Yasukuni/National Memorial/Dudley Walker Morton

Who is Dudley Walker Morton?

In Wahoo, Morton adopted the unusual attack procedure of having his executive officer man the periscope while Morton plotted the attack. It worked well enough that Morton was credited with sinking 19 enemy ships, a total exceeded only by O'Kane, who was Morton's XO during most of these attacks before leaving Wahoo for his own command.link

Wow, he is a war hero!

Advanced to the rank of commander 15 October 1942, he assumed command of Wahoo (SS-238) 31 December. Between 26 January 1943 and 11 October, Wahoo was responsible for sinking 19 cargo and transport ships for a combined total of 55,000 tons. During Wahoo's third war patrol, Morton was responsible for a controversial incident in which survivors of a sunken Japanese transport were attacked while in the water. Although the boats were armed, Wahoo appears to have fired first, and some have labeled this incident a war crime.

Declared dead 7 January 1946, Commander Morton had been awarded the Navy Cross, three gold stars in lieu of a second, third, and fourth, Navy Cross, and the Army Distinguished Service Cross in acknowledgement of his outstanding professional skills and excellent judgment.

In 1960 Vice Admiral Charles Lockwood, ComSubPac during the war, was asked to write the foreword for former Wahoo crewmember Forest Sterling's book, Wake of the Wahoo. He wrote about Morton, "When a natural leader and born daredevil such as Mush Morton is given command of a submarine, the result can only be a fighting ship of the highest order, with officers and men who would follow their skipper to the Gates of Hell…. And they did," wrote Lockwood.wiki

What? What did he do?

Lieutenant Commander Dudley "Mush" Morton was a submarine skipper who was made into a hero by the American mass media. Under this 1930 Naval Academy graduate's command, his boat, the USS Wahoo, attacked a convoy and sunk two freighters and a transport. The boat then surfaced and machine-gunned the drowning troops who escaped from their sinking transport. In spring 1943, his patrol in the Yellow Sea saw 9 ships sunk, breaking a record for submarines. Morton received a Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Cross; during his tenure as Wahoo's captain, the boat sunk 19 Japanese cargo and transport ships totalling 55,000 tons.World War II Database

It was revealing to read an account of a war crime committed by crew-members of one American submarine but I suppose that this just goes to show how war can brutalize even the best of men.Unrestricted Warfare/ Review

Wahoo(Dudley "Mush" Morton)
26 January 1943
3 Japanese Ships-Names Unknown
Pacific Ocean.
On his first patrol Morton torpedoed and sank three Japanese ships,one of
them a troop transport with thousands aboard.After surfacing, Morton, who
had an "overwhelming, biological hatred of the enemy", appeared determined
to kill every one of the thousands floating there.The Japanese in the boats
and in the water were subjected to more than an hour of shelling with
4-inch and 20mm rounds which ripped through timbers,flesh and bone,staining
the sea red,and attracting sharks.It was a total massacre.Morton made no
attempt in his subsequent report to hide the massacre.On arrival at Pearl
Harbour,Wahoo was flying a pennant with the boat`s slogan "Shoot the sunza
bitches" printed on it!!!Morton claimed to have sunk 5 Japanese ships
totalling 32,000 tons*,and became an instant hero in the US submarine
service.Admiral Lockwood christened Wahoo the one-boat wolf pack and most
unusually released the story of the patrol to the press.All US submarine
activities were normally kept secret to avoid giving the enemy any useful
information.Not for nothing was the submarine arm was known as the "Silent
Service".The massacre of the survivors from the transport was not
reported,nor questioned by the US Navy Stuff.
Morton was decorated with the "Navy Cross" medal!!SUBMARINE ATROCITIES

And he is honored in National Memorial


Photo of The Memorial East circa September 1995
There are 52 engraved granite stones around the concrete walkways honoring each of the 52 U.S. Submarines lost in World War II.National Memorial-East
Black Granite Monuments
Photo of the Front of the Center Stone
Names from: MERRITT to PINKLEY

Is this another Yasukuni?
Or is it just one of war memorical?

Notes
I got to know him from the comment section of plunge

Russia/Iraq

Putin and Sergei Lavrov / Photo: AP

Putin orders diplomats' killers 'destroyed'

Thursday, June 29, 2006 Posted: 1139 GMT (1939 HKT)



MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered Russian agents to hunt down and "destroy" the killers of the four Russian diplomats taken hostage in Iraq early this month, Interfax news agency reported.

