wanted was to secure procurement of vital raw materials such as oil, iron ore and rubber by controlling the countries which produced them. Contrary to its proclamation, Japan ruled the conquered Asian countries more ruthlessly than did the Western powers it replaced. To this undeniable historical fact, many Japanese people turn a blind eye.
At the turn of the 20th century, Japan emerged as the most powerful country in Asia. Overly self-confident, Japan attempted to conquer the whole of Asia by force. However, Japan was defeated soundly in the Pacific War and suffered the shame of being occupied by American forces. Many Japanese people lament over their country’s defeat but feel no remorse for starting and waging the horrible war.
In a nutshell, Japan’s political leaders and public do not fully acknowledge their country’s past aggression. Instead, they try to justify or make excuses for Japan’s wrongdoing.
As long as they continue to do so, they will have themselves to blame if Japan is regarded with distrust and is unable to play a leading political role commensurate with its economic strength in the international community.
Koreans want Japan to clean the slate in the same way Germany did and start afresh as a trustful neighbor. However, this seems to be wishful thinking on our part. To us Japan is a country which is close geographically yet remote emotionally.
Credit where credit's due:
I merely quoted ronnie raygun
In 10 years in the Asia Pacific we (and the JMSDF) will be groping & lunging for every young, wild-eyed Japanese kook they can get their recruiters’ mitts on (and there really aren’t many).
Mark my words.
Agreed.
No, you missed the point.
The point is that Japan really did do bad stuff, and their history books have scrubbed it completely. They still refuse to acknowledge what they did. They do in fact whine like victims for the most part.
Koreans in Japan really do still have hardships.
As for us here in America, at least we do acknowledge what we did to native Americans. We don’t do much about it, but we do at least acknowledge it.
I’m not making any judgements. It is what it is and I’m neither condemning it or defending it. I’m just saying that the article at the top of the post is accurate.
Read my subsequent posts and you may get a better picture.
The Korean channel in the L.A. area showed it with English sub-titles. I got a kick out of it.
No, I got the point. But my question remains unanswered. The people who did it are dead. How long do innocent people have to shoulder a responsibility that is not their own? How long do innocent people need their noses rubbed into the evils of their heritage?
I worked many Summers at a mountain retreat which had around 30 Japanese Students spend around half the Summer working. About half and half boys and girls.
After working with them Summer after Summer I came to some opinions of them. First every single Summer there would be one or two really cute ones. The beauties tended to be the smaller ones. There would also be a few who were pretty good sized people.
They could be pretty sneaky but I could be even more sneaky. I was head of students and I caught them several times violating campus rules. They always did so in large groups with only their leader left out of the loop. One night around 1 P.M. I caught them all meeting at a given place then they all hiked up to the rec area and all sat around talking, smoking, etc.
They never did cause a bit of trouble tho, absolutely never.
I did tell their leader once and he was really surprised. He was about the same age as the students and they didn’t give him much respect. The leader then called Mr. T as they called him. I think his name was Taksshita. He was older and when he spoke they listened. He really got onto them.
The funny thing is I had told the young leader that it was no big deal but I just wanted to let him know what they were doing.
I forgot to mention that there was a curfew for workers and smoking was forbidden. They could stay up as long as they wanted but they had to either be in their dorms or off campus after 11.
They could come and go after curfew so long as they were coming or going off campus.
At some point one has to move on and take notice of present threats or else suffer the consequence ofs inaction.
Everybody needs to know their own history, good and bad. Rubbing noses in it is not necessary. Understanding the root causes and tendencies is necessary for going forward. Proper reflection and judgment, ok?
It's only good as long as it's true.
We will find
sooner or later
if Achmed'll pray
to a glowing crater
As far as I know, the survivors and their descendents have been good neighbors and good world citizens. We all have benefited from their turn around and their mastery of quality.
Given the quality of our leadership over the last many decades, I shudder to think of the evil that has been done in, and under the cover of, our name, but without our knowledge. Those are the chickens karma says are coming back home.
Personally, in all things I am learning to follow an ancient wisdom: "...forgive those who trespass against me."
OK. When it it enough? You think there is a person in Japan that does not know their history? Or a white American?
I still don’t see an answer to when people think enough is enough. Why cant some people say what they really believe? Some don’t believe they should EVER be accepted back into civilized society because of the sins of the fathers.
I recently listened to several reports from Americans teaching English to Japanese in Japan. They all tell a similar story: Except in larger cities such as Tokyo, Americans are generally treated poorly. They are expected to show up for work, and then disappear until the following work day. They do make friendships with a few Japanese people they come to know, but are generally shunned by the populace.
I'm sure others will chime in with different stories, but this dovetails with Japan's immigration policy and the historical facts of how they have treated non-Japanese.
Maybe we should treat all non-Christians in America the way the Japanese treat non-Japanese in Japan, or the way Muslims treat non-Muslims in Muslim countries? That way we would be certain that there would be no sleeper cells to worry about.
Or we could cover the skies with drones, put a camera on every corner, capture & record every email & phone conversation.
That would do the trick!
Dude, you must not be following the news. China has been ratcheting up the tensions in the area relentlessly.
Do you expect the Japanese to respond like wimps (or, like the Obama Admin)?
Muslims should be contained to the mideast. Modern Japan exists in the world and abides the rules of that world outside it’s borders. Inside, their rules, and their right to have them. Muslims want to dominate the world. And kill you. No rules but ‘Allah’s do they follow...anywhere they infest.
Big difference.
The entire civilized world is completely justified in being very,*very* afraid of the Red Chinese.That goes double for those civilized nations living in the same neighborhood...like Japan,South Korea,India and even Australia.
Remember...in 1989/1990/1991 Gorbechev and pals refused to fire on their own countrymen whereas the very same psychopaths currently ruling Red China took a very,*very* different path.
We’ve had several Japanese college students at our house for homestays. We love the young ladies dearly. We also note that they are remarkably ignorant of 20th Century history. Am I asking them to feel guilty? No. They weren’t even born yet in WWII. They look at the US as the best friend Japan has in the whole world. And we should be really glad to have their friendship.
But the students should learn their history so that at least they understand better why some of their Asian neighbors have grudges.
A few months after 9/11 the Japanese arrested several Muslims in Niigata and Aomori for alleged Al-Qaeda links. Yes, that’s right, no one sued them for racial profiling.
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