Gov't to hold ceremony marking 1952 return of sovereignty

Oh dear, puffed up national pride, suspicion of 'alien ideas' talk of terrorism. Mr Abe just wants to relive the 'glory years' of his grandad.

gee, neat way to spend all my taxes... on something no-one is disputing and is absolutely going to cause many more problems than its worth.

How about instead of all this bullish talk about how you are going to re-engergise the country... actually do something helpful;

Make sure there are doctors and hospital beds when people need them

Make the people still with out permanent homes in Tohoku are assisted

Make sure that all this pension money you are taking from everyone is actually going to be there in the future.

Look at the education system with a mind of assisting people to be creative and innovative, not simply good at passing tests, but learning to be knowledgable.

Make sure the very well off large companies in Japan are regulated and monitored. (some of which have irreparable damage to Japan's image and have not only been dictating their own business practices but knowingly over charging for their services.)

Make sure that the many people who can't now enter the "japanese work plan", become a company employee and stay until you die, are protected too.

Abe, simply telling people that a country is great isn't enough, you and your buddies have the wheel.. make some positive changes and people will decide the country is great on their own.

Now it may well be that Japan needs to make some changes to the way it protects itself with increasing pressure from neighbours, however purposefully stoking the flames of public opinion in those countries isn't going to help anyone, least of all Japan.

Make sure you tell those young people ALL the true reasons why Japan lost its sovereignty.

Why not do it last year on the 60th anniversary? Because the last government wasn't as inclined toward nationalist grandstanding.

What a biased article. I fail to see how a ceremony noting a rather important date in modern Japan's history is worthy of such controversy.

Okinawa is still under US Military occupation. 18 percent of my home is a US military base.

This is a 'ritual' for the Japanese to graduate from the post-war period which has sought economic growth rather their national pride backed up with the military might. No political leaders since the economic bubble in 1980's have attempted to propose its nationals a new model for the country and open a new era of Japan in the 21st centuries.

I was talking to a group of old fellas yesterday about this and that and unfortunately the topic switched to politics and Abe, with the man talking about how great Abe was (same guy, whom I've known for years) decried Abe last time around) and how 'Abenomics' will help the world, etc. Some agreed while not quite sharing the same enthusiasm, some said they were unsure about how the middle class would fare, but then unfortunately it got 'worse' and changed from the economy to issues like those in the article. Now, while I like this guy, he is quite a right-winger and likes to hear nothing but praise about right-wing ideology and Japan in general, and he knows I sometimes don't agree, so he deliberately brings up stuff like this to stir the pot. Anyway, I decided to take the bait when he talked about Abe's stance on comfort women and making a more 'future-oriented' education in Japan and said I think it's wrong to rescind the previous apology, and it would be a shame for Japan to repeal article 9, etc. He said, "You have no right to comment on things you were not there for!" to which I replied, "Abe was never there either".

The only people who feel a 'wounded sense of pride' are the right-wing, borderline nuts. I don't know too many others who feel that way unless it's been grained into them by said nuts -- not by true history or by other nations. Now these same people want to FORCE 'patriotism' on people by the same means they claim forces guilt on them (but doesn't). They hypocrisy is astounding, and the attitude disgusting. Do these people with 'wounded pride' think that Japan losing the war was not directly the fault of the actions of the Japanese government of the time? (which is to say, the Emperor and military). The answer to that is simple: No. These guys think they are the victims.

Deplore: "What a biased article. I fail to see how a ceremony noting a rather important date in modern Japan's history is worthy of such controversy."

I don't know anyone or could see how anyone would object to any ceremony, or how such a ceremony draws controversy. It's Abe's blind nationalism and bombast that does it.

I'd object to any significant money being spent on it.

(It being the 61st anniversary of most of Japan returning to sovereignty. Any decent should recognize the significance of Okinawa. And the real-rightists would say the nation isn't complete and completely "sovereign" without getting the northern islands back from Russia.

Surely there are better uses for our time, taxes, and attention.

Sounds like something North Korea would do...and the rest of the world would laugh at.

In 1945, Emperor Hirohito decided he didn't need Okinawa and gave it to the Americans.

In 1952, Okinawa was still under US administration. It wouldn't be until 1972 that it was returned to Japan. Many at the time hoped for independence. But it wasn't to be.

How are the Okinawans going to celebrate the return of sovereignty to Japan when at that time Okinawa was under US administration?

At that time, Japanese people needed a passport to come to Okinawa, people drove on the right and the currency used was Dollars (doru) and cents (sen).

