[lbo-talk] Japan and Asia (was "international guilt tripping")

Gregory Lipman gregory.l at mazdaace.co.jp
Wed Jun 9 19:01:58 PDT 2004


fs scribed: "...A number of Asian countries suffered untold hardships thanks to Japan's aggression during World War II, and all have been waiting for similar apologies from Tokyo. But Japan has held a completely different attitude towards its past crimes from those the Germans have put forth..."

too bad clinton isn't running the communist-capitalist regime in china...he could apologize to the rest of asia...and then to china, for all the terrible things mao did to his people...then to the usa for pearl harbor...etc.

and isn't the world a much better place for its billions in poverty, now that germany has apologized, endlessly, for its sins?

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Point taken but I have found the relation between Japan and it's E. Asian neighbors very curious. IIRC, S. Korea had a complete ban on Japanese cultural goods until just a few years ago and then it went back in place due to the contents of offical Japanese textbooks that glossed over WW II atrocities. Or the incident of near riots by Chinese students due to a "racy" skit performed by Japanese exchange students at a Chinese university.

I came to Japan by default and have a lot of catching to do so would anyone care to comment what impact Japan's failure to offer apologies (and actually flame feelings of ill will through Koizumi's war shrine visit, etc.,) actually has on it's foreign relations, etc. I do understand the domestic benefit of characters like Tokyo Gov. Ishihara's constant racist comments but am curious regarding the external factors thereof.

Comments?

Cheers, G



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