Vetamur
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Joined: 10/16/2006
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ORIGINAL: niceguy2005
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ORIGINAL: wdolson
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ORIGINAL: Vetamur
Yeah..I live here. Well..there. Whatever. I mentioned this in another thread, but at the end of Flags of Our Fathers a Japanese girl behind me asked her friend "Was that a TRUE story??" and her friend answered "Uhm..I THINK so..".
Ive already done a rant on the subject elsewhere, but the war is a topic Japan hasnt found a way to deal with and its so dominated by the political extremes its difficult for them to develop a mature handle on how to digest it.
Of course a lot of Americans would wonder if it's a true story too. The majority of Americans still can't find Afghanistan or Iraq on a map, even after 4 years of war.
From what I've heard about Japan. The Japanese were very humbled after WW II, but when their economic star began to shine in the late 60s and early 70s, the revisionist historians began to tinker with the history to make their role in WW II look better.
Bill
I have heard the first part, but haven't heard much about revisionist history becoming mainstream. No doubt there are those that would rewrite it though.
I recall reading a study recently about Japanese youth, unfortunately I don't recal the source, so take it for what it's worth - I recall feeling it was credible. The study indicated a lot of the self-loathing and alienation that many Japanese youth feel has its origins in a sort of collective guilt over WWII. It went so far as to say that a fair number felt the bomb was justified. I'm not endorsing those feelings, simply stating what i recall the study saying.
Ok, Im at risk of hijacking the thread, but I will give some input on my take having spent the past 11 years here and being an anthropologist by trade (bit of a simplification but..anyway).
At the end of WWII the Japanese were very humbled. They gave themselves over to whatever the victors wanted to an astonishing degree. And this has had a strong, lasting, permanent effect. Most Japanese have an inferiority complex towards the West to some degree, and in particular America. Traditional Japanese things are not seen as "cool", they are seen as oddities, curiosities. With a few exceptions, this holds true to this day.
With regard to "the war".. as I noted earlier, the views have been polarized. The result is that the great majority simply "ignore" it. Ignore isnt quite the word..but its an embarrassment. There is not a sense of "guilt" in the normal sense. And it would be difficult to have that sense of guilt, because Japan 2007 in almost no way resembles the Japan of 1945. The culture does not have the same values. The thinking style is not the same. A person raised in Japan today can barely comprehend that his or her country invaded other countries, killed millions, was a strong military power even. This is a country that was 90% against sending 500 peacekeepers to souther Iraq, and about 6 years ago wouldnt let its coastal forces fire at a North Korean boat smuggling in its waters that refused to stop. The general population repeats almost like a mantra "war is bad", without thought.. the worst thing imaginable for them today is war.
In addition to this factor is the education system. It has been well publisized that Japanese history books are somewhat less than frank when dealing with the war. What is less well known is that it almost doesnt matter because its not getting taught anyway. High school students study to get into university. They study only what they know will be covered by entrance exams, which is never WWII. The topic gets skimmed over at best.
The other side of this, is the tiny right wing faction that has somewhat disproporitonate power but almost always behind the scenes. There are two types. One is the type that didnt buy into the wholesale postwar change. They dont buy that Japan was totally in the wrong and lament some of the change in their country. They see the feminization of their men, they see the weakness of their youth, the lack of anything to believe in and despair. unfortunately they also too often dont think there was much wrong with the war time Japan, and dont seem to have any remorse. This group is often associate the the more right wing militants. A tiny fraction of people who want the emperor restored to power etc. These two groups, acting behind the scenes, are the ones who manage to occasionally make Japan look bad by approving a text book that is a farce or whatever. They dont speak for the mainstream.
What is lacking in Japan is a process to reconcile their past with the present. They need to be able to say "We did something wrong" without it meaning "We are bad people". At present they dont. If they believe the war is wrong, they think they as a nation ARE wrong or inferior. People who dont want to think they are inferior, get drawn into the "Well then the war wasnt wrong either!" camp. Thus a nation unable to face its recent history, and that has given over too much of its culture in order to change.
A final note on this..some people say that "only the surface" has changed in Japan..but if you look deeper the old Japan is still there. These people are mostly lying to themselves and searching for something in Japan that is lacking in themselves. The old Japan is here but you have to look for it and its not prevalent, its only in certain circles. My friend does "iado"..kendo with real swords basically.. that small circle of people is more "conservative" than mainstream. In Setagaya there is a shrine that once a month does ceremonies for former Tokko ("kamikaze") members.. that group is old school as well. But there is no denying, in my opinion, that todays Japan has almost no way to identify with the Japan of that time.
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