Japanese PM shows grief,but no apology on 70th anniversary speech of WW2's end

[CougarKing]

Despite Japanese PM's Abe's recent statement expressing grief about World War 2, it wasn't an apology.

Japan PM expresses 'utmost grief' over WW2 but no fresh apology
Fri Aug 14, 2015 12:17pm EDT

(...SNIPPED)

Diplomat

The Abe Statement: Did Abe Apologize?
Abe’s statement included the right language — but not in the right way.

shannon-tiezzi
By Shannon Tiezzi
August 14, 2015

“On the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, we must calmly reflect upon the road to war, the path we have taken since it ended, and the era of the 20th century. We must learn from the lessons of history the wisdom for our future.”

So begins Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s hotly anticipated statement on the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. The official Cabinet statement, delivered on August 14, will be heavily scrutinized, particularly in China and South Korea, for evidence that Abe is attempting to avoid historical responsibility. In particular, outside observers were looking to see that Abe replicated key language from the 1995 Murayama Statement and the 2005 Koizumi Statement: the word “apology” and admissions of Japan’s “aggression” and “colonial rule.” In essence, the question was how Abe would explain what, exactly, Japan did wrong in World War II and the preceding years and how (if at all) he would offer an apology for those actions.

So how did Abe do? Let’s take a look.

(...SNIPPED)

Meanwhile, the hundreds of women victimized as "comfort women" during Japan's occupation of many East and Southeast Asian nations have yet to compensated.

Reuters via ABS-CBN

Former sex slaves demand justice, compensation from Japan

Reuters
Posted at 08/14/2015 4:10 PM

Filipino "comfort woman" survivor Remedios Tecson, 85, takes a break while holding a placard demanding for an apology as well as compensation from Japan, for their treatment of women who were forced to be comfort workers during the war. Photo by Romeo Ranoco, Reuters
MANILA - More than a dozen activists and former Filipino comfort women marked the end of World War Two with a protest outside the Japanese embassy in Manila on Friday.

(...SNIPPED)

Time is running out as many of them are dying of old age...

Diplomat

For South Korea's 'Comfort Women,' Justice in America?
Could the ‘comfort women’ find justice in a U.S. court?

After decades of fruitless campaigning at home and abroad, a group of South Korean women forced into sexual slavery for the Imperial Japanese Army are seeking restitution in a Californian court.

Twelve former “comfort women” were due to file a $24 million civil suit against Japan and a number of Japanese firms on July 1, unless Japan agreed to compensation and an apology, according to Yonhap News Agency.

But, as non-U.S. citizens suing foreign entities, how likely is it that they’ll find satisfactory redress in a U.S. court?

Not very, according to two U.S. experts in international law that spoke to The Diplomat.

(...SNIPPED)

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Always wait for everyone to be dead and then say sorry. I hold their leadership accountable, not the people. The apology should come from the government as they laid their own people astray, people that were not yet used to hold a government accountable.

 

[Rocky Mountains]

54 apologies not enough?  Apologizing for actions taken before a person is born is nothing but stupid.  We have 5,000 years of apologies to catch up on.  That's a lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

 

[Jarnhamar]

Apologies are meaningless if they aren't absolutely voluntary.

 

[tomahawk6]

The Japanese paid for their sins time to move on.

 

[Stoker]

54 apologies not enough?  Apologizing for actions taken before a person is born is nothing but stupid.  We have 5,000 years of apologies to catch up on.  That's a lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

My Great Uncle who was a guest of His Imperial Majesty's Army in a prison camp for 5 years would say that's not nearly enough. The Japanese were a brutal force equal to what the Nazi's did, memories of that do not fade over time for the people who were on the receiving end.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Always wait for everyone to be dead and then say sorry. I hold their leadership accountable, not the people. The apology should come from the government as they laid their own people astray, people that were not yet used to hold a government accountable.

Sounds like Veterans Affairs :

 

[Fishbone Jones]

54 apologies not enough?  Apologizing for actions taken before a person is born is nothing but stupid.  We have 5,000 years of apologies to catch up on.  That's a lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_war_apology_statements_issued_by_Japan

Like all of us today. Apparently, we're still responsible for slavery and everything wrong with First Nations.

 

[George Wallace]

Like all of us today. Apparently, we're still responsible for slavery and everything wrong with First Nations.

