“Even now, there are many people who think that our country’s aggression caused unbearable suffering to the countries of Asia during the Greater East Asia War,” he wrote, using the term favored by Japan’s right to refer to World War II. “But we need to realize that many Asian countries take a positive view of the Greater East Asia War. It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation.” Comments courtesy of now fired Japan Air Force (which is, of course, not to be mistaken for a military branch) Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami and the NYT.
...in recent years, nationalist politicians belonging to the right wing of the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party have waged a campaign to revise Japan’s wartime history... Full article at the New York Times.
Our rightwinger claimed that innocent Japan was tricked into entering attacking the US at Pearl Harbor and denied that Japan had invaded China and Korea and that Roosevelt, in addition to victimizing Japan was a Comintern puppet. I always knew that lefty Roosevelt was a Commie! (Guardian UK)
Although the above essay already won him $30,000 from a contest sponsored by the real estate developer Apa Group, General Tamogami also deserves the Shinzo Abe Foot-in-the Mouth Award for fearless public denial of history and furthering the cause of WW2 revisionists and apologists. He has stated that he will explain his views to the public next week. Can't wait.
Also articles here and here in case the NYT/Guardian links die suddenly.
Showing posts with label revisionists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label revisionists. Show all posts
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Democracy in action
"Yes, of course we are competing," said Mr Aso, the LDP's present number two. "This is how we mature and grow as politicians. An election such as this is a training ground for politicians."
If a 67 year old man who has been an LDP politician for 43 decades isn't trained by now, you have to wonder if he ever will be.
"Even though they are going through this drama, I'm sure all the candidates already know who is going to win on Monday," said Pema Gyalpo, a professor of law at Yokohama University. "They are only going through this process to get the attention of the media and the public before the general election.
...responding to questions from the foreign press, but one was focused squarely at Mr Aso, whose family operated coal mines on the southern Japan island of Kyushu during the war, using Allied POWs, including British military personnel, as slave labourers.
If a 67 year old man who has been an LDP politician for 43 decades isn't trained by now, you have to wonder if he ever will be.
"Even though they are going through this drama, I'm sure all the candidates already know who is going to win on Monday," said Pema Gyalpo, a professor of law at Yokohama University. "They are only going through this process to get the attention of the media and the public before the general election.
...responding to questions from the foreign press, but one was focused squarely at Mr Aso, whose family operated coal mines on the southern Japan island of Kyushu during the war, using Allied POWs, including British military personnel, as slave labourers.
"I was five years old at the end of the war and have no recollection of these events," said Mr Aso, who has steadfastly refused to apologise to POW groups for the actions of his family's company.
"I recognise these incidents as fact and I have worked solidly so that Japan can advance as a member of the international society." Telegraph.co.uk
Thursday, August 21, 2008
As I await the end of summer, which by temperature standards of my home would be around late October in Kanto, (meaning it is what I would call summer-like in Tokyo until then) I am trying to focus on trips to the mountains that I plan for the fall and winter. I am hoping to be able to go to areas sufficiently remote that I don't have a noisy bunch of grannies and grandpas destroying any sense of nature with transistor radios blaring, talking and giggling in voices loud enough to wake the dead, or even the types I see on TV who as soon as they reach a cleared, leveled, and perhaps even concreted viewing platform of an official scenic view scream "sugoiiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!!" repeatedly. This rules out much of anything that does not require camping or travel by car.
I have been able to get completely away from humans only once in the last year when I went to the Nikko area and found an obscure trail leading to the top of one of the more popular mountains there. I never made it to the top as I did not have a real map, but a printed puzzle written by a clown with no sense of scale nor idea of how to make a map. (Real maps useful for doing any serious hiking or climbing are hard to find. I understand that they are or were available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, but I have not checked yet.)
Decent English books on aspects of nature concerning Japan are tough to find. Decent does not include books with the standard "mystery of the Orient" slant to them. There are magazines in Japanese concerning mountain climbing (actually hiking) that are somewhat useful in getting an idea of where to go. Otherwise, like most other magazines, their main focus is on selling readers stuff they don't need.
One book that I recently bought is The Green Archipelago by Conrad Totman. It concerns forestry in pre-industrial Japan and is one of the very few in English that I have been able to find. In fact, I have not been able to find much in Japanese beyond the simplistic either, at least in any bookstores. Even if I could, it would be a challenge for me to read it and get as much out of it as I could one written in English.
