which I am sure the nutty right and their apologists will claim never occurred or is exaggerated:
And they immediately started beating guys if they didn’t stand right or if they were sitting down. We didn’t know where we were going... And all our possessions were taken away from us. Some of them had rings that they just cut the fingers off, and take the rings. They poured the water out of my canteen to be sure that I didn’t have any, any water. I saw them buried alive. When a guy was bayoneted or shot, laying in the road and the convoys were coming along, I saw trucks that would just go out of their way to run over the guy in the middle of the road. And when by the time you have fifteen or twenty trucks run over you, look like a smashed tomato or something. And I saw people that had their throats cut because they would take their bayonets and stick it out through the corner of the truck at night and it would just be high enough to cut their throats. And beating with a rifle butt until there just was no more life in them.
...when a Japanese officer came up, looked us over, and selected a rather tall, good-looking soldier, who was just in front of me, out of the line. The officer, for no apparent reason, turned over this man to a group of soldiers who took him across the road, tied to a tree and used him for bayonet practice. From my place in line, I saw the whole thing. After he was dead they took his body and threw it into a large bamboo clump. Then, just as I got to the hydrant, the Japanese soldiers pushed me aside and washed the blood off of their bayonets.
Japan Focus.
Bushido?
Perhaps these guys are liars or old and confused like the nutjobs (Abe et. al.) claim the former sex slaves are.
Should one's memory need refreshed on just a small portion of the Imperial Japanese Army's atrocities in WW2, the Japan Focus article is a good start. Just in case one is beginning to be swayed by the revisionist fantasies of the LDP loonies and their buddies...
Showing posts with label atrocities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label atrocities. Show all posts
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
A tale of 2 Japans
Many courageous Japanese World War II veterans, historians, teachers, and others of moral conscience are frustrated and penalized when they attempt to inform an apathetic Japanese public....
...Does the Japanese Government intend to deny the documented war crimes until the last victims and witnesses finally die off? Yes, because the Japanese view themselves as innocent victims of WWII. Culturally, Japan believes that its victimhood is more relevant than the unpublicized evils inflicted upon millions who suffered under its cruel military rule.
Japan's response to the outraged cries of survivors and astonished historians echoes the comic’s retort when caught in the act: "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" But no laughs are found in this insult to truth. Full article here.
From Ron Wulkan, the author of a new novel about Japan. What distinguishes this writer from most is that he was a military policeman during the Occupation and he worked with Japanese who had witnessed or participated in war crimes. Because he was interested in Japan, some fellow soldiers called him a "gook lover," which he took as the title of the book. His interest in Japan appears not to have become a mindless acceptance of everything Japanese like so often seems to happen. Instead his book is "a pro-Japanese, pro-Asian, but anti-Imperial Japan novel."
On the other hand, Ms. LaVel Daily, an ikebana expert, was recently awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan. In a newspaper interview with the Houston Chronical she was asked:
Q: We did fight a war with Japan. How does that square with the civility of the people you describe?
A: I must say, I was young enough that I didn't know very much personally about that war, but I was in Japan about three or four days after 9/11. When they learned I was from the United States, they expressed extreme grief. I was in Japan when the newspapers and television showed Japanese military boarding transport aircraft to go to Afghanistan (for a support role). I've always felt the Japanese were our friends and supported the United States, totally.
From this answer and others during the interview, one can guess that she is a very deep thinker. Forgot to answer the question though. Didn't personally know about the war, you see. Never read a history book either, I suppose. And certainly does not want to say anything that she thinks might offend certain folks (Abe, Aso, and assorted LDP et al nutjobs and emperor worshippers) in Japan. Something implying some kind of guilt on Japan would do that.
Which person do you think is more honest, accurate, knowledgeable, and thoughtful when it comes to Japan, the WW2 vet or the ikebana teacher? Which person do you think really has the best interests of Japan---and the rest of the world---at heart?
...Does the Japanese Government intend to deny the documented war crimes until the last victims and witnesses finally die off? Yes, because the Japanese view themselves as innocent victims of WWII. Culturally, Japan believes that its victimhood is more relevant than the unpublicized evils inflicted upon millions who suffered under its cruel military rule.
Japan's response to the outraged cries of survivors and astonished historians echoes the comic’s retort when caught in the act: "Are you going to believe me or your lying eyes?" But no laughs are found in this insult to truth. Full article here.
From Ron Wulkan, the author of a new novel about Japan. What distinguishes this writer from most is that he was a military policeman during the Occupation and he worked with Japanese who had witnessed or participated in war crimes. Because he was interested in Japan, some fellow soldiers called him a "gook lover," which he took as the title of the book. His interest in Japan appears not to have become a mindless acceptance of everything Japanese like so often seems to happen. Instead his book is "a pro-Japanese, pro-Asian, but anti-Imperial Japan novel."
On the other hand, Ms. LaVel Daily, an ikebana expert, was recently awarded the Order of the Rising Sun by Japan. In a newspaper interview with the Houston Chronical she was asked:
Q: We did fight a war with Japan. How does that square with the civility of the people you describe?
A: I must say, I was young enough that I didn't know very much personally about that war, but I was in Japan about three or four days after 9/11. When they learned I was from the United States, they expressed extreme grief. I was in Japan when the newspapers and television showed Japanese military boarding transport aircraft to go to Afghanistan (for a support role). I've always felt the Japanese were our friends and supported the United States, totally.
From this answer and others during the interview, one can guess that she is a very deep thinker. Forgot to answer the question though. Didn't personally know about the war, you see. Never read a history book either, I suppose. And certainly does not want to say anything that she thinks might offend certain folks (Abe, Aso, and assorted LDP et al nutjobs and emperor worshippers) in Japan. Something implying some kind of guilt on Japan would do that.
Which person do you think is more honest, accurate, knowledgeable, and thoughtful when it comes to Japan, the WW2 vet or the ikebana teacher? Which person do you think really has the best interests of Japan---and the rest of the world---at heart?
Friday, November 30, 2007
I feel his pain
as Billy "give-me-some-nooky" Clinton used to say. This guy appears to be a long-term resident of Japan who has gotten fed up with being called a criminal, a terrorist, a disease-laden sub-human by the democratically-elected representatives of Japan and their kneepad wearing lackies in the media:
Preventing the summer Olympics going to the likes of Ishihara is something I will make my life's goal if necessary. If they are going to treat me like a criminal, insisting on fingerprints and a photo, then there is a price to pay. Loud, peaceful protest.
So he put up a website about refusing Japan (Tokyo and "Blinky" the bigot Ishihara) the Olympics in 2016:
Click to visit the site and read the "ABCs" of why he thinks Japan should be denied the Olympics.
