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© Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Japanese sailor attacked at Solomon Islands memorial service
By NICK PERRY WELLINGTON, New Zealand©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
43 Comments
The Avenger
That was 80 years ago, please get a life. People need to move on. It' not like he sailed into the area with the Battleship Yamoto.
I'm not sure how much WW2 was actually a factor in this.
kurisupisu
Well, Japan did occupy the Solomon Islands.
Some people might still have hard feelings about it?
Samit Basu
The world hasn't forgotten the atrocities of Imperial Japan.
@The Avenger
Absolutely not, until Japan teaches its own children about the atrocities and war crimes of Imperial Japan so that such tragedies will never be repeated again.
When Japan's victims fully and vividly remember Japan's atrocities and are now armed to the teeth(China and Korea comes to mind) but Japan has forgotten, bad things will happen.
Japan's teaching of Imperial Japan's crime is for Japan's own self-protection, not to boost the egos of China and Korea.
TokyoLiving
Sure..
Japan atrocities...
US atrocities..
Europe atrocities..
World atrocities..
ALL COUNTRIES must teach all its children about countries own atrocities in order history never repeats..
No one is exempt from this responsibility..
But this world is so stupid, we are doing the same nonsense like before first world war..
Humanity, humanity..
Kyo wa heiwa dayo ne
Commemorating violence with violence !
Yubaru
I will never forget the murderous looks I got from Japanese people when I visited the Himeryuri Nurses Corp memorial in Okinawa nearly 40 years ago. Fortunately nothing happened, beyond the looks and words that were said towards me.
The anger still exists on all sides.
Desert Tortoise
Warships of the JMSDF visit Pearl Harbor routinely. They come there for exercises and missile testing on a regular and frequent basis.
Sh1mon M4sada
I wouldn't read too much into Japan's history there and tie it to the stabbing. Japan has been operating a fish processing facility there for over a decade and Japanese / Solomon Islanders relations are very good. It also has tuna deals that employs a lot of locals.
Chinese citizens on the other hand has not been well received since the recognition switch from Taiwan to China, and even Taiwanese are mistaken for mainland Chinese and shunned by the locals until they explain where they're from.
Desert Tortoise
I am actually impressed to see the Japanese sending military delegations to memorials of major Pacific battles. This is exactly what the Germans have long done and it helps build trust. I have advocated for this for a long time so it is good to see.
OssanAmerica
So when is South Korea going to recognize it's true role as part of the Japanese Empire 1910-1945? When will schools in SK teach that some 250,000 Koreans fought on Japan's side, invading other Asian countries and making use of the Comfort Stations? When will SK teach it's students how Korean guards under a Korean General comitted atrocities against Allied POWs in the PI and SEA? And how many were convicted as war criminals. South Korea needs to get past their historical revisionism, so that such tragedies will never be repeated again.
englisc aspyrgend
For obvious reasons everyone jumps to the conclusion it’s related to WW2 but the more likely cause as reported is alcohol and mental health issues. We shall see.
Randy Johnson
That was 80 years ago, please get a life. People need to move on. It' not like he sailed into the area with the Battleship Yamoto.
Exactly. Agree. Some just won't let go of aug 6.
Speed
Remember, everybody, this isn't a ceremony of atonement. It's a memorial for the many who brutally died there. Including my grandfather.
obladi
Well, can I just say: I'm glad the guy is going to be all right. Being tackled and stabbed in the neck with scissors would not be on my list of favorite things
Abe234
As a memorial, I don’t think it was appropriate to send a naval rep to a memorial service to remember those that brutally died there under Japanese occupation.I think the best memorial we could have is to teach Japanese kids the true horrors caused by Japan, and it’s war crimes, then I’ll believe they understand what they did.
Sending Japanese ships to Pearl Harbor for training/middle firing is one thing, but for a memorial, it would be inappropriate imho and as ex army. and to poster who said it was 80 years ago, we shouldn’t forget the horror on how they treated pows. And it should be taught in schools. Not just poor Japan and Hiroshima.
Desert Tortoise
I respectfully disagree. The Germans have been sending military delegations to commemorations of their WWII barbarities for many decades, laying wreaths in solemn ceremonies. It works to build trust and to atone for their past. Japan needs to copy the German example.
John-San
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to fight in a war. Take the Russo/ Ukrain war. Get taken prisoner and end up in Salken Island mines digging for coal.
Samit Basu
@gintonic
The US, the UK, and China(ROC) declared Korea was an occupied country by the 1943 Cairo Declaration. It was an internationally accepted convention even back then that Korea wasn't a part of Japan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_Cairo_Declaration
Desert Tortoise
Was the US wrong to fight a war to free itself from British rule? Or should the American colonies have just given up on ever ruling themselves, accepted the brutality of the British Army and succumbed to a hereditary king? Were the Allies wrong for fighting the Axis powers in WWII? Or should they have just let themselves be conquered and ruled by the Nazis for the sake of "peace". Martin Luther King once said “If a man hasn’t found something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” Are you fit to live? Just asking .......
Jtsnose
. . . a memorial service for a war which ended, and for which peace was achieved . . . such an act of violence is unforgivable . . . .
taito
>
Antiquesaving
As far as I can tell this has nothing to do with WW2.
