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LDP forms group to review modern history

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Japan’s ruling party on Tuesday launched a study group to review its modern history, amid reports it may take up contentious regional issues including the Nanjing massacre which Tokyo is accused of playing down.

I think we all know what kind of conclusions they're going to draw. I wonder if this "study group" includes anyone who actually knows anything about the issues, or just Abe's fellow Nippon Kaigi members?

Also known as the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, the tribunal sentenced some Japanese World War II-era leaders to death as war criminals.

Some Japanese conservatives and nationalists say the trials were nothing more than victor’s justice, maintaining that their country fought to free Asia from Western colonialism.

Given the way Japanese police and prosecutors deal with court cases (forced confessions, long periods in custody for suspects, lack of access to legal representation, etc) it's a bit rich of them to criticise any other legal proceedings.

23 ( +24 / -1 )

I'm glad that in my home country it's the independent historians and academics who write the definitive account of history, not the government or politicians like here in east Asia. It's something we take for granted.

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Some Japanese conservatives and nationalists say the trials were nothing more than victor’s justice, maintaining that their country fought to free Asia from Western colonialism

I would be curious to know which countries asked Japan to 'liberate' them from western colonialism. Another revisionist fantasy from Abe's increasingly delusion right wing mates

18 ( +19 / -1 )

The study group was placed directly under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,

Why do I get the feeling this panel will do more harm than good? This panel will only try to prove that Japan's version of history is true and will not be attempting to prove the real truth.

18 ( +21 / -3 )

Insane. Once you realize that the Prime Minister and a majority of the people in his party belong to the Nippon Kaigi lobby, who has made its views on those matters very clear, you understand that they have already decided what the outcome of those "reviews" will be: the exact same as those of Nippon Kaigi (I invite everybody to research that lobby to see for themselves the direction Japan is now officially taking with its history).

12 ( +13 / -1 )

LDP forms group to review modern history

LDP forms group to rewrite modern history...there, I fixed it for you.

12 ( +15 / -3 )

Beleive me, Japan is not interested in whitewashing history at all

Japan maybe not, Abe LDP apparently has a different agenda hence the creation of what can be seen as "the revisionism buro". It is so clear what the agenda is for the audience, except for you it seems, that even, this article, cannot escape to include mention/quotes from nationalists making a direct link between facts and causalities.

11 ( +12 / -1 )

Some Japanese conservatives and nationalists say the trials were nothing more than victor’s justice, maintaining that their country fought to free Asia from Western colonialism

If Japan fought to free Asia, why did it attack China in 1937 and take Beijing, Tianjin, Wuhan, and Nanjing, none of which were western colonies, while avoiding the parts of China that were actually western colonies like Hong Kong and Macau? When they invaded Shanghai in '37 they specifically avoided taking the French Concession and the International Settlement; they invaded only the rest of the city that was governed by the Republic of China's government (the Kuomintang). If Japan was fighting to free Asia, why did the Kuomintang have to flee its capital city of Nanjing and retreat up the Yangtze to Chongqing? Japan wasn't fighting to free the ROC; it was fighting to conquer the ROC. Japan's actions in China in 1937 also give the lie to nationalist claims that they fought a war of self-defence; there's nothing defensive about what they did in China; just pure, vicious aggression.

Japan is not interested in whitewashing history at al

Then why form a history 'review' group composed of people whose stated aim is to change history to make it more favourable to Japan? (i.e, whitewashing) Perhaps you could explain to me how Japan's invasion of China in 1937 was an act of liberation?

10 ( +11 / -1 )

grotesque

9 ( +11 / -2 )

"Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past." Along with "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength", we almost have the full set.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

@tinawatanabe I should think your quote sarcasm, but I'm afraid not.

Do you think Japan is not trying to rebrand history? For point of conversation, could you clarify what you mean by "you know nothing about the Japanese?" Surely Japan was a colonising aggressor many decades which cost hundreds of thousands of innocent people their lives. If this is not a mistake worth avoiding, then I'm not sure what is.

I do think the you "know nothing about the Japanese" approach is dangerous. If you enter into dialogue with that mindset, that no one could possibly understand you, then no compromises can ever be reached nor any good attained.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

And which colonial power was Japan rescuing Thailand from when it invaded?