Some will think he has gone overboard---that he is exaggerating---but then again, it sounds no worse than what the rightwing nutjobs of Japan say about non-Japanese. What comes around, goes around.
Quite a number of long-term, law-abiding residents seem to be much more upset at Japan's latest anti-terror, anti-crime, anti-foreign resident move than anything in years. I wish I could believe that it will make a difference. It won't. Japan---the nutjobs and others---doesn't give a damn what a bunch of non-Japanese think. That is unless Uncle Sam leans on Japan a bit. It won't in this case as Sam pushed the basic idea of finger-printing visitors and tourists which gave the bigots in power license to go to extremes.
Preventing the summer Olympics going to the likes of Ishihara is something I will make my life's goal if necessary. If they are going to treat me like a criminal, insisting on fingerprints and a photo, then there is a price to pay. Loud, peaceful protest.
So he put up a website about refusing Japan (Tokyo and "Blinky" the bigot Ishihara) the Olympics in 2016:
Let's not reward a nation which honors its unrepentant
Click to visit the site and read the "ABCs" of why he thinks Japan should be denied the Olympics.
Some will think he has gone overboard---that he is exaggerating---but then again, it sounds no worse than what the rightwing nutjobs of Japan say about non-Japanese. What comes around, goes around.
Quite a number of long-term, law-abiding residents seem to be much more upset at Japan's latest anti-terror, anti-crime, anti-foreign resident move than anything in years. I wish I could believe that it will make a difference. It won't. Japan---the nutjobs and others---doesn't give a damn what a bunch of non-Japanese think. That is unless Uncle Sam leans on Japan a bit. It won't in this case as Sam pushed the basic idea of finger-printing visitors and tourists which gave the bigots in power license to go to extremes.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Japan's elitist right-wing against the Japanese
A few months ago, I wrote about Abe's and his merry band of loony-toons' effort to rewrite the history of WW2 in Okinawa. Not only was Abe and crowd trying to lie about the Imperial Japanese military's role in kidnapping and forcing women into sexual slavery, they were trying to claim---and force Japanese teachers to use school texts which said---that the pure Japanese Imperial Army had no connection to civilian suicides during the Battle of Okinawa.
Unfortunately for the nutjobs, many Okinawans who were there disagreed with the whitewash. Whereas Abe et al could freely call foreign women who had been victims of Japanese atrocities liars and well-paid whores, it was a bit more inconvenient to do so to Okinawans as they are Japanese citizens (although quite often discriminated against). This sort of "confusion" is always a problem for the government in general and the LDP in particular. Confusion usually results from people not accepting the tatemae and their calling bullshit what it is: bullshit.
After Abe, the son of a former prime minister and war crime suspect, resigned suddenly, the less extreme government under the new prime minister (who as far as I know has no family connections to WW2 war criminals or profiteers--how rare recently) may back down without admitting to government interference in text selection, or that the military actually did do anything wrong. The government will still be able to claim textbook selection has no political interference and later can come back and try to lie and decieve again and claim that the Japanese military was purity itself.
This story has been on TV and in newspapers over the last few weeks, but the New York Times has an article today by Norimitsu Onishi here.
It ain't over though. The right wing is still around and will be back. They'll be back even stronger as more Japanese of WW2 age die and memories fade.
Excerpt from the NYT story:
...Toshinobu Nakazato, chairman of Okinawa’s assembly. Angered by the revisions, Mr. Nakazato broke a 62-year silence and talked about his own wartime experiences.
Inside a shelter where his family had sought refuge, Japanese soldiers handed his family members two poisoned rice balls and told them to give them to Mr. Nakazato’s younger sister and a cousin, he said. Instead, his family fled into the mountains, where his younger brother died.
“I’m already 70,” he said in an interview, “and the memories of those over 80 are already fading. So perhaps this time was the last opportunity for us to resist.”
Unfortunately for the nutjobs, many Okinawans who were there disagreed with the whitewash. Whereas Abe et al could freely call foreign women who had been victims of Japanese atrocities liars and well-paid whores, it was a bit more inconvenient to do so to Okinawans as they are Japanese citizens (although quite often discriminated against). This sort of "confusion" is always a problem for the government in general and the LDP in particular. Confusion usually results from people not accepting the tatemae and their calling bullshit what it is: bullshit.
After Abe, the son of a former prime minister and war crime suspect, resigned suddenly, the less extreme government under the new prime minister (who as far as I know has no family connections to WW2 war criminals or profiteers--how rare recently) may back down without admitting to government interference in text selection, or that the military actually did do anything wrong. The government will still be able to claim textbook selection has no political interference and later can come back and try to lie and decieve again and claim that the Japanese military was purity itself.
This story has been on TV and in newspapers over the last few weeks, but the New York Times has an article today by Norimitsu Onishi here.
It ain't over though. The right wing is still around and will be back. They'll be back even stronger as more Japanese of WW2 age die and memories fade.
Excerpt from the NYT story:
...Toshinobu Nakazato, chairman of Okinawa’s assembly. Angered by the revisions, Mr. Nakazato broke a 62-year silence and talked about his own wartime experiences.
Inside a shelter where his family had sought refuge, Japanese soldiers handed his family members two poisoned rice balls and told them to give them to Mr. Nakazato’s younger sister and a cousin, he said. Instead, his family fled into the mountains, where his younger brother died.
“I’m already 70,” he said in an interview, “and the memories of those over 80 are already fading. So perhaps this time was the last opportunity for us to resist.”
Thursday, August 23, 2007
The Japan Times, the only newspaper in Japan meant primarily for a foreign readership, and therefore freer to be bluntly critical of the establishment, has printed a few good articles recently. (It would be a mistake to believe that the news in the JT is reported in the same way, or has the same contents, as news meant for Japanese readers.)
One, which discusses the real results of blind "bushidoism" (like ol' Barcode Fujiwara goes orgasmic over" is When the way of the samurai was pointless self-anniliation. by Philip Brasor.
He discusses a few instances---of which there are many more---of this wonderful disregard of the value of life (which Fujiwara considers beautiful thing) during WW2 and how the government would exaggerate incidents for propaganda purposes.
Another, which would not be a big surprise to find in a normal Japanese newspaper concerns Akira Kimura's theory---based on research and evidence, unlike a lot of the nihonjinron nonsense---that the US obstructed Japan's surrender in WW2 to enable it to use nuclear bombs before the war ended as a way to put the USSR on notice. Kimura is not some sort of "Japan was an innocent victim" nut either, as he acknowledges that Japan was trying to develop a nuclear bomb during the war and would likely have used it had they been successful. (Few I have spoken to know, or believe that fact. I doubt many non-Japanese know it either. I read a book by one of the Japanese scientists involved over 15 years ago, but can no longer find the book in print.) You can read this article at The U.S. obstructed Japan's surrender to test nukes: claim by Michael Hoffman.
