Not my grandad
because he was fighting the Wops, but other members of my family suffered terribly after the capitulation of Singapore. They were seen as "sub-humans" by the Japs...hmmm, now there's a familiar phrase, eh?

A few generations down the line, yes, it will be "our forefathers did some bad shit", the same as mine probably did in the name of the British Empire, but right now it's within living memory, they have a chance to show some humility and shame, and take the hands of those they tortured and ask for forgiveness. It's all that many of their victims want, I don't think many are after a 70 year back payment in damages.
I'll get over my dislike of them, even though I'll remember the hushed meals where a great-aunt, with no apparent trigger, recalled tales of extreme brutality and sadism. That keeps you on your toes as a kid, especially when all you want to do is play with Action Man, I can tell you. I'm not the one that needs to be apologised to though.

The Germans have acknowledged their past, and continue to do so, they won't be allowed to forget their "errors in judgement". The Japanese don't have a similar national sense of guilt - as far as they are concerned, they lost an honorable war to a superior foe who happened to get the upper hand with a new bomb. Hirohito and his chums should have danced on the end of a rope (a US-style short drop, rather than a nice clean Pierrepoint drop), and their schoolkids should be taught that they were the aggressors and given a thorough education of just how noble the Sons of Nippon were, something which is not done right now.

Otherwise, you know what? Not too far down the line, some Japanese soldiers will be harking back to their traditional Samurai values, which on the face of it are fair enough, and proudly hoisting the Rising Sun in battle. Would you be comfortable with that? With China's rise, and notably North Korea's recent spats, the USA don't want to be doing ALL the muscle-flexing in that neck of the woods, it might welcome some support from a country which ranks 7th in terms of military spending. Japan's Article 9 will soon be quietly forgotten, especially if they have no reason to feel guilty for their past. The Japanese Self Defence Force had troops on the ground in Iraq for a while...

Fuck it, I blame MacArthur, he let them off the hook.

"Those who don't know history's mistakes are doomed to repeat them"

As for their rapacious consumption of endangered species (ie Bluefin Tuna) and continued stripping of Sarawak for plywood (Japanese forests are "sacred", they are not allowed to harvest timber from them), well, I know we here in the West aren't much better, but at least we know we are a bunch of cunts. Once again, the Japanese are ignorant of the issues, they can't see a problem. No blue-fin tuna left? No problem, we eat yellowfin tuna! Yeah, how about some collective responsibility you fuckers!

Never mind, they make great tellies though, eh?
(Rsoles, Mon 11 Apr 2011, 11:38, Reply)