Interfax said Putin issued the directive at a meeting in Moscow with visiting Prince Salman bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia.

"The president ordered the special forces to take all necessary measures to find and destroy the criminals who killed Russian diplomats in Iraq," the Kremlin told Interfax.

"Russia will be grateful to all its friends for any information on the criminals who killed the Russians in Iraq," Putin said, according to the press service of the KremlinCNN

うちの組の者をよくもやってくれやがったなああ。
ただじゃすまねえぜ！！！

細かな点では問題があるのでしょうが、この心意気は国民に訴えるものがあるのでしょうね。

Korea /history

Occidentalism の　mikaさんがまた面白いlinkをはっていました。時間のあるときに要約でも英訳してみたいと思います。


navernaver

Korea/How Korean comfrot women were recruited----testimonies

see also how Korean women became domfort women
True Stories of the Korean Comfort Women
p12
This book was begun in March 1992, when members of the society began speaking to about 40 former comfort women who had given their addresses and had indicated a willingness to be contacted. In the processofrecording testimonies, the number of women we decided to include here was narrowed down to 19. We eliminated those who were reluctant to talk about the details of their experiences, those whose stories contained inconsitencies and those who contradicted themselves. The surviving onfort women are now quite old, and have lived through so much adversity that many can faintely remember the sufferings they endured. To help them remember their experiences more clearly, all the researchers compared the details of the accounts with what we know about the military history of Japan through documents . In an attempt to obtain accurate testimony, researchers had to interview each survivor more than ten times.They were forced restrain their emotion and to maintain objetive attitude while talking about heart-breaking experiences.

(The empahsis mine---and I wonder why they eliminated "those who were reluctant to talk about the details of their experiences"? Nothing is wrong with a rough story.They had indicated the willingness to talk, han't they?Was the half of 40 women who were interviewed not telling the truth?
How did the researcher helped the women remember?------like "So it was a Japanese soldier, wasn't it? and he abducted you by force, didn't he? we know they did.Don't be afraid, we are just helping you to remember")


How were they recruited?

.
p35 case1
When we finally arrived we had lunch in a restaurant, We were about to leave when a Japanese soldier beckoned our foster father over.he was a military officer with two stars on his lapel and he asked if we were Koreans.Our foster father explained that wer were indeed fron Korean and that we had come to China o find work.The officer retorted that we could have stayed in Korea if we had just wanted money and led him away, saying "you must be a spy,come with me'My friend and I were bustled away by other soldiers.

(The woman in case 1 filed a suit against Japanese government,but in it she wrote, she was sold as a Kaesen----nishioka p60

p43 case 2
...I wished that at that time i had been able to go with them,but then I suddenly heard a Korean man was in the area again recruiting more girls to work in the Japanese factories.I went to P'yongch'on to meet him and promised him I would go to Japan to work.

p51 case 3
We met a couple who were said to have come from Sinuju, and who had recruited four grils in addtion to us.

p59 case 4
A Korean man approached us together with a Japanese man as we chatted.They wore suits and look quite young and dashing.They asked us how much we were paid for our work. We answered that we didn't receive any monthly wages, but were given food and clothes for free.To this they reponded, saying that the koreans were thieves.They said if we went to Osaka with them we would be able to earn lots of money.....

p65 case 5
One day a Mr Kim, from Chongup, visited us and said that he could get me a jobe in a textile factory in Japan....

p71 case 6
...a friend of my mother introduced us to a man from Hamhung who ran a big bussiness in Seoul. He took pity on my father and gave us the 100 yen.It wasn't a free gift....
The community head of the village where we live was Japanese....his wife went around th evillage,saying 'if you got to work for three years in a military goods factory in Japan ,you will earn a a lot of money.....
A man in his fifties met us and handed us over to a Japanese soldier....

