Japan's Emperor Hirohito and Yasukuni Shrine

People who pay attention to Japan, China, Korea or Asia are probably all aware of the sensitivity of the issue about Yasukuni Shrine and the disputed pilgrimages made by any high-level Japanese polictians, incl. its prime ministers so far.

The recently revealed diary of Emperor Hirohito's chamberlain has attracted much attention to this issue after the agitation of "comfort women" both in Japan and abroad.

I found it interesting to see this diary made public at this moment by the media, after Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made several "considerablly inappropriate" statements regarding comfort women and when he is "briefly" visiting US (only 1 night 2 days schedule) at the moment. Although he has so far not visited Yasukuni Shrine since being in power, whether he is gonna stay out of Yasukuni and its related international quarelle to further demonstrate his sincerety of pursuing peace and reconciliation with other Asian countries, mainly China and Korea, or pay his respect to the Shrine at the most important moment during the year - Obon period in Japan (mid-August), as Japanese right wing supporters expect him to do, remains to be observed and followed...


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Hirohito quit Yasukuni Shrine visits over concerns about war criminals: diary

AP - Emperor Hirohito stopped visiting a Tokyo war shrine at the center of Japan's diplomatic dispute with neighboring nations because of displeasure over its 1978 enshrinement of top war criminals, according to new documents published Thursday.

The insights, provided in the diary of a former imperial chamberlain, reinforce earlier findings from private memorandums that shed light on why the wartime emperor stopped visiting Yasukuni Shrine after his eighth trip in 1975.

In a July 31, 2001, entry of his diary, published by the Asahi newspaper, the chamberlain, Ryogo Urabe, wrote that "the direct cause" was that the emperor was "displeased about the inclusion of Class A war criminals."

Hirohito, under whose name Japan marched across most of Asia in the first half of the 20th century, died in 1989. His son, Akihito, is Japan's current emperor and has never made a pilgrimage to Yasukuni.

The shrine honors Japan's 2.5 million war dead. Visits by Japanese leaders and lawmakers to Yasukuni have long been a source of friction between Japan and its neighbors because the shrine is seen by many as a symbol of Japan's pre-1945 militarism.

In an entry dated April 28, 1988, Urabe said he had been summoned to meet the emperor and that the topic of discussion was the inclusion of war criminals at Yasukuni and China's opposition to the move, the Asahi said.

That passage exactly matches an entry in a diary kept by the Imperial Household Agency chief, Tomohiko Tomita, who had met the emperor before Urabe that day. That passage was made public last year in a report by the Nikkei newspaper.

In Tomita's memo, he quoted the emperor as saying he had stopped his visits after the chief priest at Yasukuni, Nagayoshi Matsudaira, decided to include top war criminals among those commemorated at the shrine, the Nikkei said.

Hirohito said he wondered what the priest was thinking, according to Tomita's account, given the pro-peace views held by the priest's father, Yoshitami Matsudaira, who had been head of the Imperial Household Agency after the war.

"Matsudaira had a strong wish for peace, but the child didn't know the parent's heart," Tomita quoted the emperor as saying, the Nikkei reported. "That's why I have not visited the shrine since. This is my heart."

The diary of Urabe, who died in 2002, will be published in a series of books, the Asahi said. Tomita died in 2003.

Travel, Travel, Roaring Heart ~

很多朋友也許以為這陣子我消失了, 其實, 一直在旅行, 在世界旅行, 也在腦海裡, 心裡旅行.
I've not been disappearing, I have been travelling. Travelling in the world, in my mind, in my spirit.


想把所有的東西寫下來, 可是力不從心, 時間有限. 同時, 旅行而來的心靈啟發, 思想刺激, 需要一些時間來消化, 內化為自己的一部分. 這也是我喜歡旅行的原因吧. 旅行, 讓我有活著, 存在的感覺.
The impulse to write everything down is strong and pounding, and yet energy and time is limited.
Meanwhile, the inspiration and stimulation from the search of my voyage in the world and the universe need time to be digested by me and be intergrated into a part of me.
This is why I love travelling. I feel alive and existing in the world...


幾度尋尋覓覓, 暮然回首, 燈火闌珊處的家, 在哪裡? 不想再流浪了......
Search all over the world, look back where I've been, is the sweet home here? No desire to roar anymore...

