On July 7, 1937, the imperial Japanese army marched into Manchuria, China, and began to commit horrendous acts against the Chinese and other Asian countries alike. These war crimes included, rape, mass murder, human experimentation, biological warfare, torture, cannibalism, forced labor, and more. After the war, these crimes were to be judged by what is known as the “Tokyo Trials”. The Tokyo trials were very similar to the Nuremburg trials as they were both done to judge the crimes of the losers of the war. These trails were held to make sure the losers recognized that what they had done, was in fact, wrong. However, the conclusion to the Tokyo Trials had seemingly no effect on Japan as Japan has yet, to issue any “formal” apologies to China …show more content…
and other affected countries. Japan has offered many small scale apologies from lower ranking soldiers, but most diplomats do not consider it a formal apology unless “a key political figure(s) make an apologetic statement in a specific context or an apologetic statement that is documented officially in a diplomatic protocol.” (Shu) Japan continues to fuel the hatred and controversy surrounding this heavy topic by not apologizing formally, censorship of facts that happened, and visiting Yasukuni Shrine. On August 14, 2015, Japanese Prime Minister – Shinzõ Abe was the one who offered the most recent form of “apology” to China and affected countries. He expressed his “deepest remorse” and “sincere condolences” to Japan’s wartime victims in his speech but, never actually apologized for Japan’s actions. Abe continues to dodge the actual apology and instead talks about other things like western colonialism while failing to recognize specific events such as the “comfort women” and “Nanjing massacre”. Abe goes on to state that eighty percent of Japan’s current population was born after the war and that future generations should not have to apologize for the war. This has spawned enormous controversy in whether or not what he was saying was even sincere at all. Abe has made it seem like that this last speech should and would be the last straw of the conflict, and that he expects China and affected countries to accept his words. China and Korea were the most outspoken countries in this affair and stated that Abe’s speech did nothing to mend tense relations with China and others. Through this example, many affected people express that Japan will never apologize formally and even if they did, it would have already taken too long. Many Japanese students in the modern age have no idea how much of a big player Japan was in World War II.
Since eighty percent of Japan’s population was born after the war, most Japanese people do not understand why neighboring countries harbor a grudge against them. This is because the government of Japan did a great deal in order to silence or conceal the truth of what Japan had done. The history textbooks were altered in a way that some can cover all of World War II in just 19 pages. Out of those 19 pages, only four footnotes were directly related to World War II events such as the “Nanjing Massacre”, the “Comfort Women”, “Bringing Korean and Chinese people to work in the mines”, and one last line about “Hiroshima and Nagasaki”. Furthermore, teachers in schools often leave World War II for the last unit, when students are all but ready to jump out of the classroom and sprint outside to embrace the summer. This blatant censorship can be found everywhere in Japan. A Japanese student was assigned to write an essay in English class and the topic was on the “Rape of Nanjing”. The student researched for about six months and discovered that there was huge controversy surrounding the topic because the Chinese say 300,000 were killed and many women were gang – raped while from Japanese sources they say the event never even happened. The Japanese sources claimed that the Chinese fabricated the whole incident up and that the photo evidence was made by the government as
propaganda. Along the lines of propaganda is that of Japan and Germany’s “Icons”. The “Icons” were symbols used to recognize imperial Japan and Nazi Germany, the “Rising sun” and the “Swastika” respectively. After the war, Germany banned the Swastika from ever appearing again, those who disobeyed were jailed. However, Japan does not feel the same way about the Rising Sun symbol. Whereas Germany felt bad for what they had done and tried to banish everything that was deemed “evil”, Japan felt that the Rising Sun is justified enough to stay well known and public. This is often thought of as Japan ignoring what they did in the past yet again and just simply denying that they ever committed crimes.
