tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6378928814976244629.post7422307799060970640..comments2022-10-04T08:22:04.650+01:00Comments on The Gaijin Prince of Dorset: Visiting the Yasukuni Shrinepouncinganthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17239758814994753514noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6378928814976244629.post-80980796879945885042014-02-10T13:06:34.377+00:002014-02-10T13:06:34.377+00:00Yes. I think the cause of most of these problems i...Yes. I think the cause of most of these problems is politics. It is a rather long discussion I'm happy to have one day. Maybe over some nice Japanese food and sake. <br />Personally I make the best effort to remain as unbiased as I can. There is always two sides in a story and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. In my view it all boils down to politics and personal interests, even Germany's stance...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14147975965304081829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6378928814976244629.post-68261039540628295542014-01-25T00:02:23.751+00:002014-01-25T00:02:23.751+00:00I'm glad you liked it!
War is an ugly busines...I'm glad you liked it! <br />War is an ugly business indeed, and neither side is particularly up-front about the nastier things they did. Personally, I feel Japan is decidedly less up-front about it than most countries (compare with Germany, who are outstanding in how they handle their history, certainly less delusional than in England, anyway).<br />Then again, it's easy (when one's wife is Japanese) to lean too far in support of Japan, I think. I wonder how much one can blame the other countries, at the end of the day, I suspect a good deal of this is the governments reacting to appease domestic right-wingers, which perhaps has more to do with the problems of politics in general than this particular situation.pouncinganthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17239758814994753514noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6378928814976244629.post-65005081285848321612014-01-22T09:27:32.470+00:002014-01-22T09:27:32.470+00:00I really enjoyed reading this. One thing I wanted ...I really enjoyed reading this. One thing I wanted to add that I thing is also important to consider is that Japan lost the war. You never really hear of war criminals who are on the winning side (will George W. Bush go down as a war criminal?). My history knowledge is not great but I'm pretty sure The Great Alexander slaughtered thousands in his passage of spreading the great Macedonian civilization. He is not labelled as a war criminal. Perhaps these things are not comparable, however war is an ugly thing. The tendency is that all the horrible things that arise are from the losing side while the winner gets away with it and in some cases takes the role of a hero or a liberator. Sure the things imperial Japan did were horrible. Many of the stories might be true, others fabricated, but I don't get why one cannot go pay their respect to the fallen of their country in peace without all the drama. I really liked how you described the entire thing as "childish". Perhaps there is a political game within Japan as well, it just annoys me to see the reaction of the surrounding countries each time there is a visit. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14147975965304081829noreply@blogger.com