Only in Canada, eh!

 

[Shrek1985]

Why apologize? The government that did that is long gone.

 

[cld617]

If you ever get a German to speak openly about the war, they rarely skate around it or deny any involvement. From my experience, they merely express sorrow and embarrassment for what they're fathers and grandfathers did. We do however need to move on, and stop holding new generations accountable.

Like all of us today. Apparently, we're still responsible for slavery and everything wrong with First Nations.

This is a different situation, as many of those who were treated poorly as well as those who took part in the mistreatment are still alive, not to mention that mistreatment can still be felt today as it has undoubtedly crippled progress. While everyone is responsible for themselves, the issues with First Nations people is far too multi-faceted to simply say "sort your crap out" and ignore it. This was not a war, it was a systematic method of oppression that took place up until only a few decades ago against Canadian citizens. You personally do not need to apologize, but it helps those who are striving to make positive change to not simply dismiss the work they do. Inform yourself or remain silent, as ignorant opinions are no conducive to progress.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

If you ever get a German to speak openly about the war, they rarely skate around it or deny any involvement. From my experience, they merely express sorrow and embarrassment for what they're fathers and grandfathers did. We do however need to move on, and stop holding new generations accountable.

This is a different situation, as many of those who were treated poorly as well as those who took part in the mistreatment are still alive, not to mention that mistreatment can still be felt today as it has undoubtedly crippled progress. While everyone is responsible for themselves, the issues with First Nations people is far too multi-faceted to simply say "sort your crap out" and ignore it. This was not a war, it was a systematic method of oppression that took place up until only a few decades ago against Canadian citizens. You personally do not need to apologize, but it helps those who are striving to make positive change to not simply dismiss the work they do. Inform yourself or remain silent, as ignorant opinions are no conducive to progress.

Sorry? And you became emperor when?

The fact that you have a differing viewpoint does not give you the right to tell me to keep silent about mine.

 

[George Wallace]

This is a different situation, as many of those who were treated poorly as well as those who took part in the mistreatment are still alive, not to mention that mistreatment can still be felt today as it has undoubtedly crippled progress. While everyone is responsible for themselves, the issues with First Nations people is far too multi-faceted to simply say "sort your crap out" and ignore it. This was not a war, it was a systematic method of oppression that took place up until only a few decades ago against Canadian citizens. You personally do not need to apologize, but it helps those who are striving to make positive change to not simply dismiss the work they do. Inform yourself or remain silent, as ignorant opinions are no conducive to progress.

Like the First Nations people who were in Residential Schools in the early 20th Century, and are still alive today, we have Veterans from the Second World War, the war with Japan, still alive today.  I miss your point.

 

[Jarnhamar]

striving to make positive change to not simply dismiss the work they do. Inform yourself or remain silent, as ignorant opinions are no conducive to progress.

That reminds me of a First Nations chief talking about making all First Nations languages official languages in Canada. So as he put it, 64 different languages on the side of a cereal box.  That really seems like an attainable goal and conductive of progressive negeotiations.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

If you ever get a German to speak openly about the war, they rarely skate around it or deny any involvement. From my experience, they merely express sorrow and embarrassment for what they're fathers and grandfathers did. We do however need to move on, and stop holding new generations accountable.

This is a different situation, as many of those who were treated poorly as well as those who took part in the mistreatment are still alive, not to mention that mistreatment can still be felt today as it has undoubtedly crippled progress. While everyone is responsible for themselves, the issues with First Nations people is far too multi-faceted to simply say "sort your crap out" and ignore it. This was not a war, it was a systematic method of oppression that took place up until only a few decades ago against Canadian citizens. You personally do not need to apologize, but it helps those who are striving to make positive change to not simply dismiss the work they do. Inform yourself or remain silent, as ignorant opinions are no conducive to progress.

The FN's here did get the crappy end of the stick for sure, but it should be noted they were busy sticking the crappy end of the stick into each other when the first Europeans arrived. Warfare and slavery were common to their cultures as well. The Brits did not doing anything really that they did not do to the Irish or the Scots as well. As my Persian friend said to me when I explained some of the local history; "What they have only been invaded once?" The FN-Europeon history pales compared to some of the invasions and wars in Central Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa. Take a hard look at the expansion of Islam as one of the most significant events of "cultural genocide" ever seen.