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© KYODOAbe to attend Hiroshima, Nagasaki events marking U.S. atomic bombings
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Yubaru
Yeah, amid a pandemic, worse than in June, when you didnt take the time to come to Okinawa for the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
Abe is a hypocrite!
macv
Would have preferred he said "We can never repeat the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nor Japan's actions that led up to them.
Pukey2
Now, come on, you know how it works in Japan.
Fighto!
Good for him. In this world - the most dangerous time in 75 years - it is great that one world leader stands up strongly against nuclear weapons.
It is hard to believe that any nation could tolerate possessing nuclear weapons after visiting the tragic cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Aly Rustom
That's an EXCELLENT point!
Ya think?!
Abe? Act responsibly and honestly introspect on something???
BWAAAAAHHHAHAAAAHAHAHAHA!
noriahojanen
A little concern is that many attendees in the ceremony are very old (+75 yo) "hibakusha" A-bomb survivors. Hope that any healthcare guideline will be fully implemented.
Alfie Noakes
As comical as ever. You must be aware that successive LDP governments allowed the US to store nuclear weapons on Okinawa; everyone else is.
https://nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-book/japan-nuclear-vault/2016-02-19/nuclear-weapons-okinawa-declassified-december-2015-photos-available-1990
browny1
The hypocrisy of Abe & Co is on display every year at this time when the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the immense suffering of their inhabitants are remembered.
As the only country to have suffered from such devastation - why o why does Abe refuse to be a signatory to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons ???
It's like they want to be anti-nuclear re Hiroshima & Nagasaki but when it comes to other countries / world, they haven't got the guts to back up their so-called convictions and make a powerful statement and sign.
Weak as.
OssanAmerica
First paragraph of Article 9 which even Abe wants to maintain, and Japan's past 70-75 year history says more about that than any words.
The United States says "The ceremonies are an opportunity to honor those who lost their lives, and to reflect on our shared vision of peace" . All civilians in war are victims. Only the lowest kind of person blames the old, women and children for the acts of the military. Grow up.
Christopher Glen
Will he acknowledge Japan’s conduct in Asia, which contributed to the bombs being dropped? I doubt it
BertieWooster
I note that Abe and gang are a) not wearing masks and b) not social distancing.
Setting a good example.
NOT!
BertieWooster
Because the US military has Nuclear weapons in Okinawa.
OssanAmerica
Japan can not sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons because it has (1) sworn not to possess nuclear weapons and (2) it is protected by the U.S. Nuclear Umbrella. Just like Australia and South Korea. It is contradictory but necessary for the security of the country.
Toasted Heretic
This genocidal war crime must never be forgotten.
kyushubill
Imagine my shock!
Orac
and after that, a trip to Yasukuni Shrine
Orac
Yeah, amid a pandemic, worse than in June, when you didnt take the time to come to Okinawa for the 75th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa.
because Tamaki asked him not to come.
Orac
How can Japan prevent another Hiroshima? By having the ability to inflict a Hiroshima on the enemy.
Spitfire
This Prime Minister knows no shame.
He hangs on to all the rightwing diatribe.
He can't even continue to wear his useless mask.
OssanAmerica
That's a good question. Please tell us which WWII ceremonies in which countries have invited Japan to attend. And just exactly what ceremony would Korea, which fought on Japan's side in WWII, have other than independence from Japan? Last I checked the UK is not invited to July 4th ceremonies in the U.S.
gogogo
Why are these morons not wearing masks?
Cricky
That's a good question. Please tell us which WWII ceremonies in which countries have invited Japan to attend. And just exactly what ceremony would Korea, which fought on Japan's side in WWII, have other than independence from Japan?
Are you on drugs? Koreans were press ganged into fighting for Japan they had no choice. Not one country Japan brutalised wants to invite Japan to any ceremony. Japan's actions would be history if attitudes like yours were not held and vocalised by decendents of the same families who oversaw the dispicable mess it was. Who happen to have been in control for the last 75 odd years. Visit Yashcuni and down play the barbaric actions done by their grandfathers in the name of a living God? Not a pretty story and for Abe to pick and choose what he wants to attend, while tacitly denying the truth sorry not going to fly.