One, which discusses the real results of blind "bushidoism" (like ol' Barcode Fujiwara goes orgasmic over" is When the way of the samurai was pointless self-anniliation. by Philip Brasor.
Another, which would not be a big surprise to find in a normal Japanese newspaper concerns Akira Kimura's theory---based on research and evidence, unlike a lot of the nihonjinron nonsense---that the US obstructed Japan's surrender in WW2 to enable it to use nuclear bombs before the war ended as a way to put the USSR on notice. Kimura is not some sort of "Japan was an innocent victim" nut either, as he acknowledges that Japan was trying to develop a nuclear bomb during the war and would likely have used it had they been successful. (Few I have spoken to know, or believe that fact. I doubt many non-Japanese know it either. I read a book by one of the Japanese scientists involved over 15 years ago, but can no longer find the book in print.) You can read this article at The U.S. obstructed Japan's surrender to test nukes: claim by Michael Hoffman.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Japan threatens US over sex slave issue
Do you suppose that the USA would have the balls to call Japan's bluff? Bush won't. Bush accepted Abe's nonsensical "apology" even though as far as we know Georgy is too young to have been a sex slave in WW2.
Would any of the Democrat candidates were they president? I doubt it. Clinton backed down in the mid 90s from Japan over the auto issue. So did all the presidents before, except for Tricky Dick.
Who has more to lose? Is Japan gonna refuse to sell to the US? Close Japanese markets or make it extremely difficult to compete here? Sell its dollar reserves and in effect not only severely damage the global economy but in the process destroy their own. (This one I could somewhat imagine.) Are they gonna kick US forces out of Japan (Oh please do!) and pay for their own defense and own military? Go it alone hoping Australia will take the place of Uncle Sucker? Ally with China? (Not right now.) Refuse to send its military overseas in "support" of the US by being restricted to their base and defended by another country's military?
Please Japan, let's see what you've got.
I haven't written to a congressman in several years, even though in the states, I often did. Now I am going to do so again. Japan is distorting history and deceiving itself and hoping others will let it get away with it. Japan has done so for years and became experts in the game. They even have numbers of foreign explainers and apologists to push their falsehoods for them. They do not expect the US to call them on this. They will probably be right, unfortunately.
Japan Times article on this HERE
Would any of the Democrat candidates were they president? I doubt it. Clinton backed down in the mid 90s from Japan over the auto issue. So did all the presidents before, except for Tricky Dick.
Who has more to lose? Is Japan gonna refuse to sell to the US? Close Japanese markets or make it extremely difficult to compete here? Sell its dollar reserves and in effect not only severely damage the global economy but in the process destroy their own. (This one I could somewhat imagine.) Are they gonna kick US forces out of Japan (Oh please do!) and pay for their own defense and own military? Go it alone hoping Australia will take the place of Uncle Sucker? Ally with China? (Not right now.) Refuse to send its military overseas in "support" of the US by being restricted to their base and defended by another country's military?
Please Japan, let's see what you've got.
I haven't written to a congressman in several years, even though in the states, I often did. Now I am going to do so again. Japan is distorting history and deceiving itself and hoping others will let it get away with it. Japan has done so for years and became experts in the game. They even have numbers of foreign explainers and apologists to push their falsehoods for them. They do not expect the US to call them on this. They will probably be right, unfortunately.
Japan Times article on this HERE
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Japanese Government continued dishonesty
toward its WW2 crimes. Foreign Minister Aso's family's company, Aso Mining, is well-known to have used Allied prisoners as slave laborers in WW2. Aso, however, is denying this. He is, in effect lying and the Japanese government is supporting him by lying too. The following quotes are from an article by William Underwood in the Japan Times. Full article here.
One year after media reports that Aso Mining used 300 Allied prisoners of war for forced labor in 1945, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is refusing to confirm that POWs dug coal for his family's firm — and even challenging reporters to produce evidence.
On Jan. 24, 1946, Aso Mining submitted a 16-page report detailing conditions at Yoshikuma to the Japanese government's POW Information Bureau, using company stationery and attaching an English translation. Ordered by Occupation authorities investigating war crimes against POWs, the company report claims the Westerners were fed, clothed and housed better than Aso's Japanese workers and Korean labor conscripts. The Aso report includes the company's Feb. 22, 1945, letter to the Japan War Ministry requesting use of 300 Allied prisoners for one year. Camp 26 opened on May 10.
I suppose the debate will be over the normal meaning of "forced labor" versus the "narrow meaning" like Abe's over the word "coercion." Perhaps the POWs did it voluntarily.
The company report also claims that, soon after Japan's surrender, prisoners thanked Aso officials for their kind treatment by giving them gifts.
A survivor, who like the former sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army has a different memory of events. He wrote a letter to Asshole---oops!---Aso asking for an apology and compensation for his unpaid work. Aso ignored it.
Aso finished second to Abe in the contest for Prime Minister. You can bet that he plans to try again after "Beautiful Country" Abe gets the boot. Aso is rather notorious for some very extreme statements. (He was once worried that if Japan allowed a female Emperor, she might marry a "blue-eyed foreigner" which would really be bad. He did not mention how serious the problem would be if she married someone of another race---poor Aso would blow a gasket as would "comb-over" Masahiko Fujiwara, and "Blinky" Ishihara).
Ahh. Japan. The Beautiful Country. The Land of Peace. Folks who learned a unique lesson for WW2, that war is not worth it, and who have become a uniquely peaceful folk, because just as Japan was a victim of world misunderstanding and aggression in WW2, it could be again.
One year after media reports that Aso Mining used 300 Allied prisoners of war for forced labor in 1945, Foreign Minister Taro Aso is refusing to confirm that POWs dug coal for his family's firm — and even challenging reporters to produce evidence.
According to the Web site of the Consulate General of Japan in New York: "The Government of Japan is not in a position to comment on employment forms and conditions of a private company, Aso Mining, at that time. However, our government has not received any information the company has used forced laborers. It is totally unreasonable to make this kind of judgmental description without presenting any evidence."
Well, unfortunately, although the current Japanese government is unable to search itself for any documents proving such a thing happened, the 1946 Japanese government was able to do so easily:On Jan. 24, 1946, Aso Mining submitted a 16-page report detailing conditions at Yoshikuma to the Japanese government's POW Information Bureau, using company stationery and attaching an English translation. Ordered by Occupation authorities investigating war crimes against POWs, the company report claims the Westerners were fed, clothed and housed better than Aso's Japanese workers and Korean labor conscripts. The Aso report includes the company's Feb. 22, 1945, letter to the Japan War Ministry requesting use of 300 Allied prisoners for one year. Camp 26 opened on May 10.
