Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Why do so many doubt Japan's sincerity?

Perhaps the guy saying this is an extreme example, but he a a veteran of WW2. Whereas many vets renounced the war and Japan's part in it, this guy follows the rightwing view of history. That is: Japan did nothing wrong in WW2. It was fighting imperialism and was tricked and forced into the war by American, Britain, China and the Dutch. East Indies. This is NOT a rare view, and as Abe, Fujiwara et. al. seem to desire, an increasingly common one. It seems to be acceptable for the rest of the world too. The US won't say anything as long as the Japanese government at least pretends to go along with whatever the US does; China in actuality isn't going to say much as long as Abe doesn't visit Yasukuni, and no other country will react either. So the Japanese version of history is about to become accepted. That version is that Japan was the primary victim of the war and its aftermath.

The old vet said:

History is written by the victors. Since the end of WWII, the Japanese history taught in our schools has been based on a U.S. program to promote war guilt and on left-wing propaganda. I don't blame the United States for this. They wanted a weak Japan, and their mission is accomplished; Japanese educated after the war do not have any confidence in their culture or in themselves.

Japan was forced to participate in WWII. The ABCD Powers (America, Britain, China and the Dutch East Indies) imposed such strong sanctions on Japan that we had no way to import oil, steel or anything. We were going to die or we were going to be invaded and enslaved.

Sound a lot like Fujiwara Masahiko? Yes, but even he thinks the Japanese invasion of China was wrong. However, this is the "pride" that Fujiwara, Abe, et. al hope to restore in Japan. Some would argue that it has never left, but it was just not as openly and aggressively pushed. Yes, Edwin Reischauer, Japan just suddenly made a complete and total change after WW2. Right back to the path of a open liberal democracy that it was heading for before the Americans forced them to invade and colonize China and attack Pearl Harbor. Naturally the colonization of China was necessary to fight European colonization of China. Fighting imperialism with imperialism. (Probably why the Chinese are so grateful. Filipinos naturally loved the Japanese soldiers like this one too.) Oh, please don't mention the fact that Japan colonized Korea nearly 40 years before they were forced into WW2. That would cause confusion. Anyway, the Koreans invited them, but have now become ungrateful.

You can read the full article HERE.

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