Make Imperial Japan Great Again - an exclusive (fake) tell-all interview with Shinzo ABE

(NB - this interview is part of our Agence Fausse Presse series which already featured, among other extremists, KIM Jong-un* and Donald Trump**)

Seoul Village - "Prime Minister ABE, thank you for accepting this interview. To start with, do you prefer Westerners to call you Shinzo ABE, or ABE Shinzo?"

Shinzo ABE: "I don't care, as long as you don't confuse me with Kan ABE: I'm so ashamed by my paternal grandfather, who ruined the reputation of my family. This man was a dangerous peacemonger who dared oppose Hideki TOJO and Imperial Japan militarism. All my life is about clearing my name, the reputation of that side of my family. When you think that his eldest son, my father, had to become a kamikaze to prove to everybody that he was on the (extreme) right side of Japan's history."

SV - 'Your maternal grandfather, on the other hand..."

SA - "Needless to say, Nobusuke KISHI was my hero: a genuine war criminal I could be proud of, and relate to. My visits to Yasukuni, or my congratulations to war criminal memorials pale in comparison to the headstone he dedicated to TOJO and the other fallen war criminals***... what an inspiration for us."

War criminal Kishi would be proud of his Rising GrandSon

SV - "By 'us', you mean Nippon Kaigi."

SA - "Of course. I'm very proud of my brainchild Nippon Kaigi. Nobody thought that a maze of exotic extremist groupuscules could be merged into Japan's dominant political lobby, reuniting hardcore neofascists with Shinto fundamentalists. But in order to achieve that incredible feat, I needed Korea's help."

SV - "Pardon me....?"

SA - "We love it when Korean nationalists hijack history issues. As fellow extremists, we need each other to play a naughty ping pong game and make moderates inaudible. And these guys are very successful at fueling anger from the Korean people, and not anger at us, but anger at Japan in general, which makes it easier for us to say 'look, these people are radicals, they can't see reason, we are the victims in this story. Korean nationalists helped us revive our ailing fascist movements, but at the beginning in 1992, we felt really scared: for the first time, Korean Comfort Women spoke up about what they came through under Imperial Japan rule, for the first time in decades, the less pretty side of our history was exposed to the Western world, and back then, nationalism was kept at bay in Korea so the victims could be heard without any distortion. We really feared that our grip on Japanese society could be loosened. We had to react in order to defend the memory of our beloved war criminals."

SV - "Well you still controlled the political system. The only embryos of apologies were issued by lame duck officials, in personal statements that were not really binding for the nation."

SA - "Yeah. We keep deleting records, and rewriting history in textbooks, but even with our propaganda machine and our control of the local media, it's hard to get rid of the 1993-1994 statements of Yohei Kono and Tomiichi Murayama. At least, we've successfully destroyed press freedom at home, and even made it almost impossible for foreign journalists to expose my ABEIGNomics, or even to mention Nippon Kaigi, but this takes a lot of time and money."

SV - "Money?"

SA - "Do you know how much money we spend every year in advertising and advertorials on CNN and Co? Almost as much as we invest in soft power in South East Asian countries. But these foreign media never cover stories about us, and these countries have yet to seek apologies or reparations for their Comfort Women."

SV - "Well Western audiences certainly know a lot more about judo and Japanese food than about your Moritomo Gakuen scandal, corruption around Tokyo 2020, or the role of yakuzas in the olympics and in the highly controversial Fukushima cleanup..."

SA - "... you can stop here: I get your point, and I don't want foreign or for that matter Japanese audiences to be enlightened about our ABEIGNomics."

SV - "You don't risk much. It's not like in Korea when everybody's on the street as soon as a new scandal pops up."

SA - "Of course, otherwise we would have been kicked out of power decades ago. We're very lucky that Japanese people are not interested in politics, in defending their democracy and their constitution. We're also very lucky that the US didn't purge our political dynasties at the end of WWII, because they needed people like my 'good' granddad Kishi to secure Japan's support during the Cold War."

SV - "Unlike Germany with Nazism, Japan has never been liberated from Imperial Japan".

SA - "Yes, and we want that situation to continue forever. As you well know, Nippon Kaigi's official goal is to restore Imperial Japan as a whole, including militarism and State Shinto, to repel peace treaties and human rights laws, to recenter education around nationalism, to deny war crimes and to reject postwar pacifism by changing the constitution. This can only happen if the Japanese people, who is overwhelmingly pacifist, is kept unaware of the past, and of our agenda for the future."

SV - "Undoing your democracy should be even easier with a man like Donald Trump in the White House."

