I can’t possible reply each and every one of the 100 over comments, so i’m writing it here.

For those who went on a comment rage before you even finish the post (or have the mental capacity to even read a blog post properly), it is fine. If you walk out half way through a movie, the movie probably sucks so much that you cannot continue. Director’s fault. But to go on and tell everyone how shitty you think the ending is just makes you sound silly.

Also there is no need to repeat quoting me to tell me what i already told myself. It makes me think you sound very stupid.

Out of all the comments, two things i want to elaborate here.

1. Japan has never apologized for the atrocities it has committed during WWII.

I don’t understand how so many people can come to such a conclusion that Japan has NEVER made a single apology in the past 70 years. Really? Is that really what you think?

Japan did.

Not once. But repeatedly, since 1950 , and almost every single year to various countries it has committed war crimes to, until today, 2013.

That is 60 years of constant apology. Youngs who has absolutely nothing to do with the war crime continue to apologize on behalf of their ancestors.

Apologies are made. Whether these countries (China and Korea) deem the apologies acceptable and satisfactory or not, it is not the issue here. Everybody likes to argue about semantics. They can say that the apologies are insincere. But do they have the sincerity to accept an apology to begin with? Also, nobody should judge if an apology is sincere enough except the the one who is apologizing and the one who is apologized to.

In 1998, Japanese PM Keizo Obuchi apologized to South Korean president Kim Dae Jung for the occupation of Korean Peninsular. Both parties declared the matter settled. It has come to an end. Why does Korea still demand an apology years after years?

The Japanese atrocities cannot be used as a bargaining chip over and over again, just because China thinks that their apologies are “not valid” and reject them on purpose to their own benefits. That is extortion.

About compensation, Japan has contributed trillion of yen (although in the form of ODA) to China and Korea. I cannot even comprehend such a large figure of number but i’m sure it is enough to build a few small countries from scratch.

What other things can Japan do now to settle its history debt other than apologies and financial aids? You cannot take innocent people’s lives to make up for lost souls in this modern society.

It was wrong for Japan to have excluded some of the events from Japanese history books,  but who are we to say the history book we are all studying now reflect 100% truth? Political views are forever distorted, and similarly, textbooks in China and Korea are massively biased to preserve anti-Japanese sentiments in order to keep their nationalism up.

There are too much to argue and too many cans of worms opened when you dig history up and it will be an endless debate. It was my bad to have brought it up in my previous entry and i deserve every single comments, good or bad.

I am not making myself sound like i know how to solve this whole political conundrum, so neither should you.

 

2. You cannot possibly understand how it feels or what the Korean anti-Japan sentiments stem from unless you existed 70+ years ago and saw Japan colonize and break all sorts of human rights laws in China and Korea.

So i assume you are over 100 years old by now typing on your computer in reply to the atrocities written on a pink blog?

If that is the case i will delete the previous blog post and apologize sincerely for all i have written.

None of us here, including you, me, was involved in what happened in the past.

My grandmother was from China, whose family probably experienced war time aggressions.

My husband was born in Nagasaki. His dad is a nuclear bomb victim, who has a license that allows him free access to public transport and medical care in Japan. He was 7 years old when the US dropped an atomic bomb on his home land. He survived because his school was somewhere hidden between the valleys, but one of his brothers was killed in the bombing.

He is my father in law, and he is 75 years old. I have only met him twice, one as a a visit to be officially introduced, another time on our wedding day. He is a silent, fragile man and we hardly even exchanged words. But every time i see him, my heart was filled with respect, admiration and love, for he taught his family peace, duty and honesty. He has never once talked about the bomb incident, nor incite hatred towards the Americans. His sons were not brought up to resent, partly because they knew that they were wrong in the past, and mostly because of a big heart.

That is how i fell in love with his son, one of the most honest, humble person with the purest heart i have ever met. And he is now my husband.

And Nagasaki is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places i have ever seen. When i visited the Hypocenter, all i felt was love from people from all over the world, in the shape of colorful paper cranes. There wasn’t a single ounce of resentment felt. I thought i would one day live there.

The only point i am trying to make here today, is that the Japanese are not taught to hate. No kids should be taught hatred. Including kids in China and Korea. I have admitted how wrong, petty and childish i was, because my husband taught me so. And i learned.

And again, i wish the world to have a bigger heart, including myself. And with that i end my post.

 

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