As a Christmas gift to local ultranationalists, the Japanese Government decided to give another hard push in favor of bold revisionism. As usual, school textbooks are used as a vehicle for promoting the idea that Dokdo belongs to the Great Empire. And as usual, the Korean Government denounced the infamy (see "Seoul hits Tokyo's new Dokdo stance" - JoongAng Daily 20091226).
This comes not as a surprise but as a disappointment : Hatoyama really seemed to be willing to crush the last throes of fascism in the archipelago, his aides even leaking proofs that Dokdo didn't belonged to Japan (see "The end of Japanese imperialism"). More recently, there were even rumors that the Emperor himself would visit Korea in 2010 to formulate official apologies for past wrongs.
That made me quite nervous : last time the Emperor made a move towards reconciliation, extreme right activists would push as hard as they could, fueling mutual hatred across the region, including China and Russia.
Actually, I'd been expecting this kind of provocations, lately : Hatoyama is much weaker than a few months ago and yes, that's the economy, stupid (stimulus programs won't last eternally and 2010 seems poised to be a tough year). Obviously, his government badly needs support from people he disagrees with.
Once again, if Dokdo doesn't belong to Japan (and that's been indisputably settled for good by the official documents leaked earlier this year), talking about Takeshima has always been about Japanese politics : claiming the islets, visiting Yasukuni, rewriting history books... each provocation comes at a time the ruler is in a defensive position and needs political support at home.
Japanese politicians keep fooling their own citizens and it's high time to expose this dangerous imposture.
blogules 2009 - initially published in Seoul Village ("Revisionist schoolbooks : change has not come to Japan")
Showing posts with label Yukio Hatoyama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Yukio Hatoyama. Show all posts
20091116
The end of Japanese imperialism
Change has definitely come to Japan. As expected*, Yukio Hatoyama is trying to do the right thing by puting an end to all sick nationalist revivals. And the new P.M. seems to be willing to act quickly, going at the root.
Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.
In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.
As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.
blogules
2009 - initially published on Seoul Village : "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese".
* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"
** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".
Imperialist nostalgists claim Kuril Islands and Dokdo as theirs ? "An unidentified senior Japanese government official" releases the proof that they don't belong to Japan**.
In the midst of an APEC summit, Japan decides to set the record straight and lead the region the most noble way.
As Barack Obama tours the continent, Japan rejects as false the choice between its own History and its own ideals.
blogules
2009 - initially published on Seoul Village : "According to Japanese law, Dokdo is not Japanese".
* see "A Common History", a dramatic change since "Claiming Dokdo as Takeshima equals claiming Seoul as Gyeongseong"
** see "Japanese Document Shows Dokdo as Foreign Territory" (Chosun Ilbo 20091116) : "Japan's Ministry of Finance issued a notice document numbered 654 on Aug. 15, 1946, a year after Korean independence, that says Dokdo is foreign soil along with Korea, Taiwan, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the South Sea Islands".
20091009
Change has come to Japan.
Change has eventually come to Japan.
The country decided to face its own past, and to reach for its neighbors in a joint effort to restore tragic facts as parts of a common history : confirming the hopes raised by Hatoyama's election, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada called for joint history text books between Japan, China, and Korea*, and revived the courageous position of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who apologied for "damage and suffering" under colonial rule, called for an end to nationalism, and urged fellow Japanese citizens to face their own past.
Indeed, the time has come to set the record straight, and to silence for good ultra-nationalists from all sides, particularly after years of incessant provocations**.
From all sides ? Very much like Obama's speeches denouncing choices made by his predecessor sucked arguments out of warmongers overseas as well as in the US, Japan's call for justice upon itself will expose the impostors who needed such provocations to fuel their own nationalist agendas.
If China is more than eager to cope with say the Nanking Massacre, I'm not sure Beijing regime is willing to abandon its own outright revisionist programs : English scholars recently mocked at China's attempts of claiming (or rather "hanschlussing") Goguryeo civilization : as if England decided to claim Germany !
