Over the course of our lifetime, we have seen one Japanese PM after another make countless apologies for Japan's wartime atrocities and human rights abuses. While critics from across Asia and elsewhere feel Japan has never truly owned up to it's wartime past, we are inclined to disagree and so does Japan's current PM Shinzo Abe. In a recent speech the PM addressed this issue by expressing his profound grief and remorse for the countless millions killed in WWII and deep regret for his country's actions but noted that Japan can not keep apologizing and he has a point.
In his speech marking the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII, The Japanese PM said in the following words as both reported on CNN and Japan Today: "Japan has repeatedly expressed the feelings of deep remorse and
heartfelt apology for its actions during the war," Abe said, adding the
country "engraved in our hearts" the suffering of Japan's Asian
neighbors through its actions, including China, South Korea, Indonesia
and the Philippines. Mr. Abe went further to note that postwar generations now exceed 80% of Japan's population. "We
must not let our children, grandchildren, and even further generations
to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to
apologize," Abe said at his official residence in Tokyo."Still, even so, we Japanese, across
generations, must squarely face the history of the past. We have the
responsibility to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to
the future."
It should be noted that
previous Japanese prime ministers have personally apologized for
Japan's actions in the war, including for using Korean women as "comfort
women," or sex slaves, for the Japanese military.Abe
hinted at this, saying Japan needed to remember the "women behind the
battlefields whose honor and dignity were severely injured." He said
Japan will help make this century one in which "women's human rights are
not infringed upon." While there are people will say he didn't go far enough, this issue complete with an acknowledgement of this sensitive subject has been both acknowledged and apologized for. Yet, for some people this will never be enough. People will hold onto grudges while others will have to make the choice to judge Japan for it's past or accept the reality that the Japan of today bears no resemblance to the Japan of yesterday. While many people protest Mr. Abe's slow military buildup and calls for the scraping of Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, such fears of a return to feudalistic militarist attitudes and actions of 75 years ago are over handed. Even the Heisei Emperor has chimed in with fears of Japan's current rise based on fears of another war started by Japan. While we agree that Japan should own up to it's past and should do something about it in it's history textbooks, and appreciate the recent apologies by individual companies (as they should) such as Mitsubishi for using prisoners of war for slave labor, the calls for never ending apologies should stop. People of that era are almost gone and there's no point in making their descendents feel ashamed for being Japanese. No one blames the Germany of today for the Germany of Hitler and his Nazi party and neither should people continue to demand apologies from Japan who has apologized repeatedly over our lifetime. You don't have to agree but that's just our opinion and we're sticking to it.
But
he said Japan took the wrong course in going to war and that, across
generations, Japanese must squarely face their country’s past.
“We have engraved in our hearts the histories of suffering of the
people in Asia as our neighbors: those in Southeast Asian countries such
as Indonesia and the Philippines, and Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and
China, among others,” he said.
- See more at:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/abe-japan-must-face-history-but-future-generations-should-not-have-to-keep-apologizing#sthash.MIB0wbGr.dpuf
But
he said Japan took the wrong course in going to war and that, across
generations, Japanese must squarely face their country’s past.
“We have engraved in our hearts the histories of suffering of the
people in Asia as our neighbors: those in Southeast Asian countries such
as Indonesia and the Philippines, and Taiwan, the Republic of Korea and
China, among others,” he said.
- See more at:
http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/abe-japan-must-face-history-but-future-generations-should-not-have-to-keep-apologizing#sthash.MIB0wbGr.dpuf
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