Japanese Occupation: Remembering the Good Times

[Samurai_Jerk]

Taiwan president says should remember good things Japan did

Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said on Sunday it was important to remember the good things Japan did for the island while not forgetting the bad, as he marked 70 years since Japan gave up control of Taiwan at the end of World War Two.

[...]

Speaking in Taipei to mark what Taiwan calls Retrocession Day, Ma said it was true Japan's invasion of China killed millions and issues like the "comfort women", as those forced to work in Japan's wartime military brothels are euphemistically known in Japan, still caused deep pain today.

"But Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan also bought construction, like the Chianan Irrigation system and Wusanto Reservoir," Ma said, referring to two projects Japan oversaw.

"This benefited farmers in Taiwan, and we should naturally affirm it," added Ma, a member of the same Nationalist Party that fled to Taiwan in 1949.

Looking ahead, Ma said that both sides should adopt an attitude of "distinguishing kindness from grievances" and discuss things based on their own merits.

"Only then can the Chinese and Japanese peoples build a great and lasting friendship."

[Wage Slave]

He has a point as far as taking things forward rather than wallowing in the past is concerned. And it is true that as bad a thing as colonialism undeniably was, not everything was unremittingly bad in every country all the time.

[Takechanpoo]

there are 3 samples for good comparison about anti-japan sentiment.
korea, taiwan, philippine

korea : institutionalized anti-japan sentiment, which Syngman Rhee government started as a national policy.
taiwan : institutionalized pro-japan sentiment, which is mainly because of countervailing mainland china.
philippine : natural anti-japan sentiment in the elder generation and natural pro-japan sentiment in the younger generation because of the imfluence of manga and anime. philippine is loose in everything for good and bad. but then you can see it as a natural sample.

[kurogane]

He has a point as far as taking things forward rather than wallowing in the past is concerned. And it is true that as bad a thing as colonialism undeniably was, not everything was unremittingly bad in every country all the time.

Unless it was by the bloodthirsty fucking Englanders my own used to assfuck for fun (apologies for that, btw).........

APOLOGISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Total suck up BS. Taiwan was an aboriginal swamp when they got it. They wanted a naval base. Wasn't there a rebellion there, even if it wasn't by sycophantic fascist Han’cunts named Ma or Pa or Poo or Pee?

[Wage Slave]

Taiwan was an aboriginal swamp when they got it. They wanted a naval base. Wasn't there a rebellion there, even if it wasn't by sycophantic fascist Han’cunts named Ma or Pa or Poo or Pee?

Same could be said of Singapore or Hong Kong. It's hard to argue the colonial legacy was all negative in either.

[kurogane]

Same could be said of Singapore or Hong Kong. It's hard to argue the colonial legacy was all negative in either.

I was going to make a Lindisfarne joke...............but you just apologised for the Opium War.

I loved Guardian readers while I was in the land of the Great Land Rapists. Nice people, good drinking buddies, shockingly delusional. It is cute how painfully apologetic you are for shit you should just apologise for. We don't give you shit for being English. We give you shit for being grovellingly unapologetic homicidal cunts.

PS I win now. Forever. Choo XOX, BFF LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

PPS Stealing other people's shit always = bad. Stop window dressing it. Or at least stop complaining because the Jpaanese one upped you when it counted. I genuinely regret my ancestors were assrapers. You should too.

PPPS The overpopulation of Nanking was dramatically ameliorated after ......................... And look how it cleaned out the city centre in Dresden and Canterbury

[Wage Slave]

Yeah yeah. What did I say again?

"And it is true that as bad a thing as colonialism undeniably was, not everything was unremittingly bad in every country all the time."

But I agree - I regret it happened all right.

We could have made far more money without it all anyway. Imperialism always was and always is a colossal waste of resources.

PS: How is the brief Japanese interlude in Singapore, Hong Kong, Burma and Malaya remembered by the locals?

PPS: Interesting point, in a rather absolutist way, about bombing civilian areas. I suppose we can argue they did it to us first and were poised to invade. I'm not sure the same applies to what was done in Nanking.

[kurogane]

I was teasing, btw. It's just me, after all. I still think it's much more gracious to apologise for stealing people's shit, though I don't think we've apologised to the Indians yet. We should, though.

Anyways, CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.........BFF

[Wage Slave]

Anyways, CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.........BFF

??? Something young people say ???

And yeah, I know. I still like the sparring - all good training.

I have no problem at all with apologising where apologies are warranted. Paying damages is more problematic and perhaps that's why there is a reluctance in some cases. But just saying sorry specific things happened - by all means. Saying that really the whole colonial adventure was fundamentally wrong and the world would be a better place had it never happened. Certainly.

At the same time, a little credit where credit is due wouldn't hurt. And that's why I think Ma Ying-jeou has a point - especially if you regard the future as far more important than the past.

[kurogane]

Toats, LOLzzzzz Nice thoughts and sentiments, hard to disagree, as usual. I am opposed to compensation or redress unless specific losses can be detailed, as in an insurance case or the like. The interned Jpn-Cdns were compensated because they had their stuff sold off at auction (to pay for their transport and accommodation, no less) even though they hadn't done anything. Compensation for general historical yuckiness is unworkable.

