It's about Flippin' Time.....Japanese government apologizes to Canada’s World War II
- Thread starter petros
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So will the US be waiting 70 years to aplogise to what is left of the citizens of Iraq, Afghanistan. Don't they have a sign above the recruiting center about war being hazardous to your mind and body. The person could have been a bigoted stupid **** even before the war.
I refuse to cast judgement on the POWs the Japanese held, simply because I did not endure what they did; its like telling a rape victim they have no right to their anger because their attacker claims to have found Jesus in prison and has "repented". I cannot blame them for their anger, especially in the light of the Japanese gov'ts refusal to admit they did anything wrong, for so long (sure, culture is part of the issue but its also a cop out). I can see Canuck's point, that at some point that anger can be self-defeating and detrimental to a person but its not our place to do anything but try and help the victims of these crimes work through it, if we can.
It's not about blaming people for their anger. It's about whether that anger serves a purpose. Does it benefit people to hold onto their anger for a lifetime and if so, how? Look at all the problems in the world today and look at how many people are fixated on the past. The middle east and the aboriginal issue are two that spring immediately to mind.
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Probably was. The Nips were demonized even in comic books. We went there to kill demons, not humans. Same with the Germans. That level of racism is still alive and well today although the focus may be more on Muslims. The present focus on demonizing Muslims shows that a major attack on some Muslim country in the near future is not only possible but probable. Can you say Iran.
Muslims - the new Nips and Kraughts.
I agree with you in principle, but it is quite another thing to tell people they must put their personal experiences aside; it is almost like telling them what happened to them, and that period of their life doesn't matter. Yes, its healthier for the person if they can work it through, learn what they can and move on, but I can't see someone else telling them they need to get over it being effective.
Well, I'd hardly call it racism when dealing with Germans, as they are us.
The wonderfully popular Willy King, Liberal PM celebrated in his diary that we nuked the Japs instead of the white people in Germany. God that man was an idiot, on so many levels.
Hatred is, to some extent, an inevitable and in someways useful emotion in war.........and certainly the Germans and Japanese had to be fought.
As do the Muslim fundamentalists..
I'm not telling them they have to do anything. I'm just saying they would be happier if they looked forward instead backward. They can wallow if they choose.
I've never understood this business of contemporary governments apologizing for things they had nothing to do with. How far back should it go, when does it cease to have any meaning at all? There are Scots still brooding darkly about the Battle of Culloden Moor fer gawd's sake, which was 1746, I've met Quebecers who are still pissed off about 19th century English timber barons, and on and on. Should the descendants of the Babylonians apologize to the Jews for the exile and captivity 2600 years ago? Should the French apologize to the English for the Norman invasion and conquest in 1066? Pretty much every ethno-cultural group on the planet has been overrun by somebody at some point in its history. The past is past, get over it and move on, preserve the history certainly, but quit brooding about it.
During war many crimes are committed. War is the crime, torture humiliation starvation and hard labour are just some of the permanent horrific details of war, the crime of war has no bottom. The Japanese famously know that many times an apology just won't do.
I understand what you are saying, but at the same time, the apology shows 'me' that the human race is
moving forward, and after the bloodshed and misery and millions dead, generations after, have realized
the error of their ways (which I think is brave,) and they have come out and said so.
It also shows other countries how to do 'that', and more importantly, think before you do anything
that rash, as there are other ways to solve problems, rather than surprisingly bomb the hell out of
anyone.
It is different, it is refreshing. We watch over the years and years, different countries killing
others, and I have never read an apology before, it is a good thing, and even though it is many years
later, shows me this generation of japanese is a much more thoughtful and intelligent one than the
japanese leader of l941.
Maybe there is hope for all of us, maybe.
"The Nips"! "The Nips?" Look at you preaching while calling the Japanese "Nips" yourself. Still reading those comic books?
The Japanese were the biggest racist of all! It was their arrogance and their racist views of the weak American fat white playboys that bit them in their azz.
****** fundamentalists. and ****** extremeists
That would have been the view by the Japanese elite and that is most likely all they saw of the real america, one rice farmer to one wheat farmer was not something either knew a great deal about.
The comic book has elevated to moving pictures and sound or hadn't you noticed? If not, it shows how effective it is at story telling.
BTW when did we get involved in liberating Hong Kong? Was the Alaska Highway to protect us from the Japanese rather than the USSR or Germany/? (built with many turns and bends to limit aircraft strafing)
Was that a more covert war than the front-line of Europe?
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The Empire was protected from scrutiny. Not unlike those who sent planes into buildings, the leadership never took responsibility. They should apologize to the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for bringing about the use of the A Bomb upon their citizens, but instead they lay that at the feet of the Country they attacked and provoked. Not unlike Al Quaeda and the Taliban.
In regard to MHZ's statement about Iraq. I agree. The leadership in the United States is not beyond reproach.
Some stories have proven to be comic-book stories. I have read several on Japanese society before the war and how it was structured around the same basic model as Medieval Europe as far as it being a clearly define two class system where one minority class has all the benefits of a well organized population. If people think German citizens were brainwashed that is 1/10 the scale that the Japanese citizens were. (as far as citizens having control of their own destiny)
Wasn't Hong Kong knee-deep in the drug trade even that far back? They should have taken a tour of the whole USA before picking on it, it could have saved them a lot of grief. Caging decedents was not a mistake by the standars of history, even Rome put some Jews in jail because of the revolt in just Jerusalem in 70AD even though they were far away from that city. I don't recall the Romans having to apologies for that let along for using force to end a rebellion. If local citizens wold have under gone the same process as the foreigners then no 'war-crimes' were even committed.