Oh well. Forget that. Manga-Man Aso is seen by some as angling to slither into the prime minister slot. There is the answer to Japan's problems. And don't worry, about some of his and his supporter's statements in the past. After all, nationalism is not an issue in Japan, yet.
I have been able to get completely away from humans only once in the last year when I went to the Nikko area and found an obscure trail leading to the top of one of the more popular mountains there. I never made it to the top as I did not have a real map, but a printed puzzle written by a clown with no sense of scale nor idea of how to make a map. (Real maps useful for doing any serious hiking or climbing are hard to find. I understand that they are or were available at Kinokuniya in Shinjuku, but I have not checked yet.)
Decent English books on aspects of nature concerning Japan are tough to find. Decent does not include books with the standard "mystery of the Orient" slant to them. There are magazines in Japanese concerning mountain climbing (actually hiking) that are somewhat useful in getting an idea of where to go. Otherwise, like most other magazines, their main focus is on selling readers stuff they don't need.
One book that I recently bought is The Green Archipelago by Conrad Totman. It concerns forestry in pre-industrial Japan and is one of the very few in English that I have been able to find. In fact, I have not been able to find much in Japanese beyond the simplistic either, at least in any bookstores. Even if I could, it would be a challenge for me to read it and get as much out of it as I could one written in English.
Oh well. Forget that. Manga-Man Aso is seen by some as angling to slither into the prime minister slot. There is the answer to Japan's problems. And don't worry, about some of his and his supporter's statements in the past. After all, nationalism is not an issue in Japan, yet.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Words of Wisdom?
As usual, the anniversary of Japan's surrender was marked with a number of ceremonies. And, as usual, the right-wingers had a nice gathering at Yasukuni. Even some of Fukuda's cabinet showed up in order to keep thier and the LDP's extreme right credentials in order.
This is nothing new and just goes to show that some of the nutjobs will never change. Fortunately, we have a young generation of non-Japanese (and Japanese) who will put things into the proper touchy-feely, lovey dovey perspective with deep and thoughtful observations:
This is nothing new and just goes to show that some of the nutjobs will never change. Fortunately, we have a young generation of non-Japanese (and Japanese) who will put things into the proper touchy-feely, lovey dovey perspective with deep and thoughtful observations:
All those mistaken foreigners (and the Japanese who marched in anti-Yasukuni protest Friday) should show more patience and tolerance for the rightwingers of Japan who are visiting Yauskuni in innocence and purity.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Watching TV news in Japan can often be frustrating for many reasons, besides not being able to catch everything that is said. NHK and one of the other stations (Channel 4) have bilingual broadcasts so one can listen to those to get rid of most of the language problem. Unfortunately, you still have to endure some story about nothing going on and on seemingly forever. Or you have to listen to a lecture---almost always by a male newsreader---about what society/the government needs to do after a report on a serious incident. (e.g. After a story on fraud, "We must ensure that this kind of thing cannot happen," or some similar goofy comment with which nobody can disagree.)
Having BS, the overpriced satellite service from NHK, with which we can watch old movies that we would not spend the ￥300 to rent or enjoy the Shopping Channel which often uses translated commercials from the US, also allows us to watch news from other countries---England, France, Germany among them. Of course, we have to listen to the French and German news in Japanese.
You can see some of the differences in style. On one, a Sunday Morning BBC political issue broadcast which I occasionally watch, the woman running it seems to be a bit more open with her opinions---or biases---than used to be acceptable in the US media. She does, however, manage to do so without appearing to be some sort of idiotic clown. Unlike those on CNN.
I remember when CNN used to be somewhat reliable and serious, but it is shocking to see how it has deteriorated into something like The National Enquirer on TV. I just watched another edition of CNN Prime which usually focuses on celebrities, weirdos, or some sort of sexual scandal or crime. Anything that they can sensationalize is fair game.
