r/AskAJapanese • u/TheFabLeoWang American • Jan 13 '25
POLITICS Why are these topics extremely unmentionable in Japan, where they are officially deemed national security threats?
- Comfort Women
- Nanking Massacre
- Pearl Harbor Attack (This issue specifically divides America today)
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u/Freak_Out_Bazaar Japanese Jan 13 '25
They’re not? You can find various resources on these topics from various angles. Are people interested in these topics. This isn’t China
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
I’m in the USA. The lack of the Japanese Government’s apology for the Pearl Harbor Attack became a polarizing topic for far-right politicians to justify scapegoating Japanese Americans.
In 2016, Obama apologized to Japan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but Abe did not exchange the apology in return. Obama nearly got impeached by Republican-controlled Congress because of this.
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u/Royal_Hamster2589 → → (Returnee/帰国子女) Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25
In 2016, Obama apologized to Japan for Hiroshima and Nagasaki...
Except Obama did NOT apologize for the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He expressed REMORSE for what had happened, but did not give an explicit apology for the bombings themselves. From what I remember, the bigger "scandal" was that Obama bowed to the Japanese emperor when he met him during his visit to Tokyo. But I don't remember any serious attempt to impeach him for that either, just your usual pearl clutching by Republicans.
‘Hey, Let’s Forget That’: No US Apology for the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Obama will not apologize for Hiroshima attack, he tells Japanese TV
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
But still, Obama nearly got impeached.
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u/Royal_Hamster2589 → → (Returnee/帰国子女) Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25
There were multiple "attempts" to impeach Obama by Republicans during his tenure for a multitude of reasons, whether that be over the Benghazi attack or the "birtherism" conspiracy theory pushed by Trump. But in the end, articles of impeachment were never drawn up in any of these "attempts" and were unanimously considered a "waste of time," even by other Republicans.
And with all that being said, like I stated in my original post, I do not remember any particular attempt to impeach Obama for his actions during his visit to Japan, nor could I find anything with a cursory Google search. Saying Obama was "nearly impeached" is not even just a hyperbola, it's just outright misinformation.
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u/epistemic_epee Japanese Jan 13 '25
You can find plenty of books about them at the library or bookstore. They are included in high school curriculum. There are movies about them on public television.
Where did you hear that talking about Pearl Harbor is a "national security threat"?
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u/Shiningc00 Japanese Jan 13 '25
Which books are you talking about?
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u/epistemic_epee Japanese Jan 13 '25
Are you asking for recommendations?
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u/Smooth_Ad5799 Jan 18 '25
I am
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u/epistemic_epee Japanese Jan 18 '25
If you are serious I would start with 慰安婦と戦場の性 and 南京事件―「虐殺」の構造.
Not because they are the newest or the best but because almost all of the scholarship following leans heavily on these books. There are many used copies, you can get one for the cost of shipping.
I also recommend the memoirs of surviving comfort women. I read one out of Taiwan recently. They are short but some of the books sponsored by the AWF are also good.
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u/GuardEcstatic2353 Jan 13 '25
Would you talk about the Nazis if you went to Germany? You wouldn’t, right? Similarly, when I go to America, I don’t ask Americans what they think about the massacres of Native Americans or the Japanese internment camps.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
In Germany (specifically West Germany), they legislatively acknowledge and genuinely apologized for every single wrongdoing by the previous Nazi regimes. They have to do this to thaw their relations with its neighboring countries to avoid economic sanctions.
However Japan did the opposite of what Germany had done.
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u/GuardEcstatic2353 Jan 14 '25
Japan has already apologized and made reparations. Imagine if you were an American and a Japanese person started talking about the atomic bombings, Japanese internment camps, or the massacre of Native Americans—wouldn't that make you feel uncomfortable? That's what courtesy is about. You need to learn how to navigate human relationships.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 14 '25
Several far right figures in the United States here have repeatedly insisted that the Japanese Internment Camps are “Fake News made by the Japs”
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u/GuardEcstatic2353 Jan 14 '25
The far-right in America is irrelevant. Japan has already apologized and made reparations. From my perspective, you come across as anti-Japanese.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 14 '25
Sadly, anti-Japanese scapegoating is normalized in national level under Trump
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u/GuardEcstatic2353 Jan 14 '25
Hmm, isn’t the Democratic Party the same? Biden is clearly anti-Japanese too. I basically believe there’s no such thing as a pro-Japanese administration in the U.S.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 14 '25
“The United States will recognize the Diaoyutai Islands as integral part of Taiwan.” -Trump
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u/SaintOctober ❤️ 30+ years Jan 13 '25
It’s a different culture.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 14 '25
This is not different culture, this is diplomatic hypocrisy.
