Japanese War crimes... new revellations...

[Always_a_Civvy]

It has just emerged that they dissected living Filipino prisioners so they could learn anatomy better! More below.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1437667.ece

And of course the Japanese Government is still in denial!

 

[moondog]

Not surprising from a race that used living POWs for bayonet practice.
The list of atrocities carried out by Japanese forces in China and the Pacific during the war is horrific and endless,yet very few were brought to justice.

 

[Seadog]

Sins of the father?

As grim as AAC's linked story is; Rwanda, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, Fred West, Saddam Hussein.................etc. Would you rather go on a holiday to 21st Century Japan or '21st Century' Central Africa?

The Japanese have moved on, maybe everyone else should.

 

[grefs]

I think the saying goes something like, " Lest we forget ."

 

[safewalrus]

do we ever truly 'move on?' As the old saying goes 'there's nothing new under the sun'

Probably just find better and more secret ways of doing it is all!

 

[phil1972]

Would you rather go on a holiday to 21st Century Japan or '21st Century' Central Africa?

Neither Bahamas for me please.

 

[wardmaster]

The Japanese have moved on, maybe everyone else should.

The Japanese have "moved on" by refusing to acknowledge their war-time atrocities. They have never apologised except in the most grudging way and refuse to include their shameful crimes in their history books. Japanese children know nothing of what was done by their forbears. Victims of their crimes cannot "move on" because the Japanese (such wonderful holiday hosts) won't let them. Arthur Titherington never got the open apology he asked for and which would have allowed him to "move on". And before someone mentions Hiroshima and Nagasaki the atom bomb attacks saved hundreds of thousands of Allied lives and ended the war in the Pacific.

 

[Seadog]

With the utmost respect for those who suffered at the hands of Japanese, does the current population / government /monarchy of Japan have a duty to apologise? Some of those Japanese old boys guilty of lesser offences have apologised. The nation, no. Maybe it isn't part of their culture and, there are very few Japanese left with 'living memory'. Furthermore, they got two buckets of instant sunshine in short order and that evens things up (not that that was the idea).

As for teaching Japanese history, warts and all, I can see why it is thought necessary by some in the West. Equally, the Japanese- 'culturally' - may rather forget/pretend Manchuria/WWII didn't happen. Making allowances for cultural sensitivities/differences is a 21st Century hot topic. (Devils' advocate hat on here).

We all wail when the notion of UK PLC apologising for slavery or the Irish potato famine :roll: is mentioned. Apologising in the immediate aftermath may be appropriate, 2-3 generations (or more) later is empty and unnecessary.

Has Italy ever apologised for Rome's conquest?

 

[rugger_bob]

It has just emerged that they dissected living Filipino prisioners so they could learn anatomy better! More below.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article1437667.ece

And of course the Japanese Government is still in denial!

All countrys even Britain at some point in history has commited an offence that it chooses to ignore that ever happened , or even atempt to formally apologise, it a sad fact of human beings in there worst form , for one reason or another.

 

[Seadog]

rugger bob wrote

All countrys even Britain at some point in history has commited an offence that it chooses to ignore that ever happened , or even atempt to formally apologise, it a sad fact of human beings in there worst form , for one reason or another

.

Are you saying that failure to apologise is worse than the brutal deed(s) for which an apology is thought necessary?

 

[neil6814]

Buddhists believe in reincarnation and if you do bad things in this life you will suffer in a future life. If you think about this, it means that if you are suffering in this life then you are paying for what you have done previously.
Also the more that you suffer then the better things will be in lives to come.
So if you find someone suffering, then to make them suffer a bit more is really helping them, so why should you apologise.
I'm not a Buddhist

 

[rugger_bob]

rugger bob wrote

All countrys even Britain at some point in history has commited an offence that it chooses to ignore that ever happened , or even atempt to formally apologise, it a sad fact of human beings in there worst form , for one reason or another

.

Are you saying that failure to apologise is worse than the brutal deed(s) for which an apology is thought necessary?

No Seadog, just pointing out that even the wronged have wronged as well to a similar degree, but I must add that I couldn't even begin to imagine the pain and torment of those people /prisoners etc during the second world war, and would never make light of that - POW'S, JEWS ETC,

I just wish that MAN could learn from its past and never repeat it.

 

[slim]

rugger bob wrote

All countrys even Britain at some point in history has commited an offence that it chooses to ignore that ever happened , or even atempt to formally apologise, it a sad fact of human beings in there worst form , for one reason or another

.

Are you saying that failure to apologise is worse than the brutal deed(s) for which an apology is thought necessary?

While failure to apologise is not worse than the deed itself, it does tend to compound the deed. Likewise not allowing facts to be presented in history books.

 

[wardmaster]

We all wail when the notion of UK PLC apologising for slavery or the Irish potato famine :roll: is mentioned. Apologising in the immediate aftermath may be appropriate, 2-3 generations (or more) later is empty and unnecessary.

Has Italy ever apologised for Rome's conquest?

I certainly wail when Britain is asked to apologise for the 18th/19th Century slave trade; research into my family history has revealed that I have ancestors who worked in cotton mills at the age of 8 and were very nearly slaves themselves, and certainly didn't cause the Irish Potato Famine.

Perhaps Japanese culture prevents them from abasing themselves on the world stage, and I sort of accept that. I would be more ready to fully accept it if they paid compensation to Arthur Titherington and his fellow FEPOWs for their years as slaves in Japanese mines. There's still time (just).

 

[chris-the-cop]

There are many valid comments made on this subject but I feel that it is important to remember that the U.S. did not pursue war crimes against the Japanese as diligentlty as they did against the Germans as they needed support from Japan against the Communists.

Having looked at what happened in 1937 in Nanking I am not surprised that the Chinese still hate the Japanese.

Submitted for opinions.