TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese must spread the word that they committed no massacre at Nanjing, a film director told a symposium on Friday, a day after China marked the 70th anniversary of the incident in which it says 300,000 died.
Satoru Mizushima's new movie, "The Truth About Nanjing", premieres in January. It is an attempt by Japanese nationalists to counter a series of foreign films, made to coincide with the anniversary, which tell of the carnage which followed the fall of the Chinese Nationalist capital to Japanese forces in 1937. Read more.
Related story at csmonitor.com:
"When [the Allied Powers] opened the so-called Tokyo war-crimes tribunal [after World War II], they needed evidence that Japan committed greater atrocities [than the Tokyo air raids and use of atomic bombs], so they made up the so-called Nanjing Massacre, which was completely unfounded," declares Mr. Kase, chair of the Committee for the Examination of the Facts about Nanjing.
Showing posts with label Nanjing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nanjing. Show all posts
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
The Rape of Nanjing
that never happened according to the more extreme (and dangerous) nutjob right-wingers in Japan. From the Independent UK:
...."I really, really hate the Japanese. I was raped when I was 11 years old. I tried to commit suicide three times afterwards," said Zhang Xiuhong, 81. She was recalling the six-week-long Rape of Nanking....her face flushes as she recalls the events of that grim December 70 years ago.
A sign of Japanese ambiguity about the issue came in the respected Yomiuri Shimbun...."Recently, even some Chinese scholars say scholarly debate should be deepened on the number of victims. Such a flexible stance has started to be aired....
....While the editorial has a balanced and seemingly rational tone, it is in sharp contrast to the kind of debate that one sees in Germany on any issues relating to the Holocaust. What would happen if a German historian were to accuse a Jewish historian of inflexibility on the number of people who died at Auschwitz, or if someone were to write that the number of Jews who died in Europe was only 600,000 and that only a fraction of those deaths were murders that violated international law? Read more.
That there are many in the government and other elite who subscribe to the view that Nanjing was either blown entirely out of proportion or completely false ought to send a warning to the rest of the world of what certain elements would do were they able to get their way. Abe, although not publicly going so far as saying Nanjing never happened, perhaps gave us some clues. Aso is another. Fujiwara Masahiko appears to be another who believes Japan did nothing especially or exceptionally wrong in WW2. What is this group's view of the world in the future? What world goals/views do they have in common with the US, Australian, or European views?
Fukuda seems like a huge improvement over Abe, mainly because he is one of the old-style politicians who sort of blend into the background. He has not been out trying to relive WW2 and offend every other country in the region and world with stories of Japan's innocence. But the nutjobs have not gone away. They have been in government at least since the reversal under SCAP after WW2. I understand why one of the past commanders of US forces in Japan said (I am paraphrasing from memory) one of the reasons for keeping forces here is to keep an eye on Japan.
Trans-Pacific Radio has a good article on Nanjing from last year here.
...."I really, really hate the Japanese. I was raped when I was 11 years old. I tried to commit suicide three times afterwards," said Zhang Xiuhong, 81. She was recalling the six-week-long Rape of Nanking....her face flushes as she recalls the events of that grim December 70 years ago.
A sign of Japanese ambiguity about the issue came in the respected Yomiuri Shimbun...."Recently, even some Chinese scholars say scholarly debate should be deepened on the number of victims. Such a flexible stance has started to be aired....
....While the editorial has a balanced and seemingly rational tone, it is in sharp contrast to the kind of debate that one sees in Germany on any issues relating to the Holocaust. What would happen if a German historian were to accuse a Jewish historian of inflexibility on the number of people who died at Auschwitz, or if someone were to write that the number of Jews who died in Europe was only 600,000 and that only a fraction of those deaths were murders that violated international law? Read more.
That there are many in the government and other elite who subscribe to the view that Nanjing was either blown entirely out of proportion or completely false ought to send a warning to the rest of the world of what certain elements would do were they able to get their way. Abe, although not publicly going so far as saying Nanjing never happened, perhaps gave us some clues. Aso is another. Fujiwara Masahiko appears to be another who believes Japan did nothing especially or exceptionally wrong in WW2. What is this group's view of the world in the future? What world goals/views do they have in common with the US, Australian, or European views?
Fukuda seems like a huge improvement over Abe, mainly because he is one of the old-style politicians who sort of blend into the background. He has not been out trying to relive WW2 and offend every other country in the region and world with stories of Japan's innocence. But the nutjobs have not gone away. They have been in government at least since the reversal under SCAP after WW2. I understand why one of the past commanders of US forces in Japan said (I am paraphrasing from memory) one of the reasons for keeping forces here is to keep an eye on Japan.