When stumped like this, deniers typically respond in one of three ways:

Disappear Keep repeating their lines, no matter how illogical and ridiculous they sound now Cook up another lie/excuse to try and cover up the previous lie/excuse

Anything but admitting they were wrong in their assertions.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

"The study group was placed directly under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is LDP president."

This, and the "Some Japanese conservatives and nationalists say the trials were nothing more than victor’s justice, maintaining that their country fought to free Asia from Western colonialism. They also say that Japan’s takeover of Taiwan and Korea came in an era when Western powers were carving up much of Asia for their own benefit" is all I need to see to know we've got another Abe white-wash in the works. They'll downplay even FURTHER Japan's atrocities, in all likelihood denying some and only playing up atrocities by the US and/or others to paint Japan as the victim when they were the aggressors.

tinawatanabe: "If you think they're changing history, you know nothing about the Japanese."

Obviously if you think they are not YOU know nothing about Japan -- but then, you study and believe the white-washed fluff, so that part is already known. But do tell us, tina: was there a unit 731? Were sex-slaves forced into slavery by the IJA? Did the Rape of Nanking occur?

My guess is you won't answer those questions because you KNOW they happened, but refuse to acknowledge they did and that Japan is to blame, and the aggressor. Hence, YOU know nothing about the Japanese, tina, save the need to rewrite and alter history so that it is YOU who have been wronged.

9 ( +11 / -2 )

@wontond,

LDP forms group to rewrite modern history...there, I fixed it for you.

Nice. My contribution:

LDP forms group to whitewash modern history.

There, how's that?!

8 ( +11 / -3 )

And the idea that Japan fought to free Asia from Western colonialism is not so far from the truth.

They're just a bit coy about the Japanese colonialism that replaced it. No surprise, given that some of the Asian collaborators eventually came to hate the Japanese so much they switched sides and helped the Allies to get rid of them.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

tinawatanabeDec. 23, 2015 - 10:27AM JST

It's important to learn hisotry as accurately as possible so that you won't make the same mistakes

.

The exact reason Japan should learn about their shameful history during the 1900 - 1945 period, instead of trying to whitewash it, as this committee is sure to do.

In the next round of an Asian war, Japan might not get off so easy and suffer the same experience as Germany did from 1945 - 1989.

8 ( +11 / -3 )

And which colonial power was Japan rescuing Thailand from when it invaded?

8 ( +10 / -2 )

@hellokitty123 -- well said. Thailand has never been colonised, but that did not stop Japan from trying to become the first.

http://nhdthebattleofmidway.weebly.com/japanese-conquest-of-asia.html

8 ( +10 / -2 )

It's important to learn hisotry as accurately as possible so that you won't make the same mistakes.

Best to just ignore whatever Shinzo Abe, the LDP and Nippon Kaigi say about it, then.

8 ( +9 / -1 )

This newfound interest in history is great guys, but could I make a suggestion? Instead of having an "LDP" group made up of politicians from one party, why don't we get some historians - respected historians, both conservative and liberal, from across Japan - to be on the panel. Then, why don't we invite some more respected historians from around the world... North America, Europe, Australia, but especially from those from Asian countries like N. and S.Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc...that were part of the "co-prosperity sphere," and lets have them have a big, transparent debate about history, with evidence, and research, and have them write papers and whatnot, and have the whole thing open and available to the public. And the Japanese government would fund the research and the symposiums, and it could be like a 5 or 10 year project. Wouldn't that be amazing?

8 ( +8 / -0 )

I wonder how much of the taxpayers' money is going to be wasted on this? Weeks of work for a committee leading to an obvious foregone conclusion. A few hours on the internet would be enough to find the truth,

Still, it provides an income for Abe's friends and family (sarcasm).

7 ( +9 / -2 )

I'm glad that in my home country it's the independent historians and academics who write the definitive account of history, not the government or politicians like here in east Asia.

@M3M3M3

I couldn't agree more. Just as having a government-sponsored religion is a bad idea, so is having an officially mandated history — not only separation of church and state, but also separation of history and state is sorely needed. Leave history to the historians. Japan under Abe is becoming more like North Korea every day.