SA - "Definitely, and not just because Putin is also very pleased if Japan joins his collection of failed democracies. The difference is that we don't need any meddling in our elections."

SV - "Still, Trump is much more powerful than you."

SA - "Don't misread my losing rounds of golf against Donald. If I spend 200% of my time with him flattering his ego, that's way cheaper than spending millions in foreign media. Plus I receive preferred treatments compared to other traditional US allies."


SV - "That's right. Trump asked you only 4 times more money to pay for the US military umbrella, compared to 5 for South Korea."

"#Trump asked #Japan to multiply by 4 its financial contribution to US defense. #ShinzoAbe's (losing) rounds of #golf with #POTUS paid off (#Korea was asked x 5)." (20191116 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/1195566482677059584)

SA - "Well Donald learned business from his mobster friends, so I expected this kind of racketing from him. Besides, MOON Jae-in is too weak. He's out of sync in the region because has nothing to do with strongmen like Vladimir, Narendra, Rodrigo, Jong-un, Jinping or me. Still, I see some hope: lately, MOON seems to have learned more than a few tricks from Donald, judging by the way he's handling justice****..."

SV - "Anyway, there is at least one strong Korean leader these days. Will you meet KIM Jong-un?"

SA - "Maybe. I really want to thank him, to tell him to keep up the good job, to keep shooting missiles over our heads. I badly need enemies at the gate, a boogeyman to justify our return to militarism and our destruction of Japan's postwar pacifism. To make fascism relevant in Japan, to Make Imperial Japan Great Again."


Seoul Village 2019
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter, follow me on Instagram.

* see "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un - Season III" (2018), "EXCLUSIVE-Second interview with KIM Jong-un" (2017), "Exclusive interview with KIM Jong-un" (2013)
** see "Trump: The Art of the Dealapidation (Exclusive Interview)" (2018)
*** see "The Elusive Independence Day - When will Japan officially proclaim its Independence from Imperial Japan?"
**** see "Moon Landing - The Cheong Wa Dae Curse"

One last gold medal for Korea (the usual one)

Korean broadcasters perfectly wrapped up their coverage of the Rio Olympics by masking the parade of world athletes with the portraits of national competitors they already aired 99% of the time during the whole competition - I actually switched from MBC to SBS because there, that patriotic display filled less than half the screen:

Even when other nations are on screen at Rio 2016, Korea broadcasters manage to show national athletes (20160822 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/767507917016698881)

So once again, Korea claimed the gold medal for national chauvinism on TV, a domain where the country faces much tougher and diverse competition than in archery.

In case you missed the Rio games and the previous editions, here's how it works: 

• all major broadcasters sharing the same rights for the games, the competition among them is all about populism and fueling national fervor
• if a national champion is competing, major broadcasters must also air them live on their dedicated sports channel (and when it's PARK In-bee, throw in that dedicated golf channel for good measure) - when that's a second rate athlete, use the sport channel to rerun the exploits of top tier stars.
• on the last day, when there's 0% chance of medal, start one hour later and replay past medal bouts
• otherwise, may be aired live only universal legends in the very exclusive Usain BOLT - Michael PHELPS league (two more games required for Simone BILES, and Team USA B stood no chance with none of that 1992-dream-team material) - these legends are part of the comfort zone, their presence providing both the 'international' label, and the 'sport domination' alibi
• success basically always relies on the same sports - difficult to grow new vocations without 'training' the audience with a decent pedagogy of Olympic diversity...

Baseball returns to the Olympics for Tokyo 2020, and you don't know what may happen if Korea faces Japan in the finals.

Aaah, Tokyo 2020! Different flavor of ultranationalism there. Today, the Olympic flag was handed to Nippon Kaigi darlings Yuriko Koike (the newly elected governor), and Shinzo Abe, who popped up dressed as Super Mario:

Inspired by Queen Elizabeth II's cameo appearance for London 2012, Shinzo Abe showed up as Super Mario. A weird solo performance (lacking the humor and Bond sidekick), particularly from an elected politician less iconic than British royalty... Imagine Erdogan doing the same for Istanbul 2020. If Abe's less into personal ego than into the revival of the fascist regime, he never misses an opportunity to show his face on an international stage (e.g. featured at the end of each ad of the Japan government's ongoing PR campaign on CNN)

Super Tojo ready for Tojo 2020 - let the Nippon Kaigi games begin!

BREAKING - Shinzo Abe unveils new logo for Tokyo 2020 (Hideki Tojo 2020) (20150911 - twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/642228805260570624)

Seoul Village 2016
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

.

