My Grandfather the War Criminal

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

[cstaylor]

She's damn lucky the Americans didn't use Stalinist tactics and ship Tojo's whole family to northern Hokkaido for forced labor.

[Captain Japan]

[cstaylor]

I really wonder how she came to make this conclusion: lose a war and prosperity will be yours.

It's the same B.S. story that Koizumi feeds the media everytime he visits Yasukuni Jinja.

It's ex-post facto justification for their past military aggression. The one and only reason that Japan didn't end up like East Germany was Douglas MacArthur, who refused to share power with the Russians, leaving them only their reclaimed Kuriles.

[cstaylor]

lose a war and prosperity will be yours.

To complete her comment: lose a war to the right country and prosperity will be yours.

[vir-jin]

[Captain Japan]

It's the same B.S. story that Koizumi feeds the media everytime he visits Yasukuni Jinja.

I remember a few years ago after he visitited Yasukuni and China complained, Koizumi (or one of his handlers) said: It is Japanese tradition to visit a shrine during New Years. They (the Chinese) obviously don't understand Japanese culture (or something along those lines).

[Captain Japan]

lose a war and prosperity will be yours.

To complete her comment: lose a war to the right country and prosperity will be yours.

Ah, but she's got cred, man. I'd love to be able to shoot off at the mouth with a bunch of contradictions and have someone buy me a fancy French dinner that allows me to drink in the imperial gardens, the verdant vacuum at the centre of Tokyo.

[cstaylor]

Ah, but she's got cred, man.

Only to FT flaks who waste their time interviewing grandchildren of war criminals. What did he expect her to say? "Yeah, Gramps was a real bastard! The Allies should have hung him twice".

[cstaylor]

I can see some similarities to Germany coming to terms with the past. "unfair" and "but..." and " we didn't personally"
but...

I've read recently that far-right parties are on the rise again, especially in the economically depressed former East Germany.

[vir-jin]

I can see some similarities to Germany coming to terms with the past. "unfair" and "but..." and " we didn't personally"
but...

I've read recently that far-right parties are on the rise again, especially in the economically depressed former East Germany.

on the rise again? did they get down at any point? austria and switzerland follow, too- see, you read about it Japan keeps silent about the past, Germany is kept silent by the surrounding countries. both ways aren't leading to any better. any lie should be discovered fast and made public. that's what I expect from the media.

[GargoyleTS]

See, this is why being American sucks now. I only expect lies from the media and that I will have to check foreign sources in order to discover where the truth lies.

The press expects too much freedom now I think. They report only what they want to report instead of being a watchdog for the people's freedom.

Jerks.

And I agree, what did he expect her to say? Actually what exactly was his point? I see that his audience was primarily non-Japanese, but he never even tried to really associate any of his material with the movie they mentioned, what, twice? So its either an editorial hack-job from a crappy interview or its a scare piece. And if you follow the link to read the actual article...do they give a recap of every meal they buy for an interview like that? Just wierd.

Crown Restaurant, Palace Hotel, Tokyo

2 x sliced apple with oyster

2 x haricot bean soup

1 x wrapped fillet of lamb

1 x grilled sea bream

selection of petits fours

1 x coffee

1 x milk tea

Total: Y14,000

[Mulboyne]

do they give a recap of every meal they buy for an interview like that?

The FT runs a "Lunch with the FT" feature every Saturday. They always print the "menu" and price - the FT always pays regardless of whether it is a blow-out boozy spectacular or a a bottle of water.
They don't have many Japanese subjects]here[/url] although the link has gone subscription only...)

The lunch guest is supposed to be topical. Remember the FT has been running articles for a while now about growing nationalism in Japan so showing Tojo in all her blinkered glory suits their agenda.

[vir-jin]

See, this is why being American sucks now. I only expect lies from the media and that I will have to check foreign sources in order to discover where the truth lies.

The press expects too much freedom now I think. They report only what they want to report instead of being a watchdog for the people's freedom.

