From: borders@ms.uky.edu (Johnny Borders)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china,soc.culture.hongkong,soc.culture.japan,soc.culture.taiwan
Subject: Re: An open letter to the Emperor Akihito of Japan
Date: 15 Aug 92 05:56:35 GMT
    <Aug14.161413.59887@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU>
Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences

ntetsuya@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Nishimura) writes:

> 	I myself agree with your opinion about revising our history text books.
>	ANY history book in ANY country should look at and present its histoy, 
>	what their ancestors did to other countries and to the people of their 
>	own country, as objectively as possible.

>	I hope and wish that the Japanese government will initiate these 
>	actions by themselves not because they are blamed and told to do so by
>	any other country.  Well, if they can do so ONLY after being blamed, 
>	it's just a shame...

>							Tetsuya Nishimura

Well said.. Well said. I have a relevant topic to bring up, if it pleases
the net. :)

   Now they say if you don't like America, you can go somewhere else (I'm
working on it.. I'm working on it!). And us arrogant, spoiled Americans
(I like to be honest when I can) like to think we're the pillar of democracy
(lie), the model of capitalism (and the appitomy of greed and selfishness),
and the land of the free. Well, *I* have a little bit of history to bring
up that relates to the Sino-Nippon situation a little.. Something many people
have forgotten, or never knew.
   Something that was never in the history books I had in grade school or   
high school, and something that is only mentioned in a paragraph or so in
College history textbooks that I've read. What about the crime the US
government tride to tuck under the rug? (well, one of them anyway.. After all,
the CIA, NSA and FBI are nothing but sanctioned terrorist squads)
   What about during WWII when the US government took countless American
citizens of Japanese descent or origin and herded them into camps? Took
their property, their liberty and the lives of many and did away with them.
AMERICAN CITIZENS. Things like that aren't supposed to happen in this country,
but they did, and do, and will probably continue to do so.
   So they thought these citizens might be sympathetic to Japan? So they
thought they might be spies? Well why didn't they gather some evidence
and try them for treason? I, however, would have had a hard time believing
children and infants guilty of treason. The US government never apologized
for THIS inexcusable crime. I must say that the Japanese actions in China
were under condition of war, and unfortunately, rules, attitudes, beliefs  
and common sense take on a different meaning in wartime. And yes, the US
actions were during time of war, but most of these people were US Citizens,
not foreigners. 
   I wouldn't doubt also that many of these victims were later blacklisted.
For those of you fortunate enough to be ignorant of the McCarthy era in the US,
'blacklisting' was a process where your name was added to a list of 
"suspected communists and sympathizers." Free country, eh? McCarthy, a
US senator, was in the practice of accusing people of being commies and 
pinkos. None of his accusations were backed by any sort of proof (there
WERE card-carrying Communists in the US, but so what? The Constitution
grants them that right, so long as they're not guilty of treason, espionage,
etc.). The fact that you were accused of it was enough to ruin your life.
People on these lists were denied employment and so on well into the 80s.
Shows you a bit about the US, but I digress <and apologize>.
   I suppose we can learn a lot about human behavior through these two
'separate but equal' (there's another violation of justice.. legal 
discrimination, but..) incidents.. I'm assuming (correct me if I am wrong,
please) that the Japanese soldiers believed the Chinese to be lesser
creatures, and so felt justified in doing what they did. Sort of like how
every American is brought up to think that America is the greatest place on
earth, and foreigners are only pinko garbage to piss on (and that the
Japanese have it in for us, to hear some of them talk). 
   Americans on the other hand, were really pissed off about Pearl Harbor.
The sorted details were not then (and are not now) important to anyone.
Did they mean to break off relations with the US just before the attack, but
the message was delayed? Who can really say? At any rate, to this day, most
Americans (that know about it) feel that we were justified to imprison
our own citizens, just because they were of Japanese descent (or origin :). 
Same scenario, in a broad sense. "They started it!" Can you believe that
mature adults actually say that in this day and age? "But these people
were US citizens!" I say.. "Doesn't matter.. They started it! They deserved
it!" Breaks the heart.. To think that we don't know any better.
   Facts are facts, folks. What was it? 15 million slaughtered in the end?
I had no idea the number was that high. That is a crime of the highest 
order, no doubt. I always feel that it's the mentality, not the carnage,
that we should concentrate on if we are to ever learn anything from history.
15 million killed, that's the rhyme, but what about the reason? The US govt.
might as well have summarily executed every Japanese they could get their
handson, "Just to be sure.." It wasn't that way of course, but the mentality
was in place for such a thing to have been possible.
    People talk about right and wrong, but most don't even know the 
difference themselves. How can they be qualified to administer justice?
Case in Point: The Nuremburg Trials. There, Nazi officers were tried for
"crimes against humanity." Six million "undesirables" slaughtered. An
understandable reason to hold a trial. But the rules changed, no? Small
wonder people weren't held on the stand for being ugly (they were tried for
more ridiculous things, such as 'witchcraft' but that was a little ways
back :) The Nazis did not do anything wrong, according to German law at
the time these "crimes" were committed. So the trial was unjust. That is
the way law and justice operates. They would have gotten away with murder,
yes, but that's justice. Revenge and justice are commonly confused, I think,
and it certainly would have been unfair to let them get away with such a 
thing (one nameless fellow was dragged out of hiding in Argentina, hauled
to Jerusalem, then executed.. also 'unjust' but quite fair and vengeful :).
   Sorry to be so long-winded, but that's how I feel. Short and simple:
Japan should have apologized at the end of the war. They didn't. That only
makes it worse, I know. Should Japan apologize now? Of course! But what
does it mean if it comes from an Emperor who no longer has any power or
authority to make it meaningful? If someone who had no authority or 
obligation to do so (other then 'political'), I would be INSULTED.
   'Tis true that the Japanese government as a sovereign entity would have
to categorically apologize (in person, preferrably to a large assembled
group of victims or their families/relatives/descendants) for the atrocity,
but honestly.. It doesn't change anything. 15 million lives.. 1 million
yen per life, 100 million yen per life.. Doesn't make a difference. Always
such a SHAMEFUL regret that we can't always right the wrongs.
   And would it actually change the relations between the Japanese and 
the Chinese? (and then there's the matter of biological warfare and 
experiments carried out under the Japanese occupation of Manchuria, and who
knows what else) What was done is unforgiveable and unforgettable. Besides,
who could expect the victims or their families to ACCEPT such an apology?
It is quite clear by the fact that these actions were condoned and/or
tolerated under Emperor Hirohito, that the intention to do what was done
to the victims was real and sincere. Things like this do not go on for
years only to be called 'incidents.' The events are regrettable, but do
the perpetrators regret? Perhaps.. Perhaps not. Who is to say? Not me,
certainly. Just something to think about. Glad you allowed me to share it
with you all. Thank you for your time.
-- 
*******************************************************************************
* The University of Kentucky is not responsible * AIX: Marketing or lunacy?   *
* for me, by reason of "Bureaucrats Syndrome,"  * "I never used anything by   *
* a crippling form of insanity.                 *  IBM that I liked."         *
Newsgroups: soc.culture.china