Today, their lead story was on a minor league baseball brawl in which a pitcher got angry and threw a ball at another player, but missed and hit a fan in the face. CNN replayed that at least 10 times or more. While playing the clip over and over and over and over and over, the newsclown, James Galano (?), with a mug so heavily made up that he looked like a plastic Sony robot, made faces to show his disgust and disapproval while giving his personal opinion about the brawl. He always does this on every sensational story he "reports." If he is off, there are a couple of plastic-faced females with unbelievably huge mouths who do the same. No story is too serious or too complex for them to make into a sort of simplistic cartoon. This must be why fewer and fewer Americans get "news" from the TV. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is much better, more believable, and is not nearly so insulting to viewers---and you can get it via the Internet. (Of course, FOX may be even worse than CNN.)
It makes me think that NHK's self-censored news is of much higher quality and reliability even if Abe and his band of rightwing-revisionists lean on it to report only the LDP-approved version of the world. And none of the reporter are so made up as to appear plastic.
1335: Edited because I cannot spell. Ask Fujiwacko why...
Having BS, the overpriced satellite service from NHK, with which we can watch old movies that we would not spend the ￥300 to rent or enjoy the Shopping Channel which often uses translated commercials from the US, also allows us to watch news from other countries---England, France, Germany among them. Of course, we have to listen to the French and German news in Japanese.
You can see some of the differences in style. On one, a Sunday Morning BBC political issue broadcast which I occasionally watch, the woman running it seems to be a bit more open with her opinions---or biases---than used to be acceptable in the US media. She does, however, manage to do so without appearing to be some sort of idiotic clown. Unlike those on CNN.
I remember when CNN used to be somewhat reliable and serious, but it is shocking to see how it has deteriorated into something like The National Enquirer on TV. I just watched another edition of CNN Prime which usually focuses on celebrities, weirdos, or some sort of sexual scandal or crime. Anything that they can sensationalize is fair game.
Today, their lead story was on a minor league baseball brawl in which a pitcher got angry and threw a ball at another player, but missed and hit a fan in the face. CNN replayed that at least 10 times or more. While playing the clip over and over and over and over and over, the newsclown, James Galano (?), with a mug so heavily made up that he looked like a plastic Sony robot, made faces to show his disgust and disapproval while giving his personal opinion about the brawl. He always does this on every sensational story he "reports." If he is off, there are a couple of plastic-faced females with unbelievably huge mouths who do the same. No story is too serious or too complex for them to make into a sort of simplistic cartoon. This must be why fewer and fewer Americans get "news" from the TV. Comedy Central's The Daily Show with Jon Stewart is much better, more believable, and is not nearly so insulting to viewers---and you can get it via the Internet. (Of course, FOX may be even worse than CNN.)
It makes me think that NHK's self-censored news is of much higher quality and reliability even if Abe and his band of rightwing-revisionists lean on it to report only the LDP-approved version of the world. And none of the reporter are so made up as to appear plastic.
1335: Edited because I cannot spell. Ask Fujiwacko why...
Tuesday, June 03, 2008
Our tax yen at work
When the Senba Kitcho sales of pre-owned food as new was first reported, I wondered what the government was doing about these types of seemingly endless food scandals. Naturally they and the media wet their undies about any possible problems with food originating outside of safety Japan, but seemed not to give a rat's derrière about tainted Japanese origin food.
Well, I should not have worried as although the government may not be overly concerned about the peasants eating bad food, they are not just sitting around wasting time and taxpayer money on silly useless things. PM Fukuda is a man of action and expects the same of everyone else. Shisaku analyzes the latest government suggestions for education revision (no, it's not pretending that WW2 is a myth created by the Chinese) and the groundbreaking idea by a group of forward-thinking Diet members to move the Japanese language ahead to the 1930s.
Now I can understand why this government has been the envy of the world for decades. I feel confident about the future and will predict that nothing will change for the better unless these old, old men with ideas even older suddenly are replaced by people with a clue. That will never happen.
Well, I should not have worried as although the government may not be overly concerned about the peasants eating bad food, they are not just sitting around wasting time and taxpayer money on silly useless things. PM Fukuda is a man of action and expects the same of everyone else. Shisaku analyzes the latest government suggestions for education revision (no, it's not pretending that WW2 is a myth created by the Chinese) and the groundbreaking idea by a group of forward-thinking Diet members to move the Japanese language ahead to the 1930s.
Now I can understand why this government has been the envy of the world for decades. I feel confident about the future and will predict that nothing will change for the better unless these old, old men with ideas even older suddenly are replaced by people with a clue. That will never happen.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Bataan Death March
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...