I suppose the debate will be over the normal meaning of "forced labor" versus the "narrow meaning" like Abe's over the word "coercion." Perhaps the POWs did it voluntarily.
The company report also claims that, soon after Japan's surrender, prisoners thanked Aso officials for their kind treatment by giving them gifts.
A survivor, who like the former sex slaves of the Imperial Japanese Army has a different memory of events. He wrote a letter to Asshole---oops!---Aso asking for an apology and compensation for his unpaid work. Aso ignored it.
Aso finished second to Abe in the contest for Prime Minister. You can bet that he plans to try again after "Beautiful Country" Abe gets the boot. Aso is rather notorious for some very extreme statements. (He was once worried that if Japan allowed a female Emperor, she might marry a "blue-eyed foreigner" which would really be bad. He did not mention how serious the problem would be if she married someone of another race---poor Aso would blow a gasket as would "comb-over" Masahiko Fujiwara, and "Blinky" Ishihara).
Ahh. Japan. The Beautiful Country. The Land of Peace. Folks who learned a unique lesson for WW2, that war is not worth it, and who have become a uniquely peaceful folk, because just as Japan was a victim of world misunderstanding and aggression in WW2, it could be again.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Japan plays the race card
Nothing unusual though. Any criticism of Japan, valid or not, sooner or later is answered with charges of racism, at least when it involves Americans. In the past, many of these charges were expressed in English by western apologists for Japan.
Congressman Mike Honda who is the author of the resolution calling on Japan to expresslu and officially apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery to entertain the Japanese military is of Japanese ancestory. He is no being accused of being a racist, but since race is one of the most important things about people to many in Japan, some think that he should not criticize Japan in any way. (Yes, a huge percentage of folks here consider the Japanese to be a separate race.) He has also been accused of being a Chinese agent---most likely by the nutjob rightwingers here.
The resolution was also drawing sometimes surprising reaction in Japan, making Mr. Honda one of the most famous American congressmen in his ancestral land and riling Japan’s conservatives. They have accused a bemused Mr. Honda, 65, of being an agent of a Chinese government bent on humiliating Japan on American soil. During one television interview, an announcer asked Mr. Honda how he could back such a resolution when he has a Japanese face.
“I told her I could have a black face, a brown face, a white face — I could be Mexican, I could be Indian — it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Honda recalled. From the New York Times by Norimitsu Onishi here
I can't believe that he really expects Japan to apologize for the sex slave issue or any other atrocity/war crime it has been found to have committed. The trend is very strongly in the opposite direction. It is trying to deny more and more of what it did. This year, the government ordered school textbook publishers to remove references that the Imperial Japanese Army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit suicide during the invasion there. Unfortunately for the nutjobs in power, many survivors who have Japanese faces say otherwise.
BY the way, Onishi has written numerous articles this year critical of Abe and Japan's distortions and denials. Its lies. He has a Japanese face too. Does that mean he is not really Japanese? Is there, or is there not a tradition and acceptance of free speech in Japan. Only if you are a rightwing nutjob.
Congressman Mike Honda who is the author of the resolution calling on Japan to expresslu and officially apologize for forcing women into sexual slavery to entertain the Japanese military is of Japanese ancestory. He is no being accused of being a racist, but since race is one of the most important things about people to many in Japan, some think that he should not criticize Japan in any way. (Yes, a huge percentage of folks here consider the Japanese to be a separate race.) He has also been accused of being a Chinese agent---most likely by the nutjob rightwingers here.
The resolution was also drawing sometimes surprising reaction in Japan, making Mr. Honda one of the most famous American congressmen in his ancestral land and riling Japan’s conservatives. They have accused a bemused Mr. Honda, 65, of being an agent of a Chinese government bent on humiliating Japan on American soil. During one television interview, an announcer asked Mr. Honda how he could back such a resolution when he has a Japanese face.
“I told her I could have a black face, a brown face, a white face — I could be Mexican, I could be Indian — it doesn’t matter,” Mr. Honda recalled. From the New York Times by Norimitsu Onishi here
I can't believe that he really expects Japan to apologize for the sex slave issue or any other atrocity/war crime it has been found to have committed. The trend is very strongly in the opposite direction. It is trying to deny more and more of what it did. This year, the government ordered school textbook publishers to remove references that the Imperial Japanese Army ordered Okinawan civilians to commit suicide during the invasion there. Unfortunately for the nutjobs in power, many survivors who have Japanese faces say otherwise.
BY the way, Onishi has written numerous articles this year critical of Abe and Japan's distortions and denials. Its lies. He has a Japanese face too. Does that mean he is not really Japanese? Is there, or is there not a tradition and acceptance of free speech in Japan. Only if you are a rightwing nutjob.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Bataan Death March not so bad
After all, there are bad people and bad events in every society, so despite the fact that:
The Bataan Death March took place in 1942, when Japanese forces made about 75,000 POWs, the bulk of them Filipinos and around 12,000 Americans, travel inland on foot to prison camps. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners died during the march.
Japanese actions weren't anything out of the ordinary. One could not blame Japan for anything especially bad because:
While [Professor Lester] Tenney tells the story of Japanese soldiers decapitating weakened POWs, he also points out there was discrimination against blacks and Jews in U.S. society, suggesting there is no national border in terms of the dark side of humanity. (From the Japan Times online, article by Takami Hanzawa.)
You have to wonder how intentional murder, torture, war crimes and atrocities compare to discrimination in the US at that time. By the way, was there discrimination against minorities in Japan then (or now)? I also wonder why the author included this in the article which is about an American man who survived the death march and who is at 87 still speaking about it.
Actually, I don't wonder why, it is standard practice in Japan. Sure, Japan may have accidentally killed a few Chinese in Nanjing, may have taken advantage of women who wanted to be taken advantage of (we didn't force them to be sex slaves though, they were comfort women), but we were trying to save the world from western imperialism by establishing Japanese imperialism. A few bad things may have happened, but everybody else did bad things too. Therefore, we can "understand" (excuse) Japan's actions. And we must never forget, Japan was the main victim of the war due to Allied aggression.
Quotes in italics from Hanzawa's article here.
The Bataan Death March took place in 1942, when Japanese forces made about 75,000 POWs, the bulk of them Filipinos and around 12,000 Americans, travel inland on foot to prison camps. An estimated 10,000 to 20,000 prisoners died during the march.
