Commemorating the End of WWII

The recent 75th anniversary of the end of WWII led me to recall another event, the 1991 anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

There was a US TV newsman in Japan and for the 50th anniversary of PH they asked him how it was viewed over there. I found what he said to be very surprising.

He said that the Japanese viewed 7 Dec 1941 as just another bombing attack in a war that was filled with them. After all, the Japanese already had been at war for years when they attacked Pearl Harbor. It was no big deal, nothing special. And he added that the Japanese considered the attack on Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945 to be in the category of a terrible natural disaster, like an earthquake or typhoon - and none of them seemed to find any connection between that bombing attack that occurred on 7 Dec 1941 and that horrible disaster that occurred on 6 Aug 1945.

MIflyer said:

The recent 75th anniversary of the end of WWII led me to recall another event, the 1991 anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

There was a US TV newsman in Japan and for the 50th anniversary of PH they asked him how it was viewed over there. I found what he said to be very surprising.

He said that the Japanese viewed 7 Dec 1941 as just another bombing attack in a war that was filled with them. After all, the Japanese already had been at war for years when they attacked Pearl Harbor. It was no big deal, nothing special. And he added that the Japanese considered the attack on Hiroshima on 6 Aug 1945 to be in the category of a terrible natural disaster, like an earthquake or typhoon - and none of them seemed to find any connection between that bombing attack that occurred on 7 Dec 1941 and that horrible disaster that occurred on 6 Aug 1945.

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Really? Sounds like a systemic case of denial to me.

An old friend of mine sent me a copy of a letter and response in a recent issue of Sea Classics. Someone wrote that they objected to the use of the word "Japs" in articles in the magazine. The response fro the magazine was that while the people of Germany seem to have fully accepted the facts about the country's involvement in WWII and the ideas behind the Nazi party, they cannot see similar acceptance on the part of the people of Japan. So I guess that amounts to the same observation made by the newsman in 1991.

As others have pointed out, while solemn candlelight vigils are held in memory of the people who died in Hiroshima, 100,000 people also died in the battle to liberate Manila, most of them PI civilians executed by the Japanese. No one regards their loss as some great natural disaster and we see no TV shows of candles burning in their memory.

MIflyer said:

An old friend of mine sent me a copy of a letter and response in a recent issue of Sea Classics. Someone wrote that they objected to the use of the word "Japs" in articles in the magazine. The response fro the magazine was that while the people of Germany seem to have fully accepted the facts about the country's involvement in WWII and the ideas behind the Nazi party, they cannot see similar acceptance on the part of the people of Japan. So I guess that amounts to the same observation made by the newsman in 1991.

As others have pointed out, while solemn candlelight vigils are held in memory of the people who died in Hiroshima, 100,000 people also died in the battle to liberate Manila, most of them PI civilians executed by the Japanese. No one regards their loss as some great natural disaster and we see no TV shows of candles burning in their memory.

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I believe it could take generations before Japan finally realizes the arrogance of their ways and begins to embrace the fact that their ancestors committed some truly despicable acts against mankind.

In the summer of 1993 I spent some time in Berlin visiting friends and I had the opportunity to watch German TV discussing the 50th anniversary of the war and the events during the summer of 1943. It was a wholly different perspective than I had seen before. Most notably was how much of the discussion was about the Eastern Front, the scale and ferocity. Some of the German period news footage was truly frightening and astounding. It was also enlightening how the German discussion about the western allies and bombing (makes sense) but the moral question about firebombing cities and whether it would be considered a war crime. GermanTV also covered the Holocaust in what seemed to be a wholly frank and honest manner. There was no equivocating who was responsible for actions and the start of the war.

My father served in the Air Corps in the Pacific Theater (signed up right after Pearl Harbor), along with my mothers 4 brothers (2 Army Infantry, 1 of which was killed on Saipan, 1 Navy Pilot and 1 OSS). I don't have many specifics on the service of any, just what little my parents said when I was young. The Atomic bombing stopping our invasion of Japan may be the only reason I was born. Both of my parents never showed any open hostility to the Japanese people when I was growing up.

I don't think they'll EVER realize it. There is a systematic elimination of any discussion or writings about the events leading up to U.S. participation in WWII. One of the volunteers at the Planes of Fame is a Japanese citizen who lives near Nagoya. None of the workers in the factory near where he lived even knew that the building was used to build aircraft during WWII. His father had worked there during the war.

At the Planes of Fame, when we restored out D4Y-3 "Judy," this volunteer was surprised to find that the center fuel tank was signed by his father, who had done so in the same building where some of his acquaintances worked.

Apparently, nobody was taught much about WWII, the role of Japan in it, or the role of the U.S. in it. They knew of WWII and knew they had lost, but were never taught that they started open hostilities by bombing Pearl Harbor. From what he said, if you attacked Japan and said it was revenge for Pearl Harbor, almost nobody would know what you meant by that. They were ALSO not taught about U.S. embargos of raw materials going to Japan, which led to Pearl Harbor in the first place. Basically, they just don't seem to know a great deal about WWII or their role in it.

None of this reflects upon the people of Japan today, the way they think, or their ideology ... it is just a fact of life.

I don't much like the history textbooks I have seen in the U.S.A. They gloss over out civil war and hardly even speak about the root causes at all. I have history books written right after the civil war, and there was only one primary cause spoken of in all of them. But ... I would have no idea how to change what texts were selected for use in our school history classes. Likely, it is the same in Japan. Their national school system is what it is, and the average citizen likely has little opportunity to change it.

One way to practically eliminate a behavior or belief is to shun it nationwide, remove references to it, and not ever talk about it again. It doesn't stop history from repeating itself, but it DOES remove the behavior / belief from general life for some period of time.

Our personal experience is limited, isn't it. Even when we travel a lot and live and work in a multicultural environment My Japanese colleagues avoided speaking about WWII. The lack of knowledge or unwillingness? Wise decision to avoid negative impact on relationship? I'll never know that.
Then I remember one of my Grandfathers (passed away before my birth). According to his family, he declined to speak about the wars he took part in. WWI, Civil War (Russia), WWII. There were some funny stories from the WWI period, not related to the army and that was all.
When I hear "A memory that is too painful to withstand the light of day" in that song by Pink Floyd I remember the Grandfather.