In Response to some of the criticism of Japan's role in the recent China-Japan crisis, Yoshi Ishida has addresses a few of these issues:
-Level A War Criminals contaminates the Yasukuni Shrine
The Tokyo Tribunal that criminalized several Japanese leaders in WWII was in its entirety a Kangaroo court, which was, and still is, not legitimate. US dropped two atomic bombs in 1945 and killed many civilians, but
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- China and Japan are both wrong.
Cookiesap used to suuport China 100% when I met him in the first time. Now he says both are wrong. It is a good progress. Likewise, the international society began to blame China. For example, EU postponed selling weapons to China. Good progress. The world witnessed the injustice within China; a communist country.
I think the anti-Japan terror is not a crisis, but a very good chance to wake up Japanese people and alarm business people all over the world. Anti-Japan terrors will not stop. I know it will happen again. Japan should seek friendship with pro-Japan countries like Taiwan, India, and ASEAN countries.
Do you agree with Yoshi?
8 comments:
While I make no excuses for the method of teaching history in Japan, I think that the protests are completely absurd. I seriously doubt that any Chinese history textbook has anything other than a completely skewed view. What do Chinese students learn about Tibet and Taiwan? Few of the younger generation even know the first thing about the cultural revolution, something that happened far more recently and had an extreme impact on thier country. It would be refreshing if they were to address their own shortcomings before criticising those of other nations.
Furthermore, I can't imagine that this issue is solely about the Japanese history textbooks. There must be an undercurrent of extreme rage against Japan, presumably fed by the government in an effort to increase nationalism.
Just my opinion.
Although China has no excuse for its lack of historically inaccurate textbooks, does that justify Japan forgetting about their own history?
Although people in Japan today should not be pursecuted or hated for the sins of their fathers, it is still important to embrace and respect history. If you make a poll in Japan on people awareness about their country's acts during WW2, how many would know the truth?
If you make a poll in Japan on people awareness about their country's acts during WW2, how many would know the truth?
But that's the fault of the government not the people! The whole problem with anti-CountryOtherThanOurs sentiment is that it targets people instead of the issues. It leads to xenophobia and racism, neither of which are useful tools in interacting with or improving the world. I agree with the anonymouse that the textbook crap is just a convenient excuse to increase nationalism by using Japan as a scapegoat.
Yes, it is reprehensible that Japan refuses to acknowledge the mistakes, on both sides, of its history. But it is just as reprehensible for China to use revisionist history. For America as well. And, believe me, American high school text books are just as apt to paint America as The Country That Can Do No Wrong as any other nation is. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if all nations were horribly guilty of brainwashing their children via textbooks.
I think these issues need to be discussed, addressed, and corrected. I think that China has a right to be distressed over the textbook issue (I know I am). However, their response is 1) hypocritical and 2) exacerbates, rather than alleviates, the issues. Hatred is not a solution, it's a problem.
Taiwan is not a country. It's a province of China. Even the local Taiwan governement recognizes this.
As for the previous comment about undercurrent of extreme rage against Japan, this is true for half of Asia. I wonder why the Japanese are hated so much...
Taiwan is not a country. It's a province of China. Even the local Taiwan governement recognizes this.
Uh, where are you getting that information from?
Taiwan declares itself to be the "Republic of China" which is separate from mainland China's "People's Republic of China." It has a separate passport, separate citizenship, and a separate government. This isn't my area of expertise, but I have enough Taiwanese friends to know that not only do they consider Taiwan to be its own country, but they would be offended if someone said that it was "just a province of China". It is different to recognize one's roots with the mainland than to pretend that one is a "province" of another country that has a separate government.
I wonder why the Japanese are hated so much...
Perhaps you should read my above post. It is directed at China, but it can apply to any nation. Xenophobia and racism, on both sides of the equation, which exacerbate the horrible things that happened during WWII. It's easier to hate a person from a nation instead of taking up a critique over the offending discourse.
Japan is no better or worse than China, Korea, America, or any other nation in the West or East. They have problems that need to be looked at and addressed, but that is not unique. Fight the problem, not the people. Talk about how history is taught in high school. Talk about the dangers of erasing one's past. Talk about Japan, but also acknowledge that the phenomenon is by no means confined to Japan.
So, anonymouse, are you willing to step away from the discourse of hatred? Are you willing to become part of the solution rather than part of the problem?
I think you all have some really good points and this process of looking at the fundamentals and laying down the cards, is a good start to building bridges, not walls, between the nations of Asia.
First of all, I would like to address the problem of hatred and xenophobia in East Asia. One of the problems with the political systems in East Asia is that these nations have historically lacked philosophies of freedom, democracy and civil rights-- which were evolving in Europe especially after the enlightenment and the French revolution. The Far East is much more rooted in more conservative (and sometimes even controlling) ideas; with the Confucian ethos as the prevailing one in North East Asia.
Since such a step in the history of East Asia has not occurred, the problems of hatred and nationalism over the freedoms of individuals has not been discussed to its fullest extent. The economic boom since the 60s in East Asia has put trade higher on the list of priorities than the discussions of "fraternity, equality and liberty", despite the political reforms in Korea and Taiwan over the past 10-15 years.
On the question of whether Taiwan is a country or not (Chin Fu, please comment on this): it depends. For all practical purposes, Taiwan is a "country". It has a flag, passport, its own color on many maps, etc. etc. Legally, however, very few countries (incl. the Vatican) have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and do not recognize the country. Taiwan is not an official member of the United Nations and many other international organizations. All in all, there are arguments for and against whether Taiwan is a 'country' but the Taiwan leadership has yet to officially declare independence.
Yoshi, I think you made some interesting points, but I am a bit surprised by this:
Finally, let me tell you one thing about the difference between Japanese and Chinese.
-Japanese: When Japanese saw good Western technology and products, Japanese respect them and tried to learn from West.
-Chinese: When Chinese see good Japanese products, they tried to destroy made-in-Japan things.
Not only have you oversimplified complex historical events, but you have also engaged the "us versus them" dichotomy. How is what you just said any better than the anti-Japanese protests in China?
I think the problem with Y's argument, is that he is mixing the economic and political aspects of the J-C relationship. On the political side, there's much anger and hate -- on the economic side, however, the relationship has been very successful, and China is now Japan's biggest trading partner.. In other words, Japan and China see alot of benevolance' in each others' trading partnership. The product cycles, such as the flying geese theory, shows how Japan is helping China. Conversely, Japan is partially riding the coat-tails of a very successful Chinese economy. Summa Sumarum: I think it is important to seperate the political and economic aspects of their relationship, as they have been almost mutually exclusive for the past decade or so (just look at how popular J's culture is in China)-- in the future, however, this might change...
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