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...
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
The extreme right and its LDP enablers
Japan Focus has an article expanding on the Japan Times version's coverage of right-wing atrocity deniers in the LDP and their connection with the most extreme right groups and thugs in Japan. Most recently, they have tried to shut down the screening of the film Yasukuni while at the same time denying that they want to shut it down:
In a now familiar pattern, ultra-nationalists who follow in the shadow of establishment politicians, threatened retribution against anyone who handled the movie. Anonymous bloggers posted contact details for the distribution company, the Japan Arts Council and every theatre showing it. Anonymous death threats have been issued against Dragon Films, the company that produced "Yasukuni."
The burying of Li’s film follows a string of similar incidents. In February, Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa cancelled a conference by the Japan Teacher’s Union – a popular ultra-right target -- after learning that 100 right-wing sound trucks turned up to last year’s conference venue. The hotel’s decision has been bitterly attacked by union officials. Fear of intimidation ensures that there are still no Japan screenings planned for any of the dozen or so foreign movies made to commemorate the anniversary of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army. (And remember former PM Abe's role in quashing a NHK program concerning "comfort women.")
“My sense is that we have entered a very dangerous period for freedom of expression and press freedom in this country,” says Tajima Yasuhiko, a professor of journalism in Tokyo’s Sophia University. “That is the background to these cases. The idea that people are entitled to express different opinions and views is withering."
...we felt we had no choice after considering the safety of our customers,” explains...a spokesman for Q-AX Cinema in Shibuya. But Director Li rejects these claims and says only political pressure explains the sudden decision by all four Tokyo cinemas to pull the plug. Full article here.
Noooooooooooo. This can't be. It's alarmist. Everyone knows that Japan is a different country than it was before WW2. OK, that is obviously true, but how different? How deep does that go? Have these nutjobs of the right-wing changed? How committed to democracy is a country in which the democratic form of government was imposed on it? Yes, there was a short period of the beginnings of democracy before the war--the Taisho Democracy---but it did only lasted a short 5 years.
If the far right and its LDP allies continue to gain influence, what kind of government will Japan have? We keep hearing that the days of the LDP are numbered. Of course we have heard that for 20 years. Let's hope this time that the beginning of a real two party system in Japan is not just another fantasy like it has been in the past.
In a now familiar pattern, ultra-nationalists who follow in the shadow of establishment politicians, threatened retribution against anyone who handled the movie. Anonymous bloggers posted contact details for the distribution company, the Japan Arts Council and every theatre showing it. Anonymous death threats have been issued against Dragon Films, the company that produced "Yasukuni."
The burying of Li’s film follows a string of similar incidents. In February, Tokyo’s Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa cancelled a conference by the Japan Teacher’s Union – a popular ultra-right target -- after learning that 100 right-wing sound trucks turned up to last year’s conference venue. The hotel’s decision has been bitterly attacked by union officials. Fear of intimidation ensures that there are still no Japan screenings planned for any of the dozen or so foreign movies made to commemorate the anniversary of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army. (And remember former PM Abe's role in quashing a NHK program concerning "comfort women.")
“My sense is that we have entered a very dangerous period for freedom of expression and press freedom in this country,” says Tajima Yasuhiko, a professor of journalism in Tokyo’s Sophia University. “That is the background to these cases. The idea that people are entitled to express different opinions and views is withering."
...we felt we had no choice after considering the safety of our customers,” explains...a spokesman for Q-AX Cinema in Shibuya. But Director Li rejects these claims and says only political pressure explains the sudden decision by all four Tokyo cinemas to pull the plug. Full article here.
Noooooooooooo. This can't be. It's alarmist. Everyone knows that Japan is a different country than it was before WW2. OK, that is obviously true, but how different? How deep does that go? Have these nutjobs of the right-wing changed? How committed to democracy is a country in which the democratic form of government was imposed on it? Yes, there was a short period of the beginnings of democracy before the war--the Taisho Democracy---but it did only lasted a short 5 years.
If the far right and its LDP allies continue to gain influence, what kind of government will Japan have? We keep hearing that the days of the LDP are numbered. Of course we have heard that for 20 years. Let's hope this time that the beginning of a real two party system in Japan is not just another fantasy like it has been in the past.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Rightwing nutter victory. Part II
Unfortunately, the April 1 story was not an April Fool's joke:
A campaign of harassment by nationalists has led several cinemas to cancel screenings of an award-winning movie about Yasukuni Shrine, the controversial memorial that venerates Japan's war dead and war criminals alike.