(The woman in case 6 filed a suit against Japanese government,but in it she wrote, she was sold as a Kaesen----nishioka p60)


p81 case 7
In our village there was a man in his fifies who worked as an agent for the Japanese.One day he approached me and told me he would give me an introduction to a place where I could both learn and earn money.....After a few days the man came to see me at dusk and told me to follow him...There, I saw there was a truck parked,with a Japanaese policeman ,Tanaka, who worked at the village police station.The two man told me to get on the truckand the truck drove me off to Pusan.
(What does Tanaka have to do with recruitment?----zero)

p89 case 8
After a few days ,Pusun and I were collecting shelfish at the riverside when we noticed elderly man and a Japanese man looking down at us from the hillside......The Japanese beckoned to us to follow him....He looked as if he was in his late thirties and he wore a sort of People's Army uniform with a combat cap.He handed me a bundle and old me I would find a dress and a pair of leather shoes in it.....


p96 case 9
I was playing with my friend with the elastic bands as usual.A Japanese man and a Korean man, who seemed to be working for him,approached us.....They point to me said that my father was playing go in Cho's guest house and had askedthem to fetch me.....I trusted the words of these men and went along.

p106 case 10
I had not gone far when a man in a Japanese military uniform, with a red band around his arm and a long sword at his side, approached me.He grabbed me by the arm and muttered something.....I think I was taken to a military police station.....The next morning,the same man took us to the train station where he handed us over two other men , one a Japanese in civilian clothes and one a Korean....

p 116 case11
Oh(non-Japanese name--zero)said he had come to recruit girls to work in a factory,....oh came and asked me if I wanted to go, and i answered that I would like to, given such good terms.

p126 case 12
It was said that an elderly Korean man working for Kim and a Japanese civilian employee were traveling the country recruiting girls.The Japanese man wore a browninshkhaki uniform with read and green lapels, and badge depicting something like red seagulls.I asked where they were goingand they replied that they were on their way to Japanese factories with the japanase man.I asked ifI could go with them.

p135 case 13
.My aunt kept a cafe called the new world....one day we hear a commotionoutside,...They swore and shouted,demanding the we pay back the money my father had borrowed and the gambled away.....Many Japanese and Korean businessmen came to the cafe.Among them was one Japanese who frequently came.....One day he told the woman he would introduce them to another cafe,where the pay would be bettter...On hearing I was the owner's niece he said I cluod go..


p145 case14
My father moved our hut to hongun.He rebuilt it ,sho he had to buy timber on credit,andwhen he was unable to repay the load, he was told he must either find a way to pay or vacte the house.So he decided to send me away an d take my wages in advance......I had worked there for about a year when the woman asked me if I would like to to elesewhere where I could earn lots of money.....I agreed.....

p153 case15
Choe urged me to quickly finish lunch, ....as soon as I had finished, he aske "Would't you like to earn money in Japan ,Come with us and work in a factory for a year where you will earn lots of money.They grabbed me by both arms and marched me out.

case 16 p159
....I had had some of my hari cut becauseit had become too full,and wore what was left in a bunch.My husband found fault with this and kept criticizing me.Then he took my child away and hand me over to an ontroduction agency.....At the agency were many women who had run away from their home without taking anything.We were fed and clothed,but the agency charged a large sum if our own family came to take us home.So once you were in there you had little chance of returning home.Most of the women were sold on and takne to Manchuria.I was passed to futher agency in Soeul.

case17p169
.I was 19 ,when we moved once again,this time to TAdong.A Neighbourhood Community Center official visited me ask if I had thought of finding work.He said that if I stayed at home with no job I ran the rish of being drafted into the Women's Volountary Corps. I could avoid this if I went to Japan to work and at the same time I would be able to earn money......My mother insisted I should't go but I thought it overnight then packe some clothes and left while she was at work.I went to the Neithbourhood Community Cnetre.

case 18 p180
It was night we sneaked the barbed wire....I found myself alone when I was thrown into a truck.I was left alone with the policeman and a driver.
My captor had three stars on his red lapel.I din't know his name but later found out his name was Corporal Kobayashi Tadeo, he sat with the driver with the jouney,but half way through stoped the vehecle and told me to get off .It was very dark;nothing was visible.He raped me.
.....Some three days later , Kobayashi came and had sex with me again .then other soldiers began to come.I served about ten a day..

(The woman in case 18 said she was taken to the comfort station at Toyama in Japan, but there was no comfort station at Toyama---nishioka p159)


case 19 p186
The manager kept up his harrassment until I felt I couldn't continue working there .I decided to leave and went to a glove-making factory in Choryang to see if they had vacancy.I was on my way home at about 500 or 6.00 p.m., and was passing the Nambu police station in front of Pusan railway station,when a policeman on guard duty called me over.He asked me to go inside,and I dutifully followed him in.....there were three or four girls of my age already inside and the policeman asked me to sit down. When I asked why ,he said he would find me work in a nice place and told me to wait quietly.....At about 11,00 p.m.a military truck arrived and two soldiers loaded us on boad.