Japanese actions weren't anything out of the ordinary. One could not blame Japan for anything especially bad because:
While [Professor Lester] Tenney tells the story of Japanese soldiers decapitating weakened POWs, he also points out there was discrimination against blacks and Jews in U.S. society, suggesting there is no national border in terms of the dark side of humanity. (From the Japan Times online, article by Takami Hanzawa.)
You have to wonder how intentional murder, torture, war crimes and atrocities compare to discrimination in the US at that time. By the way, was there discrimination against minorities in Japan then (or now)? I also wonder why the author included this in the article which is about an American man who survived the death march and who is at 87 still speaking about it.
Actually, I don't wonder why, it is standard practice in Japan. Sure, Japan may have accidentally killed a few Chinese in Nanjing, may have taken advantage of women who wanted to be taken advantage of (we didn't force them to be sex slaves though, they were comfort women), but we were trying to save the world from western imperialism by establishing Japanese imperialism. A few bad things may have happened, but everybody else did bad things too. Therefore, we can "understand" (excuse) Japan's actions. And we must never forget, Japan was the main victim of the war due to Allied aggression.
Quotes in italics from Hanzawa's article here.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Japanese Imperial Army innocent in Okinawa too.
Up until now, it has been accepted historical fact, even in Japan, that the Japanese Army in Okinawa in WW2 ordered civilians to kill themselves as the US forces advanced. Now neo-imperial militarists, such as the non-veteran Abe, have been able to convince the Education Ministry to remove this from school textbooks. Like the sex slave issue, this did not happen either.
Is there any idiot left on the face of the earth who thinks Abe and Japan still honestly stand behind the 1993 Kono apology concerning sex slaves? Is there any naive apologist left who believes that Japan (the elite rightwingers) sincerely think that Japanese actions in WW2 were especially wrong? It won't be long, if Abe and his ilk continue on this path, until this view of history becomes accepted as fact among the Japanese. I already hear the idea when discussing China, that the problems Japan has is due to "a different view of history."
From the New York Times:
The decision [to revise the texts] on the Battle of Okinawa, which came as a surprise because the ministry had never objected to the description in the past, followed recent denials by Mr. Abe that the military had coerced women into sexual slavery during the war.
It was only in the late 19th century that Japan officially annexed Okinawa, a kingdom that, to this day, has retained some of its own culture. During World War II, when many Okinawans still spoke a different dialect, Japanese troops treated the locals brutally. In its history of the war, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum presents Okinawa as being caught in the fighting between America and Japan — a starkly different view from the Yasukuni Shrine war museum, which presents Japan as a liberator of Asia from Western powers.
Is there any idiot left on the face of the earth who thinks Abe and Japan still honestly stand behind the 1993 Kono apology concerning sex slaves? Is there any naive apologist left who believes that Japan (the elite rightwingers) sincerely think that Japanese actions in WW2 were especially wrong? It won't be long, if Abe and his ilk continue on this path, until this view of history becomes accepted as fact among the Japanese. I already hear the idea when discussing China, that the problems Japan has is due to "a different view of history."
From the New York Times:
The decision [to revise the texts] on the Battle of Okinawa, which came as a surprise because the ministry had never objected to the description in the past, followed recent denials by Mr. Abe that the military had coerced women into sexual slavery during the war.
It was only in the late 19th century that Japan officially annexed Okinawa, a kingdom that, to this day, has retained some of its own culture. During World War II, when many Okinawans still spoke a different dialect, Japanese troops treated the locals brutally. In its history of the war, the Okinawa Prefectural Peace Memorial Museum presents Okinawa as being caught in the fighting between America and Japan — a starkly different view from the Yasukuni Shrine war museum, which presents Japan as a liberator of Asia from Western powers.
During the 1945 battle, during which one quarter of the civilian population was killed, the Japanese Army showed indifference to Okinawa’s defense and safety. Japanese soldiers used civilians as shields against the Americans, and persuaded locals that victorious American soldiers would go on a rampage of killing and raping. With the impending victory of American troops, civilians committed mass suicide, urged on by fanatical Japanese soldiers.
“There were some people who were forced to commit suicide by the Japanese Army,” one old textbook explained. But in the revision ordered by the ministry, it now reads, “There were some people who were driven to mass suicide.” Full story here.
Friday, March 16, 2007
The virus spreads
Gov. Sonomanma: What sex slaves?
Miyazaki Gov. Hideo Higashikokubaru, a comedian-turned-rookie-politician, waded into a political minefield Wednesday, claiming it was hard to confirm as historical fact that the wartime Japanese military coerced women across Asia into frontline brothels.
"My position is that it is hard to make a comment (on the issue) unless the history is verified," he said. "Both cases of existence and nonexistence (of coercion) should be verified objectively."Higashikokubaru said he believes there was nothing wrong with Japanese engaging in the sex trade in pre-1945 Korea, because under a "bilateral accord" in 1910, the Korean Peninsula became part of Japan, where the sex business had been allowed under certain regulations.
Article here.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Honesty, integrity, sincerity, and Japan
Sex slave history erased from texts; '93 apology next?
Former education minister Nariaki Nakayama takes pride in an achievement he and about 130 fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party took the past decade to accomplish: getting references to Japan's wartime sex slaves struck from most authorized history texts for junior high schools.
"Our campaign worked, and people outside the government also started raising their voices, creating a national trend," said the 63-year-old Lower House member from Miyazaki Prefecture, who also openly claims the 1937 Nanjing Massacre was a "pure fabrication."
Abe's"Beautiful Country"?
Full article in the Japan Times:
Former education minister Nariaki Nakayama takes pride in an achievement he and about 130 fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party took the past decade to accomplish: getting references to Japan's wartime sex slaves struck from most authorized history texts for junior high schools.
"Our campaign worked, and people outside the government also started raising their voices, creating a national trend," said the 63-year-old Lower House member from Miyazaki Prefecture, who also openly claims the 1937 Nanjing Massacre was a "pure fabrication."
Abe's"Beautiful Country"?
Full article in the Japan Times:
Friday, March 09, 2007
A different slant on Abe's original statement
This doesn't make a nickle's worth of difference in Abe's remarks, but it does give a somewhat detailed explanation of Abe's meaning of coercion before he became PM. Let's assume that, in spite of the most compelling evidence, that Abe is right. That the Japanese Imperial Army did not "forcibly" enter homes to kidnap women. (They politely asked first? After all, everyone has heard of the legendary politeness of the Japanese.) Or did they kidnap them off the street, or from hotels. After all, we are dealing with a "narrow" sense of words. Like what the meaning of is is. In the end, he still wants to blame it this Japanese war crime on subcontractors and remove the military and government as far as possible from responsibility. But then, even if the military and government were not directly involved in Abe's narrow sense, what is the difference?
