The 75-year history of Japan's defeat cannot be annihilated

Japan's defeat in the war for 75 years, historical memory cannot be annihilated

　　Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, August 14 (International Observation) Japan's 75 years of defeat, historical memory is indelible

　　Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Qiaomei

　　On August 15, 2020, Japan announced the 75th anniversary of its unconditional surrender.

　　For the people of Asia, "8·15" is a special number that will never be erased in historical memory. The war of aggression initiated by Japan has brought serious disasters to the people of Asian countries. China alone suffered 35 million casualties and US$600 billion in economic losses during the War of Resistance Against Japan.

　　However, with the advent of the "75 years after the war", the generation that experienced that war of aggression has become a minority in Japanese society. The social "common memory" of the history of aggression has gradually alienated, and Japanese society's reflection on the war is being The years are "weathered."

　　Forgetting history means betrayal. Analysts here point out that this trend is worrisome. Japan can only truly win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community if it chooses to face up to and deeply reflect on its history of aggression.

Dangerous words and actions that avoid responsibility

　　Every year on August 6th and 9th, Hiroshima City and Nagasaki City in Japan will hold the atomic bomb commemoration ceremony. Affected by the new crown epidemic, the number of participants decreased this year.

　　In order to prompt the Japanese surrender of the war of aggression, the US forces dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945. For a long time, Japan has portrayed itself as a "victim" of World War II, especially the nuclear explosion, but rarely mentioned the historical background of the atomic bombing.

　　This year, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended the commemorative ceremony of the two places as usual and delivered a speech. In his speech, Abe said: "75 years ago, the atomic bomb turned Hiroshima and Nagasaki into ruins, and the tragedies that occurred in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the suffering that people suffered as a result must not be repeated." However, Abe commented on the reasons for the bombing of Japan. And the historical background is not mentioned.

　　Every August 15th, the Japanese government will hold a "National Memorial Ceremony for the Dead" at the Nippon Budokan in Tokyo. Since his re-emergence in 2012, Abe has always expressed his condolences to the Japanese soldiers who died in the war of aggression in the Prime Minister's speech on the "Day of Defeat". He is vague about the fact that Japan has carried out aggression and colonial rule, avoiding Tomi Murayama. Since the city, Japan’s successive prime ministers must have mentioned the “responsibility for harm” in the Japanese war, without any reflection or apology.

The wrong view of history that poisons thought

　　This year is an important year for most local governments in Japan to select middle school history textbooks every four years. As usual, the Japanese right-wing group "Japan Conference" exerted influence on local education committees through political channels and urged the use of history textbooks published by Yupengsha.

　　The content of the Yupeng Club’s history textbook has been questioned. It not only beautifies the war of aggression launched by Japan in the past as a “war of self-defense” and a “war of independence and liberation of various ethnic groups in Asia,” it also treats the Nanjing University, which has long been concluded in the Far East international military trial. The massacre was expressed as the "Nanjing Incident" and it was noted that "There are various opinions on the actual situation of the number of victims in China, and there are still disputes today."

　　According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan, in 2020, Yupengsha history textbooks accounted for 6.4% of the country's adoption. The entry of this right-wing history textbook, which obscures responsibility for the aggression of neighboring Asian countries, into the middle school classroom will obviously seriously poison the thinking of young people. A few days ago, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kyoto Prefecture, Osaka Prefecture and many other places launched a citizen movement to boycott this textbook.

　　The Yasukuni Shrine is the ideological base camp for Japanese militarism to launch a war of aggression and mobilize all people to participate in the war. After the war, it honored those killed in the war as "heroes to protect the country," and forcibly sacrificed class-A war criminals, becoming a preaching "Japanese aggression is justified." "Japan has liberated the Asian people" at the core of the "Yasukuni View of History". By convention, Abe will usually offer sacrifices called "Jade Kushiro" to the Yasukuni Shrine on August 15.

　　Fujita Takaki, chairman of Japan’s "Inheritance and Development Murayama Forum", believes that whether it is to pay homage or worship, it means to pay homage to Class A war criminals and to support the "Yasukuni view of history" that beautifies the war of aggression and will seriously damage Japan. Peaceful order after the war.

Armaments that require vigilance

　　In the past years in power, the Abe administration has not only failed to reflect on the history of Japanese aggression, drew a clear line with militarism, and used practical actions to win the trust of neighboring Asian countries and the international community. On the contrary, it has worked to strengthen Japan-US defense cooperation, amend the security law, and promote the amendment of the peace constitution. Wait for a series of actions to challenge the post-war international order.

　　The Abe government forcibly passed a new security law in September 2015 to lift the ban on collective self-defense, which fundamentally changed Japan's post-war "special defense" policy, which caused concerns in Japan, Asian countries and the international community. In the same year, a new version of the "Guidelines for Japan-US Defense Cooperation" was released, incorporating "cross-domain operations" and "U.S. ship protection" into the "marine security assurance" content.

　　In recent years, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force has continued to strengthen its equipment. The 2019 edition of the "Defense White Paper" also exaggerated the severe security environment surrounding Japan, emphasizing that the Self-Defense Forces will strengthen military technology capabilities in space, network security, electromagnetic waves, and other fields to build "multi-dimensional comprehensive defense capabilities." In May of this year, Japan's first "space combat team" was established at the Fuchu base in Tokyo. In addition, Abe still spares no effort to promote his "long-cherished wish" to amend the peace constitution, seeking to get rid of the "post-war system."

　　Nobuhiro Takashima, an honorary professor of the University of the Ryukyus in Japan, pointed out that Japan's recent years of exclusivity and the trend of economic and military powers will cause Asian neighbors to remain vigilant against Japan for a long time.