(the woman in case 19 said she was taken to the comfort station at Pusan but there was not comfort statin at Pusan-----nishioka p159)

Korea/world cup

韓国に長年在住の米国人法律家が、韓国のサッカーでの敗北に対する韓国人の反応を分析しています。
1 The average Korea is completely clueless about the technical rules of the game.
2 The average Korea doesn’t care about the rules and just expects to win at all costs.
3 If Korea loses, then it must be someone else’s fault.

Ruminations in Korea
負けて悔しい気持ちはわかりますけど・・・・
わたしも日本が負けた後はせめて韓国に頑張ってもらいたかった。

ただ、この方の分析はさすがですね。
ついでに、コリアのサッカー戦に対する分析を載せているブログを少し。
foreign dispatchesmarmot
コメント欄も面白い。非常に冷静なethinic Korean　がいるのですこしホッとしています。

1948 prangdo竹島 波浪島

"Request for Arrangement of Lands Between Korea and Japan," by the Patriotic Old Men´s Association, Seoul, Korea (August 5, 1948).





http://www.geocities.com/mlovmo/page30.html

Korea/Taepondg

(CBS/AP) North Korea's steps toward test-firing an intercontinental missile are bringing sudden attention to the most-neglected member of President Bush's "axis of evil." The test could jeopardize disarmament talks and create a new nuclear crisis in the region.

"There is nothing more lethal than a country like North Korea having a long-range intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear warhead on it," Wendy Sherman, former adviser to President Clinton on North Koreabs, told Martin.

Officials in Japan and the United States have said that the North Korean government appears to be stepping up preparations to test a long-range Taepondong-2 missile and that a test may be imminent. Such a missile could potentially reach parts of the United States.CBS

テポドンうつんかいな？何処向いているのかな？
てか韓国なにやってんの・・・・・

北朝鮮が弾道ミサイル発射準備を進めているとみられる中、南北首脳会談6周年行事のため韓国を訪れている北朝鮮の美女公演団が公演日程を終え、17日、帰国の途に就いた・・・・　美女に魅了された木浦市民は、ミサイルの脅威はそれほど気にならないようだった。韓国市民からは「国民の心をこの公演のように表現できるのだから、安心していいと思う」、「(北朝鮮がミサイルを発射するとは)思えない」などといった声が聞かれた。　　[17日8時21分更新]FNN

・・・・こんなとき、美女軍団とうかてれいるばあいじゃないっしょ！

Japan/SDF

After renouncing the right to wage war as a means of settling disputes following its defeat in World War II, Japan has been seeking to gradually become a normal power again.

Japan is thus ready to usher in a new era with a full Defense Ministry. It is ready because its armed forces are well-armed and professional; because it operates within a defensive alliance with the United States, and because it has demonstrated a constructive contribution to international peace operations. It is ready politically, because it is prepared to accept a greater role for Japan in the world.

It is ready in all respects save one: political relations with a re-emerging China.(International Herald Tribune

軍事面において普通の国になることが現実味をおびてきました。

JAPAN has indicated it may send forces to help international peacekeepers trying to restore order in East Timor.The Australian

The Indonesian government has complained about Tokyo-set conditions for the use of Japanese patrol boats to be given to Indonesia, causing a delay in the signing ceremony that was initially scheduled to take place here Wednesday morning.

The Indonesian government has complained about Tokyo-set conditions for the use of Japanese patrol boats to be given to Indonesia, causing a delay in the signing ceremony that was initially scheduled to take place here Wednesday morning.(Mainichi

東チモールへ、そしてインドネシアへ、それも世界から要求されるような形で・・・・中国韓国だけではなく、幅広い世界の意見を聞いて、現実的な制限を加えていくべきではないでしょうか？

TAkeshima/EEZ

According to the sources, South Korea countered Japan's move involving Torishima, saying Torishima is a "rock" and as such, cannot be considered a cardinal point for EEZ.

The U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea says that rocks unable to sustain human habitation or economic life of their own have no EEZ or continental shelf. Both Japan and South Korea are signatories to the convention.

