60th Anniversary of the War in the Pacific
Exactly 60 years ago, Emperor Hirohito went on national radio for the first time in Japanese history. Hiroshima and Nagasaki had just been incinerated by a terrifying new weapon, and Imperial Japan was boxed into a tight corner by the United States and the Soviet Union. Left with no other choice, Hirohito called upon his citizens to "bear the unbearable" by accepting defeat. The Great East Asian War was over; millions dead and millions more traumatized.
Today, modern Japan's ambiguity about its wartime past is a source of much tension and anger.
This year, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has decided against visiting the controversial Yasukuni Shrine, which commemorates the soldiers who died for Japan, including notorious war criminals. His public apology admits that his nation "caused great damages and pain to people in many countries, especially our Asian neighbours, through colonization and invasion. We will not forget the terrible lessons of the war, and will contribute to world peace and prosperity."
Emperor Akihito, the son of Hirohito, has also released a statement of his own, expressing hopes that Japan would never again wage war.
However, these messages ring hollow and may do little to pacify Asian anger. Members of the Prime Minister's own cabinet have announced their intentions to make personal pilgrimages to Yasukuni.
Elsewhere in Asia, thousands of elderly women are solidying their harrowing calls for greater atonement and remorse from Japan. They are former 'comfort women', sex slaves who were brutalized by the Imperial Japanese Army in order to service the needs of their soldiers.
"The world may move on," says an 80 year old activist who was 17 when she was enslaved. "But I can never forgive."
For her, and those like her, the bitter poison remains.
Comments
I am curious, what first steps can, and should Japan take in order to move in the right direction towards reconciliation with Asia, besides the ceasing of official government, or political sanction and/or support for the Yasukuni shrine?
Posted by: yiliang | August 15, 2005 12:34 PM
True reconciliation with Asia is near impossible in the short term.
Firstly, the Japanese, unlike the Germans, are extremely reluctant to examine and discuss their atrocities in a public manner. Apology statements and humanitarian work is no substitute for transparency.
Secondly, Japan is slowly but surely emerging as a strategic power. It has loaned support to both Gulf Wars, and is now seeking a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
Both reasons are interlinked. If Japan were to scale down its foreign affairs ambitions and focus on reexamining past atrocities, then there is hope for true reconciliation.
But I don't believe that will happen.
Posted by: John Ling | August 15, 2005 01:40 PM
Why does Yiliang ask questions as though John knows everthing! bleh... :-Þ
But having read histories of the Japanese occupation, I confess a slight resentment against this issue. Yeah, I know this thought is not a good thing. But like the 80-year-old activist said, the world may have moved on, but the damage is done and memories remain unchanged.
Posted by: Yvonne Foong | August 16, 2005 10:24 AM