Also, Taiwan is a case sui generis in the history of Japanese adventurism in East Asia, in MYHOMO. It was almost like a southern Hokkaido: relatively underpopulated and undeveloped, though it was a war prize. And I am sure the aboriginal Taiwanese have a few choice thoughts about those benevolent Japanese colonial administrators.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan_un ... resistance

But if nothing else at least this Taiwanese guy isn't joining the usual whiney chorus, so that's nice. Abe will be putty in his hands if he keeps this up

[Russell]

Hmm, dunno.

Extrapolating to my own country, I find it hard to imagine a politician being electable if he/she states that there were also good elements of the Nazi occupation...

[kurogane]

Fair enough, but were there any that could even be raised? From what little I know the occupation of the N'lands was rather brutal, and were the Dutch collaborators not properly punished? The Japanese were no Nazis; their barbarity was mostly a failure of systematic control and command rather than a result of it. A better comparison might be the British in India (or anywhere), or the Dutch in the Indonesias: savage, cruel, and subhuman but not utterly devastating like the Germans were.

Or not?

[Russell]

Fair enough, but were there any that could even be raised? From what little I know the occupation of the N'lands was rather brutal, and were the Dutch collaborators not properly punished? The Japanese were no Nazis; their barbarity was mostly a failure of systematic control and command rather than a result of it. A better comparison might be the British in India (or anywhere), or the Dutch in the Indonesias: savage, cruel, and subhuman but not utterly devastating like the Germans were.

Or not?

It is sometimes said that the Dutch did some good things in Indonesia, like building schools. I am always a bit skeptical about that. Better ask the opinion of an Indonesian.

As for Taiwan, in my young years my friend and I once went out drinking with an older guy in Taiwan, and once the guy was drunk all kinds of stories came out about the Japanese occupation, like how he was informed upon by his own mother to the Japanese. I guess the fact he was still alive proved that the Japanese occupation was not so brutal after all?!? Hummm...

[kurogane]

I have met a fair number of older Taiwanese that spoke fondly of their Japanese teachers and such under colonial rule and enjoyed using their rusty Japanese, but I always wondered how common their sentiments were and if it wasn't a touch of nostalgia for their childhood. One guy did state flat out that the Japanese were miles better than the Kuomintang after 1949, but I have heard that the KMT were so discriminatory and often brutal towards the existing population when they arrived that isn't surprising perhaps. I assume all the people I met were Han Chinese, not indigenous minority Taiwanese. At least they looked like it, and they would have been born between 1925-35 or so.

[Samurai_Jerk]

The Odd Couple: Japan & Taiwan’s Unlikely Friendship

Japan does not have it easy among its neighbors. Koreans (from both Koreas) and Chinese won’t miss a chance to slam Japan for lack of repentance for Japan’s war-time crimes (needless to say, public figures in Japan give them a good reason every now and then), and relations with Russia, while not being as bad, still face the unresolved dispute over Kuril Islands. However, one relationships stands out in the otherwise awkward position of Japan in the region. Its relationship with Taiwan, while unofficial due to the peculiar status of Taiwan, is unlike any other Japanese bilateral relationship in Northeast Asia. Indeed, it would not be far-fetched to call Taiwan the most Japan-friendly state in Asia.

[...]

Consider that a survey conducted by the Interchange Association Japan, Japan’s de facto embassy in Taiwan, found that 65 percent of Taiwanese feel either “close” or “really close” to Japan, which stands in stark contrast to China where over 90 percent of Chinese have either an “unfavorable” or “relatively unfavorable” opinions of Japan.

Indeed, Japan is overwhelmingly the most popular country among Taiwanese. When asked what their favorite country was in the same survey, 43 percent said Japan, while only single digits said Singapore, the U.S. or China. The support for Japan is even stronger among Taiwanese aged 20-29, with 54 percent of respondents in that age group listing Japan as their favorite foreign country. By contrast, only 2 percent of respondents between ages of 20 and 29 said China was their favorite foreign country.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry report on Taiwan-Japan relations reveals some of the reasons why Japan is viewed so favorable among Taiwanese. For example, 67 percent of Japanese say they feel either “very close” or “really close” to Taiwan, while tourism reached 1.5 million people in 2012.

It seems the warm fuzzy feelings are fairly widespread. I've also heard what Takechan said about it being institutionalized after the war since the KMT was understandably focused on China as the real threat and wanted to make nice with all the US allies. Whereas in China and the Koreas anti-Japanese sentiment was regularly used to give the people someone to hate when those dictatorships didn't want the focus to be on the horrible things they were doing.

[Takechanpoo]

its easy to be explained.
in postwar taiwan, the governance by mainland chinese of Chinese Nationalist Party was more brutal than empire japan's one.
it weakened the impression of j-brutality.

[matsuki]

I was teasing, btw. It's just me, after all. I still think it's much more gracious to apologise for stealing people's shit, though I don't think we've apologised to the Indians yet.

Dude...I'm still confused by the Canadian national anthem:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!

...an in French:

O Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux (Land of our ancestors?)



Oh Kankokuuuuuu,
Our home and native land!