Sunday, August 05, 2007

The eve of the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima

It’s that time of the year again. It’s the eve of the 62nd anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima

And why it will get under my skin just as much tomorrow as it does every year. It always seems to be someone else’s job, almost as if, by demonstrating its victimhood that Japan has done its bit. Undoubtedly there are brave survivors who have contributed something by telling their story, but they often seem to me like tools of a nation in denial of its past and of its present, overly content to hide behind the white glare of A-bomb innocence.
Beautiful Japan 美しい日本


The blogger has a good point here.
Japan should not emphasize only its victimhood:She also needs to face up to the atrocity Japanese troops had committed. For instance, Nanjing massacre was as brutal as atomic bombing of Hiroshima in that military killed POWs and civilians in the name of ending the war quickly. And in this respect, the people who justifiy Nanjing Massacre are just as offensive as people who justify Hirosima.
It is only logical we pay the same amount of time and reflections on the victim side of the war and the illegal aggressive side of the war. There were victims behind the illegal aggression.

( I don't agree with the rest of the blogger's point. I don 't believe peace will be brought about by demlitaization, rather the demilitalizaion will increase the possibility of inviting the war.)

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