South Korea in the past four rounds of EEZ talks between 1996 and 2000 said Dokdo is a rock and cannot become a cardinal point for EEZ.
ADVERTISEMENT


South Korea took this stance because if it pushes Dokdo as a cardinal point for its EEZ, Japan may start pushing for Torishima, and this may result in a greater loss for South Korea with regard to its EEZ in the East China Sea, the sources said.But in the latest EEZ talks, South Korea had pushed for a more extensive EEZ than it claimed in previous talks, changing its cardinal point from Ullung Island, west of the islets, to the islets themselves, according to ministry officials.

In pushing for a greater EEZ, South Korea reversed its position on the small rocky outcrops, saying Dokdo can be considered an island that can have an EEZ.

Japan has called this a "contradiction" from South Korea's past stance, the sources said. It told South Korea that Torishima should be treated as an "island" because it is possible to independently conduct economic activity there.

韓国って外交で日本とお遊びしているつもりかね？

China

A human rights group in China has reported that a Chinese environmental activist was brutally beaten up after giving an interview to German public broadcaster ARD.Deutsche Welle

こんなことばっかやっているから、

boycot Beijing 2008
こうなる。
こんな中国が靖国だ、なんだっていって政治的に利用しているだけだってのがなぜわからない。

A criminals after Tokyo tribunal

Article 11
.......The power to grant clemency, to reduce sentences and to parole with respect to such prisoners may not be exercised except on the decision of the Government or Governments which imposed the sentence in each instance, and on recommendation of Japan. In the case of persons sentenced by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East, such power may not be exercised except on the decision of a majority of the Governments represented on the Tribunal, and on the recommendation of Japan.
San Francisco Peace Treaty

Based on this article,Japanese government suggested that A criminals be given clemency.
In resoponse,the clemency boad, consisting of USA,UK,France,Netherlands,Canada,Australia,New Zealand,Pakistan, was set up.p346
The boad gave the greenlight,and in 1956,A criminals were given clemency.The people prisoned were released.
It is said that USA played the leading role in this dicision.Japanese version of " Nederland en het tribunaal van Tokio by Poelgeest,L.van.

As a side note,Bert Röling, one of the judge at the trial, had the following opinion as to the clemency.
Shigemitsu was innocent in the first place;he should be released as soon as possible.
Hatake,Kido,Oka were unjustly sentenced,so they should be released as soon as possible.
Hoshino and Kaya were just enocomic leaders,so according to the criteria of Nuremberg Trials, they are not guilty.
It does not make sense anymore to detain Shimada,Sato,Suzuki.
Hashimoto,Ooshima committed a lot of evils but it is unlikely that they would commit
further crimes .


Notes

Asian times

サンフランシスコ講和条約第十一条の手続きに基づき、関係十一カ国の同意のもと、「Ａ級戦犯」は昭和三十一年に、「ＢＣ級戦犯」は昭和三十三年までに赦免され釈放された。刑罰が終了した時点で受刑者の罪は消滅するというのが近代法の理念であるsugimoto

I wonder why no countries spoke up when Mamoru Shigemitsu, a convicted and sentenced Class-A war ciminal (who was sentenced to 7 years in prison but paroled by Japan in 1951), represented Japan and addressed the General Assembly of the UN in 1956, thanking UN for admission of Japan into it and expressing “Japan’s sincere commitment to work towards the noble goals UN.” This happened before Japan got the permission from 11 countries in compliance with Article 11 of the SF treaty to release all war criminals. People should have been more appalled than now, since the wounds and memories must have been still fresh from the war.Two cents at Marmot

Some people aruge since some A crimanals were pardoned, those who were already excuted were pardoned too, but I don't think so. The committe did not refered to Tojo etc when it pardoned the criminals.

India/SINGAPORE

New Delhi: India is a favoured destination for Japanese investments with a whopping 71 percent of the Japanese companies surveyed saying they would increase their stakes in the country.Kerala

日本はインドへ投資をし、

New Delhi, June 13
In a move to attract foreign investment in the state, Madhya Pradesh Minister for Industries Babu Lal Gaur today left for Japan where he would also explore the possibility of exporting traditional handloom products and handicrafts, made in its two districts of Chhindwara and Seoni, to Japanese markets. (The Tribune

インドは日本に投資をし、

SINGAPORE: After a decade of stop-start recoveries, Japan's economy seems to be finally taking off.