Trans-Pacific Radio has a good article on Nanjing from last year here.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Revisionist appointed chairman of the board of education
in Saitama. He is one of the key players in insisting on whitewashing Japan's WW2 actions in school texts. Apparently, those who appointed him either agree with his views, or at the least find no problems with him. Abe may be gone, but his extremist buddies ain't .
Shiro Takahashi, a professor at Meisei University and former deputy chairman of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, will be the first member of the group, which has sparked controversy with its nationalist history textbooks, to chair a prefectural board of education. From the JTonline.
Shiro Takahashi, a professor at Meisei University and former deputy chairman of the Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform, will be the first member of the group, which has sparked controversy with its nationalist history textbooks, to chair a prefectural board of education. From the JTonline.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Great News
If I understood correctly, the 9pm NHK TV news program, reported that not only is Abe's right-wing faction of the LDP going to investigate the so-called comfort women issue to see if it really happened or not (this group already denies it "in the narrow sense") they will also investigate the Nanjing Massacre to see if it really happened. I hope I heard it wrong since I have heard it from no other source so far....(16 April 2007. I must have misheard it as I have heard nothing further since.)
LDP nutjobs did attend a lecture recently (6 March) about the Massacre being a complete fabrication. The speaker believes:
"We cannot let these distorted views of history spread throughout the world. We're not doing it because we're anti-Chinese; we simply want to tell the truth."
It's all lies! Foreign Lies!!!! Japan was and is innocent. Smeared by evil foreigners!!! Poor Japan. A victim again.
LDP nutjobs did attend a lecture recently (6 March) about the Massacre being a complete fabrication. The speaker believes:
"We cannot let these distorted views of history spread throughout the world. We're not doing it because we're anti-Chinese; we simply want to tell the truth."
It's all lies! Foreign Lies!!!! Japan was and is innocent. Smeared by evil foreigners!!! Poor Japan. A victim again.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Screw You World, the Truth from Japan about WW2
From: Telling the Truth at Yasukuni
My primary objective in modifying the exhibits is to protect the intellectual integrity (???!!!) of Yasukuni Shrine...I did not think it would be proper to take into consideration the opinions of certain other countries. (There are no facts, just opinions. I agree. The USA did not firebomb Tokyo or use atomic weapons against Japan. Never happened. It is just lies, propaganda, and biased opinions.)
...It is a historical fact that Roosevelt induced Japan to carry out a first strike...(poor Japan. Had no choice. Could not resist. Could not cease killing Chinese. Victim again.)
...Northern China operations: The threshold of the Japan-China war was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937. At the same time the Japanese government was trying to resolve this incident peacefully, the Guanganmen Incident and the Second Shanghai Incident took place... It is a historical fact that all three incidents were the result of Chinese provocation. (Emphasis mine) I will not yield on this point...
...It was true that since the Xian Incident in the beginning of 1937, Kuomintang-Communist collaboration against Japan gained momentum and resulted in a number of incidents initiated by the Chinese (emphasis mine) around the time the war started...(those pesky Chinese, victimizing the poor, misunderstood, peace-loving Japanese Imperial Army in China)
Regarding the so-called Nanjing Massacre, I paid serious attention to original text that depicted only events that were supported by historical facts. It would impair the intellectual integrity of Yasukuni Shrine if we added more modifications out of consideration to other countries' responses, because doing so might simply stem from secondhand evidence and propaganda-like assertions. (Note the use of "so-called." Nanjing did not happen! A myth just like the "so-called" Holocost by Japan's WW2 allies, the Nazis! Japan is neutral. No propaganda or manipulated evidence here!)
Note that Okazaki had no problem going beyond original material if he could cite it for support, such as Kissinger's book which sort made a claim somewhat in the direction that Okazaki could use to cite as support.
So, is Japan really sorry for anything it did in WW2, or is it a victim? One gets more of a sense of victimhood for some reason. Can't understand why nobody believe Japan's sincerity when it says it regrets some bad things which it may have done in WW2 but didn't really do or was forced to do by evil outsiders and foreigners.
The Honorable Hisahiko Okazaki-sama wrote in the 23 February 2007 Japan Times about his involvement in redoing some of the wonderfully historically accurate work at the Yasukuni shrine, home of numerous Class A war criminals who are not really considered criminals in Japan.
My primary objective in modifying the exhibits is to protect the intellectual integrity (???!!!) of Yasukuni Shrine...I did not think it would be proper to take into consideration the opinions of certain other countries. (There are no facts, just opinions. I agree. The USA did not firebomb Tokyo or use atomic weapons against Japan. Never happened. It is just lies, propaganda, and biased opinions.)
