A couple of interesting posts from the English-language Japan blogosphere:
- Curzon doesn’t pull any punches in a post explaining why comparing Germany and Japan is like apples and oranges:
Can anyone spot the difference between Auschwitz and colonial rule in Korea and Taiwan? This isn’t rocket science. One was a genocidal concentration camp. The other was imperialism–practiced in similar forms by Britain, France, Japan, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Russia, and others during the 19th and 20th centuries. “But Japan’s imperialism was worse!” so the argument goes. Bollocks. Please compare Japan’s imperial rule in Korea and Taiwan*, where they set up schools, built roads, a police force, and established civil society, to other instances of colonial rule:
* King Leopold of Belgium’s reign of terror in the Congo; 10 million killed; dismemberment as punishment; concentration camps; forced starvation;
* The European Slave Trade in Africa; tens of millions enslaved and permanently displaced;
* The Soviet Union’s collectivization of Ukraine (4 million dead); the Kazakhstan Famine (1.5 million dead, approximately one in three of the entire Kazakh population);
* The Bengal Famine; four million people died of hunger in the world’s worst recorded food disaster in 1943; other British famines in India in the 19th century killed a total of several tens of millions; (See also: similar famines in Ireland…)
* The systematics massacres, displacements, and germ warfare against the native inhabitants of the Americas that killed millionsNone of the above perpetrators have apologized, and this was all far, far worse than anything Japan did in its colonies. Would it be superfluous to add that Japan’s comparatively decent imperial rule indirectly led to the current functionality of modern South Korea and Taiwan? Especially compared to disfunctional Southeast Asia, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. The only factor working against Japan is that they were nominal allies with the Nazis, and they lost. But genocide? Apples and oranges.
There are some interesting things being said in the comments section of that piece, and I’m sure Curzon would welcome more. As you know, I tend to have problems with “calling Japan to account,” mostly because I view the Pacific War as basically one of one colonial power getting the tar kicked out of it by another colonial power because it tried to steal the colonies of other colonial powers with far larger empires. Yes, I do have an issue with “winner’s justice,” as two of my least popular posts would attest to. I could certainly understand how the colonized might expect to hear an apology or two from Japan, but at the same time, from the position of the Japanese, I could understand how they might not necessarily feel compelled to apologize for their imperial deprivations when Britain, France, Russia, the Netherlands and other imperial powers don’t exactly appear to be rushing to bow their heads in self-reflection before their former colonial subjects. Yes, the Japanese did bad things in their colonies, but I lived in Tanzania — which had the honor of hosting imperial guests such as Portugal, Oman, Germany and Great Britain — in 1995, and I can assure you, the white man’s shit doesn’t exactly smell like roses, either.
- Mutantfrog, meanwhile, compares what the Yasukuni Shrine says about the Nanjing Massacre and what most Japanese probably know about it. Sample:
The interpretation of history provided at Yasukuni is most definitely an extreme right wing position. I am not going to offer any of my own opinion or interpretation at the moment, but I will say this; having seen both the Yasukuni/right-wing perspective and two different examples of a mainstream, literal dictionary definition of the Nanjing Massacre in Japan, it is interesting to see that they are not actually contradictory. Even the Yasukuni museum (at least in this single panel) does not deny that the Massacre took place; they simply ignore the issue. Is it actually likely that there are many people in Japan, even among the 0.3% of middle school students being taught with low quality textbooks drafted by right wing organizations, who are unaware of truth of the Nanjing Massacre?
- Over at Japundit, Ampontan contributes an essay on the politics of emotionalism that should spark some discussion, preferably of the calm and rational kind over at his blog.
5 Comments
“You are also right about the problems of taking legal responsibility through SOFA, but does SOFA require car accidents, chemical dumpings, etc., to occur in the first place? Does it require USFK to acknowledge wrongdoing at a glacial pace?”
WTF?
Give us some exmaples of this alleged glacial pace that were actually the fault of USFK.
If you haven’t yet read the SOFA and are getting all your SOFA knowledge from ohmynews or the Segye Ilbo, claims for compensation based on negligent acts of USFK personnel are investigated by, adjudicated by, approved by, and settled by the ROK Ministry of Justice through one of its 14 District Compensdation Committees located throughout Korea.
[It's in Article XXIII in case you're actually interested.]
USFK’s role [Article XXIII paragraph 5] is merely to provide reimbursement to the ROK goverment of a percentage of monies it has paid to claimants. Generally 75%, but it varies case by case.