Experts say this time around, the recovery will be sustainable and may be strong enough to offset some of the impact of a potential hard landing in the United States.

Asian economies can expect to benefit as Japanese firms begin re-investing their profits in the region.Channel NewsAsia)

シンガポールは日本から利益を得る。
ーーーー中国朝鮮以外とはいい調子かな？
日本はもう過去の清算をしたのですから、中国朝鮮に対して毅然とした態度をとり、国益に反するような国に対しては援助はしないということをはっきりさせるべきだと思います。

Korea/Taepodong

Pyongyang stunned Japan and the US in 1998 when it fired an intermediate range Taepodong-1 missile over Japan. US satellite imagery shows the Stalinist nation is now preparing to launch a Taepodong-2 missile, which by some estimates could reach most of the US.By Demetri Sevastopulo and Stephen Fidler in Washington
Published: June 11 2006

He adds that while North Korea has not flight-tested the Taepodong-2, the regime has completed engine tests and has gained telemetry data from Iran, which has tested some of the Taepodong-2’s component missiles.

Mr Wolfsthal said: “To perfect this system they will need to do flight-testing. So they may feel some pressure technically for the need to test.”

譲歩を得るために？
怖いもの知らずだね。

Great Tokyo Air Raid

(1) "I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal. Fortunately we were on the winning side."

This remark, made years after World War II, is attributed to Gen. Curtis LeMay (1906-90), a U.S. Air Force commander who directed a massive incendiary attack on Tokyo in the predawn hours of March 10, 1945, scorching a good portion of the city's eastern shitamachi, a low-lying area with many small independent shops and factories.

(2) The Great Tokyo Air Raid should be regarded as a genocidal attack that mainly targeted civilians in obvious violation of international law. The aerial bombing came after the U.S. Air Force had failed to achieve much in its intermittent pinpoint bombing of military-related facilities in Japan. The United States was shifting the focus of its military campaign against this country to firebombing and scorching urban areas as a means of sapping the people's will to continue fighting.

The air raid turned crowded blocks of wooden houses in Tokyo into a sea of fire, claiming about 100,000 lives. The figure exceeded the death toll from the bombing of Dresden, Germany, by the U.S. and British air forces in February 1945, one of the largest air raids carried out in Europe during World War II.

(3) After successfully accomplishing its military aim in the Tokyo air raid, the United States expanded its list of indiscriminate bombing targets to launch an air attack on Nagoya on March 12 and Osaka on March 13-14. By the end of war, the United States had bombed about 150 Japanese cities, killing an estimated 500,000 people.

LeMay is not the only one to acknowledge the Great Tokyo Air Raid as a war crime. "LeMay said, 'If we'd lost the war, we'd all have been prosecuted as war criminals.' And I think he's right. He---and I'd say I--were behaving as war criminals," former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara said in "The Fog of War," a U.S. documentary movie produced in 2003 and released in Japan last year. McNamara was one of the U.S. officials who played a major role in the deepening military involvement of the United States in Vietnam.

(5) In 1992, the German government raised a strong objection when a bronze statue of Arthur Harris, a British general who had directed the Dresden bombing, was erected in central London.

This is in stark contrast to the attitude taken by the Japanese government toward LeMay after the war. In 1964, he was awarded the Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for his "cooperation in the development of the Air Self-Defense Force.yomiuri on line

link

I told him I was busy considering our conduct of the war, against Japan and I told him how I was trying to hold the Air Force down to to precision bombing but that with the Japanese method of scattering its manufacture it was rather difficult to prevent the area bombing. I told him I was anxious about this feature of the war for two reason ;first , I didn't want to have the Untited States get the reputation in outdoing Hitler in atrocities. Second, I was little fearful we could get ready the airforce might have Japan so thoroughly bombed out that a new weapon would not have a fair background to show its strengh . He laughed and said he understood.Memorandum of Conference with the President, June 6, 1945, Top Secret
Source: Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, Henry Lewis Stimson Papers (microfilm at Library of Congress)

Stimson

Japan/POW

A former British prisoner of war has returned to Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, 61 years after he was released from a POW camp in the city where he had been forced to work in an iron ore mine

Frank Planton, 85, was captured by Japanese troops in Java, Indonesia, in March 1942, and sent to a camp in Hakodate, Hokkaido, eight months later.

In June 1943, he was relocated to the Ohashi POW camp in Kamaishi, where he was held until the end of World War II in August 1945. He headed home a month later.