My Celebrity Look-alikes 2

Another collage...

My Celebrity Look-alikes

Reading one of my best friends' blog, I found this funny "celebrity look-alikes" thing. The even funnier fact is that "my look" is collaged with a set of 10 totally different faces if I try with different photos of mine, or more precisely speaking: a different hair-style.

Nevertheless, one celebrity does appear in my two trials: the figure skating queen Michelle Kwan. Well, I take it as a nice surprise, as I've been her fan for a long time and always consider her one of the prettiest figure skaters...

Have a try by yourself with the following link:
http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/celebrity-collage.php

NOTE: Try to take a large, front-facing and straight faced photo. For the result will vary if you appear small in the photo uploaded.

070422 Cherry's Wedding Party @ Tokyo

After getting married last Nov. in Tainan, Taiwan, one of my best friends, Cherry, finally held a wedding party (ni-ji-kai*, in Japanese) in Tokyo and met the "satisfaction" of her families and all good friends.

Here, one important thing should be noted: Cherry is Japanese with Taiwanese origin, and is married to Tomoki san, a Japanese lawyer.


The wedding party was held at a chic trendy cafe, Cafe Selon, @ Namiki Dori, Aoyama, Tokyo. Besides the delicious buffet and convivial atmosphere, there were several climax in the whole party, such as:

The bride and the groom's entry into the party - white wedding dress and white suit, bowing (typical Japanese) and bowing again. ;-)



The BOSS of and the most important "elder character" from the groom, to everyone's surprise, has given us a long (at least 20 min?!) and depicted speech about the groom's virtues and competence at work. (Pls bear in mind, he is the boss of a prestigeous law firm in Tokyo.)

Best wishes to and personal words about the couple from their internationally composed guests - Japanese, Taiwanese, German etc.




A karaoke entertainment arranged with a beautiful Chinese love song by a lovely duet.



Last, but not the least, a LOVE LETTER reading by the bride to the groom - I personally consider it as the climax of the climax, and the letter was so touching that I felt my eyes were getting a bit moist...



All in all, it was a wonderful two hours time - Japanese are punctual. When it's written from 12:00 to 14:00, then it ends at 14:00 sharp without any possible delay or surprise - and I really enjoyed it. Compared to the wedding banquet style, crowdy and noisy, in Taiwan, I always find the Japanese style brings more communication among participants during the party. It's said that some people also consider wedding parties as a "channel" to meet potential candidates for their future partners, and I wonder if it's still the case in Japan now...

MORE PHOTOS:

070422_Cherry's Wedding Party / 結婚派對 / 二次會

* NOTE: In Japan, wedding is usually composed of 2 parts.

1st is the wedding ceremony, which you can either opt for a traditional Japanese style in a Buddhist temple or a Shintoist shrine, or a western style in a church or a wedding chapel. A luxurious lunch or dinner will follow the ceremony. Only the closest family members, the most important elders in the personal relationship of the bride and the groom, namely bosses in the working relationship, and best friends will be invited to this part. The number of guests varies from the wealthiness and the social importance of the couple's families. In a normal case, the guests are limited between 20 to 30.

Unlike the custom in west, i.e. list of marriage or gifts giving, guests are expected to make financial contribution (money in special wedding envelope) to the couple as they arrive at the ceremony. For it's very expensive for Japanese to hold a wedding ceremony in Japan. A modest budget is estimated at around 1 mio Japanese Yen (around 9,000USD). Of course, guests are not supposed to feel "deprived" from the couples, so they will usually receive a "thank you" gift prepared by the couple's side, following to a luxurious meal.

2nd part is the wedding party for friends and colleagues, also called "Ni-ji-kai" in Japanese (meaning the 2nd party). This party often takes place in a stylish restaurant, and guests will be required to pay for their food and drinks - it's usually called "kai-hi" (participation fee) , and the menu is decided by the couple before hand. This kind of party is aimed for the new couple to share their joy with good friends, so it is held in a more casual and entertaining form. A witful animator is often present, and some funny words and programs are usually arranged.

As the bride and the groom will invite good friends from each side, the party is also considered as an opportunity for meeting new people for all the participants.