Why does the right-wing and the LDP want to withdraw the "apology" regardless of the international damage it does to Japan and more importantly, the insult and damage that it will do to victims? Why threaten the US over this? Who has the most to lose in damaged relations with the US? Why risk more problems in northeast Asia where few believe Japan anyway? This is the beautiful country Abe wants? Well, in the broad sense, yes.
Note that in the comments section of the article that one person denies that it was sexual slavery because, he says, they were paid. Others are excuses and apologies for Japan's behavior as expected. Naturally the victims' credibility is attacked without evidence (they all are old and can't really remember what happened or who did it. And they were paid anyway.) It's good that Japan has so many sympathizers, The Reischauer "chrysanthemum club" is alive and well.
The whole apology controversies ain't nothing new, and they will go on and on as Japan is incapable of clearly accepting responsibility for its WW2 actions.
1. We (Japan) are sorry for something, kinda.
2. We didn't do anything.
3. You misunderstood what we said. "Anything" has many different meanings.
4. We stand by the original statement which we will never repeat.
5. Start again from number 2 and continue forever.
6. Certain folks will believe it all.
Related articles on this subject:
Japan Focus: Morris-Suzuki: Gives detail and evidence of the Imperial Army's involvement, included statements from former Japanese soldiers--including ex-PM Nakasone. It also discusses Michael Honda's House Resolution 121 and how Abe's remarks have embarrassed the bill's US opponents. Abe's involvement in coercing (you guess what sense of the word) NHK to modify a 2001 documentary about comfort women.
Excerpt:
It seems that neonationalists are in the process of reformulating their discursive strategy to appropriate (selectively) certain postmodern concepts such as “history as story” to serve the purpose of creating an idealized history of a pure Japanese nation. It is a project that resonates with dominant wartime ideologies of empire.
Japan Focus: Yoshiko Nozaki. A very interesting discussion of the history of the issue . Includes Japanese research. Interesting, the right-wing's practice of quibbling over the meaning of certain terms in order to try to refute evidence in this issue did no originate with Abe's argument over semantics. However, the meaning of coercion is one of the arguments used by neonationalists to attempt to deny government involvement.
I will list more as I find them mainly to provide web sources to refute the no evidence charge of Abe and his followers and apologists. It would never satisfy them though, as they mean evidence in the narrow sense of the word. In this case it seems to mean that they will accept only official documents from the military or war time government. Any other evidence appears not to be evidence to these people. And should this type of evidence be found, you can bet that they would refuse to accept it too.
Here's one with tons of sources from the US Congressional Research Service published in April partially in response to son of a war criminal Abe's confusing illogical denials and apologies for what he said never happened as stated.
Why does the right-wing and the LDP want to withdraw the "apology" regardless of the international damage it does to Japan and more importantly, the insult and damage that it will do to victims? Why threaten the US over this? Who has the most to lose in damaged relations with the US? Why risk more problems in northeast Asia where few believe Japan anyway? This is the beautiful country Abe wants? Well, in the broad sense, yes.
Note that in the comments section of the article that one person denies that it was sexual slavery because, he says, they were paid. Others are excuses and apologies for Japan's behavior as expected. Naturally the victims' credibility is attacked without evidence (they all are old and can't really remember what happened or who did it. And they were paid anyway.) It's good that Japan has so many sympathizers, The Reischauer "chrysanthemum club" is alive and well.
The whole apology controversies ain't nothing new, and they will go on and on as Japan is incapable of clearly accepting responsibility for its WW2 actions.
1. We (Japan) are sorry for something, kinda.
2. We didn't do anything.
3. You misunderstood what we said. "Anything" has many different meanings.
4. We stand by the original statement which we will never repeat.
5. Start again from number 2 and continue forever.
6. Certain folks will believe it all.
Related articles on this subject:
Japan Focus: Morris-Suzuki: Gives detail and evidence of the Imperial Army's involvement, included statements from former Japanese soldiers--including ex-PM Nakasone. It also discusses Michael Honda's House Resolution 121 and how Abe's remarks have embarrassed the bill's US opponents. Abe's involvement in coercing (you guess what sense of the word) NHK to modify a 2001 documentary about comfort women.
Excerpt:
It seems that neonationalists are in the process of reformulating their discursive strategy to appropriate (selectively) certain postmodern concepts such as “history as story” to serve the purpose of creating an idealized history of a pure Japanese nation. It is a project that resonates with dominant wartime ideologies of empire.
Japan Focus: Yoshiko Nozaki. A very interesting discussion of the history of the issue . Includes Japanese research. Interesting, the right-wing's practice of quibbling over the meaning of certain terms in order to try to refute evidence in this issue did no originate with Abe's argument over semantics. However, the meaning of coercion is one of the arguments used by neonationalists to attempt to deny government involvement.
I will list more as I find them mainly to provide web sources to refute the no evidence charge of Abe and his followers and apologists. It would never satisfy them though, as they mean evidence in the narrow sense of the word. In this case it seems to mean that they will accept only official documents from the military or war time government. Any other evidence appears not to be evidence to these people. And should this type of evidence be found, you can bet that they would refuse to accept it too.
Here's one with tons of sources from the US Congressional Research Service published in April partially in response to son of a war criminal Abe's confusing illogical denials and apologies for what he said never happened as stated.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Japan to World: You're all gullable idiots
That is what the country is saying. Apparently, since the rest of the world got upset about poor, innocent Abe's (and poor innocent Japan) denial that Japan coerced women into becoming sex slaves in WW2 (but stands by its 1993 sort of "apology" for maybe in some way doing something like that) the Japanese establishment (LDP, media, mainstream academia, right-wing thugs etc.) have decided to once again bring out the tired old pack of lies that Abe's meaning of the word coercion was misunderstood by all those foreign idiots--as well as by many Japanese.
The fact is that nobody gives a f**k what Japan's definition of coercion is. The victims know what the meaning of Japanese atrocities like this are. That is what is important.
Here is a victim's statement. “I was taken away by force by Japanese officers, and a Japanese military doctor forced me to undress to examine me before I was taken away,”
Would this not be coercion? Japan is trying to withdraw its 1993 unofficial "apology" because Abe and his ilk who are running the country do not think Japan has anything to apologize for.
They believe if they insist upon this nonsensical spin that there will be plenty of naive, simple-minded foreigners who will accept it.
The Asahi Shimbun, supposedly a liberal newspaper, has published an editorial supporting Abe's excuses. They certainly took no issue with it except to say he should be careful so that foreign idiots do not misunderstand him and harm Japan's reputation. Screw the victims and their reputation, call them liars and whores.