But the point is, settlement with and payment to Korean claimants is not contingent on any USFK approval [even though there is a process for obtaining that approval], and in fact is frequently conducted without USFK knowledge, much less approval. Often even in the face of the evidence.
You wanna blame someone for slow compensation, call you local courthouse. I’m sure they’ll be happy to take down your complaint, but don’t call USFK cuz they aren’t driving the train.
Curzon’s article was very good. The Japanese were relatively very good colonial rulers and did more good for Korea than they did harm. One only has to compare colonial Korea to Chosun Korea to figure that out.
People should not confuse the way Japan fought the war with the way they treated their colonies. China may have a right to demand an apology, but not Korea. If the Japanese must apologize for the war, then Koreans must apologize too since they fought beside the Japanese.
People should remember that 148 Korean prison guards were convicted of war crimes and 23 of those were executed. In fact, the commander of the P.O.W. camps in the Philippines was Korean, and he was hanged as a Class A war criminal.
Have Koreans apologized for their part in World War II? Even if they have, I think it is time they apologized again since the US now has a new president in office.
Thank you, Gerry, for emphasizing a very good point. Koreans also were war criminals in World War II. In fact, there may well be some Koreans enshrined in Yasukuni.
Thank you as always for your most geneous plug.
Warmly,
Curzon
P.S. You lived in Tanzania?!
Bah, that Apples Oranges thing is total bullsh!t. Wow, amazing how people can come up with excuses and loop holes.
“a post explaining why comparing Germany and Japan is like apples and oranges”
Yeah, obviously they are like apples and oranges! Right before WWII, in Germany Hitler arose to power based on the sentiments and poverty a defeat in WWI created. Germany also had industrial neighbors such as France and Britain, while having a more heterogeneous population (jews). In contrast, Japan was a winner in WWI (made some great profit out of it), had non-industry-based neighbors, and had a obidient, homogenous population. Ooooh. Aaaah. So what? How the crap does that justify what Japan did?
“Bollocks. Please compare Japan??s imperial rule in Korea and Taiwan*, where they set up schools, built roads, a police force, and established civil society, to other instances of colonial rule”
YES! SCHOOLS to culturally eradicate Koreans, ROADS to faster invade manchuria/china (obviously using forced/cheap Korean labor), and a POLICE FORCE to keep Korean’s mouth shut or massacre peaceful independance marches. Wow, thank you SO MUCH! (in other words, STFU).
“None of the above perpetrators have apologized”
For one thing, I know the United States government has long put efforts to compensate blacks (slavery) and native americans. I also know for fact, that Germans very much apologized for their deeds.
The logic that Japanese dont need to apologize because Belgians dont doesnt work. Japanese, as well as Belgians, need to apologize because there are actually respectable countries that do regret their past mistake and make a brighter future. Japan is not one of them.
“and this was all far, far worse than anything Japan did in its colonies”
Yah, why dont you fudgin’ tell us about the Nanjing Massacre, comfort women, and biological experiments on prisoners (they called them logs, and opened body parts when they were still alive). Please, if you are going to do that Kindergarten attitude of pointing fingers and cry ‘but what about him? he did it too’, shut up and grow up.
“Would it be superfluous to add that Japan??s comparatively decent imperial rule indirectly led to the current functionality of modern South Korea and Taiwan? Especially compared to disfunctional Southeast Asia, Africa, South Asia, and Latin America.”
Hahaha, ‘decent imperial rule’ of Japan, how cute… -_-
Another logic of the level of a child. Obviously the different results between SK/Taiwan and other parts of the world come from complicated issues and relationships between culture, background, environment etc. To oversimplify this and say Japan’s colonies ended up better than Spain’s because Japan is nicer, is really not amusing.
For example, Spanish colonized indians, a large population illiterate, and kept them for circa 200 years. Korea not only suffered a much shorter period of time, but also had strong and resistant culture, long and prideful history, and easy to learn hangul that enabled resistance and independant movements to happen. Korea also had deep Manchuria mountains where Koreans could furthur continue their activities, while Aztecs for instance could not effectively flee from the Spanish.
Somebody put lots of effort and time to write a bunch of crap, but I dont see how any of it helps justify Japan’s actions.
In fact, dont justify it. Live with it. Regret it. Dont distort or hide it. And gain trust from local neighbors. Thats the way Japan must go in the long run.