Japan's Absent Apology
The Japanese government selects new textbooks that aren’t sufficiently contrite when addressing Japan’s historic aggression and mistreatment of civilians and POW’s during the first half of the 20th century. In response, the governments and citizens of South Korea and China are incensed. For many, the matter ends there. Japan acted horribly wrong and has failed to act in a conciliatory manner extensively enough to satiate their former victims, or their heirs. Thusly, China and South Korea are right to be upset. I have a different view.
Like Germany, Japan clearly acted in a manner that not only was unacceptable to even the most marginally decent of the world. And like Germany, Japan was remade or rebuilt. Many believe that Germany has made sufficient, or attempted to, recompense for its transgressions. Japan, on the other hand, is given little credit for the nearly sixty years of constitutional required limitations on its defensive or offensive military capabilities. And even less credit for its acceptance of the value of civil liberties, social and religious freedoms, open markets, and charitable giving. Now a movement to place Japan on the UN Security Council, Japan’s alliance with the U.S. in the War on Terror and specifically the war in Iraq, and Japan’s broadening of its strategic defense capabilities, including its ties again to the U.S. and support of a free and independent Taiwan, and out of the wood work comes the fury over Japan’s failure to make apologies ad infinitum for their past.
Being morally inept to a degree that denies their capacity to reform their own nation, China stands as a hypocrite in their uproar over Japans textbooks. As well, so does South Korea, who like Germany, was safely guarded by American forces and finds no ability to support U.S. efforts to spread and defend liberty around the world. Indeed, South Korea’s government has instead taken a path of appeasement with the North, and like China is more willing to subordinate human virtue in favor of their own power and standing in Asia. I haven’t read the textbooks in question, yet I remain confident that Japan has indeed learned more lessons from its past than Germany or than the current Chinese government binding its citizens, Tibet, and aiming at Taiwan, has learned, and for that and the moral clarity associated with those lessons, I support Japan.
UPDATE: 4/18/05 - A reader takes issue with my position, - "If you want to be a moral crusader, at least *pretend* that you actually know whats going on." And then points to a BBC column by William Horsley. Well, I had already read the Horsley column on Saturday, and didn't find any cause to change my position, so I posted nothing further. By paying their respect to the dead, are we to believe that Japan wants to return to a Shinto based age. No, it is much simpler, Japan paid an enormous price and having learned from it, remembers through their heritage - both good and bad. If you want to comment, you have to leave "your" email address.