I sincerely hope I am wrong, but I predict very little backlash against Abe in Japan as he revises the official history to be in line with that espoused by the Yushukan Museum of Abe's beloved Yasukuni Shrine — that of the IJA as a benevolent liberating force that was wholeheartedly welcomed by the countries it 'advanced' into, and that of Japan as the utmost victim of the war in Asia, still horribly misunderstood and unfairly treated.

The cliche that "history repeats itself" always has been true, and always will. My guess is that Japan will be at war again within the next 25 years, and in as soon as 10-years time. As things now stand, the tipping point to a regional conflict does not seem that remote.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

I see..... this should go well. No agenda here at all. Nope. Not at all.

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And there will be an election soon so the Japanese people can reelect these Imperialists. Yikes.

We can see this is the result of the Hashimoto meeting. As long as Japan feels wronged it represents its Imperial / Nazi perspective. It has to repudiate it and move on, accept what happened as a part of that era, claim itself a victim of that era as well, and only then can it join the other nations to acknowledge their suffering. That would also take the wind out of their sails every year on anniversaries. Japan would then be able to join them. The moment they accept others I can see they have moved on. And modern Japan can stand up, away from the rightwing that holds it back.

"Review"ing is not accepting. All I see is an increase in its Imperial view. It's like the war never ended. This is very bad. Why trade with such a country? As Japan's economy continues to plummet, its nationalism is poised to rise again. This is unacceptable.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

So many things to find sad in this article, but I would love to hear a detailed elaboration on idea that Japanese colonialism "differed from Western colonialism and had been misunderstood by Japanese people."

Are there, in fact, people that still believe other Asian countries were colonised for their own good? It's one thing to disagree on the number of people killed (still terrible), but to persist in the idea that it was actually noble or "misunderstood" is just ridiculously delusional.

This reminds me of the elder George Bush's quote, ""I will never apologize for the United States — I don't care what the facts are... I'm not an apologize-for-America kind of guy."

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Almost all government-sanctioned "official" history is a lie.

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Just the "title" of this article made me shudder...

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Kenjooi Dec,23. 2015.

Among the reasons the so-called historical rivisionists, Abe and his cronies included , if you aske me, is this fact that before and during the war Japanese people were kept in the dark about what was really going on on the battle front in Asia with an embargo placed upon free speech; it was not until after the War Tribunal in Tokyo that we learned something about what happened in Nanjing, to my regret. After the war with the occupation brought to an end, the then- conservative government put in place the textbook-screening system under which the darft of a history text books is required to comply with the Monbush-prescrived course of study, which was and still is put together to whitewash the shady parts of modern Japanese history. The fact I have got into that the people were kept in the dark is still a fact of school life today, too in that those born after the war are not adequately equipped with the detailed, accurate knowledge of the Japanese history from the early 1930s to the mid-1940s in terms of facts about what IJA did to Asia. This lack of the knowlege about the past goes a long way toward making younger Japanese an easy target for manipulation by politicians who want to get the collective memory of the past in the direction they favour. The fact that they don't know about the past would leave them with no other alternative but to react emotionally in terms of whether they like it or dislike it if and when they are confronted with something unpleasant they feel uncomfortable with. This is the price young Japanese are paying for the poor-quality history education, unless they develop issu-consciousness abot the history and study on their own. This picture may or may not apply to Mr. Abe. I have no idea.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Some Japanese conservatives and nationalists say the trials were nothing more than victor’s justice, maintaining that their country fought to free Asia from Western colonialism.

If these people are not delusional, I don't know who are.

They also say that Japan’s takeover of Taiwan and Korea came in an era when Western powers were carving up >much of Asia for their own benefit.

At least the Western powers don't slaughter innocent civilians for fun.

Especially contentious for China is the Nanjing massacre—often referred to as the “Rape of Nanking”. Beijing says >300,000 people were slaughtered after the city fell to soldiers in 1937 following Japan’s invasion.

What contention? British produced 'WWII in Color', streamed on America's Netflix, also stated 300,000 slaughtered. Again, some people are delusional.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

The headline says it all. I'm sure we can expect a very unbiased, balanced study

4 ( +6 / -2 )

Japan must be one of biggest butthurt countries, if not the biggest one. Seriously, why else would they need to constantly revise their history?

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Instead of having an "LDP" group made up of politicians from one party, why don't we get some historians - respected historians, both conservative and liberal, from across Japan - to be on the panel.