Tokyo Trials on trial: after Japan, Abe forces the US to chose between Imperial Japan and postwar Japan

This morning, Shinzo Abe showed his smile on CNN International, at the end of an ad on Japan's positive contribution to the world (as it happens, revolutionary prostheses that help people walk again). His government usually airs such campaigns each time his image needs a boost overseas ahead of tricky moments - typically before Abe's speech to the US Congress, earlier this year*.

Maybe that was just about paving the way for the G20 and his upcoming visits to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia.

Maybe Abe is expecting some reactions to his latest controversial initiative: the revision of Tokyo war crimes verdicts and the Allied occupation of Japan.

Officially, this new panel reporting directly to the PM will simply study the issues, and unlike the one on 'collective self-defense', without drawing any conclusions**. But make no mistake, the aim of Abe's game remains the same: rewriting history, denying war crimes, and ultimately restoring Imperial Japan.

War criminal and former PM Hideki Tojo at the Tokyo trials

Rejecting the Tokyo Trials may sound outrageous, but as we've seen before, it's always been on Shinzo Abe and Nippon Kaigi's agenda, it's a logical step following their restoration of militarism, and both the US and Korea had it coming this year, the former for unconditionally supporting a morally hazardous character in his anti-constitutional crusade, the latter for failing to show the right example in the way of coping with its own history:

1) This is quintessential Shinzo Abe:

• Historical revisionism has been at the core of his whole career. The man has a personal stake in the redemption of war criminals that he and his friends not only consider as national heroes, but also worship as gods at Yasukuni.

• His grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, a Class-A war criminal who was spared trial because the US needed him, later dedicated, as Prime Minister, a headstone in Sangane cemetery to the 7 'unlucky' war criminals executed after the Tokyo trials (see "The Elusive Independence Day - When will Japan officially proclaim its Independence from Imperial Japan?").

• Still have doubts about grandson Shinzo? Remember that last year, as Prime Minister, he sent his best wishes to a ceremony honoring war criminals (see "Japan PM Shinzo Abe marks war criminal ceremony" - BBC 20140827)... Anyway, he confirmed that meeting Korean and Chinese leaders didn't soften his revisionist agenda one bit (see "Korea-Japan: it ain't necessarily thaw")

2) This is quintessential Nippon Kaigi:

Japan's dominant revisionist lobby has always denounced the Tokyo Trials as a "victor's justice" to be undone as soon as possible on the way to the restoration of Imperial Japan. Tellingly, this panel:

• was heralded by a Nippon Kaigi supporter: Tomomi Inada, who said last June "the perception of history on which the rulings of the tribunal were based were way too poorly constructed - we are in need of an examination by the Japanese"** 

• is headed by a Nippon Kaigi supporter: Sadakazu Tanigaki, hereby officially enthroned as Abe's heir (but we already knew that when he refused to run against his LDP rival). NB: the very fact that this panel is being set up on this topic to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the party speaks volume about how revisionists set the agenda.

• was announced on November 12, exactly 67 years after Hideki Tojo and co were sentenced to death, and one day after Abe's preach to the choir at a Nippon Kaigi meeting

Shinzo Abe to Nippon Kaigi: "mission (almost) accomplished" (twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/664064214424662016)
Martin Fackler: "PM Abe tells 10,000-member Nihon Kaigi meeting "the bridge to Constitutional revision has been readied" (twitter.com/facklernyt/status/664055190371221505)

3) This is a natural step following Abe's restoration of militarism:

• Yearned for by Abe and Nippon Kaigi, the restoration of Imperial Japan starts with its empowerment and the destruction of all its criminal records. In 2015, Abe has already castrated the Article 9 of the Constitution, and nullified the already sybilline apologies issued by previous PMs (see "Decoding the Abe Statement: "why apologize for crimes Japan never committed?""). Why not push his luck and try scoring a hat trick? He must feel that nothing will stop him: so far, the US didn't object to anything, and the few who did at home were, like the constitution, treated as if they didn't exist. 

• The period studied by the panel is fundamental for people who consider that "the 67 years since the end of World War II have been a history of Japan's destruction" (Hakubun Shimomura - Abe's Ministry of Education and fellow Nippon Kaigi supporter). Somehow, Imperial Japan revivalists also want to declare their liberation from occupation forces and international scrutiny. 

• Further notable steps in their program include the revocation of all peace treaties, or the restoration of the Emperor as the supreme political and religious leader (that one is not likely to happen as long as Akihito lives... but don't worry, these revisionists still have lots of surprises in store for you!)