Korea itself hasn't yet fully come to terms with its own darkest moments but keeps, as it should, investigating and correcting past wrongdoings.
Yet, not everybody is happy with this, and diehard nationalists keep lobbying against the Truth and Reconciliation Commission***. Doing so, they are actually undermining the nation's efforts to emerge as a great nation on the international stage. Because contrary to what they pretend, more revelations won't bring shame but only pride, respect and praise from other nations.
As a French citizen, I've always felt at the same time an immense respect for Germany and the way post-WWII generations were educated about Nazi atrocities, and ashamed by how late France started admitting its own contributions to the genocide, or its wrongdoings as a colonial power.
As a country accepts its past weaknesses, it strengthens itself for the future, and sends the best message to its youth and to the world. A nation respecting lessons from history is a great and future proof nation.
As it welcomes an invitation for truth and reconciliation from Japan, Korea needs to support its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than ever.
And together, Korea and Japan must send the best message to the region and to the world, as role models for a new, peaceful Asia.
blogules 2009
see also "A Common History" on Seoul Village
* see "Japanese foreign minister suggests joint history texts" (JoongAng Daily 20091009)
** see too many previous blogules on Japan and China.
*** on Seoul Village : "President Lee, please keep digging".
ADDENDUM 20091012
This post was published in JoongAng Ilbo today under the title "Japan may face its history"
The country decided to face its own past, and to reach for its neighbors in a joint effort to restore tragic facts as parts of a common history : confirming the hopes raised by Hatoyama's election, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada called for joint history text books between Japan, China, and Korea*, and revived the courageous position of former Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, who apologied for "damage and suffering" under colonial rule, called for an end to nationalism, and urged fellow Japanese citizens to face their own past.
Indeed, the time has come to set the record straight, and to silence for good ultra-nationalists from all sides, particularly after years of incessant provocations**.
From all sides ? Very much like Obama's speeches denouncing choices made by his predecessor sucked arguments out of warmongers overseas as well as in the US, Japan's call for justice upon itself will expose the impostors who needed such provocations to fuel their own nationalist agendas.
If China is more than eager to cope with say the Nanking Massacre, I'm not sure Beijing regime is willing to abandon its own outright revisionist programs : English scholars recently mocked at China's attempts of claiming (or rather "hanschlussing") Goguryeo civilization : as if England decided to claim Germany !
Korea itself hasn't yet fully come to terms with its own darkest moments but keeps, as it should, investigating and correcting past wrongdoings.
Yet, not everybody is happy with this, and diehard nationalists keep lobbying against the Truth and Reconciliation Commission***. Doing so, they are actually undermining the nation's efforts to emerge as a great nation on the international stage. Because contrary to what they pretend, more revelations won't bring shame but only pride, respect and praise from other nations.
As a French citizen, I've always felt at the same time an immense respect for Germany and the way post-WWII generations were educated about Nazi atrocities, and ashamed by how late France started admitting its own contributions to the genocide, or its wrongdoings as a colonial power.
As a country accepts its past weaknesses, it strengthens itself for the future, and sends the best message to its youth and to the world. A nation respecting lessons from history is a great and future proof nation.
As it welcomes an invitation for truth and reconciliation from Japan, Korea needs to support its own Truth and Reconciliation Commission more than ever.
And together, Korea and Japan must send the best message to the region and to the world, as role models for a new, peaceful Asia.
blogules 2009
see also "A Common History" on Seoul Village
* see "Japanese foreign minister suggests joint history texts" (JoongAng Daily 20091009)
** see too many previous blogules on Japan and China.
*** on Seoul Village : "President Lee, please keep digging".
ADDENDUM 20091012
This post was published in JoongAng Ilbo today under the title "Japan may face its history"
20090831
Land of the rinsing sun ?
As Taro Aso became Prime Minister, he fulfilled a personal ambition to the risk of marring his own name : Japan was bound to face tough times, and his Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) bound to struggle at the 2009 elections.
Base case scenario then was a 1993 style victory for the Democratic Party of Japan.