Seven questions: Japan's sex slaves problem

The following is a very interesting interview of Prof. Gerald Curtis by Foreign Plolicy Journal. It is not only concerned with the issue of "comfort women", but we can get a even broader understanding about Japan and China in a more general sense.

Enjoy!

PS: I have bolded and italiced a part of the interview, for I found it extremely valuable to understand the difference between Chinese and Japanese...

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Foreign Policy journal - Japan’s struggling prime minister provoked a firestorm of controversy recently when he said there was no proof that the Japanese military kidnapped women to work as sex slaves during World War II. FP asked Gerald Curtis, a top expert on Japanese politics, why Japan has so much trouble moving beyond its past.

Shinzo’s got a problem: The trouble with Abe is that he isn’t very able.

FP: Why is Japan’s use of “comfort women” or “sex slaves” popping up as a topic, more than 60 years after the end of World War II?

Gerald Curtis: It’s popping up because the current leadership thinks they’ve apologized enough for wartime misdeeds, and they don’t want to be pushed around on this issue anymore.

FP: In 2005, China erupted in what looked like orchestrated anger over a controversial Japanese textbook that glossed the “Rape of Nanking.” It’s the same general topic, World War II historical wrongs, but China’s reaction has been muted this time. What’s changed?

GC: First of all, that’s a different issue. But what’s changed is that the Chinese strategy has changed. They’re trying to avoid this history issue getting in the way of the relationship. Plus, it’s difficult to have big problems with Japan and not, in some way or another, get caught up in problems with the United States. They want to focus on their internal development, not be distracted by problems in their external relations. They appreciate that [Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe went to Beijing first thing as soon as he became prime minister. And as long as he doesn’t visit the Yasukuni Shrine, which was their big issue with [Abe’s predecessor Junichiro] Koizumi, they’re going to try to downplay these history issues. So they’re playing it very differently now than they did when Koizumi was in office. In any case, the comfort women issue is not such a big issue for China; it’s a bigger issue for the Koreans.

FP: Picking up on your last comment, it seems like there’s been more reaction to the comfort women issue in the United States than in Asia. Why would the U.S. Congress want to get involved in a controversy that’s between Japan, China, and South Korea, but has nothing to do with the United States?

GC: It’s true that the congressional resolution that Congressman [Mike] Honda [of California] put forward deals with an issue that Americans are not directly a party to, which was the use of women in Asia for forced sex with the Japanese military. But when the Japanese prime minister sounded as though he was defending the actions of the Japanese military during the war, by saying that in some narrow sense, these women were not forced into prostitution—I mean, it’s really outrageous—that not only angered Korean-Americans and Chinese-Americans and others who have a direct interest in this issue, but it angered anybody who’s concerned about human rights and women’s rights. And the prime minister and the leadership in Japan handled it almost as badly as could be imagined. More recently, he’s been trying to undo the damage by saying that, as prime minister of Japan, he feels these women’s pain, he apologizes, and that he reaffirms the statement that was made in the 1990s by the then chief cabinet secretary, Mr. Kono, which was an official government apology for the treatment of these women.

FP: Is that enough?

GC: I don’t know what’s enough at this point because the situation has really gotten so nasty. These very conservative Japanese draw a line between what they say were women being forced by the Japanese government to provide sexual services, and women who were recruited some other way, possibly by middlemen. It’s a distinction without a difference. Some of these women were 14 and 15 years old. They were forced to become sex slaves for the Japanese military. So were middlemen used to recruit them? Yeah, probably. Did the military rape some of these women directly and recruit them themselves? Yes, definitely. The Japanese government says there’s no written evidence to confirm that the Japanese military forcibly recruited these women, but there’s the testimony of these 16 comfort women. It’s the worst possible issue for Japan. They can’t say anything that seems as though it’s defending the awful actions of the Japanese government during its militarist period, and expect that anybody anywhere is going to be sympathetic. Too many of the conservatives in Japan have convinced themselves that it’s just what they call the “left-wing American media” that is playing up this issue for its own purposes, without saying what those purposes are. So there’s a lot of self-delusion going on here about how bad this is for Japan’s image.

FP: According to the latest poll numbers, Abe is down to about a 35 percent approval rating just six months into his time in office. Why is he so unpopular?