Hiro
About them not wearing mask. It seems like Japan is slowly getting use to the virus pandemic. People are no longer feel as threaten by the virus as when the outbreak just happen. Same reason why many citizens are now not wearing mask or are going out more.
Unlike months before when men are still uncertain about the virus, most of the government are more at ease with dealing with it. I can see several reason for this. One i think they did some very strict checks ups before everyone gather for this meeting. Secondly even though there is a chance anyone could be infected, after the meeting they could always do another testing just to be safe. Thirdly while many are afraid at first, the virus is not as dangerous as when the outbreak just happen. Most of the patients just develop something like a cold and get better like 1-2weeks. Only worst case are those who develop pnuemonia, but that is if the patient left the virus untreated for too long or are too old with bad health. Fourthly while there is no vaccine at the moment, the government does have many options when it come to helping most recovered. I wouldn't worried about the government because have you ever seen any important officials ever die in the world so far from the virus? They save the best medical stuff for the officials.
It seems to me since Abe is confident enough to not wear mask, he is pretty certain he will be fine. I suspect with so many vaccines being develop in the world, some of the govenrments already strike deals with each other and already secure backups supplies which will not be available to the public yet. Is pretty common.
Mark
""What we’ve got here is failure to communicate""
That's what wars are all about.
Meiyouwenti
Christopher Glenn
Japan’s conduct in Asia contributed to the US committing the genocidal mass murder. This grotesque piece of justification defies logic.
bokuda
Japan killed 8Million+ people, and experimented w/ 1000+ on the despicable Unit 317
Their evil had no limit, it took not 1 but 2 A-bombs to stop them.
That's how difficult it was to stop the Japanese.
Ike-in-Tokyo-from-89
In the 75 years since Nagasaki nuclear weapons have NOT been used. That is something to celebrate.
Hiro
Didn't Japan people died around 3 mill? The biggest problem was the real veteran soldiers died like flies in the early years and most of the new soldiers had barely any training. Most newbies knew they would die in some unknown country. The stress, hunger and fear made most of these soldiers commit some terrible crimes. Is not like they expected to return alive which is basically what happen. Most died already with whatever crime they did. Evil had nothing to with a nation. There is always darkness in everyone when you push a person past it's limit. Give a gun to a scare newbie and they can easily commit crimes.
Even Korean soldiers had commited warcrimes in the vietnam war and the country deny anything of it even now.
Plus the US wanted to test their bombs effectiveness. It had nothing to do with the Japanese being hard to stop. Any idiot can see it was more a show of power to the world then actually about Japan itself. Because the bombing is between 6 and 9 august. There is just too short of a period to drop two bombs. Because by that year Japan had already exhausted both weapons and manpower. They don't even have many experiences soldiers left. By effectively ending it so quickly by the US, other nations couldn't carve up japan unlike with Germany which had been carved up by several nations after the war.
I don't know about you, but 3 mill of soldiers died in Japan and left countless families without a father or a son. Which is why till this day many still pay respect to the shrine and worship these soldiers that died in the war. Japan will not allow other countries to stop them from paying respect to their fallen soldiers.
OssanAmerica
Koreans were not drafted until December 1944 when Japan was losing badly. Up to 250,000 Koreans served in the Imperial Japanese military, the majority willingly. No one gets "forced" into a military and gets promoted to Lt. General.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Sa-ik
So if you are saying that no country has ever invited Japan to attend, then obviously Japan has never sent a representative. You have answered marcelito's question.
Speaking of brutalizing other countries, I say let he who is without sin...
"Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand troops in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) also committed rapes. The commander of the BCOF's official reports state that members of the BCOF were convicted of committing 57 rapes in the period May 1946 to December 1947 and a further 23 between January 1948 and September 1951..:"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_during_the_occupation_of_Japan
bokuda
The Japanese killed between 8~16million+ people, not soldiers but women and children.