..."We had to give up [on showing the film] because we could not guarantee the safety of our staff."
... many here say officials contributed to the backlash against the film. In March, a group of lawmakers demanded an advance screening of "Yasukuni," ostensibly to determine whether its production was an appropriate use of public finds. LA Times.
The thugs win again. Former PM Abe's "Beautiful Country" fellow travelers are still hard at work. Yes, the crowd that Abe courted with his absurd claims of Japanese military innocence in recruiting and forcing women into sexual slavery during WW2. These groups seem to have an awful lot of power for people who supposedly represent a minority view. Of course the right-wing has been in bed with the LDP since the party's creation. Without the extreme right-wing, would there even be an LDP? By extreme right, I mean the emperor worshiping, war crime deniers.
A campaign of harassment by nationalists has led several cinemas to cancel screenings of an award-winning movie about Yasukuni Shrine, the controversial memorial that venerates Japan's war dead and war criminals alike.
..."We had to give up [on showing the film] because we could not guarantee the safety of our staff."
... many here say officials contributed to the backlash against the film. In March, a group of lawmakers demanded an advance screening of "Yasukuni," ostensibly to determine whether its production was an appropriate use of public finds. LA Times.
The thugs win again. Former PM Abe's "Beautiful Country" fellow travelers are still hard at work. Yes, the crowd that Abe courted with his absurd claims of Japanese military innocence in recruiting and forcing women into sexual slavery during WW2. These groups seem to have an awful lot of power for people who supposedly represent a minority view. Of course the right-wing has been in bed with the LDP since the party's creation. Without the extreme right-wing, would there even be an LDP? By extreme right, I mean the emperor worshiping, war crime deniers.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Right-wing fantasies in Japan
Tobias Harris (Observing Japan) has written an interesting piece on the mindset of some of the "conservatives" in the LDP.
Based on his reading of an interview with three right-wing LDP members in the Japanese magazine Voice, he notes:
I don't know to what extent the Japanese public agrees or disagrees with Abe's and his fellow nutjobs' basic views. It seems more of a case of them finding those views to be at the bottom of their list of priorities. The test, in my opinion, is who is consistently elected and re-elected.
*The "right" or "conservatism" in Japan is much different than conservative politics in the US. Perhaps as different as the American left and Castro's "left," though I suppose in the polarized US political debate, the left would be more than happy to claim that both country's conservatives are the same.
Based on his reading of an interview with three right-wing LDP members in the Japanese magazine Voice, he notes:
- This group believes that there was nothing wrong with Abe and that his attempt to move the country much further to the right.*
- Fukuda is making a big mistake by not pressing on with Abe's constitutional reforms.
- And of course the Chinese influence on the US government.
I don't know to what extent the Japanese public agrees or disagrees with Abe's and his fellow nutjobs' basic views. It seems more of a case of them finding those views to be at the bottom of their list of priorities. The test, in my opinion, is who is consistently elected and re-elected.
*The "right" or "conservatism" in Japan is much different than conservative politics in the US. Perhaps as different as the American left and Castro's "left," though I suppose in the polarized US political debate, the left would be more than happy to claim that both country's conservatives are the same.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Nanjing Never Happened.
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.
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.
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?
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
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, October 12, 2007
Former Ambassador wants Fukuda to visit Yasukuni
Hisahiko Okazaki, the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, thinks Fukuda could resolve the Yasukuni shrine problem with China by visiting. No, it is not April 1. Yes, he seems to be serious. No, he has not found work as a clown. (Oops...sorry cheap shots.)
Since Fukuda is not a right wing nut ball like I'm-tired-so-I-quit Abe, Okazaki thinks it would be Nixon-like (referring to Nixon, a conservative being able to go to China, Fukuda by not being a right winger, pull a similar trick. Apparently, Okazaki's standard of judging the diplomatic success of such a visit would be based on whether or not there were violent, wide-scale protests in China. Simple as that.
You can check out Okazaki's "logic" (but remember, the neo-bushidoist Fujiwara Masahiko suggests logic is pretty unreliable anyway since he himself has none) in an opinion piece in The Japan Times here.