GC: Because the public hasn’t been convinced that he knows what he wants to do about Japan’s domestic issues and how to do it. The public is concerned about things like healthcare, pensions, taxes, education of their children. What are his policies? It’s not clear. Plus, there’s the sense that after Koizumi’s radical approach, Abe is going back to politics as normal, the bad old ways. He doesn’t really have much leadership ability, to manage his own cabinet, etc. All of those things are contributing to this continuing decline in his support ratings. It doesn’t seem to have leveled off yet.

FP: How does the comfort women issue play into that?

GC: I’m sure this issue with the comfort women is hurting him a lot, because there isn’t much sympathy among the Japanese public for his position. I think there’s some concern that it’s leading to a deterioration in relations with the United States, the most important relationship Japan has. As for Abe’s statements, I think he said what he believed without thinking very hard about either playing to his conservative base or what the consequences would be abroad. Before he became prime minister, he was one of the leaders of the group that wanted to revise the so-called Kono statement about Japan’s culpability for forcing those women into sex slavery. So he said what he believed. Yeah, it plays to his narrow base of hard-core right-wing support, but I think it cost him more broadly, both domestically and internationally. The Japanese conservative leadership has not come to grips with World War II, so there’s a politics of denial here. This is not majority sentiment in Japan, but it happens to be a very strong sentiment among the group that’s in power in Japan.

FP: Japan has a history of baffling foreign observers. Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, for instance, once described the country as having “intangibles of culture that America is ill-prepared to understand fully.” What do you think most outsiders still don’t get about Japan?

GC: It’s hard to find Japanese who can explain what Japan is thinking in a way that foreigners can understand. It’s very different when you interact with Chinese elites. They’re very articulate. They have a global vision. They have a worldview. They know what they think and they tell you. But the Japanese cultural tradition is quite different, so you have to be able to read between the lines. You have to be able to hear it in the Japanese language, and there aren’t very many people who can do that. So they’re not very good at articulating their views, and that leads to all kinds of guesswork about what they’re up to. The fact is, even with all the changes going on, and this right-wing leadership in power now, the Japanese defense budget is not increasing. They’re reaching out for a bigger role abroad, but in a pretty tentative and limited manner. They’ll probably continue to muddle through—take some tough positions like they have on the abductee issue with North Korea—but the idea that they’re on the march to become a great military power with power projection capabilities and challenge the Chinese and so on? I don’t buy it.

Gerald L. Curtis is professor of political science at Columbia University. He is the author of numerous books on politics in Japan and U.S.-East Asian relations.

Sometimes, we just need to get ourselves loved by ourselves...

It was the toughest day yesterday so far this year.
Long, full with tears and filled with emotions :
love, sorrow, sadness, regrets, anxiety, helplessness,
lust, desire, infatuation, passion, affection,
joy, fantasy, lack of confidence, etc...

After all the emotions being channelled out,
all the thoughts sorted out,
a fresh new feeling is there again.

It's a feeling of being reborn, energy regenerating,
a new perspective of life, a re-confirmation of possibilities in myself,
and a brand new set-off for a course in self-orientation/self-search...


To reward myself, I went for a nail design art "treat" today.
It fixed the seriousely-neglected side of me.

Looking at my fingers after an intensive car,e and with the pretty design coat,
I felt spring has come to my life with all the cherry blossoms in every corners of Tokyo.
In the warm sunshine, life is as bright as the sun and as smelly as the flowers.

(The most popular nail art designs in Tokyo - with bio sculpture gel.
Besides color gradation, multi-color Rhinestones in different shapes and hand-paintings
can all be done by nail artists. )

(Different from acrylic liquid and powder sculpture,
bio sculpture gel is a thin coat treatment to be put on nails and
can strengthen and promote the growth of nature nails.
You can also have extention added up to make your finger nails look longer and prettier.
I had a bio sculpture treatment without extention
cus my nail artist suggested the extention would work better a month later
when I get used to the nail treatment.
The bio sculpture can usually last for 1 month,
and then a "repair" or "repaint" would be needed. )

Asahi Shinbum's Column: POINT OF VIEW

POINT OF VIEW/ Koken Tsuchiya:Open up stored records on 'comfort women'

04/16/2007

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The government and the Liberal Democratic Party have overreacted to the draft resolution introduced in January to the U.S. House of Representatives that demands Japan formally acknowledge and apologize for forcing women to provide sex for Japanese soldiers during the wars. Similar resolutions have already been adopted by the parliaments of South Korea and Taiwan, so the move is nothing new.

