Lost Conscience: Japan’s Denials of its Past

 

 

Graduate Student

 

 

    

For a long time, because of the Cold War politics, Japan was able to evade its responsibility for its horrendous war crimes.  Following the World War II, the United States had wanted to replace the leadership responsible for the Japanese aggression, but with the advent of the cold war the United States was mindful of Japanese support.  As a result, the United States government allowed the postwar Japan to be administrated by its prewar bureaucracy.  Unlike Germany, where the Nazi government was replaced and numerous Nazi officers were brought to trial, many high-ranking wartime Japanese war criminals returned to power and prospered.  In 1957 Japan even elected a man who had been imprisoned as a suspected class A war criminal as prime minister (Chang 182).  In addition, the decision by the United States government to exonerate Hirohito as a war criminal had a long-term impact on the Japanese understanding of the war.  “In exchange for Japan’s surrender, the U.S. government granted Hirohito, the emperor of Japan, and all members of the imperial family implicated in the war immunity from trial” (Bouissou 43). Hirohito, as many historians believe, was the mastermind behind the atrocities committed by the Japanese imperial forces in World War II.  Therefore, the decision to grant immunity to Hirohito and the decision to keep him on the throne after the war severely impeded the Japanese people’s awareness of their country’s war crimes.

Today, as a result of not being punished for its wartime conduct, the Japanese government repeatedly demonstrates a lack of remorse for its past.  Up to this date, the Japanese government still does not fully repent for its war crimes and continues to deny the atrocities that they committed during the war.  For example, former Justice Minister Shigeto Nagano denied that the Nanking Massacre had occurred, claiming it was a Chinese fabrication (“Scarred” par.41).  In September 1986, Fujio Masayuki, the Japanese minister of education, made a comment during an interview that the Nanking Massacre was just a part of war (Chang 203).  And earlier this year, the Prime Minister of Japan denied that there were coercions in the recruitment of comfort women during World War II.  In sum, the Japanese government over and over again has denied its war crimes and tried to distort historical facts, causing angry protests from China, South Korea and other victim countries.  

Another debate between Japan and its neighboring countries is the Japanese history textbook controversy.  Through textbook censorship, Japan deliberately obstructs important historical information about Japanese aggression from its education.  For example, as Chang points out, “the text of standard history book neglects to mention the casualties on the other side or Japanese war atrocities, while it consists largely pictures of the U.S. atomic bombing in Japan” (Chang 206).  Clearly, the Japanese government tries to whitewash Japanese war crimes in World War II and hide the truth from younger generations.  In addition, despite official protests from China and Korea, Japanese Prime Ministers continue to visit Yasukuni Shrine, a temple that houses millions of war dead, including the 14 convicted as World War II criminals by a 1948 war tribunal.  The frequent Yasukuni Shrine visits by the head of government indicate that Japan refuses to come to terms with its evil past and continues to disregard the feelings of its neighbors.

The consequence of Japan’s denial of its war conduct is the mistrust of its neighboring countries.  As debates over Japanese war conduct and textbook controversy go on, relations between Japan and its neighbors continue to be strained.  According to Professor Gavan McCormack, an orientalist specializing in East Asia at Australian National University, he states that in South Korea, a nation with the most vibrant democracy in Asia, 90 percent of people do not trust Japan, and in China hostility and suspicion is widespread (McCormack par. 3).  As the questions of history remain unresolved, it is difficult to see how Japan can have closer relations with China and South Korea when it is at odds with all its neighboring countries.

While mistrust exists between Japan and its neighboring countries stemming from the legacy of the World War II, there are increasing suspicions from Asian countries on Japanese renewal of its militarism.  At its worst, the mistrust between Japan and its neighbors will continue to grow and military competition among nations will be unavoidable.  On the other hand, as Professor Koji Murata points out, cooperation between Japan and China is essential for regional stability in Asia. It is necessary for Japan, for example to cooperate with China in order to address the North Korean issue (Chen par. 17).  Therefore, the tension and animosity between Asian countries and Japan will no doubt undermine the stability and peace in the region.  