But... but... but... it might not draw the conclusions that Abe and his Nippon Kaigi backers want! That just wouldn't do at all! You wouldn't want important LDP donors and supporters feeling bad about themselves because some historians alleged that they or their relatives who had fought in WW2 had actually carried on like deranged fiends at the behest of a criminally incompetent military junta, would you?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

There are many very old Taiwanese who still miss goold old Japanese days. Surprisingly, there were not small number of Koreans who says the same.

I'm sure there are plenty of aging European fascists with similarly warm memories of the... ah, "good old days" of Nazi occupation. It's interesting what prominent collaborators with the Japanese, such as Ba Maw in Burma, had to say about them later: "The brutality, arrogance, and racial pretensions of the Japanese militarists in Burma remain among the deepest Burmese memories of the war years; for a great many people in South-East Asia these are all they remember of the war." George Orwell, by no means an apologist for British imperialism or misrule, said, "To those who say the cause of Japan is the cause of Asia against the European races, the best answer is: why then do the Japanese constantly make war against other races who are Asiatics no less than themselves?"

It's also the fact Dutch tried to re-colonize Indonesia right after Imperial Japan surrendered and Locals and Japanese soldiers fought back to get it independent.

So? In 1945 the Burma National Army switched sides and started fighting alongside the British to kick the Japanese out. Why would they do that if Japanese occupation was really all that great?

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Another LDP whitewash party

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I wonder how much of the taxpayers' money is going to be wasted on this? Weeks of work for a committee leading to an obvious foregone conclusion. A few hours on the internet would be enough to find the truth,

Why should you care how Abe chooses to use Japanese tax yen? You give a free pass to other politicians for using tax money on useless globetrotting.

Both are unnecessary, but Abe's goal is to change history as is it taught in schools. Future generations are doomed to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors if this is allowed to continue.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

If Germany had made such an announcement it would impact world markets and trade relations. Time to call a spade a spade and hold Japan to account to change.

3 ( +4 / -1 )

I hope this group can present their findings to the Japanese people and to the rest of the world in an open and objective manner.

How likely do you think that really is? It's the LDP we're talking about here, a party jam-packed with historical revisionists. The only thing they regret about the war is losing it.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

Here is a change of mind. Tell the unis to get rid of social science but now review how to look at history!

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They should ask the Emperor to join in.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

You know you have to get to those minds while they are young.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

That is another great title for the PM as the Chief Historian. Maybe he just want many titles to appear on his resume once he's out of office. Japan have alot more important problems to deal with than this.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

And the idea that Japan fought to free Asia from Western colonialism is not so far from the truth.

Too bad Asian countries don't all see it that way, huh? Which arrow is this, by the way? The 4th one? Aimed back at itself?

1 ( +3 / -2 )

but but but but... Japan apologized! Why is Japan asked to apologize again?

No, Japan is NOT asked to apologise again. But I think what would be appreciated is if Japanese politicians stopped trying to claim that there is in fact nothing to apologise for. Wartime aggression? They say it was a war to liberate Asia. Rape of Nanking? Never happened. Sex slavery? Paid prostitutes. War criminals? Not in domestic Japanese law they aren't, and their convictions were all "victors' justice" anyway. It's like, "We're sorry... even though we didn't actually do anything wrong. So actually we're not really sorry at all and now we'd like to go back to the way things were in 1935." Not much of an apology, is it?

Why everyone here against anti-Japan?

I don't think that means what you think it means.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

I could help them with that....

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Any bets the meetings will be held at Yasukuni?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

This was reported weeks ago in the Japanese language press.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

The idea of Japan freeing Asia from Western colonialism is known as the "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere (大東亞共榮圏) and announced in by Foreign Minister Hachirō Arita on June 29, 1940

Japan invaded China three years before that, annexed Korea 30 years before, and annexed Taiwan 45 years before

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@Papi2013 Probably it's intellectual rigor. You're conflation of disparate issues betrays your wall of nationalism. You've got to look past the prism of your own (religious) nationalism on these issues. When governments do history it's called propaganda. That's nothing to do with the issue of Japan's contrition nor is it a blanket judgement on the myriad issues that come up over history. Korea and China have their own propaganda that should be equally judged by it's lack of worth. Believe me, Abe isn't doing you any favors.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

but but but but... Japan apologized! Why is Japan asked to apologize again? Why everyone here against anti- Japan?