Japan has been strongly urged on repeated occasions to resolve the "comfort women" issue by such international organizations as the United Nations Human Rights Council, the U.N. Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Labor Organization.

Those facts shows that not only countries that suffered under the Japanese military think Japan has yet to settle the "comfort women" problem, but international organizations that generally maintain neutrality also think so.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Taro Aso insist "there was no coercion in the narrow sense" and there are "factual errors" in this view of history.

But their arguments do not seem well-grounded. The governments of the Netherlands and South Korea, which both suffered damage from Japan, and these international organizations have conducted their own investigations, including interviews with former comfort women. They have recognized the pain that was inflicted on these women.

On a number of occasions, I have also met and listened to the stories of victims from countries that suffered damage. From what I learned, particularly in countries occupied by Japan such as China and the Philippines, in many cases, women were kidnapped, attacked or confined directly by the military without any involvement by private operators.

Japanese courts have also found evidence of and acknowledged the fact of coercion. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations dispatched members to the related countries to look into damage reports, and it publicized the results. Based on its findings, the federation has four times urged the prime minister to make a formal apology and extend compensation to individuals.

I agree with the theory that the current confusion is caused by the ambiguity of the government's survey released in 1993 and in the wording of the statement issued by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono.

Meanwhile, there is little evidence that the government has seriously pursued its investigation since 1993. It has been passive at best, not even bothering to interview the surviving comfort women, except for a few in South Korea. Some naysayers have even taken advantage of the government's inadequate response to this issue to try to discredit the Kono statement.

The government must take the blame for failing to take proper measures. It must look further into the situation and hear from the victims to reveal the true situation of "comfort women" and wartime coercion.

Successive prime ministers have offered "apologies." But neither prime ministers nor foreign ministers have ever personally met with these aging victims.

Listening to these leaders' recent statements in the Diet, I got the impression they have not bothered to read the reports released by the Dutch government after 1993, nor the moving account of "comfort women" on the Indonesian island of Buru that was written more than 30 years ago by prominent Indonesian writer Pramoedya Ananta Toer (1925-2006).

Speculation that is not based on a thorough investigation lacks persuasive power.

It is illogical to argue that just because no official documents can be found that record the coercion, it therefore never happened. While many documents were burned when Japan lost the war, a large number of documents still reside silently in storage rooms at ministries, awaiting a full investigation to reveal the truth.

A proposal to set up a special bureau within the National Diet Library to examine such documents, and bills aimed at settling the "comfort women" problem have been repeatedly submitted to the Diet. Before trying to block the U.S. Congress from adopting its resolution, the Diet should deliberate on these bills.

Some may fear the resolution could cause a rift in Japan-U.S. relations. But denying history is much more detrimental to mutual trust between the two countries.

Mike Honda, the U.S. House of Representatives member who submitted the resolution, insists that only after Japan acknowledges its responsibility can it make peace with its victims and pave the way to stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

The Asian Peace and People's Fund for Women (Asian Women's Fund), which dissolved at the end of March, was regarded by victims and victimized countries as a way for the government to evade responsibility. It is time we reconsider what is in Japan's true national interest.

　　　　* 　* 　*

The author is a former president of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.(IHT/Asahi: April 16,2007)

NOTE: The bold-italic parts are marked by the blog author, which are considered to be the essential message in this essay.

Another feedback on comfort women issue

The following is another feedback from BIBI, who has been living in Japan for several years and considers himself partly Japanese...


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I am very glad to see that one of your interests are related to this and other related issues. I was always reading avidly in Japan any news related to comfort women and I may try to inform some of my friends on this issue. My greatest interest though is to see that you engage in dialogue and bring reactions from some Japanese people. If I may, I encourage you to become more knowledgeable on the extent of the Japanese apology - or what I believe is rather a lack or absence of apology - to China and other neighboring countries.

Also, how about looking at the Chinese perspective following some abuses China perpetuated to neighboring Asian peoples itself. Is it satisfying and how far is China itself from making public apologies?