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
It was no secret that when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, countless Americans were frightened on what will happen next. The attack transpiring during WW2 only added to the hysteria of American citizens. According to the article “Betrayed by America” it expressed,”After the bombing many members of the public and media began calling for anyone of Japanese ancestry။citizens or not။to be removed from the West Coast.”(7) The corroboration supports the reason why America interned Japanese-Americans because it talks about Americans wanting to remove Japanese-Americans from the West Coast due to Japan bombing America. Japan bombing America led to Americans grow fear and hysteria. Fear due to the recent attack caused internment because Americans were afraid of what people with Japanese ancestry could do. In order to cease the hysteria, America turned to internment. American logic tells us that by getting the Japanese-Americans interned, many
In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America which is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told
...target to escape and even held a competition of the person who kills 100 people first will win the game. The Japanese keeps denying their actions and refuse to give an official apology to all the offenders. Their officials go to shrine to pay homage on their so-called heroes, ignoring how these “heroes” have deeply injured the Chinese. During the Holocaust, alive human beings were taken to the chamber of gas and organs were taken to do the experiment. How the Nazi treated the Jewish was similar to how the Japanese treated the Chinese.
Sabin, Burritt. "The War's Legacy [sic]: Dawn of a tragic era", Japan Times, February 8, 2004 (
Massive destruction, immense loss of life, and the prolonging of the war until late 1946, would result in invading on foot instead of using the bomb. Revenge also played a role in the decision to bomb Japan. The Japanese were not following the Geneva Convention in regards to treatment of prisoners of war. This document says that prisoners are not to be put through torture of physical or psychological nature. The Japanese refused to comply and would decapitate American prisoners, or shove bamboo shoots under their fingernails.
Japanese internment camps are an important part of American history. They represented and showed much of the change that happened around World War II. Although many people may say that races other than African-Americans were not that discriminated against, that was not the case. The Japanese-American People lost their homes, livelihood, and were separated from their families. More people should know about this event so as to learn from it and let something similar never to repeat it. Japanese internment camps should be an event all new American’s learn about because of its importance in World War II, the influence racism had on the camps, and for being one of the biggest violations of civil rights in American history
Twenty years after the First World War, humanity was, yet again, plagued with more hostility. September 1st, 1939 marked the start of World War II, this time, with new players on the board. Waves of fear and paranoia rippled throughout the United States, shaking its’ very foundation of liberty and justice for all. The waves powerfully crashed onto a single ethnic group, the Japanese-Americans, who had their rights and respect pulled away from them. They were seen as traitors and enemies in their own country, and were thrown into prison camps because of it. This event marks one of the absolute lowest points in United States history and has changed the course of the country as a whole.
The whole issue involved with the unfair treatment of Japanese Americans in the internment camps by the Americans, started not so long after Japanese warplanes bombed the Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt, the chief of staff at that time signed an Executive Order 9066 which entailed the detainment of anyone who had any descendant from Japan. Contradictory to all evidences presented by the intelligence agencies, first generation Japanese Americans were the easy prey used by the government to show they had total control of the situation. Using several primary documents and secondary sources, the forced imprisonment and harsh mistreatment of Japanese Americans in internment camps would be examined. Since there was a huge influx of Japanese Americans in the West Coast, there was anger and fear that they might take over the U.S [Yellow Peril]. The imminence of the World War II solidified the motive to be afraid of the Japanese Americans and created cause for the U.S government to lead them to internment. Surprisingly even though Americans boasted about democracy, most of the Nikkei placed in internment were American citizens by law and had no right to be incarcerated. After 30 years, President Ford, the current chief of staff reversed Executive Order 9066. He stated that it was wrong to detain Nikkei as they were loyal to America. A public apology and a payment of $20,000 were made out to Nikkei. This gesture solidifies the wrongdoing of Nikkei by the U.s government. The same conclusion could be drawn from a close look inside of the internment camps. From my research on the issue at hand, I propose a thesis stating that the incarceration of the Japan...
"Was the Atomic Bombing of Japan Justifiable?" The Pacific War 1941-43. Web. 10 June 2010.