Abe is so short sighted he can't see beyond the walls of the Diet building.

That means Japanese realized that Okinawa was never theirs because they just grabbed it by force, and they might have thought "oh well, nothing to lose since we just got it for free, so if we do not get it back, no problem". The US let Japan go too easy. It should have demanded compensation for lots of the damage, despair, atrocities, it caused. When Japan invaded China in 1895, it placed a lot of onerous conditions on China. Same conditions should have been put back in Japan's shoulder so it could reflect on its past behavior. The way I look at Japan, nothing has changed. If they had the chance, they would do it all over again. Except now the way they do things is very subtle.

Celebrating the date of restoration of Japan's sovereignty is further humiliation for Okinawa:

http://english.ryukyushimpo.jp/2013/03/13/9624/

I'm guessing the Chinese aren't going to be impressed by any of this. I wonder if that's the point?

Okinawa is still under US Military occupation. 18 percent of my home is a US military base.

Not really Yuri. Are there too many military installations on Okinawa for it's size? Yes. I would even say it would be a good idea to move some of the military on Okinawa to mainland Japan. However, Okinawa is NOT under US military occupation. Occupation would be where the US military sets the law of the land, which it clearly doesn't. Claiming that Okinawa is under US military occupation is just anti-base fodder used to try and rile up support for their cause.

Am not at all "thrilled" about this date. Japan sold Okinawa to the Americans for their freedom. Okinawa went through 20 years of sorrow under the Americans. Even then they still would not leave! The Americans stole my families farm, they desecrated our families graves and have done NOTHING to repay their misdeeds. True the government of Japan pay a little something but the Americans never did a thing for us. Now the new LDP PM wants us to be happy with "Independence day" for Japanese not Okinawa people

Wow, the signs just pop up, one after another. What's next? "Respect your Dear Leader Day"? What Abe and co. want to do to the constitution is just scary. How about making it mandatory to respect the flag and national anthem for example...? こうぇぇ。

It's unfortunate that so many of younger generations are completely indifferent to taking care of, developing and moving their country forward and to make it even more modern. So, instead we get these politicians, with their "restoration" ideas and their wishful return to the great Japan of the old days.

The Americans stole my families farm, they desecrated our families graves and have done NOTHING to repay their misdeeds.

Stole your farm you say? So that means your family is getting a nice check from the government for the use of their land correct? I'd hardly call that stealing, unless you didn't actually have a claim to the land in the first place. Plenty of protesters pick up tiny slivers of land on base so they can try to say the US took their land. As far as the tombs go, it was the Japanese that were using them as bunkers, ammo storage, hideouts, etc during The Battle of Okinawa, not the US. So if you want to blame someone for desecrating tombs across Okinawa you might want to look at Japan first. Any tombs that are on US installations right now sit vacant. Families were allowed to remove remains (if there were any left) but the US does not and never has destroyed them to build facilities on top of them.

True the government of Japan pay a little something but the Americans never did a thing for us. Now the new LDP PM wants us to be happy with "Independence day" for Japanese not Okinawa people

Americans never did a thing for you? You know, it's not like they helped rebuild the island after the war or anything like that. Or housed thousands of refugees who were without a place to live after the war. Also, IIRC you've said before that you're now married to US military correct? So that means you're collecting benefits paid out by the US military. So it appears that you're gaining quite a bit right now from the US military.

Stephen Jez,

You are quite correct in that the Japanese desecrated Okinawa before the US arrived.

The Japanese military forced Okinawans to speak Japanese and ridiculed those who spoke their own dialect.

During the war, Japanese soldiers forced thousands of Okinawans to kill their families and commit suicide so that they would not become spies for the Americans. They shoved women and children out of the caves where they were hiding and into the line of fire of American guns.

And then, until 1972, the US did pretty much as it wanted with the place. People were forced out of houses, whole villages were flattened with bulldozers to make a space for US bases. No less than five villages in the case of Futenma.

So, Yuri does have a point.

Do you know that her family received compensation for their land? Many didn't.

These things are what makes it doubly painful for Okinawans when Abe announces that he wants to celebrate the 1952 restoration of Japan's sovereignty. (Japan minus Okinawa, that is.)

Stephen the Americans caused all of the damage in the first place. No my guy was US military and he earned any benefits given to him! Back on subject my families farm is under occupation of the Americans. What was the farm and small business were bulldozed along with the tombs. Nothing remains of them.

PM Abe cerebrates the day US occupation army left Japan.

The message is clear.

US, go home.