Even if a few DPJ leaders have experienced their own turpitudes over the past year, LDP took very much the expected dive. Taro Aso's era and sense of timing could be summed up by one drunken Finance Minister at a G7 summit, and record high unemployment figures published on the eve of elections.
Forget about the base case scenario : Sunday, DPJ claimed over 300 seats out of 480 at the Lower House.
Hopefully, this worst case scenario for the LDP could turn out to be the best case scenario for Japan.
Because Japan badly needs change. Not change as in "political alternation", but change as in "political and societal shift".
Before becoming a controversial Prime Minister, Taro Aso was a controversial Foreign Minister, pushing all the (extreme) right buttons to please imperialist dieharders, infuriating Chinese and Korean neighbors*, and even dispising Hiromu Nonaka, a LDP rival, for being "burakumin", a person coming from a minority. Nevermind the fact that Korean blood runs through the body of the Emperor himself.
Taro's successor Yukio Hatoyama defends burakus and Japanese of Korean origin. He fights against discrimination at home and for reconciliation with neighbors. He leads a movement in favor of stronger ties between Korea and Japan, and has a vision for both countries as natural partners in the region.
Behind this 62 year-old leader, DPJ sent to the Diet an impressive roster of young people, many of whom women, kicking out of the political landscape a collection of dinosaurs who'd be running for decades a country glued in keiretsu conservatism and bureaucracy.
These elections could mean the end of Post-War Japan and the beginning of something new. Now would be the perfect time to - at last** ! - set the record straight about what happened during and before the said war, and to get rid of the only minority that tarnishes its greatness : a dangerous clique of nostalgist and revisionist fascists.
Japan has a unique opportunity to embrace the new millenium as a great nation at peace with its neighbors, its own past, and its own citizens.
blogules 2009 (also in French : "Le Pays du Soleil Lavant ?")
* see "Taro Aso after Tzipi Livni and before... ?"
** see too many previous blogules about Japan, and why unrepentant Japan shouldn't be allowed to seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
Base case scenario then was a 1993 style victory for the Democratic Party of Japan.
Even if a few DPJ leaders have experienced their own turpitudes over the past year, LDP took very much the expected dive. Taro Aso's era and sense of timing could be summed up by one drunken Finance Minister at a G7 summit, and record high unemployment figures published on the eve of elections.
Forget about the base case scenario : Sunday, DPJ claimed over 300 seats out of 480 at the Lower House.
Hopefully, this worst case scenario for the LDP could turn out to be the best case scenario for Japan.
Because Japan badly needs change. Not change as in "political alternation", but change as in "political and societal shift".
Before becoming a controversial Prime Minister, Taro Aso was a controversial Foreign Minister, pushing all the (extreme) right buttons to please imperialist dieharders, infuriating Chinese and Korean neighbors*, and even dispising Hiromu Nonaka, a LDP rival, for being "burakumin", a person coming from a minority. Nevermind the fact that Korean blood runs through the body of the Emperor himself.
Taro's successor Yukio Hatoyama defends burakus and Japanese of Korean origin. He fights against discrimination at home and for reconciliation with neighbors. He leads a movement in favor of stronger ties between Korea and Japan, and has a vision for both countries as natural partners in the region.
Behind this 62 year-old leader, DPJ sent to the Diet an impressive roster of young people, many of whom women, kicking out of the political landscape a collection of dinosaurs who'd be running for decades a country glued in keiretsu conservatism and bureaucracy.
These elections could mean the end of Post-War Japan and the beginning of something new. Now would be the perfect time to - at last** ! - set the record straight about what happened during and before the said war, and to get rid of the only minority that tarnishes its greatness : a dangerous clique of nostalgist and revisionist fascists.
Japan has a unique opportunity to embrace the new millenium as a great nation at peace with its neighbors, its own past, and its own citizens.
blogules 2009 (also in French : "Le Pays du Soleil Lavant ?")
* see "Taro Aso after Tzipi Livni and before... ?"
** see too many previous blogules about Japan, and why unrepentant Japan shouldn't be allowed to seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council.
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