A quick Google search will display many results for Okazaki. His is a right winger who has been after Yasukuni visits for years. In fact, he designed some of the displays there. (Read more here.) I thought I recognized his name. Another revisionist. They're baaaackkk! The nutjobs aren't and never, ever will be done until they get Japan into another disaster.
Since Fukuda is not a right wing nut ball like I'm-tired-so-I-quit Abe, Okazaki thinks it would be Nixon-like (referring to Nixon, a conservative being able to go to China, Fukuda by not being a right winger, pull a similar trick. Apparently, Okazaki's standard of judging the diplomatic success of such a visit would be based on whether or not there were violent, wide-scale protests in China. Simple as that.
You can check out Okazaki's "logic" (but remember, the neo-bushidoist Fujiwara Masahiko suggests logic is pretty unreliable anyway since he himself has none) in an opinion piece in The Japan Times here.
A quick Google search will display many results for Okazaki. His is a right winger who has been after Yasukuni visits for years. In fact, he designed some of the displays there. (Read more here.) I thought I recognized his name. Another revisionist. They're baaaackkk! The nutjobs aren't and never, ever will be done until they get Japan into another disaster.
Monday, September 17, 2007
Aso popular among young because he likes comic books
Pretty slick. In Japan Focus a few months ago, there was an article about Aso (or one which at least discussed him) in which they mentioned how he tried to play down his elitist background with a sort of rough-edged common man act. (Remember his opposition to allowing a female to become empress because she might marry a "blue-eyed foreigner" and therefore, send the whole country to hell I suppose.) One could not deny that he seems very common, but you could question his sincerity. He, like Abe comes from a family deeply involved in WW2's extreme misadventures. Abe is the son of a former prime minister who was charged with war crimes---the charges later dropped. (I will have to check and see exactly why they were dropped---the US reversal after the Chinese communists took power?) Aso's family owned mines which used POWs for forced labor. The family and company has continued to pretend that everything was wonderful there: Upon release, the POWs even thanked them for such lovely treatment during the forced labor.
Aso, who as foreign minister started an international cartoon award, talked at length about comic books. (He also suggested that Japan could help non-Japanese accept Japan's foreign policy through comic books.)
He may be the underdog in the race to become prime minister, but with his love of comic books and streetwise talk of pop culture, Taro Aso has plenty of support among Japan's disillusioned youth.
He was on TV this morning talking about how Japan should prevent too much competition because not all companies can be successful---some suffer. In other words, the limited reforms that Japan started under Koizumi should be rolled back. It has already started. This should be a warning to folks who think Japan is going to be an open, meritocratic country. Meritocracy was never much of a part of Japan's history---a class system and old-boys' club has been. (As I recall, Chinese Confucianism promoted meritocracy via civil service exams and with the idea that the emperor could lose the "Mandate of Heaven": that he/she was fallible. Japan's version of Confucianism was used by Tokugawa to officially stratify the classes and relationship with the government. And there was never, ever, any hint that the emperor was in any way fallible.)
Italicized quotes above are from AFP's Aso story here.
Aso, who as foreign minister started an international cartoon award, talked at length about comic books. (He also suggested that Japan could help non-Japanese accept Japan's foreign policy through comic books.)
He may be the underdog in the race to become prime minister, but with his love of comic books and streetwise talk of pop culture, Taro Aso has plenty of support among Japan's disillusioned youth.
He was on TV this morning talking about how Japan should prevent too much competition because not all companies can be successful---some suffer. In other words, the limited reforms that Japan started under Koizumi should be rolled back. It has already started. This should be a warning to folks who think Japan is going to be an open, meritocratic country. Meritocracy was never much of a part of Japan's history---a class system and old-boys' club has been. (As I recall, Chinese Confucianism promoted meritocracy via civil service exams and with the idea that the emperor could lose the "Mandate of Heaven": that he/she was fallible. Japan's version of Confucianism was used by Tokugawa to officially stratify the classes and relationship with the government. And there was never, ever, any hint that the emperor was in any way fallible.)
