Wartime Japan was
responsible for more deaths in the far east, than was Nazi Germany in
Europe. Yet while Germany has tried to make amends to victims of
the Hitler era, Japan goes to extraordinary lengths to avoid any
admission of responsibility towards its victims.
Most modern Japanese
do not even accept the atrocities the Japanese people committed
against the nationals of occupied countries, even when it is
supported by overwhelming evidence and the few who do acknowledge it,
face the hostility of their fellow countrymen for doing so.
I find it disgusting
that the Japanese people still seek to excuse and even ennoble, the
actions of their ancestors during World War 2, so many of whom were
war criminals. The Japanese nation is guilty of a collective
rejection of its past crimes, in an inexcusable effort to save its
collective face. As long as such denial persists, it should remain
impossible for the world to believe that Japan has become a peace loving nation. History is a
lesson for us to learn from, if we acknowledge what it has to teach
us. In this instance, history teaches us that Japan is as great a
threat as it ever was, because its people still try to view the
criminals of World War 2 as heroes.
Coming to terms with
its past crimes has never been easy for Japan, which still tries to
hide from the horrors it perpetrated during WW2. Now, the Japanese
people demand to be allowed to forget the atrocities they committed
and they have found a new voice. Known collectively as the Net
Right, these internet terrorists were once dismissed by the west as
radicals, but they have gained considerable influence with the rise
of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government, which shares their goal
of ending foreign demands for Japan to take responsibility for the
horrors it committed.
The activists blame
the failing Japanese economy on 70 years of unfair portrayals of
Japan as the villain in World War 2, by outside powers who are only
interested in keeping Japan weak. “We are tired of Japan being
constantly told to apologise,” said Kazuya Kyomoto, 26, a popular
blogger who condemns the west for continuing to pressure Japan to
admit what it did.
Mr. Abe’s
government has been criticised for being slow to distance itself from
the Net Right and Eriko Yamatani, the cabinet member in charge of
national law enforcement, has been photographed with a prominent
member of the biggest online extremist group, the Zaitokukai. But
the government has failed to condemn him for his involvement with
such a group. How can this be if they are sorry for what happened in
the past?
It is interesting to
note that Shinzo Abe's grandfather, Kan Abe, was a pacifist who stood
against Japanese warmongering. But his father, Shintaro Abe, was far
more right wing and his grandfather on his mother's side, Nobusuke
Kishi, is a suspected war criminal. Perhaps this explains Shinzo's
support for a racist Japan. Further evidence of his true beliefs is
given by the fact that Shinzo Abe has actually prayed at the Yasukuni
Shrine, which includes the names of class A war criminals as Japanese
heroes.
Historians estimate
that the Japanese murdered as many as 20,000,000 Chinese civilians
during their occupation of China. (This is taken from Wikipedia)
This is not simply the Japanese military, it is the Japanese people
as a whole. 300,000 Chinese civilians were butchered in a matter of
a few weeks during the taking of Nanjing alone. Many women and
young girls were actually raped to death by Japanese soldiers.
Most, although not
all, Japanese war crimes occurred during the Showa era of Japan, that
is, the reign of Hirohito. Yet unlike Hitler, Hirohito was never
accused of any crimes. In fact, while Germany has been forced to
face and pay for, its many atrocities, Japan has never been brought
to task for the horrors it committed.
While not trying to
minimise the atrocities perpetrated by the Nazis, Germany is
responsible for the deaths of 6,000,000 Jews. Japan is responsible
for as many as 20,000,000 Chinese civilians, plus allied service
personnel who were taken prisoner and the nationals of other occupied
countries.
Germany has admitted
the crimes it committed and has apologised time after time. Japan
still denies it did anything wrong. Germany has paid over a billion
pounds in compensation, while Japan refuses to accept that it has
done anything that it needs to atone for. Thousands of Germans were
brought to trial in Nuremberg at the end of the war, for crimes that
ranged from membership of an illegal organisation, to actual
atrocities. Hundreds of Germans were executed as a result of these
trials. 25 Japanese stood trial for Class A crimes. Germany was
torn asunder by the allies, Japan... nothing happened.
Japanese war crimes
took place in Korea, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines,
Singapore, Burma and other countries in the Orient during the Second
World War. A number of these occurrences have been defined as a
Holocaust, because of the number of fatalities involved. Governments
and historians from various countries hold the military forces of
Japan (Emperor Hirohito in particular) responsible for the crimes and
deaths of millions of prisoners of war and civilians. Yet Japan
continues to deny its involvement. One must wonder what has happened
to the code of Bushido.
The Nanjing Massacre
took place in 1937 at Nanjing, China. The Japanese looted, raped,
burned and murdered Chinese prisoners of war and civilians. The
international Military Tribunal in the Far East, commonly known as
the Tokyo War Crimes Trials, estimated that a total number of about
300,000 Chinese were murdered in this one incident.
Japanese forces used
chemical weapons during major operations, particularly those against
China. Phosgene, Chlorine and Mustard gas, all banned substances
after WW1, were extensively used during the Japanese occupation of
China.
Japanese war crimes are not just limited to massacres. Special units of the Japanese military carried out experiments on POW's and civilians. Unit 731, led by Shirō Ishii, subjected people to amputations, vivisection and biological weapon testing. The unit was established on the express orders of Hirohito himself. Approximately 580,000 people were murdered by similar Japanese formations.