Also, is the value of an apology the same in both cultures? Is it realistic to compare the German attitude (or the French) to this case and could we expect a similar attitude from Japan for the only reason that both countries are well ahead in the 21st century (although their cultures are still so far apart)?

I don't think so, although I too would love to see Japan act with what my Western perspectives call civility. So if Japan made real apologies and expressed more consideration and empathy to the Governments of neighboring Asian countries, my sense of what is right would be flattered.

But my own perspective doesn't have much worth in the sense that I am not truly Japanese (only my heart is Japanese to some extent, the rest of me is French). There are other fields where I have the feeling that Japan is acting way behind our age and its rank in the world, one is the freedom of the press and another is the practice of long periods of pre-indictment trial in the Japanese judicial system (up to 23 days) during which I think risks of abuse are high. This is my French perspective, but is it relevant? To what extent is this Japanese practice consistent with the importance of giving a chance to detainees to make a confession? Probably to a large extent.

The point I am trying to make is that it is easy to miss an important aspect of the cultures we would like to see change "for the better". I don't think that the issue of comfort women is yet ripe for the japanese people.

Feedbacks on the revised text book in Japan and some comments

With intention to pursue clarification and justice in history, and no intention to offend anyone, I started the discussion about "comfort women" in WWII and revised text book in Japan since the beginning of April. Besides the English articles and reading materials I posted in this blog, I've also initiated possible discussions with some of my Japanese friends within a diary community network, known as MIXI and accessible only to members. The feedbacks are surpringly interesting and widely ranged since then.

Many people I don't know at all read my blog and even left comments; some Japanese friends got interested in searching info about comfort women, a subject they seem not to have learned at school and had absolutely no idea about, after reading my Japanese diary.

In short, I think I have more or less achieved a part of my goal in this series of discussion. A few days ago I got a comment from an American acquaintence who has been living in Japan for quite some years. With his consent, I post his comments as follows. Meanwhile, I take this chance to post other comments below it for my blog readers to track back.


Enjoy the reading, and I hope to share with you all something more cheerful and joyful soon, such as cherry blossom viewing and sightseeing in Japan...

Princess Rose @ Tokyo

==============================================================
From PSC,Tokyo Japan (4th April, 2007)

We too live in Japan and appreciate the cleanliness convenience and the
safety . But after a total of over 10 years here , i too wonder about
the Japanese people's ability to forget ....without say anything in the way
of apology ....

For a people who; towards foreign business people; insist that an error
in shipping dates or a minor quality issue be dealt with by bowing,
apologies compensation loss of face and the like, it is ironic that the
Japanese have never seen fit to apologize for their mistakes. Even today.

In fact ;when you ,as one occasionally does, catch some one out in a
clerical error ,or omission in there bureaucracy( as we did recently
dealing with immigration ) it both perplexed those involved, and in one
case i was told "yes we are same govt department, but in different
location..." ---not being able to admit ,even on a minor error that they'd
made a mistake.

Certainly Nanjing and Okinawa atrocities rank nearly as high as Hitler,
yet the Japanese have never acknowledged their action..which are well
documented. China's invasion of a peaceful sovereign country of Tibet,
killing thousands of monks is also quite brutal and tragic--and they to
fail to answer for this. US's invasion of Iraq; while misguided and tragic
; has received a lot of attention---but for all its faults its be openly
acknowledged as US action and is a temporary measure.

So for as much as those of us who like to live in Japan like ; we must
never forget what is printed on our 'permanent' resident card (Alien ) For
no matter if we live here for a year ,thre ten, a lifetime ,or are third
generation Korean born here---we will always be aliens here ---and the
Japanese group centric will always close ranks, be "Japanese" and refuse to
admit that they could make any mistakes.


=============================================================
Other comments and my remarks:

shigaru 提到...

BACKGROUND OF 'COMFORT WOMEN' ISSUE / Kono's statement on 'comfort women' created misunderstanding

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070402dy01.htm

April 2, 2007 5:02 PM

Princess Rose 提到...

I'm glad to see a comment on this article, no matter it stands pro or against the original one. It shows that people do care and do ponder over the issues involved.

