Japan - WTF?

[bobman0330]

Recently, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe asserted that there was no historical proof that the "comfort women," i.e., the women who served in Japanese military brothels during WWII, were coerced into being there. This has caused a scandal because there is a great deal of proof, including testimony from many of the women and soldiers, and government documents, all of which conclusively demonstrates that tens of thousands of women were kidnapped and serially raped.

Nor is this the first time Japanese officials have done similar things. The former PM regularly visited the Yasukuni shrine, which honors over a thousand war criminals. IIRC, there was also a controversy over the way Japanese textbooks described some of the events of WWII.

My question is why are Japanese officials behaving like this, and why is it tolerated? Aside from being morally repugnant, white-washing Japan's past really darkens the country's reputation amongst its Asian neighbors, particularly China and Korea (its number 2 and 3 trading partners). It seems especially futile when the general truth has been pretty well established by historians. Is this part of a revolt by a younger generation against the guilt of the past? Pure bull-headed chauvinism? Something else entirely?

[IQ89]

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My question is why are Japanese officials behaving like this

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I guess because of guilt, shame, humiliation, machismo, etc..


No Apology To American Indians

American Internment Camps

[jman220]

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American Internment Camps


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America has apologized for this, and a sitting U.S. president has apologized for this, and reparations have been granted for this. I"m not saying it wasn't an incredibly dark and stupid part of our history, but its not the same as Japan, which is not apologizing for its war crimes.

[AngusThermopyle]

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No Apology To American Indians

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Abe's stance would be similar to claiming that there was no evidence of coercion in the relocation of the Cherokee to the Oklahoma Territory.

[LinusKS]

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My question is why are Japanese officials behaving like this, and why is it tolerated?

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For the same reason Americans claim that nuking Hiroshima "saved lives."

[lehighguy]

Japanese children are taught from birth that:

1) Japan is the greatest country on earth.
2) The Japanese people are superior to all other races.
3) Japanese government and rulers are wise and just.

All of the idealogical building blocks of facism are there. The only difference is that in addition to the three above they are also taught that militarism was a mistake. Not so much a mistake because killing the foreign devils is wrong, but LOSING the war was wrong. Japan doesn't engage in wars today because people well understand the high price of war, not because there has been a fundamental shift in their believes about foreigners.

Why all this? Japan is racially homogeneous which is a breading ground for such attitudes. The country was long cut of from foreigners and it is deeply rooted in culture and tradition.

Why do politicians promote it?

1) Honestly, most genuinely believe it, given the way they are raised and the cultural background.

2) It's a big seller. If you haven't noticed our own politicians score votes of flag waiving and race bating.

[AlexM]

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No Apology To American Indians

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No one really denies what happened though. A better U.S. example would be the War Between the States. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[Boris]

Who effing cares? Bad things happen in wars. Why dig up the past? Do you really think acknowledging "war crimes" will heal anyone?

[bobman0330]

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Who effing cares? Bad things happen in wars. Why dig up the past? Do you really think acknowledging "war crimes" will heal anyone?

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This is sort of my point, though. If the gov't of Japan was just refusing to engage in any discussion of the past, that would be sensible, if nothing else. But deliberately doing pointless and inflammatory things when it's such a sensitive topic in the region seems crazy.

[SNOWBALL]

I'm more concerned with the fact that people who pursued a policy of ethnic cleansing, like Andrew Jackson, have their faces on our money.

Basically, this is Japan's answer the Bush Sr.'s dictum "My country. Right or wrong"

Nationalism sucks, and it sucks hard. The only way an awful creation like corporatist states can exist is through stupifying their populations into worshipping their "glorious heritage". Basically, we are all paying a high price for an item we'd be better off without.