Japan's Imperial
delegation prepares to sign 'instruments of
surrender' on the deck
of the U.S.S.Missouri, Aug. 15, 1945.
Japanese Must Continue to Lead 'Battle' to Abolish War (Nara Shimbun, Japan)
"There is no such
thing as a good war, a heroic war, a bad war, or a wrong war. All war must be
abolished. Even if it may seem idealistic or fanciful, I believe we must not
back down from this conviction. That is the best way to apply the lessons of this
defeat. ... Instead of leaving it in the hands of politicians, every one of us must
consider the implications of constitutional reform and the right to collective
self defense. We must reflect on the war-ridden path our country took from the Meiji
Restoration [1868] to August 15th, 1945."
Co-chair of the Japan Restoration Party,
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto: Part of Japan's new right-wing leadership, Hashimoto recently lebeled sex slavery a 'necessity' for Japan's former Imperial Army.
Sixty
eight years after defeat, with the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
still fresh in our memories, August 15th approaches
again. It is an important day to reaffirm our commitment to ending war and
achieving world peace.
In
the run up to upper house elections in May, Toru Hashimoto, mayor of
Osaka and co-chairman of the Japan Restoration Party, let slip that “anyone can
see that the ‘comfort women’ system was necessary.”
[Editor's
Note: Last may before nationwide elections, Osaka Mayer Hashimoto is reported to have said, "When soldiers
are risking their lives by running through storms of bullets, and you want to
give these emotionally charged soldiers a rest somewhere, it’s clear that you
need a comfort women system. ... brothels were necessary at the time to
maintain discipline in the army." He also went on to claim that there is
no evidence that Japanese authorities forced women in surrounding nations into sexual servitude].
Soon
after the elections, Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso suggested “learning from Nazi tactics” in relation to
passing amendments to the Constitution. These comments arouse our suspicion
toward Japanese politics, and it is worth keeping them in mind when we reflect
on “August 15th.”
[Editor's
Note: Minister Taro Aso's comment about "Nazi
tactics" for altering the constitution refer to the pacific constitution
adopted during the American occupation which forbids Japan from having a formal
military - and which is exceedingly difficult to amend. His full remark was, "Germany's
Weimar Constitution was changed into the Nazi Constitution before anyone knew
... It was changed before anyone else noticed. Why don't we learn from that
method?"]
Nara
Prefecture experienced no large-scale war damage at the hands of the U.S. Army,
either from an atomic bomb or conventional carpet bombing. Of course, no areas
were spared war-related scars. On the contrary, it is no exaggeration to
say that Tenri
City and its environs may well have been turned into scorched earth.
Commonly
called “Yanagimoto Airport,” the Yamato Base of the Yamato
Naval Air Corps was hastily built during WWII and once had almost 50 Zero fighters stationed
there. Even now, traces of the former base remain.
It
is said that there were plans to move Imperial Japanese Army Headquarters to
the base in preparation for the decisive “battle for the mainland.” When the
bombing of Osaka began in March 1945, the sky over Mount Ikoma
as seen from the Nara border was stained bright red. If the war had lasted
longer and the military command had been moved to Nara, Tenri
City and its surroundings could have experienced a ferocious attack by U.S. forces.
The thought is chilling.
There
is no such thing as a good war, a heroic war, a bad war, or a wrong war. All
war must be abolished. Even if it may seem idealistic or fanciful, we
must not back down from this conviction. That is the best way to apply the
lessons of this defeat.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
It
is worrying that in East Asia, not only China, South Korea and North Korea, but
Japan, appear to be strengthening their military capabilities.
Since
it was unveiled on August 6th, the destroyer Izumo, which is capable of launching helicopters, has
captured popular attention. It is 815 feet long and has a displacement of about
20,000 tons [empty]. In any event - it is large. Judging from the images shown in
news reports, it has the layout of an aircraft carrier [see video above]. By
comparison, the Imperial Japanese Navy’s war vessel Yamato
was 862 feet long, and the warship Nagato, which was requisitioned by the U.S. Army after the
war and used for nuclear experiments in the Pacific, was 738 feet long. The
worry is that military tensions could be heightened by the emergence of this
new “weapon.”
Instead
of leaving it in the hands of politicians, every one of us must consider the
implications of constitutional reform and the right to collective self defense.
We must reflect on the war-ridden path our country took from the Meiji Restoration
[1868] to August 15th, 1945, as well as our post-war history, and decide how to
proceed. To do so, we first must take ownership of the memories of "August
15th."