4) The US had it coming:

• From the beginning, even before the Tokyo trials started, the main criticism came from Allies, who said that the US were making a mistake by protecting such key figures as Hirohito or Shiro Ishii. I can understand the decision to maintain the imperial family, but then, MacArthur shouldn't have refused the Emperor's apologies, which would have silenced revisionists forever. Regarding Shiro Ishii and his abominable Unit 731, needless to remind you how they're an inspiration for Abe (see "Can't top that? Shinzo Abe posing as Shiro Ishii, the Josef Mengele of Imperial Japan")...

• Harry Truman did warn that the Japanese far right had to be absolutely prevented from returning to power, and the SCAP did make sure that their propaganda was silenced during the Allied occupation of Japan, but no sustainable safeguards were planned to truly secure the Japanese democracy, and the rise of Shinzo Abe and Nippon Kaigi illustrate perfectly the consequences in the long term. 

• Worse: misjudgements keep piling up. When Abe pushed for collective self-defense, I wrote that it was a historical opportunity to fix part of the damage, the moment to act as a true "pivot to Asia" by demanding a clear and unequivocal repudiation of Imperial Japan. Unfortunately, the US simply gave up and in, without even using the old he's-a-s.o.b.-but-he's-our-s.o.b. excuse. At times, they even seemed to be siding with the revisionist narrative (see "The USA And Shinzo Abe: From Ostrich Policy To Complicity?"). If the idea was to secure US bases and role in the region, time to change strategies. If you intended to strengthen China and hardliners across Asia, keep up the good job.

• The US not only decided to unplug their moral compass, they also forgot to add a "moral hazard" clause: they took the risk of supporting a notorious troublemaker without having him bear any burden. They've given the keys of the region to a bad cop, and they've showed him on many occasions that the good cop was either looking the other way, or on permanent leave. 

• So now, they shouldn't be surprised if he dares bite the hand that caressed him; if you expect a second trial of Hideki Tojo and co, get ready for the trial of Douglas MacArthur and co; if you expect mentions of atrocities perpetrated by Imperial Japan, get ready for more vibrant mentions of the victims of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and the Tokyo bombings...

5) South Korea had it coming: I'm tired of repeating the same mantra about that other tragically wasted historical opportunity. If Park Geun-hye truly wants change from Japan, she knows what she has to do: to firmly stand not against Abe but for postwar Japan, to squarely face Korea's (and her own family's) history, to help both nations restoring their honor by showing the right example, and certainly not to do the very thing Abe is trying to do (see "Yet Another Textbook Textbook Controversy")... unless provoking new provocations was the actual aim of your game, in which case your imposture is worth their own.

I could add that Japan had it coming; after all, only the Japanese voters have the power to get rid of the worst enemies of their democracy (see "Saving Japan - Let's fall the Indecision Tree")... but only a minority of Japanese voters is aware of what's at stake, only a minority is aware of what happened in the past (or even what the Tokyo trials were about), and Shinzo Abe and his friends - including in the media and in the classrooms - are working hard to erase the truth from the collective memory.

Hopefully, the Japanese people have started to wake up, and more seem eager to defend democracy (see "Japan taking a stand against ABEIGNomics?"). Not to the point the ruling party can be defeated, but to the point the silent majority may start showing some unease with its corrupt political system. That's a very long path, and as we see with people like Sadakazu Tanigaki, change within the LDP wouldn't necessarily mean the end of the Nippon Kaigi domination.

So for a second, let's stop playing the game some impostors want us to play here and there:

- if you think this has nothing to do with you, don't complain if bad things tend to happen and if bad people tend to stick around

- if you're Korean, know that Abe and co want you to believe that this is all about Japan against Korea, when actually they're waging a war for Imperial Japan against postwar Japan, so try to see Japan as a democracy in danger, and to consider how Korea could help without fueling tensions, preferably by becoming a model in coping responsibly with its own troubled past

- if you're American, know that you can't dodge history issues anymore: Shinzo Abe has invited you to the party, and forced you to chose between Imperial Japan and postwar Japan. He may be pushing his luck, but at least he didn't forget to add a moral hazard clause: in the process, you may have to face your own past.

Seoul Village 2015
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* see ""History is harsh" and other sick jokes"
** see "LDP to set up panel to review Tokyo war crimes verdicts and GHQ policies" (Asahi Shimbun 20151112), twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/664789663652016129

Hashima, Yawata Steel: enshrining slave labor in UNESCO World Heritage List?

This year again, Japanese revisionists are pushing the candidacies of highly controversial industrial sites to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list: the island of Hashima (Nagasaki-ken) and Yahata Steel Works (aka Yawata Steel Works, Fukuoka-ken) are both intimately associated to forced labor under Imperial Japan rule.