After reading the provided article in Yomiuri, I'd like to point out the following for everyone to reflect:

1. The current Japanese government argues the "comfort women" were not recruited under "forceful recruitment". My questions are:
- Was it MORALLY CORRECT for Japanese military to find a justification for recruiting women into army brothels at first place regardless out of force or not?

- If army brothels were considered as necessary for Japanese soldiers' "well-being", why not recruit Japanese womem, who would definitely understand Japanese guys better than Korean or Chinese speaking foreign laguages etc.

- Let's imagine how it was like during the WWII. Japanese armies invaded Asian countries and occupies their territories. Under such a circumstances, would women in occupied countries have freedom to refuse something they were unwilling to do?

2. In the comfort women case (war crime), many proofs or historical documents must have been destroyed at the end of the war so that people involved would not be blamed or trialed for their crimes. Therefore, it is indeed difficult to reconstruct the history itself with hard evidence. In this case, why cann't we take the testimony from those women who have lived the experience of "comfort women" as living historical document? You might want to argue that those women could "lie", but can all those who have come forward from different countries lie about this embarassing experience? It's like taking the witness stand in a rape trial. The whole process does a huge damage on women to the extent that men can seldom understand.

3. Kono Statement was issued in 1993. According to the article in Yomiuri, the statement was made under international pressure, but not based on historical research and studies.
I personally find it hard to believe. For it suggests that Japanese government then LIED
about its own history so as to please the international society. A politician might lie for his political career, but what can take a GOVERNMENT to lie COLLECTIVELY must be at a huge stake. It's about the credibility of a country.
If that was the case, I suggest that we might just want to be more reserved & cautious about any statement made by Japanese government. For it might just a convenient LIE to serve government's political agenda.

April 2, 2007 6:17 PM

Tracy 提到...

Now,the Japanese will understand why asian people hate them, especially Chinese.Asian people suffered a lot by their invasion, but they are afraid of to acknowledge their fault,and deny the truth ......

April 2, 2007 10:30 PM

Full text of Wen Jiabao's speech to Japan's Diet

The Chinese Premier Wen has been in Japan for a 3-day visit. It seems that his trademark smiling face has made some positive effects to ordinary Japanese and, in a way, promoted Sino-Japanese friendship during his "ice-melting" journey. The following link goes to his speech to Japan's Diet (Japanese legislation institution, i.e. parliament), and I found it interesting to share with my blog readers.

Several points to draw attention:

1. Premier Wen, as most of Chinese leaders or politicians visiting Japan in the past, first traced the majour full-dimentional influences and contributions of the Chinese culture to the Japanese development and the intensive exchanges between the both sides in the progress of time in the past.


2. Despite of the fact that the two countries have been close FRIENDS for a long period of time, it is not to neglect that the militarist agression launched by Japan to China in the WWII has done a huge damage to people of both nations and has hurt tremendousely the prosperity of both countries.


3. While taking lessons from the contemporary history, a forward-looking perspective and even closer cooperation in regional and international development issues shall serve the best interest of the two sides, let along existing differences.


4. Skipping all sensitive issues, i.e. wartime atrocities, textbooks revision, Yasukuni Jinjya tribute etc, Premier Wen stressed on China's position in the Taiwan issue. Which is quite remarkable, as Taiwan is currently only recognised by 24 states in the world*.


Full text of Wen Jiabao's speech to Japan's Diet

*NOTE:
Some friends unfamiliar with Chinese history and politics have always been asking me the same questions:
What is the relationship between Taiwan and China? Isn't Taiwan an independant country already? Why does China make a fuss on Taiwan's independance if it exerts anyway all the rights of an independant state can have?

My brief answer is as follows: it's all about GEO-POLITICS.

It's undeniable that Taiwan has been a part of China for a long period of time in the history. It's also crystal clear that the mainstream culture until 1 decade or so in Taiwan was more or less a "great Chinese culture", i.e. Han ethnic culture. The only official language in Taiwan was Madarin Chinese, as the same as in China, despite that the written form is "traditional" in Taiwan, different from the simplified characters used in China. The life philisophy and social norm owe their origin to Confucianism. The 2 most popular religions are the Chinese Budhism and the Taoism, a Chinese folklore religion characterised by traditional Chinese dieties etc.

