Remorseless Japan

By Lee Hyon-soo

From time to time Japan’s political leaders visit the Yasukuni Shrine where Class A war criminals are included on the list of remembrance, then make controversial remarks that deny or gloss over the acts of aggression that Japan committed in the first half of the 20th century.

By so doing, they give legitimacy to a self-centered and distorted interpretation of Japan’s ignoble history that many Japanese harbor, as illustrated below.

After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, Japan embarked on an ambitious modernization program, modeling itself on advanced European countries such as Britain, France and Germany. To emulate those countries which had overseas colonies, Japan wanted to colonize its neighboring country, Korea.

To gain hegemony on the Korean peninsula, Japan fought wars successively against China and Russia. From the Sino-Japanese war and the Russo-Japanese war, Japan emerged victorious. And Korea fell into the hands of Japan among the spoils of war.

When it comes to Japan’s colonization of Korea, many Japanese people argue that Koreans wanted it. Then, how can they explain the widespread popular uprising by Koreans in March 1919?

Many Japanese blame the United States for the eruption of the Pacific War. They take the view that the United States left Japan no choice but go to war after placing embargos on oil and steel exports to Japan and demanding that Japan withdraw troops from China.

Some even argue that Japan was the real victim of the Pacific War on the grounds that numerous innocent Japanese citizens died when the United States dropped two atomic bombs on Japan. Just because Japan fell victim to this horrendous bombing many Japanese people naively believe that their nation was absolved of the guilt associated with the atrocities that Japanese troops committed against other Asians during the war.

While waging the Pacific War the Japanese government proclaimed that its purpose was to liberate Asians from the yoke of Western imperialism and many Japanese still believe this to be the case. It is true that Japan kicked Western powers out of many parts of Asia during the war.

However, what Japan really wanted was to secure procurement of vital raw materials such as oil, iron ore and rubber by controlling the countries which produced them. Contrary to its proclamation, Japan ruled the conquered Asian countries more ruthlessly than did the Western powers it replaced. To this undeniable historical fact, many Japanese people turn a blind eye.

At the turn of the 20th century, Japan emerged as the most powerful country in Asia. Overly self-confident, Japan attempted to conquer the whole of Asia by force. However, Japan was defeated soundly in the Pacific War and suffered the shame of being occupied by American forces. Many Japanese people lament over their country’s defeat but feel no remorse for starting and waging the horrible war.

In a nutshell, Japan’s political leaders and public do not fully acknowledge their country’s past aggression. Instead, they try to justify or make excuses for Japan’s wrongdoing.

As long as they continue to do so, they will have themselves to blame if Japan is regarded with distrust and is unable to play a leading political role commensurate with its economic strength in the international community.

Koreans want Japan to clean the slate in the same way Germany did and start afresh as a trustful neighbor. However, this seems to be wishful thinking on our part. To us Japan is a country which is close geographically yet remote emotionally.

The writer is a freelance columnist based in Toronto, Canada. His email address is tomhslee@hanmail.net.