'Nagasaki shipyard among old industrial sites named for World Heritage list' (The Japan Times 20130827)

This year, the provocation looks even more outrageous: the Prime Minister (Shinzo Abe) is the grandson of the war criminal in charge of forced labor in Hideki Tojo's cabinet (Nobosuke Kishi), and the Deputy Prime Minister (Taro Aso) and his family still have links to his father's company, Aso Mining company, then a massive 'consumer' of slaves.

My position hasn't changed since last October, when I mentioned the Hashima case under similar circumstances (see "Dokdo, Senkaku, Ieodo, Kuril,... Hashima?"): sites like Hashima cannot be listed, except as symbols of forced labor, for the world to remember past war crimes.

Again, that's not what people like Shinzo Abe or Taro Aso have in mind: they want to discreetly enshrine war crimes in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, the way their predecessors discreetly enshrined war criminals in Yasukuni Shrine or Mount Sangane Cemetery**.

I can't help but feel nauseous when I read the submission in the tentative list ("The Modern Industrial Heritage Sites in Kyûshû and Yamaguchi" - whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5399): no, I don't consider forced labor to be the best model for "indigenous modernization" or "proactive importation of technology". And I don't think the UNESCO had in mind forced labor when it chose its first two criteria for selection: "1. to represent a masterpiece of human creative genius; 2. to exhibit an important interchange of human values".

Yet I do believe in a "Justification of Outstanding Universal Value" for Hashima, and I could even accept to see it listed among UNESCO World Heritage Sites... but only to to denounce forced labor and honor the slaves who suffered and died there.

Yes, Hashima could join sites like Auschwitz-Birkenau or the Island of Goree on the list.

But no, Hashima shouldn't be remembered as a "Modern Industrial Heritage Site". We've already read these "Arbeit Macht Frei" signs.


Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

** the latter by none other than Abe's grandfather: "The Elusive Independence Day - When will Japan officially proclaim its Independence from Imperial Japan?"

--- UPDATE 20130828 ---
Tentative list
Tweets about "#abeignomics"

 

The Elusive Independence Day - When will Japan officially proclaim its Independence from Imperial Japan?

Today, 68 years ago, Imperial Japan surrendered.

Today, Shinzo Abe didn't visit the infamous Yasukuni Shrine, but he did send an aide to pay tribute to Imperial Japan war criminals. And today, the Korea JoongAng Daily reveals* that Abe's grandfather Nobusuke Kishi, then the Prime Minister, was the one who dedicated the headstone in Aichi-ken's Mount Sangane cemetery to his former boss Hideki Tojo and fellow war criminals, honoring them as "seven patriots who died for their country".

"Far from Yasukuni, cemetery honors criminals" - Korea JoongAng Daily 20130815

Unlike war criminal Kishi (see "To better bridge the gap between Japan, Korea, and China, let's measure the gap within Japan"), these monsters were tried, officially found guilty of war crimes, executed, and cremated. Their ashes have been dispersed at sea, but their lawyer managed to smuggle away some, allowing this infamy.

So let's add 1960 to an already disturbing timeline:

• 1945: end of War War II. Imperial Japan is officially defeated, and Japan officially ceases to be an Empire, but the Emperor himself is spared to avoid a total political collapse. Hirohito undoubtedly was a war criminal: he was the man in charge, and he issued himself key orders for proven war crimes (e.g. Unit 731, WMDs..). Politically castrated and painted as a naive royal abused by mean military leaders, he became that popular figure now referred to as Emperor Showa, a double entendre name ("enlighted" / "radiant") that sums up his 1926-1989 reign started with imperialism and fascism (until 1945), and ended with peace (after 1945).

• 1948: a few Imperial Japan war criminals are tried and executed, including Hideki Tojo, Prime Minister from 1941 to 1944. The US decide to spare key figures willing to collaborate to ensure pro-US conservatism in Japan in times of Cold War. Among them, "Showa Era Monster" Nobusuke Kishi (see "To better bridge the gap between Japan, Korea, and China, let's measure the gap within Japan"). It worked, but to this day Japan's democracy continues to pay the price: every day we see how this great nation's political system remains totally controlled and undermined by a dangerous clique of fascists, revisionists, and descendants of Imperial Japan leaders.

• 1954: "Self-Defense Forces" are established, with "new" military flags almost copying the infamous Rising Sun flag. They have 8 beams instead of 16, but I'd rather call these beams "fasces", like the beams around the axis that gave their name to fascism. That meaning didn't exist when the original Rising Sun flag was created (1870), but chosing this design is a very clear statement in 1954 Japan. Particularly under a Prime Minister like Shingeru Yoshida: he served as embassador to Italy during the 1930s, and was among the bad guys arrested in 1945 but released later... Frankly, the 1948 deal was not US Diplomacy's finest moment, but letting this infamy happen six years later, that's almost as shocking. The least the US could do now is to change that embarrassing US Fleet Activity Sasebo insign...