With a politically propagated "creation" of Taiwanese identity, launched by the current governing party in Taiwan (Democratic Progress Party), many substansive changes have been undergoing in the last 10 years. For instance, the official languages in Taiwan now are listed as 3 - Madarin, Taiwanese (a Chinese dialect which is originally spoken in the Fujian Province in the south east China, and the emmigrants from this province has brought the dialect to Taiwan in the 18th century.), and Hakka (another Chinese dialect spoken in the east of Quangdon province in China). The history studied at school focuses itself on the Taiwan's local development, starting more or less from the 18th century, rather than a pan Chinese cultural perspective.

In fact, Taiwan HAS BEEN an INDEPENDANT country since Jiang Kai-Shek led Koumingtan Party (the Nationalist) withdrew from mainland China after being defeated by the Communist. Taiwan's government was recognised as the official CHINA and had a seat in UN until 1971. With 24 states recognition, Taiwan is nevertheless a fully indepedant political entity no matter how few international organisations recognise it and what China defines it.

Furthermore, the Chinese concern about Taiwan should be studied in a "greater picture". Taiwan, with little resources and dependant fully on trade, has actually very limited economic value for a vast China. In addition, a huge proportion of Taiwanese investment and HR have been drawn to the vigorous economic development in China in recent years, and the island is at a risk of bleeding out. Now we have to ask the question: why can't China just let Taiwan do what it wants?

The reason is actually simple. What China fears is not the independance of Taiwan, but the domino's effect it would inflick in China's troubled regions, such as Tibet, New Territory and maybe Inner Mongolia as well. China cannot risk to lose its control in these politically, strategically and economically important areas. Moreover, the Chinese histroy has demonstrated that any leader giving away a part of China's territoy will be condemned by its people generation after generation throughout the history. That is too much of a burden for any Chinese leader, I suppose.

Revised Textbooks in Japan

Before the ripples of "comfort women" get pacified, an once-a-year revision of history textbooks in Japan aroused another outcry for "reveal the truth" in countries like China, South Korea, other Asian countries, Europe and North America.

On the 1st April New York Times publshed an article by Mr. Norimitsu Onishi titled as "Japan's Textbooks Reflect Revised History" (link as follows). In this article, Mr. Onishi pointed out that by revising the history textbooks Japanese government does not only try to deny its military atrocity in other Asian countries, but also seek to find scapegoats (i.e. American army) for the cruel and immoral conducts of Japanese soldiers on their own soil - Okinawa.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/01/world/asia/01japan.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

To pave the way for re-establishment of military force, the Abe led government is prepared to go as far as it can to deny since long established historical facts, regardless the Kono statement in 1993 and written records on/related WWII history by Japanese politicians (such as autobiography of ex-prime minister Nakasone) and prominent historians.

From a personal point of view, I'm currently living in Japan and I have good Japanese friends, appreciate Japanese culture/life philosophy and respect Japanese people. However, I cannot agree with the current Japanese policy and feel very disappointed with Japanese political leaders.

I believe that a country unable to face its past cannot find its way into the future. A nation without courrage to repent for the crimes commited by its ancestors will not earn respect from other peoples. It is true that the past should not be a burden for the living ones, and yet the strength of a people only comes from the understanding of its own history, but not the denial...


More readings:
http://chineseinvancouver.blogspot.com/2007/03/another-denial-japan-changes-textbook.html

070401_Hanami@Asukayama Park, Tokyo

Waiting with impatience, sakuras finally blossomed in Tokyo in full power. With weather's cooperation we had a sunny/cloudy Sunday with a bit wind from time to time but no rain, which iwas perfect for a "hanami" (cherry blossom appreciation) "takai" (gathering).

Hanami gathering is a multi-functional event in Japan:
it's the ritual to welcome the arrival of spring and to reiterate the philosophy of savouring the beauty in life; an occasion to get out of the office for the round o'clock Japanese salary class; an opportunity to build a sense of "solidarity" between bosses and their employees or between colleagues; a chance to make a perfect eating-drinking-laughing-fulling around party among friends... In short, it's PARTY TIME, and you'd not want to miss it!

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070401_飛鳥山公園花見大會/Hanami@Asukayama Park, Tokyo