The evil was grotesque: kill babies, froze people to death, play soccer with beheaded heads, ....
Japan was so evil that the rest of the world united forces to fight it.
Don't you dare to celebrate that massacre.
Desert Tortoise
"Last I checked the UK is not invited to July 4th ceremonies in the U.S."
Well last year I was invited to a 4th of July party by a group of RAF pilots stationed in our area. The irony was not lost on them either but you know the Brits and beer .....................
Desert Tortoise
It would be a fine thing for a Japanese Prime Minister to come to Pearl Harbor on December 7th and say something by way of an apology about Japan attacking the US on that day in 1941 and to pray for the 2335 US service members and civilians who died in their attack He could speak from the USS Arizona Memorial or perhaps across the harbor from the deck of the USS Missouri. It would also be a nice gesture if Japanese warships had their crews line the rails and salute as they passed Battleship Row as US Navy ships do entering Pearl Harbor.
Cricky
Onsan read more you compare individual actions Vs systematic rape, murder, then wonder why not one of the neighbouring countries want much to do with Japan. If you don't get it, THATS THE PROBLEM. The government at the time was just as brutal to is own. But really ramped it up on non Japanese. The unspeakable atrocities documented outside of Japan are a fact. Animals have higher standards than the 1930s generation.
Desert Tortoise
"Plus the US wanted to test their bombs effectiveness. It had nothing to do with the Japanese being hard to stop. Any idiot can see it was more a show of power to the world then actually about Japan itself. Because the bombing is between 6 and 9 august. There is just too short of a period to drop two bombs. Because by that year Japan had already exhausted both weapons and manpower. They don't even have many experiences soldiers left. By effectively ending it so quickly by the US, other nations couldn't carve up japan unlike with Germany which had been carved up by several nations after the war."
That is not true. The US viewed the invasion of Okinawa as a dress rehearsal for the invasion of Kyushu and Honshu. The casualties and the length of time required to subdue Okinawa surprised the Allies. Based on the experience at Okinawa the Allies (don't forget UK, Australian and New Zealand ground forces were to be part of the final invasion of Japan) estimated 1 million allied dead, tens of millions of Japanese dead and the war lasting into late 1946 or maybe even into 1947. In addition Japanese industry was far from dead. Shipyards were full of submarines under construction. A new tank intended to deal with the US Army's M-4 Sherman was entering production (the Type 4 Chi-To). Nakajima had a long range four engined bomber entering production. The J7W Shinden fighter was nearing the end of its development and several other fighters remained in production. If you read the USAF Strategic Bombing Survey conducted right after WWII you will learn that the heavy bombing by B-29s didn't often destroy factories. Most bombs missed their targets and factories often were able to resume production in a day or two. I had uncles in that war so this is maybe a bit personal for me. My mother was also part of the Manhattan Project so Japan isn't getting any apologies from our family. One uncle suffered a lifelong disability courtesy of the IJA!
Desert Tortoise
""Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand troops in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) also committed rapes. The commander of the BCOF's official reports state that members of the BCOF were convicted of committing 57 rapes in the period May 1946 to December 1947 and a further 23 between January 1948 and September 1951..:"
Sigh. What you imply is truly reprehensible. British and other Allied occupation forces in Japan didn't engage in a deliberate policy of raping Japanese women, nor did they look the other way when their soldiers did rape someone. It is nothing like the sorts of wars seen elsewhere where rape is used deliberately by an Army to subdue and terrorize a population. When Allied soldiers did engage in such misconduct they were tried under their laws and if found guilty sent to the brig. It wasn't condoned much less a deliberate tactic. Don't smear the Allied soldiers that way.
ペルソンペル
Why so negative, it is good that the Prime Minister of Japan is protesting against the world's most unnecessary genocide of civilians, with the motivation to end a war that was practically over.