• 1960: Nobusuke Kishi, now the Prime Minister, dedicates the Mount Sangane cemetery headstone honoring the worst monsters in Japan history

• 1978: 14 convicted Class A war criminals - including Tojo and co. - are enshrined in Yasukuni, after a failed attempt in 1966, when Yakusuni Chief Priest Fujimaro Tsukuba refused to put all the names listed by government officials. The decision to go ahead with the enshrinement and to keep it discreet was taken in 1969 in a secret meeting between officials from Yasukuni and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (the Minister was ten Noboru Saito, and the Prime Minister was still Eisaku Sato). Clearly, the plotters had to wait for a friendlier Chief Priest, and they wasted no time after Tsukuba's death. The candidacy of former Self-Defense Force official Nagayoshi Matsudaira was pushed by Chief Justice Kazuto Ishida, an ultra-conservative who tilted his own institution towards far-right territories. In "East Asia's Haunted Present. Historical Memories and the Resurgence of Nationalism", Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and Kazuhiko Togo report how Matsudaira answered to Ishida's proposition for the job: "Overturning the verdicts of the Tokyo Tribunal is essential to achieve Japan's spiritual renaissance. Therefore, it is necessary to enshrine those who are called Class-A war criminals". Tsukuba died in March 1978, Matsudarai was appointed in June, and the enshrinement happened in October. Hirohito knew about the enshrinement before the media, who first mentioned it in 1979. In a 1988 memo disclosed in 2006, Hirohito explained why he stopped visiting Yasukuni in 1978, regretting Matsudaira didn't have his father's "strong wish for peace".

• ...

• 2013?: Shinzo Abe modifies the constitution of Japan, starting with article 96 which makes modifications very difficult and subject to referenda. Japan abandons its commitment to peace (art.9), reclaiming Imperial Japan's potential as an aggressive military power, as well as it abandons all obligations regarding international laws and treaties (art. 98-2)... As Matsudaira put it, the enemies of democracy can now "achieve Japan's spiritual renaissance".

I spared you all the events that deserve to be listed on this timeline, but I guess you get the idea: these guys know perfectly what they're doing, and where they want to go. And Taro Aso? They don't need your advice**: they already know how to stay below radar surface the way the Nazis did during the thirties. 

Ever since 1945, revisionists have seized every opportunity to pledge allegiance to Imperial Japan, to contaminate post-war Japan with its noxious heritage, and to pave the way for its "spiritual renaissance". A day will come when all Japanese lawmakers will be asked to officially pledge allegiance to democracy and to denounce Imperial Japan war crimes before taking office. A day will come when the Japanese constitution will be strong enough to prevent people like Shinzo Abe from reaching power. But what will happen until then?

Imperial Japan abominations didn't stop in 1945: they continue to this day, and they will not be resolved until Japan officially proclaims its independence from Imperial Japan.


Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* see "Far from Yasukuni, cemetery honors criminals" (Korea JoongAng Daily, 20130815)
** see "Taro Aso, Japan's Constitution, and Godwin's Law"

No, you can't honor A-Bomb victims in Hiroshima AND War Criminals in Yasukuni

Every August 6, I feel the same mix of sorrow and outrage. This year is even worse.

At Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park, the great people of Japan honors the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing.

Meanwhile, the fascist clique that controls Japanese politics - and makes sure that the great people of Japan ignores the Imperial Japan atrocities that led to this bombing - continues its work of destruction on post-war Japan's peaceful ideals*.

And this year, Japan is led by its most controversial Prime Minister since Abe's own grandfather, if not since Hideki Tojo himself: yes Nobusuke Kishi was an untried war criminal, but at least when he served as PM, he didn't act like his warmongering provocateur of a grandson.

Even if Shinzo Abe doesn't eventually succeed in changing the constitution*, he'll try to change the interpretation of the text. That's one of the reasons why he put Shunji Yanai, a man who's been advocating such revisions for decades, at the head of the panel that will soon issue recommendations and guidelines for national security and defense**.

Post-war Japan shall abandon its peaceful nature, lose its innocence to the same fascist breed that brought shame on the nation decades ago.

Hiroshima is about the loss of innocence, the abominable cost of victory over abomination, the moral dilemma of using weapon of mass destructions to defeat war criminals, the dilemma of using nuclear power itself.

