Japanese public pacifism is based on its victimization by the atomic bombings and, in the end, on losing a major war. There is scant or no discussion of what really led to the bombings – atomic, fire bombing, or otherwise. There is just wailing and renting of garments over how much the Japanese innocent victims suffered.

Furthermore, there is absolutely no mention of how the Japanese, down to young school children, were planning suicide attacks, such as wearing explosives in backpacks and throwing themselves in front of tanks and other US vehicles. And if the relatively marginal Japanese Okinawans could be convinced to jump off cliffs in masses rather than face humiliation by the American barbarians, one may shudder to think what kinds of mass suicides on the main islands, not to mention deadly house-to-house fighting, would have taken place if America had taken Japan by conventional warfare.*

And contrary to some academics, there was no diplomatic solution available. It could only have entailed allowing the then current Japanese government to remain in place – something that would have been totally unacceptable to the Allies.

So as unspeakably horrible were the atomic bombings, Defense Minister Kyuma said what we all know to be true, but he was foolish enough to say it in public, and thereby be driven out of office by Japanese mass hypocrisy.

As the significance of this mass public reaction sinks into the minds of Koreans, Chinese and other Asian people, Japan will have once again has shot itself in the foot – but this time it has done so collectively, rather than being plausibly misrepresented by the confused statements of some elderly political crank

* A friend of mine whose grandmother was Japanese therefore is ¼ Japanese today wrote to me regarding Kyuma’s dismissal. It is as follows:

“I was born in February 1938 and lived in Japan from 1940 to 1953. Thus my first two years of school were in a primary school in a little fishing village in Japan near Atami ..i.e. possible a prime landing area for US forces. I vividly remember our school being taken over by soldiers (perhaps older home guard types) and how we trained, as 6 and 7 year olds to make bamboo spears and hide in the bushes so that we could then ambush the barbarian US soldiers. We were told that we should at least die fighting rather than being tortured by the US soldiers and then being eaten by them.

“Therefore, I fully agree with Fumio Kyuma comments and have always said that dropping the bombs was one of the best decisions made by Truman.

“Although the cultures are completely different, there may be some hope that the Muslim terrorists will someday change, too, just like the Japanese did and become anti-militant. Just a dream.”

I usually enjoy what you say and was just teasing here. Since the items you predict tend to have a whiff of the abyss, I often hope you’re wrong - maybe you do too?

Thank you for checking into my website. As some has said, the night is still young.

2007 has still six months to go. World is a strange place; lots of things, unexpected things, can happen in six months.

That sets the stage for China-Japan War II.

Think about the benefit to the US. Two creditor nations going to war and cancelling the debt. They will take American goods instead.

Fantastic!

$2000 per month for all social security recipients. The baby boomer problem for the social security is solved by this war.

Don’t feel guilty. These two stupid monkeys want to fight each other to death. Don’t try to stop them. If you do, they will bite your hand.

Just let them be. Pull troops out of Japan.

This girl will help sell trillion dollars worth of US fighter jets at 100 billions per plane.

And, help American forces move out of Japan in preparation for upcoming China-Japan War. In that war, the US can solve all of her financial troubles in one fell swoop.

North Korea, acting under China’s order, will attack Japan after next summer’s Beijing Olympic.

The US has to pull out of Japan and Korea before that happens. The comment like this really helps.

Tojo’s daughter helping America! She is a pro-American at heart.

And average Japanese wouldn’t know what the hell he’s talking about. Forgive them for what?

And I recently read Don Park’s blog where he mentions a Korean paper quoting a Japanese paper that claims that current Japan PM Shinzo Abe’s grandfather confessed just before he died, that he was a Korean - which would make Abe himself, a Korean. I just wonder how true that is.

However if anything it’s just evidence of how little many people understand the situation.

Notice who’s making a stink about this comment. Not your so-called ‘right-wing’ Japanese newspapers (Sankei or Yomiuri), but your ‘left-wing’ Asahi’s. So does that mean that Asahi is now right-wing, and Saneki/Yomiuri are left? No not at all, it just means that Asahi will criticize any and every move of the current administration. Heck, they’re probably criticize any move of any administration, that’s what they do.

The opposition parties are also just using this as an opportunity to attempt to gain seats in the upcoming election; the leader of the main opposition party is the one calling for America to apologize for the bombings, not Abe or anyone else from his clan.

I don’t think there was any problem with what he says, and neither did anyone in the ruling party since Abe initially said he will stand by his defense minister, but the various other political parties wouldn’t shut up. If I was Japanese, this would only reaffirm for me that Abe and his party are the one’s to vote for, because it is the various opposition parties that have lost touch with reality. And those that are claiming Abe to be so far right, should take a look and actually see what is going on, not just what you want to see.