The tragedy consisting of rape, murder, and looting will never disappear from the city or its inhabitants. Thanks to John Rabe and several others, thousands of Chinese were able to survive. The history of the massacre is slowly dying, but because of books and museums, the history lives on. The Japanese have not repaired Nanjing or educated their own country about their own mistakes. The Japanese still refuse to believe that the massacre even occurred, even though there are pictures of the event and vital proof.
Shortly after the commencement of Japanese imprisonment, derogatory propaganda flooded the streets and fueled the Americans’ discrimination towards the foreigners. One of the main focal points of the propaganda utilized the term “Japanophobia,” which has been described as “the extreme and irrational fear of Japan, Japanese people or the Japanese culture” (Phobia Source). After Pearl Harbor, this term was born to justify the American prejudice and paranoia towards the Japanese. It was plastered on countless posters, newspapers, and images of propaganda in an attempt to quell any feelings of guilt for this hatred. In addition, some Americans simply hoped for revenge against those with Japanese in their blood because of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Propaganda posters in the United States “focused on fueling the people's hatred for the enemy” (Education). This idea was quite evident in one specific image displaying a Japanese man strangling an American woman were released. One of the main goals of these murderous posters were to instill the impression that the Japanese were the enemy within. Omnipresen...
The moral and military necessity of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings has been a subject of debate for almost half a century. Most revisionists emphasize the victimization of Japan during the attacks. They often forget the military realities and the historical context while judging whether it was necessary for America to use nuclear weapons against the two Japanese cities. It is important to note that Japan was the aggressor. Japan triggered the war that led to the bombing of its two cities with its sneak attack on America’s Pearl harbour in 1941. Subsequent systematic and flagrant violation of several international agreements and norms through employment of chemical and biological warfare and mistreatment of prisoners of war and civilians aggravated the situation[ Gar Alperovitz, The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb and the Architecture of an American Myth. (NY: Knopf, 1995), 89]. A response was needed to deal with increased aggression from Japan. Allied military planners had to choose between invading Japan and using the US atomic bombs in 1945[ Ronald Tabaki, Hiroshima: Why America Dropped the Atomic Bomb. (Little, Brown, 1995), 101
Little Tokyo, which consists of approximately four acres and five large city blocks in the heart of Downtown Los Angeles, is one of the most culturally rich and diverse historic districts in Los Angeles in addition to being one of three remaining Japantowns in the United States. Established in the late 19th century, Little Tokyo was once home to tens of thousands of Japanese immigrants as well as one of the largest Japanese American populations in the United States. Over the years, Little Tokyo has been faced with stratification and contradictions in the form of overt discrimination and the internment of Japanese people during WWII. These contradictions have resulted in the transformation/reinvention of Little Tokyo from a thriving Japanese immigrant community, to “Bronzeville” following the outbreak of WWII, to the important historic, cultural, and civic center that is today. Although the Japanese American Population is not as large as it once was, Little Tokyo is still the cultural heart of Los Angeles’s Japanese American population. However, due in part to the recent boom in downtown residential construction, little Tokyo is on the cusp on another transformation. Although Little Tokyo is portrayed as a cultural space for Japanese Americans in Southern California, it is developing into a leisure space . This process is being sped up by the addition of the Metro Little Tokyo/Arts District Gold Line station and by plans to add a Blue Line Station. Nevertheless, the Little Tokyo Community Council (LTCC) and the Little Tokyo Business Association (LTBA) are working to develop a vision for neighborhood sustainability that “respects and enhances the neighbo...
I believe Tokyo Ghoul by Sui Ishida is a must read for people who love mangas. Ken Kaneki, the main character, is first introduced as an average, shy university student. The manga is told from his perspective and documents his struggles and emotions as he is forced to adapt to a ghoul’s lifestyle after a ghoul’s organs were transplanted into him, making him a half ghoul. The fact the story was told from the ‘bad’ people’s side was something that made the plot very enjoyable for me, because it is a change from constantly viewing the events from the ‘good’ side’s perspective. The point of view had a massive impact on my overall thoughts of the manga, because it showed how Kaneki, the ‘main bad guy’, was in fact a gentle-hearted person, unlike