Jerks.

Well to give you a more drastic example:
CNN reporter in palestine at the weekly Friday demonstration, filming and reporting busily. I watched his film the next day on TV. Everything truthleading cut out. Some Israeli soldiers had started to throw tear gas bombs on the- that time peacfully- demonstrating Palestinians, and they began to throw stones on the tanks. The tear gas was cut out.
I met this reporter at the next Friday demonstration and asked him why they cut it that way. He looked me deep in the eye and said, "Our boss is Jew, girl."

As for any Israel related topic, I prefer the Haaretz. Trusting the media too much is not a wise thing to do in any country. Anything I saw and heard in Palestine was far from what the media had taught me. And I knew about the plans of the Irak war three months after the twin towers- some embassy connections. Media is just a mirror. Better to see things in real time. I count on my personal connections in future, with the secret information between the lines

[dimwit]

The lunch guest is supposed to be topical. Remember the FT has been running articles for a while now about growing nationalism in Japan so showing Tojo in all her blinkered glory suits their agenda.

Fine, but does giving her a soapbox really address the issue? I think far too few young people in Canada (and I think England as well) see her for the evil she represents. Many of the young people back are willing to buy into the Japan as a victim dogma and are unaware of the criminal behavior of its ruling class during the war.

[Kuang_Grade]

[Maths Dude]

A family member of mine was murdered on a Japanese death march in Borneo in WW2. So I have the right to comment. Though this happened I don't want or expect an apology. The people who did the crime are probably dead already. The Japanese of today did nothing wrong and therefore have no need to feel guilty or say sorry. It's bullshit to expect one. It's like if my cousin killed a few people, and you expect MONEY and an APOLOGY from me? No fuckin way.

[cstaylor]

There's a difference between letting the past alone and stirring up trouble by spreading lies about one's Class-A war criminal father.

[vir-jin]

There's a difference between letting the past alone and stirring up trouble by spreading lies about one's Class-A war criminal father.

nothing to add.

[Maths Dude]

Also, in war truth is always the first casulty. I don't know if that dude was a war criminal, it's all a matter of opinion if you ask me. If he is a war crim, then isn't Amerika? They butchered the indians, and nuked the japanese. Maybe it's better to let the past go hehe.

[devicenull]

Also, in war truth is always the first casulty. I don't know if that dude was a war criminal, it's all a matter of opinion if you ask me. If he is a war crim, then isn't America? They butchered the indians, and nuked the japanese. Maybe it's better to let the past go hehe.

Nope, America won it's wars, or got out of them if they turned unwinnable. Japan lost and was a shitty military force that relied on savagry. If you can manage to decisively defeat the US, you can call us war criminals all day long for the rest of your life, till that day comes, stfu loser.

[NeoNecroNomiCron]

Nope, America won it's wars, or got out of them if they turned unwinnable.

Vietnam?
.
.
.
Afganistan soon?
.
.
.
Iraq soon?

[Mulboyne]

FT Letters: Discussing world war is taboo for Japanese people

Sir, With reference to David Pilling's Lunch with the FT article "Let Japan's sleeping gods of war lie" (FT Weekend, February 19-20): I have no idea how English people react to Yuko Tojo's way of thinking about the second world war. But I think her beliefs are the biggest problem in modern Japan, as so many Japanese young people still think about the second world war in the way she does.
Accordingly, no one feels responsible what we (Japanese) did during the war. But I say that even if Ms Tojo's beliefs are true, we Japanese have somehow to escape this mindset otherwise we will never be happy or a real country. I remembered that Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni shrine last year. At the time Japan was is in the midst of argument about sending the Japanese military to the Iraq war.
I was really surprised at Mr Koizumi visiting the shrine. I think all Japanese are more like ghosts. They are still living in the time of the second world war. I think Japanese politics should have a slogan similar to New Labour's in the UK - Japan is working, do not go back! Sadly, it is impossible to discuss the subject with Japanese people. It is still taboo.