That's a lot of でも in your opening line there, just like Japan's numerous apologies.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Japan’s ruling party on Tuesday launched a study group to review its modern history

Not only will this further damage relations with her neighbors, but it will be a waste of taxpayers money, especially of the fact that Japan's currently accepted history is already what this new formed group wants: to deny and whitewash the history.

They said this differed from Western colonialism

Yeah, differed in a way that Japan is not considered a Western country. The colonialism is all similar though. I feel like what Japan is trying to say here is that "it wasn't just us, Westerners did it too". But that doesn't make it okay to do it or justify it, and if you feel like you're getting all of the blame, maybe it's partly because you deny historical facts. It's a self-conflicting argument as well because it's either you did it, or you didn't. Choose one. The Western colonialists did crimes too, but they don't deny it. That's also one of the bigger differences.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Doo-Bop Support for the government kind is a strange of defense against the non-government kind. The left comes full circle I see. Mr. Zinn notwithstanding, it's not only about "the west." Governments can be equal-opportunity bad actors. Don't let history get in the way of your America-centrism, though. I'll line my Galtung up against your Zinn. Then we've a draw at least.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

It maybe just the Varanasi factor with the PM visiting there and being impressed?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

In 1981, The Govt of Burma gave "Aung San Medals" praising their merits in Burma's independence to Keiji Takeda's wife( because he was dead already) and other 7 Japanese .

The military junta of Myanmar, you mean. Yes, this Colonel Takeda must have been pretty righteous if he was getting medals from them. Did he get medals from Kim Il Sung and Pol Pot too?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

The military junta of Myanmar, you mean. Yes, this Colonel Takeda must have been pretty righteous if he was getting medals from them. Did he get medals from Kim Il Sung and Pol Pot too?

Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma, 1974~1988 exactly speaking.

No, not that I know but the figures like Kim Il Sung must have thought of Japan with gratitude, needless to say, Mao Zeadong, a conspirator of the century with Imperial Japan

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Too bad "modern history" doesn't begin in a period of time that comes long after the WWII years. For the younger generation, WWII is now "old history." It's best to leave this period of time alone. Fiddling with more recent "modern history" might not be as difficult in stating factual events.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It has been said before, but it bears repeating: future historians will view Mr. Abe's reign as an unmitigated disaster for Japan -- although he might still be enshrined at Yasukuni... wink, wink.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

@Simon Foston

So? In 1945 the Burma National Army switched sides and started fighting alongside the British to kick the Japanese out. Why would they do that if Japanese occupation was really all that great?

Does history of Burma look such simple to you? To the people of Burma, both Brits and Japanese looked evil after all. But STILL don't forget taking a note that Aung San rescued Colnel Keiji Takeda, Chief of South Inst. from being sentenced as War Criminal BC at the court marshal, also that In 1981, The Govt of Burma gave "Aung San Medals" praising their merits in Burma's independence to Keiji Takeda's wife( because he was dead already) and other 7 Japanese .

It's interesting what prominent collaborators with the Japanese, such as Ba Maw in Burma, had to say about them later: "The brutality, arrogance, and racial pretensions of the Japanese militarists in Burma remain among the deepest Burmese memories of the war years; for a great many people in South-East Asia these are all they remember of the war." George Orwell, by no means an apologist for British imperialism or misrule, said, "To those who say the cause of Japan is the cause of Asia against the European races, the best answer is: why then do the Japanese constantly make war against other races who are Asiatics no less than themselves?"

You forgot add adjective" A deeply dillusioned" before Ba Maw. You forgot add Orwell's role" who spent part of war years writing propaganda broadcast for British Radio.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

I will just sum up Japan's official position.

Japan signed the 1965 war reparations treaty with Korea. And Japan apologized, however what Japan apologized for, were all fake issues created by Korea and China. Japan had nothing to be ashamed of and apologize about anything, but it did anyway. That was 1965. Treaty was signed and it's over. Japan can now do whatever it likes with its own history. Western history about Japan is unfair. Japan was a great power that had the right to rule over the less capable Asiatic peoples. Japan only was thinking of helping and bringing peace to Asia, against horrible Western colonialism. Japan will rise again to take its rightful place in Asia as a great Asia Cosphere Empire! Long live the Emperor god!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

but but but but... Japan apologized! Why is Japan asked to apologize again? Why everyone here against anti-Japan?

