A common Japanese saying (which misinterprets a Confucian phrase)
This year [originally written in 1995] marks the 50th year since the end of World War II. In the Spring of 1945, with Hitler's Germany on the verge of collapse, Imperial Japan was facing an increasingly desperate situation, bombs destroying the cities that a naval blockade had brought to near starvation. Defeat was imminent, but resistance in the tragic form of suicide attacks was continued, if only to buy time.
At around the time of the 50th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, a Japanese magazine called, Marco Polo disputed the Nazi Holocaust. This soon caused an outpour of international criticism against Marco Polo, followed by a boycott by several prominent advertisers. The controversial magazine was hastily removed from circulation and abruptly discontinued. Its publisher, "Bungei Shunjuu", a company that runs a highly renowned monthly by the same name with a reputation for balanced, objective, yet provocative discussions of contemporary issues and modern history, had launched Marco Polo a few years ago as a version tailored to the tastes of the younger generation. However nobody had expected this publisher to print something which looks much like Neo-Nazi propaganda! (Although criticism against running highly sensational articles in its other weeklies had been rising, by the way.)
At about the same time, in Washington, D.C., plans for this summer's exhibition at the Smithsonian Museum, featuring the Enola Gay, (the bomber that carried out the atomic bombing of Hiroshima) were changed - canceling a proposed display of pictures and articles revealing the results of the nuclear attack. The City of Hiroshima has consequently decided to run its own exhibition in the U.S.
What is important is that the above incidents are happening at a time when many people in Japan are raising a renewed concern about the difficulties of facing the realities of the war. For many Japanese dishonesty and its counterpart ignorance are bad omens, reminiscent of the days of totalitarian leadership during the war. From the Manchurian Incident of 1931 the Japanese media, operating under military censorship regularly misled the general population. For example, news of military defeats following the pivotal Battle of Midway in 1942 was replaced by exaggerated optimistic reports of the fighting on the front lines. The fabrication of news became so endemic that even military leaders started making tactical blunders, having been deceived by the myths of their own making. It led to dire consequences.
Yet, even in today's post-war Japan some people have insisted upon keeping "miserable" pictures and "sensitive" incidents out of school textbooks. There are people who believe that with "respect to the dignity of the fallen heroes" - inadequate expressions such as "aggression," "invasion" or "apology" should be kept out of official documents and texts related to (WW II) the "Great East-Asian War."
The majority of people of the now retiring generation that experienced the battles, the air raids, the shortages and the associated untruths are trying to pass down this wisdom for the future. "We must tell future generations about the horrors of war" they say, often with a strong sense of personal duty. But very recently, some people young and old are starting to wonder about the limits of this earnest approach. Can a subjective, emotional account of events, however traumatic, really live on?
World War II mobilized practically every person and every resource in Japan. Similarly, no one was later able to escape the traumatic effects of defeat. Various currents of thought and emotions continue to exist to this day, which those who wish to face the past must sincerely contemplate.
La vittoria trova cento padri, e nessuno vuole riconoscere l Áinsuccesso. (Victory has a hundred fathers, but defeat is an orphan no one would recognize.) Count Galeazzo Ciano, Foreign Minister of Fascist Italy, son-in-law of Benito Mussolini (1903-1944)
Through this column we hope to inform the reader of topics & trends which are being currently discussed by Japanese. We want to supply multiple perspectives, as well as discuss the underlying reasons, cultural trends and historical backgrounds of the subjects we cover.
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