From: letom@carnitas.ucdavis.edu (Tom)
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: 14 Aug 92 23:04:22 GMT
Followup-To: soc.culture.china

In article <1992Aug14.151714.8459@cbnewsk.cb.att.com> lor@cbnewsk.cb.att.com (edward.lor) writes:
>
>As you may know from the news media, Emperor Akihito is
>planning a visit to China later this year.  Historically, this will
>be the first visit of a Japanese Emperor to China.  Incidentally,

I think this action alone, sends some kind of good-will message.  I think
that he should be "congratulated" (or at leat viewed in a good light) for
doing this.  Not everyone agrees this is a good action (akin to when the
President went to the concentration camps in Germany.)  Note, I think this
is a good idea, and am personally glad that he is going.  I'm not saying that
merely going is enough.  Note, I preface most everything I'm saying here
with _I think_.

>(1) formally apologize to China for the war crimes committed
>    by Japan, including the establishment of wartime-brothels,
>(2) begin a thorough review of Japan's school textbooks to
>    ensure that the coverage of the Sino-Japanese war is presented
>    in a truthful way,
>(3) visit the site of the Rape of Nanking and pay respect to the
>    victims, and
>(4) discuss appropriate compensation for Japan's war crimes in
>    China.

I believe [1] will and truly should be done.  I also believe that [3] should
be done, although I doubt it will occur (I sure hope I'm wrong though!)  As
_emperor_ I doubt [4] will occur, since he technically has no political power
although I do believe he can (and should) use his "influence" as emperor
to get it done.  After all, political or no political power, he _is_ emperor
and one does not ignore him lightly.  [2] is the one I believe that should
not be directed to the emperor but to the Japanese government directly,
specifically the appropriate Ministry of Education (or whatever hte official
title is).  As an aside, I believe you have placed your requets in good order
and I agree that, if I had to choose the "importance", I would put it i
the same order you did.  Good job.

>Unless these positive actions are taken to show Japan's sincere
>remorse for the inhumane suffering inflicted upon her neighbors
>during the invasions, and to demonstrate a genuine commitment
>to prevent future aggression, Japan will never be truly regarded as
>a respectable power by nations around the world.

Remember though, Japan isn't the only one who has committed "atrocities"
and hasn't apologized yet.  I think we all know that there are many other
nations who should also be "requested" to do the same.  These apolgoies,
I think, should be done in terms of "ofending government to the people they
hurt".  Not people-to-people or government-to-government, but
government-to-people.  Any thoughts here?  

Paul Hirose

PS - As it stands, I do not yet endorse this letter to the emperor without
further (minor, but nonetheless important (to me) changes).  I offer the above
merely as personal opinions of the letter and topic at hand.

--

The opnions expressed above are strictly mine, and do not reflect those of the
organization from which this article was posted.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.china,soc.culture.taiwan,soc.culture.hongkong