Japan's record in history and Japanophilia

[edelweiss]

Apparently the OP hasn't heard the the axiom "History is written by the victors". All historical events are white-washed after the fact by the people on the side of the winners. True from ancient history until now.

[DJnohara]

Originally Posted by Undertherose25

Every country has its ups and downs.

Exactly, no country is perfect because people run them and no person is perfect.
We can only work hard to improve.

By the way when I was in Japan my friends and I didn't encounter any prejudice. The people I met were nice and polite.
I've been told (by one of my professors with experience in Japan) that in some country-side parts of Japan where people have either never seen or rarely see any foreigners thats where more so mistrust and misunderstandings exist rather than hatred. For example if you speak perfect Japanese they'll pretend they can't understand.
In the cities at this point the stereotype that Japanese won't sit next to foreigners on the trains has become seemly outdated. I sat next to Japanese on the trains and wasn't avoided. But I noticed they would avoid people in my group who were either loud or some how disruptive on the trains.

Here in the U.S there a lot of diversity but its still about 80% White or European decent (although that number is shrinking every year).
So I think some people may feel intimidated to be in Japan because they're worried about being a minority.

I think before people want to make generalizations about each other they should ask themselves "How many people do I know from this country and culture"?

[Banzai]

I can see your point. I have many friends that came from China and they always seem to bring up the war when I talk about Japan to them. I know of all the horrible things that where done, but c'mon, that was like 70 years ago. I too only started to get interested in Japan when I was in High School. I didn't let it's bad history get in my way. I say if you like something, continue to like it. If your going to stop liking something just because of the things it's done long ago. Than you might as well just buzz off.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by Banzai

I can see your point. I have many friends that came from China and they always seem to bring up the war when I talk about Japan to them. I know of all the horrible things that where done, but c'mon, that was like 70 years ago. I too only started to get interested in Japan when I was in High School. I didn't let it's bad history get in my way. I say if you like something, continue to like it. If your going to stop liking something just because of the things it's done long ago. Than you might as well just buzz off.

The problem is that Japan never formally apologized to today, unlike Germany. This is still serious.

But I do hope that the non-LDP Japanese politics will end of suffering.

[Sangetsu]

Originally Posted by edelweiss

Apparently the OP hasn't heard the the axiom "History is written by the victors". All historical events are white-washed after the fact by the people on the side of the winners. True from ancient history until now.

This held true for more ancient history, but less so for WW2. Our history from the WW2 is not all hearsay, we have plenty of audio and video from the war, as well as stories from reporters on the scene, who wrote down what they saw as it happened.

We have movies and photographs taken by Japanese and German soldiers (you can find them on Youtube if you like) which recordered their deeds (and sometimes attrocities). We recovered official transcripts in German and Japanese of staff meetings between military commanders. We also have intercepts of messages between government/command/soldiers which were obtained when the Japanese and German military codes were broken, not to mention hard copies of most of this information.

No doubt some "coloring" was done, but very little was necessary; no one with an iota of intelligence can deny that the Germans and Japanese were truly evil enemies. No tears were shed by the lands of the conquered when the Germans and Japanese were finally driven out.

History has been revised somewhat in Japan, not because the Japanese believe what they did in the war was right, but because even after more than 60 years the shame of their wrongs is still unendurable.

I believe this is wrong. The main reason I believe this is wrong is because there are some Japanese who haven't learned. They drive around in trucks painted with the Emperor's seal and the Japanese flag. These trucks have speakers on top from which messages similar to those of the war are blared out "Japan is the best, the Emporer is Divine, Foreigners are bad..." etc. These people wear uniforms with the Japanese battle flag on one arm and the Swastika on the other. They are the Japanese equivalent of the KKK. These people demonstrate at the various train stations, parks, government buildings. There are often fights between these idiots and those older people who remember the war, and who don't want to see such things repeated.

[spoonybard]

I hope I can retain my calm. I disagree with listening to whichever relative it was that told you whatever you find disagreeable, because frankly, I don't think your parents were even sperm when this war occurred. Listening to only one person involved in the war is meaningless, because they will almost always naturally say, "Those ******** did this bad thing "

You need to hear what the other side(s)has to say about things, especially because there are people who participated because they were forced to, not because they wanted to. Thinking about that period in time is dwelling on the past, and worst of all, a past YOU weren't a part of. We should acknowledge what happened not to hate each other, but to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them again.

Saying that you hate Japan makes you an ignorant who apparently refuses to give a younger and blameless generation the chance to prove you wrong, and even when they have and you know that they have, you'll just revert to,"Well, look at what they did during the war".

We're not Japanophiles(I hope!); we're people with knowledge and better judgment who break the Mafia cycle of hating and killing each other because of some issue that happened between our grandfathers from the 1800's. Wanting to learn about another culture helps bridge the gaps created by those idiots preceding us and create understanding.

[Barone1551]

Originally Posted by komitsuki

The problem is that Japan never formally apologized to today, unlike Germany. This is still serious.

But I do hope that the non-LDP Japanese politics will end of suffering.

But they have apologized, thats where your biggest mistake is.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by Barone1551

But they have apologized, thats where your biggest mistake is.

And a lot of the PMs visit Yasukuni Shrine or say some controversial stuffs right after they apologize. Do I see hypocrisy (esp. for the LDP politicians)?

Rinse and repeat for 30 years.

If Japan officially apologized, Japanese politicians should stop paying "positive" homage to the Yasukuni Shrine for the WWII military leaders 20 years ago.

[komitsuki]

Originally Posted by spoonybard

You need to hear what the other side(s)has to say about things, especially because there are people who participated because they were forced to, not because they wanted to. Thinking about that period in time is dwelling on the past, and worst of all, a past YOU weren't a part of. We should acknowledge what happened not to hate each other, but to learn from the mistakes and not repeat them again.

This issue of the past is still hot today. No excuse.

Oh yes, some of my older relatives still remember the Japanese Colonial era and I do have several relatives who got killed in Japan and Korea because of the Imperial Japanese government.

Until Japan officially apologize in a serious manner and stop doing offensive stuffs that could nullify the previous "apologies" for the past few decades...

[samurai007]

The country of Japan, and the Japanese people, are not the same today as they were in the Imperial days. Most were not even alive back then, or if they were, they were children at the time.