Desert Tortoise
" protesting against the world's most unnecessary genocide of civilians,"
The casualty count in Nanjing was higher than that of the two atomic bombings. Then add another million dead across the rest of China. The actual number could be greater but the official Chinese (ROC, not CCP) figure is 1.32 million. Also consider that Gen Tojo was not willing to surrender even after the second atomic bombing. Emperor Hirohito had to go into hiding as the IJA was trying to arrest him when it became known he was ready to surrender. He eventually made a radio broadcast surrendering Japan from a secret location so the IJA could not find him in time to stop the broadcast.
William77
Desert TortoiseAug. 3 09:59 pm JST
""Australian, British, Indian and New Zealand troops in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) also committed rapes. The commander of the BCOF's official reports state that members of the BCOF were convicted of committing 57 rapes in the period May 1946 to December 1947 and a further 23 between January 1948 and September 1951..:"
Sigh. What you imply is truly reprehensible. British and other Allied occupation forces in Japan didn't engage in a deliberate policy of raping Japanese women, nor did they look the other way when their soldiers did rape someone. It is nothing like the sorts of wars seen elsewhere where rape is used deliberately by an Army to subdue and terrorize a population. When Allied soldiers did engage in such misconduct they were tried under their laws and if found guilty sent to the brig. It wasn't condoned much less a deliberate tactic. Don't smear the Allied soldiers that way.
Hiro S Nobumasa
I sympathize with PM Shinzo Abe for being in deep pain while prayin for the innocent civilian men, women, the helpless children and the defenseless elderly who were brutally blitzed and nuked in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He must be cringing in sadness as to why those weapons of mass destruction were still used while Japan was clearly already preparing to surrender.
Desert Tortoise
"He must be cringing in sadness as to why those weapons of mass destruction were still used while Japan was clearly already preparing to surrender."
This appears to be a great example of how the Japanese education system whitewashes the brutality of their WWII history. The gentle reader Hiro S Nobumasa may wish to learn the details of "Operation Ketsu-Go" The slogan in Japan circa summer 1945 was "The sooner the Americans come, the better...One hundred million die proudly."
u_s__reamer
Every year the war crimes of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are rightly remembered and memorialized , but what is missing from the annual Japanese remembrance and groupthink on the war the price paid by the civilian population is the outright condemnation of the then Japanese governments' policies of naked aggression driven and justified by the extreme right-wing ideology of fascism, militarism and imperialism. The silence of the grave concerning war guilt from post-war right-wing Japanese governments and the ruling establishment has always been their default position and the de facto political correctness demanded from all citizens if they know what is good for them. As some Japanese have themselves coined it: 後悔なき民族 (a nation of no regrets). "Je ne regrette rien" is certainly Abe's annual tune to his cult followers.
Toasted Heretic
And who will stop the mass murdering US and China?
Their evil goes unchallenged.
We must hope that their peoples will rise up, en masse, and bring an end to their corrupt regimes.
Halwick
Not true. What is often ignored is that Japan actually had a reserve forces in preparation waiting for the U.S. invasion of homeland Japan.
Read up on the details of "Operation Ketsu-Go" and how Japan was going to fight the anticipated U.S. invasion of homeland Japan.
https://fas.org/irp/eprint/arens/chap4.htm
https://fas.org/irp/eprint/arens/chap5.htm
(by the way, FYI - the source of the above links is from the "Federation of American Scientists".)
Japan was never going to surrender. The Japanese leaders were going to continue fighting and the Japanese people concurred. The survival of the Japanese culture was more important. The Japanese leaders and people were willing to sacrifice themselves rather than lose face.
By July 1945 after the Battle of Okinawa, U.S. Army Intelligence realized how badly they underestimated Japanese strength believing Japan had exhausted weapons and manpower. It was then realized that Japan was building up forces in southern Kyushu waiting for the American invading forces.
Japan still had in reserve 12,725 airplanes, 38 submarines, 19 destroyers, 3300 Shinyo motorboats to be used for kamikaze attacks, 4 million armed soldiers plus 2.4 million Kyushu civilians trained and ready to fight sacrifice themselves for the Emperor.
The result would have been the bloodiest battle of World War II and the highest civilian casualties ever experienced and the war dragging on until early 1946 until Japan homeland was completely destroyed.