During his two-day visit to Kamaishi, Planton delivered a speech on June 1 at Kamaishi Middle School in which he spoke about his daily routine at the city's mine, where he transported iron ore using a cart.

The former POW talked of his fond memories of the city, particularly its mild climate, which he compared favorably to Hakodate's, and said he received sufficient food.

He added that he never thought he would return to the city but decided to do so after learning that a friend in Yokohama, Taeko Sasamoto, had been made an Honorary Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.The Yomiuri Shimbun/Jun. 12, 2006

戦争の捕虜についてどうもいまいちイメージがつかめない。一方でひどい仕打ちを受けたという記録があり、もう一方で、本記事のようにーーこれも強制労働だからひどいのかもしれないが、ーーーそれほどという感じもするしなあ。

Tekashima/Korea/free speech

S. Korea to Block Pro-Japanese Web Sites Amid Dokdo Dispute

SEOUL, March 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Internet content regulator said Thursday it is requiring Daum Communications Corp. to shut down five pro-Japanese Web sites following Japan's fresh claim to the South Korean islets of Dokdo.

"Those sites have a possibility of harming youngsters' physical and mental health by distorting historical facts and undermining international friendship," the Information Communication Ethics Committee, affiliated with the Ministry of Information and Communication, said in a statement.2005/03/17 10:38 KST/Yohan

だめだ、こりゃ！！

China----Analysis

China, on the other hand, has been receiving rave reviews for its rapid economic growth and how it is likely to be the new engine of Asian, if not global growth. This perception of China as a rapidly rising star is creating a momentum of its own, making its skeptics an oddity.

どうでしょうか。それほど、中国の評価はたかいのでしょうか？

At the same time, Japan's security alliance with the US is not a political plus with some Asian countries, because the US is perceived as an outsider. Japan, therefore, appears tainted while China is a home-grown Asian leader.

米国はそれほどアジアで人気がないのでしょうか？

It is this halo around China which puts Japan at a terrible disadvantage in image-making. Beijing is squeezing every ounce it can from Japan's wartime guilt

まあ、これは面白い表現ですが、あたっていますね。で日本のとるべき道は？

If Tokyo will not accept the regional role scripted for it in Beijing, its choices are: first, to continue with its US alliance in an increasingly active role; and second, to create an autonomous political and military role, which might include acquiring nuclear weapons at some point. The latter is problematic, not only because it will create a terrible uproar in Asia because of Japan's wartime record, but because it could also jeopardize Japan's US alliance.

Japan is, therefore, unlikely to put itself in that situation. What it can do, though, is to acquire sufficient military power to make the exercise of China's coercive or actual military power costly for Beijing in any bilateral disputes where the US might not like to get involved.taipei times

中途の分析には多少賛成しかねるところもあるのですが、結論は自分もこんなものかな、とも思っています。内政において中国は経済的、政治的に安定しているとは到底いえないでしょう。とすれば、こうしたプレッシャーでかなりまいるのではないでしょうか。

Korea/cuture of han

Hanbando... the Korean peninsula. Thousand of years of history, many struggles trying to escape the assault of outside influences, many tragedies influencing the lives of its inhabitants.

The near future. After decades of slow progress, the two divided Koreas are on the verge of re-unification, with the re-opening of the Gyeonguiseon Rail Road (a double railroad which once connected Seoul and Shineuiju in North Korea) to traffic the perfect event to celebrate this momentous event. With peace a possibility now more than ever, Japan reacts angrily to a possible united Korea, contesting that during the colonial period, then Emperor Gojong signed a contract with Japan transferring possession of the Gyeongeuiseon railroad line to them.

As a whole, the film paints the struggles between Korea and Japan. Even if you mention anti-Japanese sentiment, then that's just what a portion of the public feels. But really, what's your level of anti-Japanese sentiment?
Kang: You know, more than being anti-Japanese I'd rather make a statement about dealing with the problem successfully, that sense of overcoming those challenges Japan puts in front of us. It's the kind of sentiment you try to restrain emotionally, but there's always a fundamental sense of denial you can't express. When talking about Japan, be it soccer, films or anything else, there's always that mentality that 'we have to beat them', isn't it? Yeah, of course I want to make something much better than what Japanese films can achieve, but my family itself went through all this personally, so I guess that kind of sentiment is very strong in me.Hanbando