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

The idea Triumvere brought up really is the only way to resolve this. Otherwise, everyone will just stick to their initial view.

I do remember one country that tried something similar years ago, and they got lots of flack and were almost completely boycotted by one side; so it did not accomplish much.

I'm glad that in my home country it's the independent historians and academics who write the definitive account of history...

Historians and academics are not necessarily independent or unbiased.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

When governments do history it's called propaganda.

Much of history is propaganda, even if it does not have an official government approval.

The West cannot hide from the fact Great Britain, the United States, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany and Russia previously colonized parts of Asia...

Indeed. And according to Howard Zinn: "So long as Japan remained a well-behaved member of that imperial club of Great Powers who-in keeping with the Open Door Policy- were sharing the exploitation of China, the United States did not object. It had exchanged notes with Japan in 1917 saying "the Government of the United States recognizes that Japan has special interests in China." In 1928, according to Akira Iriye (After Imperialism,), American consuls in China supported the coming of Japanese troops. It was when Japan threatened potential U.S. markets by its attempted takeover of China, but especially as it moved toward the tin, rubber, and oil of Southeast Asia, that the United States became alarmed and took those measures which led to the Japanese attack: a total embargo on scrap iron, a total embargo on oil in the summer of 1941."

Not only was the area heavily and brutally colonized by Western nations, there was also lots of fighting between different Asian groups. Seems some like to dump all the blame on Japan to avoid attention being brought on their own crimes.

-5 ( +2 / -7 )

Not only was the area heavily and brutally colonized by Western nations, there was also lots of fighting between different Asian groups. Seems some like to dump all the blame on Japan to avoid attention being brought on their own crimes.

Exactly. It seems majority here likes to critisize Japan looking only from WW2 because it's EASIER. As important as it is that, not only LDP members but also Japanese young generations understand what and how IJ did during WW2, they deserve , at least, chances to think themselves to have their own views on why Japan went into such war landing on others' lands, historical backgrounds. As real pictures as possible with least fabrications possible and least noise possible. Whoever does that, It's worthful to put such arguments in order again particularly when Japan is to be critisized for not teaching it's wartime misdeeds in it's history classes. Abe, as a PM is taking such lead and those Japan bashers jump on the news and start insulting such move .Conditioned reflex. They can hadrly wait till they see what sort of reviews actually be brought out.

Who knows how old local aisans compared westerns and Japan during such long colonial periods. Everytime very old locals say something good about old Japanese days, it's been damned and treated as propagandas. There are many very old Taiwanese who still miss goold old Japanese days. Surprisingly, there were not small number of Koreans who says the same. It's also the fact Dutch tried to re-colonize Indonesia right after Imperial Japan surrendered and Locals and Japanese soldiers fought back to get it independent.

-6 ( +1 / -7 )

It's important to learn hisotry as accurately as possible so that you won't make the same mistakes.

Very true. The same mistakes continue to be repeated because nations do not learn the truth. The leaders understand what happened, but unfortunately the general population tends to gobble up any propaganda thrown at them. Many are accusing the Japanese of whitewashing history, but I don't think it's any better in the west; actually I think it's worst in the west.

I hope this group can present their findings to the Japanese people and to the rest of the world in an open and objective manner. And I hope everyone will view this information in an open, unbiased, yet critical, mind with the desire to learn the truth, rather than just to support their own "team".

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

It's worrying to see a political party wanting to start such a study. Having said that, I do believe that post-WWII trials were mainly just victor’s justice and that "Japan’s takeover of Taiwan and Korea came in an era when Western powers were carving up much of Asia for their own benefit." And the idea that Japan fought to free Asia from Western colonialism is not so far from the truth.

Just look at the lies being told today. Why should anyone assume that back then, they were all honest.

-16 ( +1 / -17 )

If you think they're changing history, you know nothing about the Japanese. It's important to learn hisotry as accurately as possible so that you won't make the same mistakes.

-19 ( +4 / -23 )

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