Also, let's not forget the Soviet Union was planning to invade Japan in August 1945. By the time the U.S. forces landed in the southern part of Japan, the Soviet Union would have already occupied the northern part of Japan, dividing the country in two like Germany and the future Korea.
If the atomic bomb not been used and instead invasion proceeded as planned, Postwar Japan would be a very different country. Is there anyone here who believes Japan today would be a better country with a DPRK-like North Japan and a Democratic South Japan? It was fortunate the war ended as it did, given the alternative invasion.
Kutan
@Cricky and @bokuda haven’t read many books since middle school I guess?
tokyoforever
Regrettable that there are still those who continue to cling on to such justifications..
Will probably need to wait at least another century for people to figure things out and for the massacre to be truly acknowedged for what it actually was.
Goodlucktoyou
As his jet setter lifestyle in his 2 jumbos is on hold, he must be SO stir crazy.
maybe at the commemorations he can sign a few weapon deals with US arms dealers that develop nuclear weapons.
Goodlucktoyou
@halwick
nice info and good justification for nuking innocent women and children.
YeahRight
I think every newly elected or appointed world leader (every politician, really) should have to visit Hiroshima and the Peace Museum. It changed my life when I went. Maybe it would change theirs as well, and we could have a better world.
Halwick
@goodlucktoyou,
So you would rather have hundreds of million innocent women, children and elderly civilians killed during an invasion, eh?
You guys still don't want to admit it.
The alternative to the actual ending would involve a costly invasion and battle that would have prolonging the war for another year, with the Imperial Japanese leaders in defending the homeland, sacrificing hundreds of million innocent women, children and elderly civilians in the process. The Japanese people were ready and willing to be sacrificed for the Emperor and the homeland. That was the accepted thinking AT THAT TIME in 1945.
Ken Wyatt
Is he also going to explain the reason for those bombings?
I seriously doubt that...
Vanessa Carlisle
No, there is no way he is going to point out the U.S. government and military's historical pattern of murdering villages full of women and children, from Jackson, to Sherman, to Custer, to LeMay, to Koster. There is too much money involved with U.S. bases.
Anyone who thinks that the Japanese leadership cared about civilian death after the mass civilian death during the Battle of Okinawa or the widespread firebombing of civilian cities, is not right in the head. Of course some people just pretend they believe it to fool others.
Its real easy to understand. Imagine local cops have a crazed serial killer in his own house surrounded. He has 10 kids. They snipe a kid and telling him to surrender or they will snipe another. He refuses. They snipe another kid. And another and he keeps refusing. All they are doing is murdering children. Finally a S.W.A.T team famous for murdering suspects (Russia) arrives and the guy surrenders to local police before S.W.A.T. can raid the house. Official story: Serial killer surrenders because he could bear the loss of 5 kids, but not 6! Insane.
Vanessa Carlisle
Nonsense. The Emperor was desperate to surrender the second the Russians started invading. He was about to get the same torture and slow death as the Nazis that the Soviets captured months earlier. He surrendered to the U.S. because the U.S. wasn't torturing leaders, in fact, some were let off for being "useful". And that is exactly what happened to Hirohito and Shiro Ishii. They were deemed "useful" and given a free pass for their crimes.
Fact is Japan was out of everything and could not have put up much of a fight. And don't tell me about bamboo spears. People with spears are combatants and they earn their bullets even if they are not much threat. Intentionally dropping bombs on unarmed civilians is a war crime because they are not combatants. People who shoot people rushing at them with spears are good to go. People who drop bombs on cities full of unarmed women and children are the lowest of the low.
Besides which even a blockade would have worked. Japanese were just slow to accept the obvious.
Vanessa Carlisle
Yet, they did. The fact they did totally flies in the face of your contention "they were never going to". The firebombs killed more people than the nukes, but no surrender. The first nuke did not effect surrender either. But somehow the second one did? Nonsense. It was the Soviet Invasion and by the agreements made at the Yalta conference the Allies knew exactly when that was going to start, and THAT is why they dropped the nukes. Not to end the war because it was obvious no amount of civilian death was going to get a surrender. The whole show, the whole mass murdering show was all about keeping the Soviets back.
