Japan's WWII crimes glossed over
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There is a very good reason why Shinzo Abe appears reluctant to issue an apology that will satisfy China and South Korea. He was not born until nine years after WW2 ended, and he has been educated to believe, like most of his generation, that the Japanese
Even before WW2 ended, the Americans were more concerned about Russia and prospective Chinese Communism than Japanese remorse, and carried out a programme of rebuilding Japan as a bulwark against the spread of that doctrine, of which they have always had a paranoid fear.
In consequence, the Japanese under American occupation were allowed, if not encouraged, to re-invent the Japanese involvement to almost hero-worship level, both in Japanese films and literature.
During the lengthy Korean War, Japanese manufacturers were given the opportunity to supply the US Army, troops spent their furloughs in Japan, and aid was provided, which helped the Japanese economy recover more quickly than their erstwhile victims.
Unfortunately for Mr Abe, and unlike previous attempts to deny history, the Internet is choc-a-bloc with detailed authenticated descriptions of many horrific Japanese atrocities and the rest of the world has easy access to them. Prime examples are the descriptions of probably the most appalling atrocity of the entire war, that of the pitiless and barbaric experiments on thousands of Chinese and other men, women and children at Unit 731 and other infamous locations across Manchuria and China.
The Japanese perpetrators of these crimes were apparently given immunity from prosecution by General MacArthur, in return for supplying the American government with the data gained from their abominable experiments!
Unfortunately, all this has prevented Asia from reaching closure in the manner that Europe has with the Germans. After all, we are unlikely to read about Ms Merkel and her Cabinet visiting a shrine that includes the remains of those responsible for the Holocaust.
Impartial Observer
Cha-Am