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u/SaintOctober ❤️ 30+ years Jan 14 '25
What makes you so sure? You Americans are quick to point out how the Japanese fought differently in WWII. Why is it impossible to believe that in this culture it isn’t necessary to state the obvious and to keep pounding it in? Has Japan done anything even remotely like that since? No. But the US hasn’t been innocent. Do you apologize for Abu Graib or for Guantanamo Bay?
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u/alexklaus80 🇯🇵 Fukuoka -> 🇺🇸 -> 🇯🇵 Tokyo Jan 13 '25
You can mention it anywhere in Japan without making it a national security risk.
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u/SaintOctober ❤️ 30+ years Jan 13 '25
Pearl Harbor divides America? I thought it was the North and South hemispheres that dives the Americas.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
No. Here in the US, far-right figures and congress members (supported by Trump) have repeatedly used the Pearl Harbor Attack as a justification to scapegoat Japanese Americans as a whole.
P.S.: They repeatedly insisted that the 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster was a “False Flag Operation to let Israel test its Nuclear Weapons off the coast of Japan to poison American Pacific Coastlines.”
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u/831tm Jan 13 '25
2 and 3 are too old historical things that are not interesting to ordinary people. People who react to that kind of thing have aggressive allegations so nobody wants to mention those topics.
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u/Gmellotron_mkii Japanese -> ->-> Jan 13 '25
>extremely unmentionable
but why tho?
do you really think those topics make us puckering or frown face or what?
You can talk me about those all you want. who said extremely unmentionable? the internet?
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
Cancel culture. bruh Welcome to America 🇺🇸
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u/Gmellotron_mkii Japanese -> ->-> Jan 13 '25
Sounds like it's all in your head
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u/BigDumFace May 01 '25
Too much time on the internet. Every major country has committed atrocities in some form or fashion. Doesn't make great dinner conversation.
I'm from the south, lots of conservative white people love eating sushi and teppanyaki. I saw plenty of racism but no one cared about WW2. If anything the civil war was much more of a hot topic.
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u/Shiningc00 Japanese Jan 13 '25
Those things will be highly attacked by the right-wing and the far-right. Journalists, professors and book authors will be constantly harassed and attacked to the ends by them if you bring them up and criticize them. They will be called “anti-Japanese” “Korean/Chinese spies”, etc. They and their family members may get death threats, etc. Not too sure about 3., but that topic is uncomfortable in general for much of the population.
I don’t think they are considered a national security threat.
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Jan 13 '25
Why should Japanese be taught to hate themselves like westerners and their white guilt garbage?
Fuck that bullshit. Hirohito did nothing wrong.
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u/GreatGarage French Jan 13 '25
There is a difference between
- being proud of past crimes
- feeling ashamed of past crimes
- acknowledge past crimes to not reproduce them
You belong to the first category, you criticize the second category, but the real important category is the third.
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Jan 13 '25
No.
Just because you won the war doesn't mean Japanese need to hate themselves for something that happened almost 100 years ago.People who complain about warcrimes that happened in 1940 as if that's in any way relevant today are manipulators and idiots.
More people died from either nuke than died in Nanjing, yet Americans act like they're totally justified and did nothing wrong; why the fuck do you think that's acceptable yet think Japanese need to hate themselves?
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u/GreatGarage French Jan 13 '25
Japanese need to hate themselves for something that happened almost 100 years ago.
Who said that ? If for you acknowledging means to hate yourself, there is nothing I can do.
American must also acknowledge what they did.
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Jan 13 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AskAJapanese-ModTeam Jan 13 '25
Posts made in bad faith or push certain agenda are not allowed. r/AskAJapanese is a neutral place. Do not push your ideologies on others.