Italicized quotes above are from AFP's Aso story here.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Shift the future
Japan is following the old Nissan ad---moving boldly forward into the future. Koizumi trashed a lot of the old-boy factions, the protectionism, the closed club of politics and business in Japan to some degree. Abe moved forward by ignoring the economy and allowing the old gummers to move back in: thus the return to cross-share holding of equity in Japanese companies and so on. He also decided that Japan did nothing really wrong in WW2 so he moved boldly into the future with hallucinations of a "beautiful country" based on revisionist/denial nonsense.
Will the next PM be the old school elitist (this alone would give Fujiwara Masahiko a boner) bigot Aso or the youthful 71-year old Yasuo Fukuda. As Japan's economy appears to be slowing and returning to the past, this old guy is sure to put things back on track. With either as PM, the old-boy club is sure to be gone as Japan rushes forward into the 1980s. Warning: sarcasm. (At least Fukuda appears not to be a member of the Yasukuni worshiper nutjob crowd.)
A Reuters article is at the NYT temporarily here.
Also see: The battle to become the next Prime Minister of Japan has narrowed into a confrontation between an unpredictable right-winger with a penchant for comic books and a colourless and austere moderate who admits the contest has left him “flustered”. From Times Online.
Will the next PM be the old school elitist (this alone would give Fujiwara Masahiko a boner) bigot Aso or the youthful 71-year old Yasuo Fukuda. As Japan's economy appears to be slowing and returning to the past, this old guy is sure to put things back on track. With either as PM, the old-boy club is sure to be gone as Japan rushes forward into the 1980s. Warning: sarcasm. (At least Fukuda appears not to be a member of the Yasukuni worshiper nutjob crowd.)
A Reuters article is at the NYT temporarily here.
Also see: The battle to become the next Prime Minister of Japan has narrowed into a confrontation between an unpredictable right-winger with a penchant for comic books and a colourless and austere moderate who admits the contest has left him “flustered”. From Times Online.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Japanese Imperial Army saving their sex slaves from harm
A translated right-wing comic book version of history (sex slaves) here. I can't vouch for its authenticity, but it looks about right. (It is on a self-proclaimed Japanese rightist's English blog.) Explains how the kind Japanese military saved he women (who were whores anyway according to the author of the manga).
I had trouble deciding if the blog writer was real or it was a spoof. He seems real. A good place to see some of what the rightwing thinks.
Has Abe read this yet? Could be more documentary evidence to support his version of history. Could give Bush a copy too. No translation needed, George could look at the pictures and even color them.
I had trouble deciding if the blog writer was real or it was a spoof. He seems real. A good place to see some of what the rightwing thinks.
Has Abe read this yet? Could be more documentary evidence to support his version of history. Could give Bush a copy too. No translation needed, George could look at the pictures and even color them.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Abe campaigns with the bigot Ishihara
Rightwing revisionist Abe campaigned for the LDP with the well-known racist and bigoted governor of Tokyo, Shintaro "Blinky" Ishihara. This was apparently to make sure that all the extremist voters were covered. Well, perhaps that's going too far. After all, the citizens of Tokyo elected Ishihara 4 times, and one could never say that there was any racism/bigotry/nationalism involved. After all, such things don't exist in Japan.
It seems unlikely that this will work though, for the citizens seem to be more concerned about money issues and the continued scandals under Abe and the LDP than they are in Abe's "Beautiful Country." (Some may be shocked that money is important to people here as it is everywhere else except Fijuwara's neo-bushidoist dreamworld and in a few socialist/Marxist fantasies).
Ichiro Ozawa's Democratic Party may be poised to win:
“If we fail to win a majority and allow Abe’s administration to survive, it means democracy will never take root in Japan,” Mr. Ozawa said Saturday. From the Japan Times. Full article here.
Huh? Japan is not a democracy? How 1980s.
It seems unlikely that this will work though, for the citizens seem to be more concerned about money issues and the continued scandals under Abe and the LDP than they are in Abe's "Beautiful Country." (Some may be shocked that money is important to people here as it is everywhere else except Fijuwara's neo-bushidoist dreamworld and in a few socialist/Marxist fantasies).
Ichiro Ozawa's Democratic Party may be poised to win:
“If we fail to win a majority and allow Abe’s administration to survive, it means democracy will never take root in Japan,” Mr. Ozawa said Saturday. From the Japan Times. Full article here.
Huh? Japan is not a democracy? How 1980s.
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