[cstaylor]

There's a great section in "The Last Lion" series, where Sarte and his girlfriend are talking about the Great War with a former Sargeant in the Kaiser's military.

I don't have the book in front me of at the moment, but in summary, Sarte was surprised at the German's anger over the national humiliation at Versailles, and his parting words of "next time" were an indicator of the war to come.

[cstaylor]

Also, in war truth is always the first casulty. I don't know if that dude was a war criminal, it's all a matter of opinion if you ask me. If he is a war crim, then isn't Amerika? They butchered the indians, and nuked the japanese. Maybe it's better to let the past go hehe.

Someone had to hang for 10+ million dead in Asia, and since the Emperor was off the table...

[cstaylor]

Japan lost and was a shitty military force that relied on savagry.

They lost when they changed tactics. In the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese relied on offense and surprise to take enemy positions. Their two fatal mistakes were:
- Improper security protocols for communication (responding with code words to America's uncoded communications... AF for Midway Island)
- Tying themselves down into fortified positions on captured islands with no real air support

Both of those mistakes came from underestimating the Allied military.

[samuraiwig]

Much of what granddaughter-Tojo says is misguided and/or plain incorrect, but the FT's decision to intersperse such a discussion with sidenotes on lunch is pretty crass.

I agree that Japan needs to deal in some way with the still reverberating repercussions of WWII and its exploits around Asia, but more to sort itself out than to appease others seeking an apology.

It's important to remember that 'to the victor go the spoils', including the right/ability to denegrate the loser. Maybe Japan lost to the right country, but it is still suffering from an identity crisis and I don't see many other countries benefitting from being bombed into freedom and democracy by the US.

My family lost several members in WWII, but I have no expectation that contemporary Japanese, Germans, et al should apologise to me. That would be meaningless, for all concerned. It was a war. The Allies also committed terrible acts (e.g. on their final march into Germany), and if things had developed differently many of them could justifiably have been called war criminals.

All that should be expected is that collectively (Japanese and German, 'winners' and 'losers') people should learn from the past and not avoid confronting difficult issues.

[Captain Japan]

Discussing world war is taboo for Japanese people
Letter to the editor from Ms Chie Yamaguchi.

Sir, With reference to David Pilling's Lunch with the FT article "Let Japan's sleeping gods of war lie" (FT Weekend, February 19-20): I have no idea how English people react to Yuko Tojo's way of thinking about the second world war. But I think her beliefs are the biggest problem in modern Japan, as so many Japanese young people still think about the second world war in the way she does.

Accordingly, no one feels responsible what we (Japanese) did during the war. But I say that even if Ms Tojo's beliefs are true, we Japanese have somehow to escape this mindset otherwise we will never be happy or a real country.

I remembered that Junichiro Koizumi visited Yasukuni shrine last year. At the time Japan was is in the midst of argument about sending the Japanese military to the Iraq war.

I was really surprised at Mr Koizumi visiting the shrine. I think all Japanese are more like ghosts. They are still living in the time of the second world war. I think Japanese politics should have a slogan similar to New Labour's in the UK - Japan is working, do not go back!

Sadly, it is impossible to discuss the subject with Japanese people. It is still taboo.

Chie Yamaguchi, Romford, Essex RM6 4EJ, UK

[Ketou]

Japan lost and was a shitty military force that relied on savagry.

They lost when they changed tactics. In the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese relied on offense and surprise to take enemy positions. Their two fatal mistakes were:
- Improper security protocols for communication (responding with code words to America's uncoded communications... AF for Midway Island)
- Tying themselves down into fortified positions on captured islands with no real air support

Both of those mistakes came from underestimating the Allied military.

There was nothing shitty at all about the Japanese Imperial Forces. They were well trained, well discplined and very hardy soldiers. No argument on the brutal part though!
Other major mistakes were overextended supply lines and poor reconnaissance. Milne Bay being a good example.