Even if I believed your numbers were of totally operational weapons, there was no fuel for the machines and no food for the soldiers and civilians. The U.S. was hardly losing anything at the time, whether it be lives, ships or airplanes. Japan was done. The leaders were just trying to get time away from the noose.
Desert Tortoise
"Every year the war crimes of Hiroshima and Nagasak"
The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not war crimes. Japan started it for the US on 7 December 1941 and even after the second atomic bombing the IJA was not about to surrender. Tens of millions would have died if the US had not used those bombs to end the war and instead had to invade Japan and fight their way across the country using only conventional forces. I suppose you would have preferred the Allies did that instead? It would have been a meat grinder for the Japanese. The atomic bombings ended it quickly and with vastly less suffering for both sides so save your fake sanctimony for something more worthy.
Desert Tortoise
"Nonsense. The Emperor was desperate to surrender"
True but you are deliberately ignoring the determination of Tojo and the IJA to keep fighting. There was a coup attempt a couple of days before the surrender as the IJA attempted to seize power and prevent Supreme Council for the Direction of the War from accepting the surrender terms laid out by the Allies in their July 1945 Potsdam Declaration. Hirohito had to go into hiding because Tojo had troops searching for him, trying to arrest and imprison him so he would not surrender Japan to the Allies. Hirohito was thus forced to make a radio broadcast from a secret location telling Japan and the World that Japan was going to surrender. That is what finally ended the war. The IJA was prepared to fight to the death, regardless of how much suffering that caused. And while Japan assuredly had material shortages caused by Allied submarines and strategic bombing they had a vast army and air reserves ready to fight Allied forces. They also had their own nuclear program but were enough months behind the US ( and it was only months behind, not years and those facts were not released by the Japanese until the 1980s) that Japan never had the opportunity to use nuclear weapons against Allied forces.
Desert Tortoise
"Even if I believed your numbers were of totally operational weapons, there was no fuel for the machines and no food for the soldiers and civilians. The U.S. was hardly losing anything at the time, whether it be lives, ships or airplanes. Japan was done. The leaders were just trying to get time away from the noose.'
Not using nuclear weapons meant another year of ground and naval combat and tens of millions dead. Is that what you would have preferred? Yes Japan was not going to win the war but if the IJA had its way they would have fought to the last man much as they had on Okinawa and subject the civilian population to brutal casualties. The Japanese forces on Okinawa were surrounded and cut off from supplies but they still took six months to defeat and inflicted casualties that surprised everybody. Is that really what you would have preferred to see in Japan?
shogun36
Do you remember the book "Wacky Wednesday?" Where you had to find all the things wrong with the pictures?
Well, guess what. It's Wednesday, and it sure is wacky today. Let's see how many things wrong there are with this picture.
I see at least 11 people in the picture, limbs included, but I'm sure there should be more. Wasn't the Koike limit of people in a group, less than five people? That's one.
Oh, everyone has a sports jacket on. No "cool biz" campaign here. that's two.
Everyone is sitting so close, like they are going to trade baking recipes during the break. No social distancing at all, when this meeting could've been easily done over a web chat app. That's three. In baseball that would be a strike out.
Ahhh, not one mask. Not even the OG distributer himself, Abe. No mask wearing equals a major strike. Strike 4. Not looking good fellas.
Oh Abe, you're going to travel to Hiroshima and Nagasaki? That's nice. But wasn't there just an announcement that people from Tokyo weren't supposed to travel to other cities, to prevent the spreading of the virus? Shame shame Abe, that's five.
And are you paying for the trip Abe? Isn't that kind of like the tax payers money paying for it. Sounds like the "Go To" travel campaign. One of the worst ideas (and there have been a ton) in 2020 to date. That's 7 no nos.
Suddenly this Wacky Wednesday game isn't fun anymore.
Looks like we are doomed. Thanks Abe, Thanks Aso, and whoever else is in this picture. You guys sure know how to run a country there.