> And worst of all, we aren't taught anything about these Japanese atrocities at school.
This bit is probably the hardest part. I have spoken to many people here in Japan who downplay, or justify, or say it is so long ago, or say that Japan has forgiven America, so naturally Korea and China must forgive Japan. "We've apologised, what more do they want? They are all crazy." ad infinitum. Or simply people that deny anything happened or think that I must hate Japan to even mention things like this.
Then you have politicians stirring things up and denying it etc.
What I think anyone really wants is simple plain humble acceptance of what happened. It seems the apology carries so much weight in Japan that that should just be the end of it, and everything should be forgotten.
Except that seems to be a purely uniquely Japanese way of looking at the world, and doesn't really translate to other cultures. Germany and the US don't sweep under the carpet the Atom bomb or the concentration camps, and likewise Japanese people should be taught about Nanking, the POWs, Unit 731 etc.
Just so that the average Japanese citizen doesn't come across on the world stage as wilfully ignorant or incredibly crass and insensitive. Ideally it could lead to more than this and improved relations in the area, but at the very least it would be wonderful for Japanese people to not unintentionally be saying really hurtful things to still living victims of these events.
I really wish they would teach that stuff in incredible detail. _Then_ maybe not talk about it, or sweep it under the carpet or whatever.
This national pride combined with ignorance is such a toxic combination.
Edit:
Just to add to this. What I think is particularly tragic, is how specifically considerate and compassionate the average Japanese person is. It is terrible that on average, such compassionate, considerate people can end up seeming so wilfully ignorant or even hateful. When I don't believe this to be the case.
Japan has apologized repeatedly, paid significant war reparations and signed peace treaties where both South Korea and China essentially agreed to treat the case as closed:
Also, the vast majority of Japanese school books do cover the war in unflinching detail; however, unlike China and South Korea, Japan approves a whole range of school books, which have widely varying views. There are Communist textbooks, pro-North Korean textbooks and, yes, far-right textbooks. One particular series, which led to riots and violence in 2005, ended up being used by 0.039% of Japan's schools:
The reason the issue lives on is in very large part because, for political reasons, China and South Korea refuse to let it die. This doesn't excuse the occasional Japanese right-wing nutjob denying anything happened etc, but then again, we don't blame Germany when some random neo-Nazi targets a synagogue.
I'm talking more about the average response of individuals, a government apologizing doesn't mean as much if many citizens and some prominent politicians still deny or downplay it all. I'm talking about the average individual and people's emotional responses, vs government apologies and official stances.
I've yet to meet anyone that has studied in depth at school or remembers it. Most people if they remember or know about it at all, say they studied the "Nanking controversy" as a brief paragraph on one page.
In general people's responses are more of the downplaying or sweeping under the carpet type. I think this plays into worsening the relationship. No quiet contemplation, acceptance of what happened or pause for thought in general.
I've met the son of the rape of a Korean comfort woman forcibly brought to Japan, he grew up as Zainichi in Japan. He's lived a life as an outsider and has to hear people suggest that these things didn't happen. As if he shouldn't exist. So then instead he hears mention of financial reparations and lists of apologies. Which don't really count for much when it sounds like "I said sorry, why do you still care about this issue?"
Neither do I, but I don't expect their prominent politicians to deny the facts, or average German people to discuss the 'controversy' about the concentration camps. Or for people to state that a lot of bad stuff happens in war, so you know people should just forget about the nazis and stop having a problem with it, and anyway it was so long ago, you know?
Some things are just inappropriate to say, it's about sensitivity.
In general there's not really a time limit on at what point it is appropriate to start expecting Jewish people to forget about concentration camps. And in the same way I think that there should some reasonable level of education about the events here. Just so that people know about it and know when not to say hurtful things.
It's something that should be taught and remembered and learned from. And whilst it's also not appropriate to continually labour the point, I also don't think it's at all appropriate that the average Japanese person really knows little to nothing about what happened, to the extent of denying it in some cases. You don't really hear many justifications or downplaying of nazism from average German citizens, but you really do hear downplaying of it all here.
There are so many people in Japan absolutely incredulous that anyone in China or Korea should possibly still have any kind of problem with the war, whilst not being aware of the things that happened.
I cannot imagine hearing anyone from Germany say without ill intent that they still don't understand why the events of the war are such a big issue for people that actually experienced it.
This bit is probably the hardest part. I have spoken to many people here in Japan who downplay, or justify, or say it is so long ago, or say that Japan has forgiven America, so naturally Korea and China must forgive Japan. "We've apologised, what more do they want? They are all crazy." ad infinitum. Or simply people that deny anything happened or think that I must hate Japan to even mention things like this.
Then you have politicians stirring things up and denying it etc.
What I think anyone really wants is simple plain humble acceptance of what happened. It seems the apology carries so much weight in Japan that that should just be the end of it, and everything should be forgotten.
Except that seems to be a purely uniquely Japanese way of looking at the world, and doesn't really translate to other cultures. Germany and the US don't sweep under the carpet the Atom bomb or the concentration camps, and likewise Japanese people should be taught about Nanking, the POWs, Unit 731 etc.
Just so that the average Japanese citizen doesn't come across on the world stage as wilfully ignorant or incredibly crass and insensitive. Ideally it could lead to more than this and improved relations in the area, but at the very least it would be wonderful for Japanese people to not unintentionally be saying really hurtful things to still living victims of these events.
I really wish they would teach that stuff in incredible detail. _Then_ maybe not talk about it, or sweep it under the carpet or whatever.
This national pride combined with ignorance is such a toxic combination.
Edit:
Just to add to this. What I think is particularly tragic, is how specifically considerate and compassionate the average Japanese person is. It is terrible that on average, such compassionate, considerate people can end up seeming so wilfully ignorant or even hateful. When I don't believe this to be the case.