......慣れた、といえばそれまでですけど、どうやったらこういった妄想がわき上がるのか。
意識的あるいは無意識的な教育、文化のなせるわざでしょうか？そこに興味はあります。
marmotから引っ張ってきたのですが、そのコメント欄も面白い意見があります。
そのなかで、米軍はこの地域の戦略的、経済的な安定のため撤退しないだろうという意見です。まあ、私もそうは思うのですーーー昔っから、半島は戦略的に重要だったですから。
しかし、その反面、米軍が一切撤退して、韓国北朝鮮がどうなるのか、彼らがどんなに苦労しなければならないのか見てみたい気持ちもあります。韓国、北朝鮮のやりたいようにやらせてあげるのが彼らの責任感、及び現実感を養うには必要なことではないかとも思うのです。
半島は未だ自分の力で勝ったことも負けたこともない。だから負かしたい気持ちにもなるのでしょう。
保護を求めながら、保護されることを嫌う永遠の思春期時代の未成年同然の状態から脱皮するには自らの力で保護を完全拒絶する時期も必要だと思うのです。、

Report of Van Fleet mission to the Far East

Van_Fleet

Japan believes that if it was indebted to Korea, the dept was more than taken care of by the transfer to the Republic of Korea Government of Japan's entire public and private holdings in Korea at the end of World War II.

The essential facts are that the Republic of Korea Government has unilaterally proclaimed its sovereignty over a large area of the high seas bordering Korea and by the use of the Republic of Korea Navy has attempted to exclude Japanese fishermen from operations within the area. At times, the Republic of Korea Navy has fired upon Japanese vessels; some of the vessels have been apprehended and taken to Korean ports. After the crews have been tried and sentenced, most of the captured fishermen have been released, but the vessels usually have been detained and are now being reportedly operated by the Republic of Korea

The United States Government has consistently taken the position that the unilateral proclamation of sovereignty over the seas is illegal and that the fisheries dispute between Japan and Korea should be settled on the basis of a fisheries conservation agreement that would protect the interests of both countries.

When the Treaty of Peace with Japan was being drafted, the Republic of Korea asserted its claims to Dokto but the United States concluded that they remained under Japanese sovereignty and the Island was not included among the Islands that Japan released from its ownership under the Peace Treaty. The Republic of Korea has been confidentially informed of the United States position regarding the islands but our position has not been made public. Though the United States considers that the islands are Japanese territory, we have declined to interfere in the dispute. Our position has been that the dispute might properly be referred to the International Court of Justice and this suggestion has been informally conveyed to the Republic of Korea.

Korea/Japan

TSUSHIMA, Nagasaki Prefecture--It's not Japan-South Korea relations that are a mess.

The beaches of Tsushima island just 50 kilometers from South Korea are strewn with garbage.

Since a lot of the bottles and wrappers had Korean writing on them, officials assume the flotsam is drifting over from South Korea.05/31/2006
BY YUSUKE OGAWA

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

ゴミ拾い、日韓学生協力というわけですが、そもそもゴミ出したのは誰？
本件の場合、原因を作っているのは明らかに韓国です。
にもかかわらずそのことを問題視せず、日韓協力を強調するのは朝日新聞の偏向といわざるえません。
日韓問題に対する朝日の傾向を物語る良い事例だと思います。

Korea/Terrorism

Shimane Pref.'s website gets massive number of hits from S. Korea(Kyodo) _ The website of the Shimane prefectural government, which is involved in a territorial row over South Korean-controlled islets in the Sea of Japan, received about 2.1 million hits Wednesday, about 130 times of the daily average, from IP addresses assigned in South Korea, prefectural officials said Thursday.

The prefectural government also received about 1,100 e-mails saying in Japanese, Korean and English "Dokdo is South Korea's territory" from a certain IP address in about 10 minutes from around 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, the officials said.

As many as 100 hits per second were made from around 9 a.m. Wednesday, making it difficult for other people to connect to the website, the officials said.

The prefecture denied Internet access from specific IP addresses starting around noon that day, but accesses were made from other IP addresses in South Korea, the officials said.kyodo/ June 1,

サイバーテロかよ！！
これは南からだけど、
で、北はというと・・・・

Japan fears North Korea may fire missileSydney Morning Herald, Australia

テポドンかよ！！！
北と南、ある意味そっくりでございますね。