I agree with you that Japan should have acknowledge those past crimes. Some of their leaders had try to in the past, but it all half measure. Compare to the USA though, the conversation of war crime against Japan committed by Americans are rarely discussed (Oliver Stone's Untold History of the United States) (a bit narratively bias but 100% truth). This of course had no relevant to China. So I am not trying to say 2 wrongs made a right.
I guess at the end of the day, it is your lost. I would love to visit Japan. Don't have the mean to do it right now.
Hi
@liubang ,
The abuses of Japanese soldiers was appalling , truly. There can be no excuse for what they did in Nanjing, in Ningbo, and many other parts of China. I am truly disgusted, disgraced, and appalled at seeing and reading reports of what were committed on innocent civilians in China, as well as in the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaya, Indonesia, the treatment of prisoners of war and the gruesome punishments enacted. I am just so disgusted at the way the Japanese Military carried out its agenda in the Pacific War. The Japanese people are a very proud people, and perhaps it is this pride that has been a barrier to total reconciliation with our immediate neighbors (China and Korea).
In the older generation, there was a resistance on pressing the issue completely. A fear or admitting to the faults of the past governments in the war years, or perhaps the influence of national pride in accepting these colossal injustices on human life.
However there is a dichotomy between the opinions of Japanese older generation (40s and over) vs Japanese younger generation (30 years range and younger). The youth of Japan have bee taught and are aware of Japan's unpalatable role in the war in Asia, and are vested in the growing relations between Japan and the rest of Asia. This can be seen through various Japanese-Chinese youth exchange programs that are widely popular in Japan. It is a manifestation of the younger Japanese generation in fostering greater relations with China. I see this as a positive and warming sign. Because after the older generation of Japanese and Chinese die off --- it will be the current younger generation who will lead the country , and their visage will shape the future youth of the country --- and I see a growing cooperation between Japan and China as an inevitability.
Japan , as a nation state, has existed for over 2600 years, and in this two and a half millennia of national existence, it has been defined with strong direct relations with China (from Zhou, Qin, Han, Song, Yuan, Tang, Ming, Qing dynastic periods to present). And the history of China and Japan is associated with peace, trade, bilateral development, and believe that this will be realized fully in the future.
I long for a more independent Japanese foreign policy. And believe that in the future Japan's collaborative relationship with China, Russia and the United States will be indispensable for stability in Northeast Asia. With China's ascendancy, growing energy cooperation with Russia, coupled with technological and security partnerships with the United States -- Northeast Asia will become the axis of global affairs. It is all about balancing each other, while slowly appreciating and accepting China's dominance in the region.
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