Home>News Center>China
       
 

Ambivalent Japanese split over war responsibility
By Kwan Weng Kin (The Straits Times)
Updated: 2005-08-17 13:23

Sixty years after the end of World War II, the Japanese still have not come to a general consensus as to who was responsible for that dark chapter in their nation's history.
Ambivalent Japanese split over war responsibility
Chinese plaintiffs, including families of the victims, and Japanese supporters arrive at the Tokyo High Court with the banner demanding apology and compensation for the victims of germ warfare conducted by the former Japanese imperial army during World War II in Tokyo Tuesday, April 19, 2005. [AP]

Six decades after Emperor Hirohito announced Japan's surrender, there are still calls for a full-scale inquiry to determine just who were guilty.

On August 15, Japan's largest-circulating daily, the Yomiuri Shimbun, published an editorial entitled Time Ripe for Review of War Responsibility.

Many Japanese have expressed doubts about the legality of the post-war Tokyo Tribunal that tried the nation's wartime leaders.

"Nonetheless, there is no mistake that the war caused awful suffering to people of East Asia, leaving Japan to live with a sense of historical guilt," said the Yomiuri.

"If the Tokyo Tribunal is considered to have had many highly questionable and unfair elements, it may be advisable for the Japanese people to reconsider who bears responsibility for the war."

But the country is also split over the question of whether it was justified in going to war against the United States and China.

According to a survey published on August 15 by the Mainichi Shimbun, 43 per cent of the Japanese people think the war waged by Japan was wrong, while 29 per cent think it was "unavoidable."

It also found three in four Japanese believe there was not enough public discussion about war responsibility.

The Japanese people's ambivalence towards WWII is also seen in their attitudes towards Class A war criminals.

Some of those war criminals were later pardoned and became Cabinet ministers. But 14 of them are enshrined in the Yasukuni war shrine.

Their presence in the shrine divides the relatives of the 2.5 million war dead who are also honoured there.

Many war-bereaved families urge Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and even Emperor Akihito to pray at the shrine, and they consider wartime premier Hideki Tojo and other Class A criminals to have been wronged.

But on August 15, nearly 200 people took part in a symposium demanding their Premier refrain from going to Yasukuni out of consideration for the feelings of other Asian countries that were victim to Japanese military aggression.

Japanese who hold such views may be fighting an uphill battle as Japanese society is slowly subscribing to right-wing sentiments.

The latest edition of a high school textbook written by right-wing historians, which critics say whitewashes Japan's wartime history, found more acceptance this year among education boards than it did four years ago.

Observers say the textbook, produced by the Tsukurukai group, also appears to owe its greater endorsement to pressure exerted by lawmakers belonging to Koizumi's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

Moves by nationalist LDP lawmakers to revise the Japanese Constitution and to elevate the status of the Self-Defence Force, Japan's de facto military, have also caused concern among the Japanese.

Despite the spotlight on history textbooks, many young Japanese have not been taught much about the war, hindering their efforts to come to terms with it.

Wrote a young mother in a letter to the Yomiuri: "I don't remember having learnt very much about war history in school. What I know, I learnt from novels and movies ... I hope I will have the confidence to teach my children about it."



Fire kills 5 in Northeast China
Aerobatics show in Hunan
Final rehearsal
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

Australia, US, Japan praise China for Asia engagement

 

   
 

Banker: China doing its best on flexible yuan

 

   
 

Hopes high for oil pipeline deal

 

   
 

Possibilities of bird flu outbreaks reduced

 

   
 

Milosevic buried after emotional farewell

 

   
 

China considers trade contracts in India

 

   
  EU likely to impose tax on imports of Chinese shoes
   
  Bankers confident about future growth
   
  Curtain to be raised on Year of Russia
   
  Coal output set to reach record high of 2.5b tons
   
  WTO: China should reconsider currency plan
   
  China: Military buildup 'transparent'
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  Related Stories  
   
China protests Japan court rule on forced laborers
   
Japan publisher stops Rape of Nanjing comic
   
China: "Sex slave" issue a severe crime
   
Nanjing remembers the massacred
   
Tokyo court rejects appeal of war victims
   
Rundown of Japan's 14 Class-A war criminals
   
Japan lower house adopts retrogressive resolution
   
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 好男人资源在线播放看| 韩国免费A级作爱片无码| 日韩欧美一区二区三区免费看| 啊用力太猛了啊好深视频免费| aaaa级毛片| 护士系列sdde221取精 | 久艾草国产成人综合在线视频| 国内精品卡1卡2卡区别| 久久精品国产亚洲AV麻豆网站| 欧美日韩电影网| 四虎国产精品永久在线播放| 24小时日本电影免费看| 无翼乌全彩无遮挡之老师| 亚洲欧美日韩精品专区| 色哟哟视频在线| 国产色无码精品视频免费| 久99久热只有精品国产女同| 日韩经典欧美一区二区三区| 亚洲人成人77777网站| 精品国产夜色在线| 国产欧美精品区一区二区三区| 一本色道久久综合亚洲精品 | 91手机在线视频| 国产福利一区二区三区在线观看 | 日韩av午夜在线观看| 五月天婷婷综合网| 欧美a级黄色片| 免费无码又爽又刺激高潮的视频 | 在线观看免费a∨网站| 久久亚洲精精品中文字幕| 星空无限传媒在线观看| 亚洲中文字幕在线无码一区二区| 篠田优被公侵犯电影| 国产小视频在线播放| 国产一区二区三区美女| 97久视频精品视频在线老司机| 女同午夜三级在线观看| а√最新版地址在线天堂| 小泽玛利亚一区二区| 久久精品久久精品| 日韩精品欧美激情亚洲综合 |