Japan Air Force chief faces sack .....

liverpool annie · Oct 31, 2008

Did you guys see this ??

The head of the Japanese air force is to be sacked after saying the country was not an aggressor in World War II, Japan's defence minister said.

BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Japan air force chief faces sack

Kyt · Oct 31, 2008

He should be sacked. It still amazes me in how much denial the Japanese are about their actions during WW2. However much they sugarcoat it, they were the ones who attacked China, and started massacring the population. Maybe they did then react against the American stance of embargoing oil etc, but that is still no excuse to not accept that the made the first move in aggression.

spidge · Oct 31, 2008

The greater Asia sphere was to be for the benefit of Japan and their aggression was without equal. The cost in lives of the helpless non combatants is testament to that aggression.

John · Oct 31, 2008

I am sure I read somewhere that the Japanese school children were being taught that they were not the aggressor in WW2 until recently.

spidge · Nov 1, 2008

John said: ↑

I am sure I read somewhere that the Japanese school children were being taught that they were not the aggressor in WW2 until recently.
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The Japanese government wanted the Okinawans to alter their history books and be in line with those in Japan. This request was refused.

Antipodean Andy · Nov 4, 2008

A bit more here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/01/world/asia/01tokyo.html?_r=1&ref=asia&oref=slogin

TOKYO — A high-ranking Japanese military official was dismissed Friday for writing an essay stating that the United States had ensnared Japan into World War II, denying that Japan had waged wars of aggression in Asia and justifying Japanese colonialism.

The Defense Ministry fired Gen. Toshio Tamogami, chief of staff of Japan’s air force, late on Friday night, only hours after his essay was posted on a private company’s Web site. The quick dismissal seemed intended to head off criticism from China, South Korea and other Asian nations that have reacted angrily to previous Japanese denials of its militarist past.

The defense minister, Yasukazu Hamada, said the essay included an “inappropriate” assessment of the war, adding, “It was improper for a person in his capacity as air force chief of staff to publicly state a view clearly different from the government’s.”

In the essay, General Tamogami, 60, elaborated a rightist view of Japan’s wartime history shared by many nationalist politicians. But it was a rare formulation from inside Japan’s military, which, as Japan has been shedding its postwar pacifism in recent years, has gained a more prominent role.

Japan’s military — whose operations are restricted by the nation’s war-renouncing Constitution — should be allowed to possess “offensive weaponry” and widen its defense activities with allies, the general also wrote.

The article was posted on the Web site of a real estate developer called Apa Group after taking the $30,000 first prize in an essay-writing contest sponsored by the company.

General Tamogami wrote that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 and thereby drew the United States into World War II after being caught in “a trap” set by President Roosevelt.

“Roosevelt had become president on his public pledge not to go to war, so in order to start a war between the United States and Japan, it had to appear that Japan took the first shot,” he wrote.

He denied that Japan had invaded China and the Korean Peninsula, arguing that Japanese forces became embroiled in domestic conflicts on the Asian continent.

“Even now, there are many people who think that our country’s aggression caused unbearable suffering to the countries of Asia during the Greater East Asia War,” he wrote, using the term favored by Japan’s right to refer to World War II. “But we need to realize that many Asian countries take a positive view of the Greater East Asia War. It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation.”

Since the mid-1990s, the Japanese government has officially apologized for its wartime past and acknowledged its aggression in Asia. But in recent years, nationalist politicians belonging to the right wing of the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party have waged a campaign to revise Japan’s wartime history.

Few politicians have spoken as comprehensively as General Tamogami did. Instead they have telegraphed their sympathies with the rightist view of history. The current prime minister, Taro Aso, in the past publicly praised Japanese colonial rule on the Korean Peninsula. Mr. Aso, whose family’s mining business used forced laborers during World War II, also said Koreans gladly adopted Japanese names.

Hours before the general’s dismissal, Mr. Aso said, “Even though he published it in a private capacity, given his position, it is not appropriate.”

Last year, Shinzo Abe, then the prime minister, drew anger in Asia and the United States by denying the Japanese military’s involvement in recruiting the wartime sex slaves known euphemistically as “comfort women.”

His comments led the United States House of Representatives to adopt a nonbinding resolution calling on Japan to acknowledge and apologize for its wartime sex slavery. Japan has yet to respond.
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Antipodean Andy · Nov 4, 2008

And here, including an excerpt fromt he English version:

Top Japanese official says his country wasn't the aggressor in World War II - On Deadline - USATODAY.com

The chief of Japan's air force is out of a job thanks to an online essay in which he wrote "It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation" during World War II, according to Reuters.

Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said today that he will fire Air Force Gen. Toshio Tamogami because his views -- sure to be controversial in the region -- differ from the government's official position on the causes of the conflict.

Kyodo News says it appears that Tamogami released the essay "Was Japan an aggressor nation?" without allowing anyone in the civilian chain of command to review it.