...It is a historical fact that Roosevelt induced Japan to carry out a first strike...(poor Japan. Had no choice. Could not resist. Could not cease killing Chinese. Victim again.)
...Northern China operations: The threshold of the Japan-China war was the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in 1937. At the same time the Japanese government was trying to resolve this incident peacefully, the Guanganmen Incident and the Second Shanghai Incident took place... It is a historical fact that all three incidents were the result of Chinese provocation. (Emphasis mine) I will not yield on this point...
...It was true that since the Xian Incident in the beginning of 1937, Kuomintang-Communist collaboration against Japan gained momentum and resulted in a number of incidents initiated by the Chinese (emphasis mine) around the time the war started...(those pesky Chinese, victimizing the poor, misunderstood, peace-loving Japanese Imperial Army in China)
Regarding the so-called Nanjing Massacre, I paid serious attention to original text that depicted only events that were supported by historical facts. It would impair the intellectual integrity of Yasukuni Shrine if we added more modifications out of consideration to other countries' responses, because doing so might simply stem from secondhand evidence and propaganda-like assertions. (Note the use of "so-called." Nanjing did not happen! A myth just like the "so-called" Holocost by Japan's WW2 allies, the Nazis! Japan is neutral. No propaganda or manipulated evidence here!)
Note that Okazaki had no problem going beyond original material if he could cite it for support, such as Kissinger's book which sort made a claim somewhat in the direction that Okazaki could use to cite as support.
So, is Japan really sorry for anything it did in WW2, or is it a victim? One gets more of a sense of victimhood for some reason. Can't understand why nobody believe Japan's sincerity when it says it regrets some bad things which it may have done in WW2 but didn't really do or was forced to do by evil outsiders and foreigners.
Saturday, October 07, 2006
Abe: War criminals are not war criminals
We are beginning to see how Abe et. al. plan to instill pride in Japan's past (WW2) and get a hint of what the future holds.
Yesterday, Abe said that the 14 class A war criminals enshrined in Yasukuni shrine are not war criminals under Japanese law. (The total number of war criminals is 1068) See the Japan Times. The Tokyo War Crimes tribunal certainly had some serious problems, but Abe seems to be saying that the folks directly guilty for such things as Nanjing and other atrocities are not really criminals as far as he and Japan is concerned.
He is being honest. Unlike its World War Two ally, Germany, Japan has NEVER pursued nor prosecuted a Japanese for war crimes which occurred in WW2. The trial is often viewed like Abe views it, victor's justice forced upon Japan. Additionally, there is a feeling---or even outright belief---that Japan was a victim of the war.
All this is to make Japan a "normal" country again. A normal country with a uniquely unique culture that non-Japanese can never understand---and certainly can not be a part of. A normal country even though it is the only country in the world with four seasons. ( One of the bizarre and arrogant nihonjinron beliefs in Japan.) A normal country where everything that happens has a cultural explanation. There are no economic reasons nor other reasons for anything in Japan.
Think about what Abe's statement means. It's long been taught---and accepted---that the Emperor Hirohito and his subjects were tricked and misled into WWII by the military and its leaders, as well as selfish politicians. Like Hirohito, the people were naive and innocent. They done had no idear! Now Abe is saying that the war criminals were not really criminals, so basically no Japanese did anything wrong in the war. At least no Japanese was responsible for any war crimes. Nanjing? Bygones. Forget it. Couldn't be helped. Exaggerated Chinese lies anyway.
This is the renewed pride we can look forward to. As far as the other part of cultural pride, why would the Japanese need more? All one hears about is the wonderful, uniquely unique Japanese culture, seasons, language, food, Unit 731---oops! Scratch the last. Nobody was responsible for it---at least no Japanese. Perhaps it was an evil foreigner.
Yesterday, Abe said that the 14 class A war criminals enshrined in Yasukuni shrine are not war criminals under Japanese law. (The total number of war criminals is 1068) See the Japan Times. The Tokyo War Crimes tribunal certainly had some serious problems, but Abe seems to be saying that the folks directly guilty for such things as Nanjing and other atrocities are not really criminals as far as he and Japan is concerned.
He is being honest. Unlike its World War Two ally, Germany, Japan has NEVER pursued nor prosecuted a Japanese for war crimes which occurred in WW2. The trial is often viewed like Abe views it, victor's justice forced upon Japan. Additionally, there is a feeling---or even outright belief---that Japan was a victim of the war.