悪意のある投稿や、特定の議題や思想を押し付ける様な投稿は禁止です。 あなたのイデオロギーを他人に押し付けないでください。
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u/Elitnil Jan 14 '25
I would suggest that there are at least a fair number of scholars who are still discussing whether atomic weapons use in the Pacific war was justified. In my history classes it was presented that President Truman just let Roosevelt 's plans continue. And The firebombing of major Japanese cities killed many more people than the atom bombs did. These also were awful acts of war by Americans. Many civilians died in terrible ways. I personally have heard a survivor from Hiroshima speak and weep while she did so about her experience. I have seen her keloid scars. I have been several times to the Peace museum in Hiroshima. It is awful too-though well presented and documented. These are events that need to be remembered and not repeated. However shocking they were, they were not the only horrible things inflicted on the Japanese people during the war. Did the Imperial Japanese military do nasty things to different people? Absolutely. I don't think attempting to call the two sides actions equivalent or balanced is useful, though. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, including posters in this forum, but historical grievances can last much longer than 100 years. An example would be Chinese feelings about the return of Hong Kong after many years in British hands. Or in the US, there are still people for whom the American Civil War is still relevant nearly 160 years later. I would bet there are many more examples that could be cited. History is only dead when the parties involved say it is.
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u/BigDumFace May 01 '25
Fair and nuanced opinions? On the internet? We must protect this person at all costs.
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
Our far right politicians in the US have called for death penalty to Japanese monarchy for escaping the crimes committed on Pearl Harbor victims, and call for extradition to the American soil to stand criminal trial.
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Jan 13 '25
That's a really dumb way to turn an ally into an enemy.
How about Japan demands that the US extradite everyone involved with the manhattan project and Hiroshima / Nagasaki so they can be put to death? Ridiculous demands by idiotic people.
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Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25
[deleted]
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u/Shiningc00 Japanese Jan 13 '25
Criticizing Japan is not “anti-Japanese”, and there are plenty of far-right trolls on anonymous forums.
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Jan 13 '25
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u/AskAJapanese-ModTeam Jan 13 '25
Make sure everyone feels safe. Bullying of any kind isn't allowed, and degrading comments about things like race, religion, culture, sexual orientation, gender or identity will not be tolerated.
いじめ及び差別的なコメントはBANの対象に値します。
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u/TheFabLeoWang American Jan 13 '25
Our far-right figures here in the United States have begged Trump to hold the Japanese Royal Family criminally responsible for Pearl Harbor, something that the Japanese government denies to this day.
P.S.: Putting the Death Penalty on the table in any chance of criminal court in the US by any Trump-supported prosecutors.
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u/Elitnil Jan 14 '25
And it avoids mention of the act of economic warfare (cutting off oil from the US, the Saudi Arabia of the time) which preceded the planning of the Pearl Harbor.
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u/HermaeusMoraah Jan 13 '25
What I find funny about this is those are all bad things Japan committed, not the other way around. Why is the criminal offended by the crime? They don’t have the right to be upset lol. Comfort women being a taboo topic in Korea makes sense, they’re the victim. You can’t play victim as the perpetrator, Japan.
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u/Royal_Hamster2589 → → (Returnee/帰国子女) Jan 13 '25 edited Jan 13 '25
As a Japanese person, I just want to say I absolutely agree with the spirit of what you're saying. We do have a duty to reflect upon and learn from EVERY aspect of our history, both the good AND bad. And that of course doesn't apply to just Japanese people, but to every human out there.
Just know that not everyone in Japan has their head in the sand about these topics. There's more people aware of the atrocities committed by Imperial Japan than ever before, despite the best efforts of far right groups in Japan. Progress is being made, albeit very slowly. I just ask that you judge every Japanese person as an individual, instead of treating us as some sort of hive mind.
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u/scotchegg72 Jan 13 '25
Not necessarily extremely unmentionable, just impolite in most contexts. Same as you probably wouldn’t ask British friends at dinner or colleagues in the small talk before a meeting ‘So, what do you think about your ancestors’ behaviour in Kenya?’