Hiroshima is certainly not about the innocence of Imperial Japan. And if a Tokyo court ruled (Ryuichi Shimoda et al. v. The State) that "the aerial bombardment with atomic bombs of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was an illegal act of hostilities according to the rules of international law", no Japanese court or government ever recognized any war crime by Imperial Japan, or any Japanese war criminal whatsoever.

Just like the destruction of Dresden doesn't exculpate Hitler and the Nazis, Japan cannot at the same time remember the many innocent people who died in the Hiroshima bombing***, and erase from the nation's memory the atrocities of Imperial Japan at the source of this destruction.

And Japan certainly cannot at the same time honor innocent victims in Hiroshima and war criminals in Yasukuni.

Dear #Japan You can't at the same time remember #Hiroshima and forget what led to it: teach your kids about #ImperialJapan atrocities (twitter.com/theseoulvillage/status/364571038090145794)

Again, Japan cannot survive as a democracy if it doesn't confront its past and present enemies from within. And Japan will certainly not become a great nation by embracing Imperial Japan fascism again, but by denouncing and renouncing it for ever.

Japan has yet to recognize Imperial Japan war crimes, apologize for them, remove the remains of war criminals from Yasukuni, outlaw revisionism and apologia of Imperial Japan war crimes (and the Rising Sun flag, a sign as infamous as the Nazi swastika), teach the Japanese youth a fair account of History...

... and of course cleanse its political system from the worst enemies of democracy and peace.


Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* see previous posts, and most recently for the Holocaust / Hiroshima parallel: "To better bridge the gap between Japan, Korea, and China, let's measure the gap within Japan"

** about the guidelines, see "Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution" - about Yanai's recos, see "Abe-revived body looks to authorize collective defense" (Japan Times 20130805)

*** including tens of thousands of Korean people - the son of a survivor, South Korean Consul General SHIN Hyong-gun held a memorial service for them (see "Koreans honor A-bomb victims in Hiroshima ceremony" - The Asahi Shimbun 20130806)

To better bridge the gap between Japan, Korea, and China, let's measure the gap within Japan

A few comments following an article in the WSJ's JapanRealTime today*, about a Pew Research poll** on the image of Japan and Shinzo Abe at home and across Asia.

 

Unsurprisingly, Japan fares much better in Southeast Asia than in China or Korea, where 85% of the people disapprove this most controversial PM... who certainly contributed to the spectacular deterioration of the image of Japan over the past few years: negative opinions reach 77% in ROK (+25 pts since 2008) and 90% in China (+16 pts since 2006).

 

And this poll was held between March 4 and April 6 2013, before the sick Abe - Hashimoto duet climax mid-May (see previous episodes)...

 

 



JRT @ WSJ today

Regarding the score of Indonesia. I remember that back in the late 80s, views on Japan were still very critical there, and now 79% of the population see it favorably, one of the best score among Southeast Asian nations. But this can be easily explained:

• Indonesia is not exposed to provocations from top Japanese politicians as recurently as China or Korea, countries where, in the first place, Imperial Japan atrocities were arguably the most extreme
• Unlike Japan's aging neighbors, Indonesia is experiencing a baby boom that completely modified its demographics, accelerating the 'pastization' of that period (one fourth of the population doesn't know how to answer the question about Japan apologies for Imperial Japan crimes)
• Japan not only invests a lot in the Indonesian economy, but also provides considerable amounts of aid. China is probably more perceived as a fiend nowdays.

Regarding the public opinion in Japan, the Pew Research poll also confirmed significant trends we recently mentioned***:

• Abe's popularity remains stellar at home with a 71% approval rate, and very little variations across key demographics. In spite of recent hiccups, "Abenomics" continue to play in his favor.
• I just wrote yesterday about the project of changing Japan's Constitution so that the nation can become an offensive military power again (NB: in "Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution" - the "Abeignomics" part of the equation). The proportion of people supporting these changes keeps increasing: over the past 7 years, supporters jumped from 27 to 36%, while opponents decreased from 67 to 56%. But here, demographics and particularly testosterone levels seem to make a difference: only 28% of Japanese women are ready to embrace militarism, compared to 45% for men.

Now regarding the question "Has Japan sufficently apologized for its military actions during the 1930s and 1940s?" (98% of South Koreans answer NO, 78% of the Chinese, 28% of the Japanese). It doesn't tell us much about what people actually know about the issues, and what is behind this very vague and neutral label "military actions". We do know that only 1% of South Koreans don't know what to answer, compared to 9% of Japanese or 38% of Malaysians, but we don't know how much the 48% of the Japanese who think the apologies were sufficient know about the atrocities committed by Imperial Japan, or if they are even aware that war crimes were committed, not to mention the fact that their dear Emperor himself gave the nod for the infamous Unit 731.

