arenson comments

This is not a case of stupidity. It is simply that Abe has installed another rightist revisionist. Intentionally. An interesting article on this rightward move is in the Japan Times, translated from Sentaku magazine. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2013/10/20/commentary/political-winds-buffet-nhk/#.UuT7ZGSmosM

Of course there are self righteous people posting here who compare the US and other countries to Japan and say, 'we would never do such a thing.' This is dubious. It is a fact that male dominance and war go together and there have been reports suggesting that the Japanese government even arranged for brothels for occupation Okinawa in response to US requests. in THIS sense only, the NHK president is partly correct. Japan is not the ONLY nation to treat both its women (Karayuki san) and the women of the lands it conquered as garbage. But this does not absolve Japan of the guilt or constitute an endorsement of the NHK president for saying the equivalent of "boys will be boys".

One has to look at the wider picture. It is not only this war or its comfort women vs. other wars by other nations. It is also very much related to people's right to know their history, to learn from it, and to challenge the official narrative. And it is also very much connected to how the citizens of this country view the actions of those in power, whether it be during wartime or on other issues that affect them and others in the world.

It is not only denying history for people like Momii, who is in a position to shape people's opinions by his position as a quasi-national broadcaster to say that Japan did nothing wrong--it is trying recast an evil as acceptable and, in many cases, the patriotic thing to do.

In fact, in 2002 Abe himself intervened in a documentary on the Emperor's war responsibility to shape it to his ideology. Sadly, the women's group behind the documentary lost in court, but it speaks volumes that Abe's boy is now in charge at NHK.

People say Japan has already apologized once and that once is enough. Sure there have been the Murayama and Kono apologies, but these are contradicted by periodic textbook revisions denying kids a chance to learn from history, with LDP leaders worshiping at a shrine that glorifies imperialism and the Emperor system, with forced singing of anthems and disciplinary actions against teachers who do not cooperate, with secrets laws designed to punish whisteblowers. One needs to look at the wide picture, something that this and most articles in the media fail to do.

Again, it is not only about comfort women. Nor only about Japan. Recently there has been evidence reported in alternative media that those who question the official narrative on many issues could be the targets of secrecy laws and governmental spying in Japan and other countries: issues like TPP (where leaked documents have shown that the treaty negotiated in secret threatens national sovereignty and empowers corporations over citizens where environmental protection is concerned), like nuclear safety, like forced patriotism: this could well extend to whistleblowers and those in civil society who work to strengthen their democracies by opposing militarism a la Abe or a la Obama with his drones and prisoner of war camps and surveillance programs.

In both Japan and the US we have courageous people who point out these contradictions to a nation that professes to be a democracy. And both nations will only be democracies when people are willing and able to take to the streets and say no to what they see to be lies. Or to withhold the NHK viewer fees if they have TVs.