No, the Asahi Shimbun in the IHT does not take letters to the editor.
Abe is denying any direct Japanese government involvement in this. It was all the dirty deeds of subcontractors? This is supposed to make a difference in the understanding of his statement? It seems to be accurate as reported. Abe is denying Japan's responsibility, like he always had before becoming prime minister. If not, wha exactly is the purpose of reopening the whole issue? Because the U.S. Congress may pass a resolution asking for a clear, unambiguous apology? Note that the Japanese government is NOT paying the victims with money from that fund. It is private contributions. It also ends very soon. And had Abe's LDP been in power in 1993, there would never have been even this inadequate action taken nor would they have permitted the quasi-official, quasi-apology.
Apparently they assume the U.S. Congress is full of idiots too. They may be right. Of course, they can always buy support. Always have.
I wonder why the victims do not accept the letters of apology? Is Japan claiming greed? Claiming they misunderstand? They don't know the meaning of coercion? Or simply calling them liars? (Abe has said there are no witnesses to prove the military forced women into becoming sex slaves. The women themselves apparently are not witnesses. Certainly not reliable, in Abe's and his fellow neo-emperor worshippers' opinions.)
The fact is that nobody gives a f**k what Japan's definition of coercion is. The victims know what the meaning of Japanese atrocities like this are. That is what is important.
Here is a victim's statement. “I was taken away by force by Japanese officers, and a Japanese military doctor forced me to undress to examine me before I was taken away,”
Would this not be coercion? Japan is trying to withdraw its 1993 unofficial "apology" because Abe and his ilk who are running the country do not think Japan has anything to apologize for.
They believe if they insist upon this nonsensical spin that there will be plenty of naive, simple-minded foreigners who will accept it.
The Asahi Shimbun, supposedly a liberal newspaper, has published an editorial supporting Abe's excuses. They certainly took no issue with it except to say he should be careful so that foreign idiots do not misunderstand him and harm Japan's reputation. Screw the victims and their reputation, call them liars and whores.
No, the Asahi Shimbun in the IHT does not take letters to the editor.
EDITORIAL/ 'Comfort women' issue
03/07/2007
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ignited controversy at home and abroad for his remarks concerning "comfort women"--Asian women in sexual servitude to Japanese troops during World War II.
Responding to a question from the press last week, Abe stated: "There is no evidence to validate the coercion the way it was originally defined. We must now address this issue on the basis of this new understanding."
The U.S. media and others said that the prime minister was denying the existence of wartime sex slaves, or any evidence thereof. Song Min Soon, the South Korean minister of foreign affairs and trade, reportedly said that such comments were not helpful.
These reactions, however, seem to have been excessive. Questioned by a Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) lawmaker during an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Monday, the prime minister reiterated, "The government continues to support the Kono statement."
Issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono in 1993, the Kono statement represents the Japanese government's official stand on the "comfort women" issue. The statement admits that the Imperial Japanese Army was involved in the establishment of brothels and that the recruitment of the women was generally against their will. The statement also notes that the women were forced to live in dire conditions.
Immediately after becoming prime minister last year, Abe declared that he would continue to support the Kono statement. He now appears to be saying that since his stance has not changed, he does not want anyone to misunderstand him.
Abe seems fixated on the word "coercion," and this is what has made his remarks difficult to understand. The prime minister explained Monday that there was "coercion in the broad sense of the word," citing the fact that traders effectively recruited the women by force. But Abe said there was no "coercion in the strict sense of the word," as in authorities abducting the women.
However, in the overall process of recruiting, transporting and supervising the women, there were obviously situations where coercion was used. The Kono statement takes this position. It is hardly gracious of Abe, the prime minister of Japan, to split hairs over the trivial definition or distinction of a word.
One reason why Abe's remarks have stirred controversy is that he was once the standard-bearer of a group of lawmakers opposed to the Kono statement. This group is still discussing how to revise the statement.
And the group opposes the recent U.S. House resolution bill demanding an official apology from the Japanese prime minister for his nation's wartime sexual exploitation of Asian women.
In response to the Kono statement, the government in 1995 established the Asian Women's Fund designed to compensate former "comfort women" with funds of the private sector. The fund was set up during the coalition administration of Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama of the Social Democratic Party.
After Murayama, each of the next four Liberal Democratic Party prime ministers--from Ryutaro Hashimoto to Junichiro Koizumi--signed a "letter of apology" and sent it to the surviving former "comfort women." This was part of a commitment maintained jointly by the government and private citizens to seek reconciliation with fellow Asians whom Japan victimized during the war.
Having confirmed his position on the "comfort women" issue as the head of government, Abe should refrain from making comments that may invite misunderstandings. He could hurt Japan's credibility if he is not careful.
What the government can do now is to explain to the U.S. Congress how Japan has been dealing with the issue, including the letters of apology and other facts.
Abe is denying any direct Japanese government involvement in this. It was all the dirty deeds of subcontractors? This is supposed to make a difference in the understanding of his statement? It seems to be accurate as reported. Abe is denying Japan's responsibility, like he always had before becoming prime minister. If not, wha exactly is the purpose of reopening the whole issue? Because the U.S. Congress may pass a resolution asking for a clear, unambiguous apology? Note that the Japanese government is NOT paying the victims with money from that fund. It is private contributions. It also ends very soon. And had Abe's LDP been in power in 1993, there would never have been even this inadequate action taken nor would they have permitted the quasi-official, quasi-apology.
Apparently they assume the U.S. Congress is full of idiots too. They may be right. Of course, they can always buy support. Always have.
I wonder why the victims do not accept the letters of apology? Is Japan claiming greed? Claiming they misunderstand? They don't know the meaning of coercion? Or simply calling them liars? (Abe has said there are no witnesses to prove the military forced women into becoming sex slaves. The women themselves apparently are not witnesses. Certainly not reliable, in Abe's and his fellow neo-emperor worshippers' opinions.)
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Abe's Denial
has gotten a little more exposure in the US. The Washington Post published a story about this and one of the interesting things is in the comments section by readers is the childish attempt by someone with a Japanese sounding name to deny that any such crimes took place:
and:
These are rebuttals? Or the inane babbling of a rightist nutjob? They are illogical nonsense which don't even address the issue at hand, hell they aren't even good red herrings, (as in logical fallacy) but as Masahiko Fujiwara has said, logic doesn't really work, especially in Japan. Of course this could just be someone claiming to be Japanese who is not in order to discredit Japan even further.
Accoding [sic] to the Feb. 13, 2003 digital Chosun Ilbo, the largest newspaper company in South Korea, the number of criminals who committed perjury in South Korea, on a populaion [sic] basis, was 671 times as many as that in Japan. It mentioned that South Koreans have a strong tendency to tell a lie [sic] in non-criminal trial because of no strict investigation of testimony.