All this is to make Japan a "normal" country again. A normal country with a uniquely unique culture that non-Japanese can never understand---and certainly can not be a part of. A normal country even though it is the only country in the world with four seasons. ( One of the bizarre and arrogant nihonjinron beliefs in Japan.) A normal country where everything that happens has a cultural explanation. There are no economic reasons nor other reasons for anything in Japan.
Think about what Abe's statement means. It's long been taught---and accepted---that the Emperor Hirohito and his subjects were tricked and misled into WWII by the military and its leaders, as well as selfish politicians. Like Hirohito, the people were naive and innocent. They done had no idear! Now Abe is saying that the war criminals were not really criminals, so basically no Japanese did anything wrong in the war. At least no Japanese was responsible for any war crimes. Nanjing? Bygones. Forget it. Couldn't be helped. Exaggerated Chinese lies anyway.
This is the renewed pride we can look forward to. As far as the other part of cultural pride, why would the Japanese need more? All one hears about is the wonderful, uniquely unique Japanese culture, seasons, language, food, Unit 731---oops! Scratch the last. Nobody was responsible for it---at least no Japanese. Perhaps it was an evil foreigner.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
Americans never apologize
This is the most recent slur against Americans by many Japanese. It is supposedly because if we apologize, we admit liability and can be sued. This came from the accidental sinking of the Japanese ship near Honolulu by a US Navy sub. According to the Japanese government and especially the press, America did not apologize for that. Remember how many times Bush and others apologized? It got so bad that a lot of columnists--no, not the right wing nutter type--were writing angry columns about us over-apologizing. Especially to a country with a murderous past in WWII in China and other countries. Note that Japan did not apologize to China until 1995--50 years after the war ended.
The skipper of the sub came to Japan a year or so later, after the court-martial to personally apologize. Many of the families refused to see him, saying that if he had been sincere he would not have waited a year. As soon as I heard that, I understood why the Chinese do not trust nor accept the Japanese apology. After 50 years? Obviously insincere. In fact, for many politicians of the nutty rightwing here, which includes many factions and supporters of the ruling LDP, do not see anything wrong with what they did in China. Nanjing is a Chinese and American lie anyway, they claim.
Anyway, Americans and Japanese apologize for very different things. Americans don't apologize for some things that Japanese normally apologize for, and visa versa. Japanese, for example, will intentionally or accidentally bump into you, push you, step on your foot, perhaps even knock you down, and will not utter a single word of apology--well a large percentage won't. Especially on the train. Apparently, all personal responsibility ends once you enter. Knock down granny before she knocks you down. This behavior often applies on sidewalks too.
However, they will apologize for things that seem trivial, and puzzling to Americans. For example, some students while learning English will apologize for making a mistake. Drives me nuts. Apologies, all the time, everywhere if you are a customer or temporarily in somebody's consciousness. But if it is something big, hell will freeze over before you get an apology. Ask China.
(Since our excursion into Iraq, and the perverted, criminal behavior of a few of our MPs there, it has become harder to criticize Japanese actions in WWII. The dodge is to switch the argument to the U.S. actions. It seems whatever the US does serves as an excuse for anything Japan does or has ever done. There is little sense among many of the possibility that Japan was wrong in its actions no matter what other countries do or did.)
The skipper of the sub came to Japan a year or so later, after the court-martial to personally apologize. Many of the families refused to see him, saying that if he had been sincere he would not have waited a year. As soon as I heard that, I understood why the Chinese do not trust nor accept the Japanese apology. After 50 years? Obviously insincere. In fact, for many politicians of the nutty rightwing here, which includes many factions and supporters of the ruling LDP, do not see anything wrong with what they did in China. Nanjing is a Chinese and American lie anyway, they claim.
Anyway, Americans and Japanese apologize for very different things. Americans don't apologize for some things that Japanese normally apologize for, and visa versa. Japanese, for example, will intentionally or accidentally bump into you, push you, step on your foot, perhaps even knock you down, and will not utter a single word of apology--well a large percentage won't. Especially on the train. Apparently, all personal responsibility ends once you enter. Knock down granny before she knocks you down. This behavior often applies on sidewalks too.
However, they will apologize for things that seem trivial, and puzzling to Americans. For example, some students while learning English will apologize for making a mistake. Drives me nuts. Apologies, all the time, everywhere if you are a customer or temporarily in somebody's consciousness. But if it is something big, hell will freeze over before you get an apology. Ask China.
(Since our excursion into Iraq, and the perverted, criminal behavior of a few of our MPs there, it has become harder to criticize Japanese actions in WWII. The dodge is to switch the argument to the U.S. actions. It seems whatever the US does serves as an excuse for anything Japan does or has ever done. There is little sense among many of the possibility that Japan was wrong in its actions no matter what other countries do or did.)
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