A. Today is the anniversary commemorating the end of the war.
The Defence Minister of the time, Mr. Fumio Kyuma, mentioned an inaccurate comment about the atomic bombs on Jun 30th that were dropped in the residential area of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two. This comment has become an unwanted controversy in Japan.
Japanese people are sensitive to topics about World War Two. Not a few politicians ended up resigning due to their own comments about the war. I'd like to present my opinion for a change.
B. China and Both Koreas accuse Japan of its colonial policy.
Although the Japan-China and the Japan-South Korea Peace and Amity Treaties were signed after World War 2, Japan has been accused by China and South Korea even after signing those treaties. They insist that Japan didn't pay enough compensation money to them and Japan didn't demonstrate enough apologies for things that Japan had done during the war. Besides, nowadays they have brought up the issues of Comfort Women and the Nanjing Massacre. I have secure, irrefutable evidence on those issues. I'm going to show them in my blog for a change though it is not easy work for me to describe them in English.
By the way, I have a proposition that Japan, China and South Korea get together at the same table with their own evidence. Such a conference hasn't been put into practice yet.
Why? It's because these countries would end up arguing the legality of the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. What on earth did the class-A war criminals do who were sentenced to life in the trial? I wonder what evidence made them guilty. I believe that the most cruel person during the war was U.S. President Harry S. Truman. I'll write about the atomic bomb in another entry, but I want to write here about only one thing. I'm treating two of his numerous victims now. He is inflicting great suffering on innocent people now. Do you think the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals could be vindicated?
C. We Japanese should insist on our own opinions.
I have used English mainly in reading medical papers published abroad. Those papers were written for medical workers all over the world and I had to get the latest knowledge from them.
The English education that I received in my student days has been grossly one-sided. Teachers emphasized how to understand English. I think such education was not good. We have to learn not only how to understand other's opinions but also how to express our own opinions. We Japanese should insist on our own advocacy.
Silence and patience are virtues of the Japanese people. This concept doesn't work for foreigners. Bushido, Japanese chivalry, doesn't mean anything to the Chinese. (See the last three paragraphs of this entry.) I'd like you to compare the following two proverbs:
The stake which sticks up gets hammered down: Don't make waves! (Japanese way of life)
The gear that squeaks most will get oiled: (Americans, Chinese,,,,)
Hypothetically speaking, two people who have these virtues will dispute with each other. What do you think is the result? I assume anyone can imagine.
(Vocabulary)
commemorate 〈人・出来事など〉を記念する
unwanted 望まれていない, 迷惑な, 不本意な
The discovery has become a controversy in Britain. イギリスではこの発見で波紋が広がっています。
Japan-China Peace and Amity [Friendship] Treaty 日中平和友好条約
irrefutable evidence 反論することが不可能な証拠
Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals 〔第二次世界大戦終結後の〕東京裁判
class-A war criminals A 級戦犯
inflict great suffering on innocent people 罪なき人々に大きな苦しみを与える
vindicate (判断など)の正しさを証明する; (人)の嫌疑を晴らす
feel vindicated 報われた思いがする
be grossly one-sided ひどく偏っている
advocacy 弁護, 擁護, 支持; (フォーマル) (法廷における) 弁護
advocacy group 圧力団体
Japanese chivalry 武士道
hypothetically speaking もし仮に
(KW: 久間章生 防衛大臣 原爆は仕方なかった 終戦記念日)
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