By htamashiro2003 | Mar 2, 2007 7:38:30 Aand:
According to the October 7, 2004 digital Chosun Ilbo, which is the largest newspaper company in South Korea, about 3,000 South Korean prostitutes got together from several cities and demonstrated for the right to life [huh?]in front of the South Korean parliament building in Seoul. What we can learn from the news is that South Korea is one of the biggest countries in the world[sic] where so many women are working as professional prostitutes. When we think of the truth on the comfort women issue, this traditional culture of prostitution in Korea is very helpful to find truths about the issue. Anyway, it is true that there have been so many professional prostitutes throughtout [sic] Korean history. And it is also helpful to know that South Koea [sic] has established the Ministry for Women about 10 years ago, which is specialized in eliminating the serious and traditional discrimination against women. What we can learn from these factors about Korea is that its very likely Korean comfort women before 1945 working for Japanese soldiers were professional ones too.
These are rebuttals? Or the inane babbling of a rightist nutjob? They are illogical nonsense which don't even address the issue at hand, hell they aren't even good red herrings, (as in logical fallacy) but as Masahiko Fujiwara has said, logic doesn't really work, especially in Japan. Of course this could just be someone claiming to be Japanese who is not in order to discredit Japan even further.
South Korea reacts to Tojo Abe's denials
and as expected, they ain't too happy. However, one has to assume the the Koreans and the Chinese know that Japan does not really accept any responsibility for its actions in WW2. The reason that it doctors its history books, elects nationalistic bigots and racists again and again, and gives unclear "apologies" and a minute later takes them back is because deep down inside, the elite crowd of LDP politicians do not at all regret anything they did in the war and consider it justified. I mean, they have been saying that for 60 years---it is time to accept that they mean what they say.
I assume the US has not really pushed Japan on any apologies because we think we need Japan as a half-assed, fair-weather, parasitic "ally" in northeast Asia. It never apologized for Pearl Harbor, for the Death March of Bataan, or anything else. We know it ain't sorry. Besides, we have a military here to keep an eye on the country so its top loonybirds can't go off and start another war easily. (That's our job.) Plus, Japan is very good at playing the A-bomb card against the US if we criticize it for it's atrocities too much. (Besides the deaths of civilians, one of the worst results of the atomic bombings is that it does allow Japan to play the special victim, the ultimate victim of the war and gets Japan a lot of support and sympathy for it from overseas, while" forgetting" exactly why the whole world was so pissed.)
Japan believes that it was the primary victim of WW2 and did little or no wrong. If it did wrong, it is the type of thing every country at war does, so nobody has the right to criticize Japan. It ain't sorry, so we all just ought to accept that fact. And Japan should quit all pretensions that it is.
Here, and here
I assume the US has not really pushed Japan on any apologies because we think we need Japan as a half-assed, fair-weather, parasitic "ally" in northeast Asia. It never apologized for Pearl Harbor, for the Death March of Bataan, or anything else. We know it ain't sorry. Besides, we have a military here to keep an eye on the country so its top loonybirds can't go off and start another war easily. (That's our job.) Plus, Japan is very good at playing the A-bomb card against the US if we criticize it for it's atrocities too much. (Besides the deaths of civilians, one of the worst results of the atomic bombings is that it does allow Japan to play the special victim, the ultimate victim of the war and gets Japan a lot of support and sympathy for it from overseas, while" forgetting" exactly why the whole world was so pissed.)
Japan believes that it was the primary victim of WW2 and did little or no wrong. If it did wrong, it is the type of thing every country at war does, so nobody has the right to criticize Japan. It ain't sorry, so we all just ought to accept that fact. And Japan should quit all pretensions that it is.
Here, and here
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Friday, March 02, 2007
Son of a War Criminal Abe denies
that Japan forced foreign women into sexual slavery. (Japan is sorry for its actions in World War 2, even though it didn't really do anything wrong).
So Abe now has rejected the Japanese government's 1993 statement that the Japanese military had set up brothels and forced women into sexual slavery.
“There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it,” Mr. Abe told reporters. “So, in respect to this declaration, you have to keep in mind that things have changed greatly.” (New York Times)
This stooge is the leader of the USA's main ally in Asia? What core values do America (including Canada, of course) or Europe have with the Japanese elite? There should no longer be any question at all about the lack of sincerity of Japan's expressions of regrets or fake "apologies" about WW2. Abe and his fellow rightist thugs do not believe Japan was wrong in any way that I can see. If he does, perhaps he should explicitly express exactly what Japan did wrong. Don't hold your breath.
But this is a little too far. Imagine what would happen if Japan's WW2 ally Germany, denied that it did anything wrong in the war.
Where is Japan headed? Toward a beautiful country, or toward a nationalistic, racist, unapologetic holier-than-thou, fascist country of the past?
I don't suppose many will write to congress about this as most people in the US and other Western countries won't care. That is how Japan gets away with what it does. People do not hold it to the same standards as European or North American countries. Or any other advanced country. It's what you could expect from Japan, I suppose.
(Why doesn't North Korea just simply start denying that it ever kidnapped any Japanese? Ignore all evidence. Ignore the returnees. Just call it all lies and deny everything. Just like Japan.)
So Abe now has rejected the Japanese government's 1993 statement that the Japanese military had set up brothels and forced women into sexual slavery.
“There is no evidence to prove there was coercion, nothing to support it,” Mr. Abe told reporters. “So, in respect to this declaration, you have to keep in mind that things have changed greatly.” (New York Times)
This stooge is the leader of the USA's main ally in Asia? What core values do America (including Canada, of course) or Europe have with the Japanese elite? There should no longer be any question at all about the lack of sincerity of Japan's expressions of regrets or fake "apologies" about WW2. Abe and his fellow rightist thugs do not believe Japan was wrong in any way that I can see. If he does, perhaps he should explicitly express exactly what Japan did wrong. Don't hold your breath.
But this is a little too far. Imagine what would happen if Japan's WW2 ally Germany, denied that it did anything wrong in the war.
Where is Japan headed? Toward a beautiful country, or toward a nationalistic, racist, unapologetic holier-than-thou, fascist country of the past?
I don't suppose many will write to congress about this as most people in the US and other Western countries won't care. That is how Japan gets away with what it does. People do not hold it to the same standards as European or North American countries. Or any other advanced country. It's what you could expect from Japan, I suppose.
(Why doesn't North Korea just simply start denying that it ever kidnapped any Japanese? Ignore all evidence. Ignore the returnees. Just call it all lies and deny everything. Just like Japan.)
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