During the
construction of the Burma/Siam railway between June 1942 and October
1943, approximately 100,000
POW's and civilians died. But this was only the start of worse
Japanese war crimes to come. In Java alone, there was a death rate
of 80% of those the Japanese used for slave labour.
It was standard
Japanese policy to torture prisoners of war, as they thought that
prisoners had no honour because they had surrendered. It also became
the norm to behead them afterwards, to remove any evidence of the
actions of their interrogators, a clear indicator that the Japanese knew what they were doing.
It was not only the Japanese army that was responsible for war crimes. On 26th March and July 2nd, 1944, the Japanese submarine, I-8 sank two transport ships. The Dutch freighter, Tsijalak was sunk off Sri Lanka. 103 crew members were taken prisoner, but were later attacked by the Japanese with hammers and katanas. Only 5 of the victims survived. 100 prisoners were taken when the US cargo ship,Jean Nicolet was captured. Only 24 of them survived their ordeal at the hands of the submarine's crew.
Historian,
Mitsuyoshi Himeta, reports that a "Three Alls Policy"
(Sankō Sakusen) was implemented in China from 1942 to 1945 and was
in itself responsible for the deaths of millions of Chinese
civilians. This scorched earth strategy, sanctioned by Hirohito
himself, directed Japanese forces to "Kill All, Burn All, and
Loot All". Additionally, captured Allied servicemen and
civilians were massacred in various related incidents.
Many
testimonies collected by the Australian War Crimes Section of the
Tokyo tribunal, indicate that Japanese personnel committed acts of
cannibalism against Allied prisoners of war. According to historian
Yuki Tanaka: "cannibalism was often a systematic activity
conducted by whole squads and under the command of officers.” This
frequently involved murder for the purpose of securing bodies. For
example, an Indian POW, Havildar Changdi Ram, testified that: "[on
November 12, 1944] the Kempeitai beheaded an allied pilot. I saw
this from behind a tree and watched some of the Japanese cut flesh
from his arms, legs, hips, buttocks and carry it off to their
quarters... They cut it into small pieces and fried it."
In some
cases, flesh was cut from living people: another Indian POW, Lance
Naik Hatam Ali testified: “... the Japanese started selecting
prisoners and every day one prisoner was taken out and killed and
eaten by the soldiers. I personally saw this happen and about 100
prisoners were eaten at this place by the Japanese. The remainder of
us were taken to another spot 50 miles away. At this place, the
Japanese again started selecting prisoners to eat. Those selected
were taken to a hut where their flesh was cut from their bodies while
they were alive and their bodies were thrown into a ditch where they
later died."
Another
Indian serviceman stated: “Of 300 men who went to Wewak with me,
only 50 got out. Nineteen were eaten. A Japanese doctor —Lieutenant
Tumisa, formed a party of three or four men and would send an Indian
outside the camp for something. The Japaneses immediately killed him
and ate the flesh from his body. The liver, muscles from the
buttocks, thighs, legs, and arms would be cut off and cooked.”
The
most senior officer convicted of cannibalism was Lt Gen. Yoshio
Tachibana, who with 11 other Japanese personnel, was tried in August
1946 in relation to the execution of U.S. Navy airmen and the
cannibalism of at least one of them, during August 1944. The airmen
were beheaded on Tachibana's orders.
As one
Japanese concentration camp after another was liberated, it became
all too apparent what had been happening to those unfortunate enough
to have been taken prisoner. 25% of all allied POW's died in
Japanese camps. This rose to nearly 30% for Chinese prisoners. Yet
what justice were they given at the end of the war? None!
The main
British opposition to the Japanese came in the form of the Fourteenth
Army, which was a multinational force comprising troops from
several Commonwealth countries, many of its units were from the Indian Army, with British troops and a significant
contribution from 81st, 82nd and 11th African divisions.
It was
often referred to as the "Forgotten Army" because its
operations in the Burma Campaign were overlooked by the contemporary
press and government and remained more obscure than those of corresponding formations
in Europe. It was formed in 1943, under the command of
Lieutenant-General William Slim. The Fourteenth Army was the largest
Commonwealth Army during the war, with nearly a million men by late
1944.
The
fourteenth Army suffered approximately 87,000 causalties during
combat operations, yet their sacrifices were largely forgotten once
the war in Europe was over. With the end of hostilities in the west,
the war against Japan became something of an embarrasment to western
goverments and by the time our heroes came home, they received a very
luke warm welcome. This insult was exacerbated by the way that
Japanese war crimes were swept under the carpet. Hirohito never even
faced charges for his part in the murder and torture of millions of
people.
Why
do I care? Principally because my father was a NCO in the 82nd
West African Frontier Force and lost many of his friends during the
fighting in Arakan. As with the other 1,000,000 men and women who
made up Fouteenth Army, he deserved, but failed to get, recognition
for his service to his king and country. I also have a lot of
Chinese friends whose grandparents suffered at the hands of the
Japanese.
The west
has not learned the lessons of World War 2 and the sacrifices that
were made to halt the Japanese menace were in vain. The Japanese
people remain unrepentant and are still a clear and very real threat
to peace in the far east. Should they be allowed to forget what they did? Perhaps when they try to make amends for the horrors they inflicted on so many innocent people.
The film/documentary Nanjing, Nanjing is a perfect example of what the Japanese are capable of. It is not for the faint hearted though.
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