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Japan’s denial of its past puts neighbors on alert
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Yesterday was the 68th anniversary of Japan’s unconditional surrender at the end of World War II, an appropriate occasion to remind the world of the horrors of war and the value of peace.
Given the recent string of irresponsible remarks and moves by some Japanese politicians and the disturbing rightward shift in the country’s political climate, it is particularly imperative Japan face up to its past and truly learn from history.
During that bloody period, militarist Japan committed hair-raising atrocities in its neighboring nations. Such barbarities as massacres, mass rapes, forced labor and sexual slavery were numerous and undeniable.
The predatory militarism also cut a wide swath through Japan. The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, among others, instantly killed more than 200,000 Japanese people and caused horrendous deaths afterward due to radiation poisoning.
All these facts serve as cruel reminders that Japanese militarists not only inflicted tremendous pains on their Asian neighbors, but also dragged innocent Japanese people into the abyss.
Yet some Japanese politicians apparently take no heed of the tragic lessons of history. They deny war crimes, tamper with history in school textbooks, and honor war criminals by visiting the Yasukuni Shrine.
In defiance of strong opposition from neighboring countries, two Japanese cabinet members and dozens of lawmakers visited the controversial shrine yesterday.
Claiming their visits to be personal, an excuse which sounds too familiar, the Japanese politicians went to the wrong place at a sensitive time.
The Yasukuni Shrine, in central Tokyo, is a Shinto shrine which honors some 2.5 million Japanese war dead. Among those commemorated are 14 notorious war criminals of the World War II, which makes the shrine visits, official or not, controversial and insensitive.
Adding salt to the wound
For neighboring countries such as China and South Korea, the shrine is a symbol of Japan’s past militarism and a place reminiscent of the wartime atrocities committed by Japanese invaders.
By visiting the shrine on the day which marks the end of the darkest times, some irresponsible Japanese politicians are adding salt to the wound of those who suffered from Japan’s aggression, and the provocative move risks further straining already soured relations between Japan and its neighbors.
The crux of the controversy surrounding the shrine visits is Japan’s attitude toward its wartime past, a long-time issue disturbing its neighbors.
The visits, along with a string of recent provocations by Japanese right-wing politicians, are a visible sign that Japan fails to have a deep and profound reflection on its history of aggression and is hollowing out its post-war reconciliation.
There has been a dangerous tendency since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in December that the Japanese leadership is catering to the rightist conservatives and attempting to whitewash the country’s wartime history so as to set the stage for a military revival.
Abe has gone so far as to say there is no established definition of aggression and is bent on revising Japan’s pacifist constitution.
His deputy, Taro Aso, also shocked the world last month by saying that Tokyo could learn from Nazi Germany when it comes to constitutional reform.
The recent launch of helicopter carrier “Izumo,” named after a flagship involved in Japan’s aggression against China in the 1930s, has again laid bare Tokyo’s ambition to shake off constitutional restraints and expand its military.
An impenitent Japan with a haunting thirst for military glory is worrisome and has put its neighbors on high alert.
In order to prevent a repetition of the historical tragedy, the first thing to do is for Japan to face up to history squarely and respect the feelings of people in the victim countries, including China.
If Japan is sincere in its commitment to regional peace and stability, it has to win back trust of its neighbors with its actions, and that trust cannot be built on a denial of the past.
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