With no remorse and self-reflection on its evil conduct, Japan will never be trusted by the people in Asia and the world.  In some cases, the heated disputes between Japan and other Asian countries over Japan’s wartime past has led to economic loss for Japanese businesses in Asia.  The latest dispute between Japan and China in 2005, has erupted into anti-Japanese protests across China and Chinese boycott of Japanese goods.  As China, a nation with 1.3 billions people and a booming economy, offers the greatest potential market in the world.  The loss of the Chinese market will be a blow to Japanese multinational enterprises financially, and this in turn can seriously hurt the Japanese economy.  In addition, failing to gain trust from its victim countries could cost Japan the support that it needs in order to elevate itself to a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.  China, one of the council’s five permanent members, strongly opposed Japan's bid for security council in 2005 and told Japan to “face up to its World War II aggression before aspiring to a bigger global role” (Trull par. 1).  Without taking full responsibility on its past conduct, Japan will never be recognized as a world power and be allowed to take a bigger role in the international community.

Only when Japan completely repent and atone for its evil acts, can Japan finally be recognized as a responsible member of the international community.  Nevertheless, it is still possible for Japan to be recognized as a great world power in 21st century.  When confronted with the record of its past conduct, Japan should acknowledge its wrongdoings and fully atone for its war crimes.  In order to regain trust and respect from its Asian neighbors, Japan needs to take full responsibility for its war crimes by issuing official apology and offering reparation to its victims.  Most importantly, Japan must educate the young generation about the war and not distort any historical facts of its past.

In order to foster a better relationship, Japan and its neighboring countries can adopt measures to ease the tensions over their disputed past.  One way to achieve this would be for the Japanese government to declare it a crime for anyone who denies atrocities that the Japanese committed during the war.  To stop hurting the feelings of its victims, Japanese officials should stop visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, or else set up a separate site for World War II war dead.  To avoid controversy on the content of history textbook, Japan can cooperate with Chinese and Korean educationists to create textbooks, as France and Germany have done.  

Currently, progress towards resolving the disputed past is stalled between Japan and its Asian neighbors.  Yet, the situation can be improved if the international community gets involved by voicing their opinion on the issue.  When a significant number of countries express their views and advocate for victim’s justice, Japan will have no choice but yield to the diplomatic pressure to take its first step towards acknowledgement of its past conduct.  Therefore, it is important to bring awareness about Japanese aggression during World War II to the general public in the world.  Yet, the history of Japanese aggression in Asia is mostly unknown to the Western world.  Students in America and Europe learn a lot in their history class at school about World War II and Holocaust.  But, few if any of the students know anything about the Japanese atrocities in Asia.  To bring forth the awareness of the Japanese atrocities committed in Asia during the Pacific war, one can start by talking to friends, classmates and coworkers who do not know about the history of Japanese aggression.  Asian community groups in the United States and other part of the world can organize events such as conferences or workshops on related topics to foster constructive discussion on history.  In addition, people with creative and production skills can create multimedia, documentary films or movie clip to disseminate message of victim justice around the world through the internet.  Once people learn more about the sufferings and hardships of the victims, they will be able to comprehend the scope and latitude of the atrocious behaviors that were done by the Japanese military forces in World War II.

As Elie Wiesel, Holocasut survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner in 1986 once says, “to forget a holocaust is to kill twice” (Chang 16).  To deny its wrongdoings in World War II, Japan has deprived its war crime victims a fair justice.  With denials come its cost, Japanese government risks ruining its relations with the international community.  Economically Japan will suffer great loss in losing its neighbors’ markets.  And morally Japanese people will forever carry the burden of its past and cannot move forward in history.   In order to bring this dark chapter of Japan’s history to a closure, we must fight to help the Japanese find their collective conscience, if not their good sense, and to accept responsibility for its grim past.

 

 

Works Cited

McCormack, Gavan. “Rewriting an ugly past.” theage.com.au 15 August 2005, 29 June 2007 <http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/rewriting-an-ugly-past/2005/08/14/1123957950490.html>