Please don't compare Germany and Japan,
Germany unconditionally accepted it's roll and fault, it unconditionally apologised.
Japan apologises then the next day " clarifies" the apology or just contradicts it with another statement.
Japan always has a "But" after an apology, Japan plays the victim every August.
Anyone that disagrees only needs ask a simple question.
What has Germany's victims ( neighbours) forgiven it and moved on but Japan is still in conflict with it's neighbours and after 70 plus years still insist the rest of the world's version of events is wrong and Japan's version is right.
Do until Japan finally takes responsibility without a "But" or "we are victims also" Japan will never be on the same level as Germany.
wallace
Which neighbors? China? Every country is having a problem with China. Russia maybe still has problems over the Northern Isles. South Korea?
There are now very few alive who fought in WW2 or survived WW2.
Japan is one of the very few countries to be at peace for 75 years.
Tom Doley
Another lowlife Japanese euphemism?
Even the Americans or Europeans dont accuse the blacks for being in slavery.
starpunk
There's no question that during the WW2 era the fascist regime ruling Japan committed gross crimes against humanity, including their fellow Japanese. But Hideki Tojo and his fellow bastards paid the penalty for their hideous crimes. They were punished.
Isn't it time to let bygones be bygones? It's 2022.
El Rata
I guess by mentally unstable they really mean "still in a savage state".
Gaijinjland
So he was attacked because he is simply Japanese and was born decades after the war and was there paying respects? Pretty low.
Antiquesaving
You forgot Taiwan so 100% of its neighbours.
OK let's apply the same logic to other things.
Rapist/mass murderer.
Parole board: are you sorry for what you did?
Rapist mass murder: We yes, but I had my reasons, and I am sort of not really responsible because my father sort of told me to do it all.
Anyway, I haven't raped or killed anyone in 30 years so why not just let it go and let me go free now!
Would you trust someone like that?
OssanAmerica
The ceeremony was attended by both US and Japanese military and officials. The crime probably has nothing to do with WWII.
Mark
There is a difference between paying respects to the dead and spreading hate and attacking people because of what happened eighty years ago.
Mocheake
Condescending drivel. No one has the right to tell you that you should move on. Go and tell that to the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I mean, it's been about 80 years there too, hasn't it?
starpunk
Attackibg someone because s/he is of a former enemy nation isn't justified nor is it right. WW2 is over. The fascist regime that ruled Japan is GONE. You hate the enemy government but not the people. Has anybody seen this video message that Arnold Schwarzeneggar made recently concerning his admiration for the Russian people and disdain for Putin the Bastard?
Anonymous
NO buts. NONE.
Victims of Japanese aggression 80 years ago are capable of themselves being equally monstrous aggressors. This aggression will be thinly masked as righteous vengeance. The PRC (CCP) will be the biggest aggressors. The WPK will just make “100,000 volunteers” available.
As for “fully and vividly remember” … They aren’t remembering - most of the war generation are gone - they are being selectively and ceaselessly reminded through the CCP’s and WPK’s internal propaganda campaigns.
Keep in mind that Putin initiated his war of aggression against Ukraine after such a campaign of “reminders” and falsehoods (de-Nazification).
Gaijinjland
@KennyG. Sure Japan and Germany are completely different. But I think Germany did enough and taught every child to be ashamed of being German. Every German person you meet in a bar says “Hi I’m from Germany, sorry about that!” They still apologize for something that happened like 80 years ago. Germany atoned for their sins. Japan also atoned but they haven’t been as vocal in their apologies as Germany.
WilliB
Seems like a local nutcase, not a political act.
BeerDeliveryGuy
A Navy petty officer in PR repelling a knife attack with “insignificant” injuries… I apologize for years of deriding the Navy…
Jokes aside, the JMSDF is quality staff and equipment, I can say first hand from many bilateral exercises.
wallace
Antiquesaving
wallace
Taiwan and Japan have very good relationships. As does many of the SE Asian countries which were occupied by the IJA.
There are now very few alive who fought in WW2 or survived WW2.
OK let's apply the same logic to other things.
If a person commits murder or rape and in a court of law found guilty and sentenced. Then the day comes they have served their sentence and are released, usually under license for murder. The convict is released and rejoins society.
You wrote nonsense, actually. Parole boards make more sensible decisions than you give credit. There are no parole boards in Japan BTW.
How long should we carry the sins of our forefathers and ancestors? The Americans with their treatment of their First Nation. The same for Canada or the British Empire which killed many millions.
How many generations shall we carry those sins?
Imperialist Japan was prosecuted for its war crimes and the leaders were executed. Many Japanese were also victims of the JIA. The country has been at peace for 75 years.
My own family and family fought in the Pacific War, some were POWs. But I have moved on.
There are those in Britain who have never forgiven the Germans or the Japanese.
So you expect Japan to go to war again, someday? Against which country?
AgentX
Curious.. if Korea was happy to be part of the Japanese Empire: why do so many South Korean people still hate Japan? Because Japan left Korea?
WilliB
AgentX
Effect of propaganda brainwash? It certainly works. Just look at the current epidemic of russiophobia among the mainstream media consumers. Lots of people just want to join the mass hysteria. And the Korean government has certainly been using it to good effect.