Note that the knowledge regarding Imperial Japan war crimes is not homogeneous among the victim nations either: for instance, the Chinese are certainly more aware of the Nanking massacre than the Koreans, who are themselves certainly more aware of the sexual slavery system for the Japanese military than the Dutch (in case you didn't know: among the hundreds of thousands of "Comfort Women", about 300 were Dutch girls and women).

If Nazi atrocities also covered a wide range of crimes, the Holocaust remains the ultimate reference, allowing surveys that can help clearly measure levels of awareness or denial, draw comparisons between countries. And if one cannot and should not compare 'Comfort Women' tragedy with the Holocaust, it could become an international marker to measure the perception of Imperial Japan beyond its "military actions". More and more people across the world are able to answer these two questions: "are you aware of the existence of a large scale system forcing hundreds of thousands of girls and women into sexual slavery for the Imperial Japan military (euphemistically referred to as 'Comfort Women')?", "do you consider it as a war crime?" If you answer "yes" to both, you'll probably do the same for the rest: "do you think the Japanese government should formally recognize war crimes, apologize for them, prosecute war criminals, make negationism and the praising of war crimes illegal, remove war criminals from Yasukuni shrine?"

Japan has, to this day, refused to recognize any war crime, and as long as descendants from Imperial Japan leaders control the local politics, that's not about to change. Consider that Shinzo Abe's own maternal grand-father, Nobusuke Kishi, a man also known as the "Showa Era Monster", a man who served under Hideki Tojo as Minister of Commerce and Industry, overlooking economic mobilization and thus forced labor, a man who only escaped trial as a Class A war criminal because in 1948 the US decided to recycle a bunch of key hardliners to secure a very conservative Japan during the Cold War****... consider that this man could still become PM between 1957 and 1960!

Speaking of Japan and the Holocaust. I just re-read Rotem Kowner's piece on the rise and fall of Holocaust denial in Japan*****, and to me it illustrates perfectly Japan's dichotomy in political / historical awareness:

• On one side, the neo-fascist minority that cripples the whole political system manages to put a lid on wartime atrocities, denying the crimes, making sure no law emerges that would make denial illegal (Japan had to wait until 1999 to see a - local - ruling stating the existence of the Holocaust)
• On the other side, the vast peaceful majority that now associate the Holocaust with the bombing of Hiroshima-Nagasaki (another war crime and trauma with long lasting effects), but without mentioning the responsibility of the Imperial regime in the conflict, or of course the countless war crimes it perpetrated
• This ignorance / selective memory serves the purpose of the revisionists, because the dark side of Japan's history remains hidden under the overwhelming lid of nuclear apocalypse, and because Japan is presented as a victim... which ironically paves the way for their project of revising the Constitution to discard the peaceful nature of Post-War Japan, and restore the belligerent nature of Imperial Japan (see "Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution"). After the Rape of Nankin, that's the Rape of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, where the victims of atomic bombings become victim a second time, forced into becoming propaganda tools for the impostors who want to disgrace Japan for the second time.

6 in 10 Japanese think their country should be more respected than it is overseas. They have the power to fix that by voting for democracy, honor, and justice or at least, since no one seem to be representing these values in their most devastated political landscape, by removing from power the dangerous minority of fascists who've been corrupting their whole political system for decades.

It would be easier if the right questions were asked. To better bridge the gap between Japan and its neighbors, it would be interesting to measure and follow the gap between what the Japanese people knows and what the Japanese leaders know.


Seoul Village 2013
Welcome to our Korean Errlines! Follow Seoul Village on Facebook and Twitter

Add this page to your favorites

* "Japan's Glaring Image Gap" (Wall Street Journal - 20130712)
** "Japanese Public's Mood Rebounding, Abe Highly Popular" (Pew Research - 20130711)
*** see scores mentioned in "So you want to know what is 'necessary', Mr Hashimoto?"
**** see previous episodes, most recently "Shinzo Abe: an offensive Defense White Paper ahead of the elections... and Constitutional Revolution"
**** the US were clearly instrumental in the lack of justice for Imperial Japan war crimes (see "Can't top that? Shinzo Abe posing as Shiro Ishii, the Josef Mengele of Imperial Japan"), and I'm glad to see many American local authorities show the way (e.g. Glendale, CA will also have a memorial for the victims of sexual slavery)
***** see "Tokyo recognizes Auschwitz: the rise and fall of Holocaust denial in Japan, 1989–1999" (Rotem KOWNER - Journal of Genocide Research (2001), 3(2), 257–272)