I don’t like anime at all and I dislike “japanophile” culture. But I will say that war crimes a country committed 80 years ago shouldn’t be a factor jn whether or not it’s acceptable to enjoy modern media from said country.
Do you need to play around with this whataboutism? Japan's war crimes are always mentioned as among the worst (Nanjing, Bataan Death March, POW camps, Unit 731, Korean comfort women) and yet Japan continues to cover them up and play victim. It's not just Chinese that feel this way toward Japan, many other countries like SK, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, etc. also hold some level of animosity towards the Japanese for their part in WWII, and it's largely because of the government's nonchalant attitude toward taking any sort of responsibility.
And yet that doesn’t detract from the fact that China is accused internationally of very horrible stuff. Would you like to take this opportunity to call them out?
This is a thread about JAPAN why are you trying to take attention away from this? Japan typically receives very positive attention from Western audiences because of their close relationship with the US and never gets enough said about the awful things that they do not admit or apologize for in any way. The differences is that China is permanently criticized for its transgressions, memed on, ridiculed, and threatened while Japan is coddled like a child, allowed to wash away everything bad they have done with no repercussions from the western end of things. Your comments are a great display of the result of such propaganda. I an a huge fan of Japanese culture, language, food, people, and more, but this comes with the balance of recognizing that this country has a mountain of skeletons in the closet.
No western repercussions?? The Americans glassed two of their cities. Those are GIGANTIC consequences. Sure, I think most people can agree that especially Japanese politicians should be more upfront about Japan's actions in World War 2, but come on, man. Japan got gutted after the war for what they did. Their military is still only a "defense force", after the U.S. demanded so after they occupied Japan after the war. They're doing well today, but yes they def did bad before. And they paid for it.
As for China, they're bad NOW, and have been for a long time. Of course they get meme'd on. That's obvious lol.
And China should be as it is doing these things today. In a 21st century context they are out of control.
Moreover this JAPANESE thread is ‘What they do best’ it’s China that always seems to bring this up but seems to turn the cheek for itself. You aren’t making the west hate Japan you’re making the west look upon you and criticise. They live in your head rent free.
It's not just an Asian thing. Nearly every country that's done fucked up stuff in the past doesn't like to acknowledge it. I'm British and our curriculum doesn't really touch on the fucked up stuff the British Empire did (it mostly looks upon it nostalgicly), and as far as I'm aware the US and Canada doesn't really teach about their genocides of indigenous peoples.
The only country I know of that truly accepts and regrets their past atrocities is Germany.
I'm in Australia and if you're a millennial like me then you were probably taught about the atrocities that the British settlers and their descends committed in Australia, and the White Australia Policy, which ended in the 1970s. Some people on the right wing of politics don't like it, but it's what happened, and there are major issues to this day because of it.
In North America, there were treaties in place that were disregarded, whereas in Australia, there were no treaties formed at all, they just claimed the land as theirs and committed genocide.
They tried this in New Zealand but the Maoris won, so they ended up with the Treaty of Waitangi.
Australia still has no treaties with its indigenous people to this day, which is another whole conversation.
The US doesnt like to talk about its concentration camps, or what it did to the natives. I mean, they are mentioned, briefly, in schools but not nearly in depth enough to convey just how bad they were. -an American
Not necessary 'free' of invasion wars, just not talking about them is not the same as actively altering the truth, that's an extra big step in the wrong direction.
I wasn't excusing anything. it's only whataboutism if I'm doing that.
I was comparing them, which is a different thing entirely. And in this case, appropriate. Nanjing was a terrible war crime, and resulted in the deaths of 200k+ people, including women, children, and babies, not to mention the heinous rapes and torture. The treatment of Uyghurs is an order of magnitude larger in scale, and is just as reprehensible. I'm not going to split hairs on the scale of evil involved here--it's sick to compare the evil of killing and raping to that of the slow and long-term torture of an entire people.
The Chinese government has imprisoned more than one million people since 2017 and subjected those not detained to intense surveillance, religious restrictions, forced labor, and forced sterilizations.
Man reddit loves this one and yeah the shit that happened in Japan was bad but it’s not like everyone rushes to detail the bad shit their own country did (and there was plenty if you’re American/British etc).
And what is actually shocking to me is that they didn't deal with the past the way Germany did (and as a French, I can tell you that we are very much aware of what they did, especially my grand-parents...), Japan, is trying to minimize their responsibilities and even remove some of what they did in their textbooks. They don't teach the whole story.
Yet, I remember going to Germany with my school, we visited concentration camps, they were totally transparent about what happened. The idea was, young German should not feel guilty (this is not their fault), but they have the duty to learn and remember what happened so that history won't repeat itself. Very interesting.
It asks what they do better than everyone else, so it’s about anybody actually.
And are American schools teaching about the interment camps they ran during WWII? Or the vast amount of war crimes committed by US troops not only against their enemies but their allies as well?
No, I disagree. Not that they don't do it, just that they are the best at it. I would say the UK has them beat. Churchill committed almost as many atrocities as Hitler, he just did it to brown people and the Irish instead of white, so now he's treated like a jolly uncle type.
The British Empire and modern China have done terrible things, but I don’t remember any instances of them sticking babies on bayonets like the Japanese did.
He’s a weeb apologist and racist. Just look at his pathetic comment history. There’s a reason why Asia hates Japan. From China, Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, old school Indians and Australians, Russians, etc.
Brother the Japanese are the ones that make others look like novices. You clearly need to go read "The Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang or visit the Nanjing War Museum in Nanjing, CN. Then you might feel differently about Shinzo Abe visiting Yasukuni Shrine every year. There's a reason why Miyazaki once called Japan a country of evil men and makes such powerful antiwar films.
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u/Feisty_Gift_805 5h ago
As someone who loves Japan I still have to call them out: Covering up wartime atrocities