BBC News paraphrases the article's conclusions. Here's an excerpt from the English-language version, which uses "Greater East Asia War" to refer to World War II:

Roosevelt had become president on his public pledge not to go to war, so in order to start a war between the United States and Japan it had to appear that Japan took the first shot. Japan was caught in Roosevelt’s trap and carried out the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Could the war have been avoided? If Japan had accepted the conditions lain out by the United States in the Hull note, perhaps the war could have been temporarily avoided. But even if the war had been avoided temporarily, when you consider the survival of the fittest mentality that dominated international relations at the time, you can easily imagine that the United States would have issued a second and a third set of demands. As a result, those of us living today could very well have been living in a Japan that was a white nation’s colony.

If you leave people alone, someday someone will create the conveniences of civilization, such as cars, washing machines, and computers. But in the history of mankind, the relationship between the rulers and the ruled is only determined by war. It is impossible for those who are powerful to grant concessions on their own. Those who do not fight must resign themselves to being ruled by others.

After the Greater East Asia War, many countries in Asia and Africa were released from the control of white nations. A world of racial equality arrived and problems between nations were to be decided through discussion. That was a result of Japan’s strength in fighting the Russo-Japanese War and Greater East Asia War. If Japan had not fought the Greater East War at that time, it may have taken another one hundred or two hundred years before we could have experienced the world of racial equality that we have today. In that sense, we must be grateful to our ancestors who fought for Japan and to the spirits of those who gave their precious lives for their country. It is thanks to them that we are able to enjoy the peaceful and plentiful lifestyle we have today.
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Kyt · Nov 5, 2008

Japanese defense officials punished over essay denying Japan's WWII aggression

Japan's Defense Ministry punished several top officials for failing to supervise the air force chief fired after claiming his country was not an aggressor in World War II, but rather was tricked into involvement by the United States.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and three other senior officials were taking partial pay cuts and two bureaucrats had been reprimanded over the essay by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Toshio Tamogami, the ministry said Tuesday.

It said the measures were meant to address the officials' lack of supervision and responsibility for hurting the public trust in the military.

The scandal was just the latest blow to the military under fire over a spate of incidents, including the death of a sailor in an unofficial farewell ritual, a confidential missile data leak and a deadly collision between a destroyer and a tuna trawler.

Japan's wartime aggression remains a sensitive topic. China-Japan relations nose-dived earlier in the decade over Japanese leaders' visits to a Tokyo war shrine honoring war dead, including convicted war criminals but ties have improved markedly over the last two years. On Monday, China welcomed Tamogami's dismissal.

"It was truly regrettable that an official serving as air force chief of staff caused such a controversy," Hamada told a news conference.

He also promised to ensure proper education among servicemen to nurture "objective understanding of facts without a distorted view of history." He said he is voluntarily returning about $1,690 from his November salary over the incident.

It was not immediately clear whether the essay, which won a writing competition Friday organized by a hotel and condominium developer, had been submitted to superiors for review or was entered into the contest without official authorization.

In the essay, Tamogami maintained: "It is certainly a false accusation to say that our country was an aggressor nation" during World War II.

He said life in countries under Japanese occupation was "very moderate" compared to other colonial rulers, liberated the Asian people from oppression and improved their standard of living.

Tamogami also claimed Japan was tricked into attacking Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, by then-U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

His views are widely shared among Japan's right-wing lawmakers and historians. However, Tokyo has repeatedly expressed regret over its colonial rule and wartime aggression in Asia.

A 1995 apology by then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama, marking the 50th anniversary of the end of WWII, became the government's official stance.

The 60-year-old general retired with full benefits from the military Monday after being stripped of his position as air force chief Friday

The opposition Democratic Party of Japan is demanding parliamentary questioning of Tamogami and other top officials over how Tamogami rose to become air force chief in light of a history of similar comments prior to the essay.

Tamogami offered no apology, saying he believed the essay would "benefit the country and the people."

"I don't think the essay was biased," Tamogami said Monday. "A country where one cannot say anything against the government's view has no democracy — the same as North Korea."
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Kyt · Dec 7, 2008

He just won't give up

The Press Association: Japanese general stands by WW2 view

A Japanese general who was fired as head of the air force for suggesting Japan deserves credit, not blame, for its Second World War actions is standing by his claim.

Air force chief of staff General Toshio Tamogami was dismissed a month ago for writing an essay that said Asia benefited from imperial Japan's activities before and during the war.

Tamogami defended that position, saying Japan has been unjustly subjected to what he called "the history of the victor".

He said he decided to write the essay because he believes Japan has been wrongly blamed for being an aggressor in World War Two, and that it cannot have a healthy relationship with its neighbours or assume a more active role on the global stage until that view of history is corrected.

He said: "I have to say that Japan was not alone in being an aggressor. If you look at what the major world powers were doing at the time, I think Japan was gentler."

In dismissing Tamogami on October 31, Japan's defence minister said the general's views were incompatible with Japan's official policies.

The publication of the essay, titled "Was Japan an Aggressor Nation?", generated front-page headlines and debate in parliament over whether military leaders are out of step with Japan's post-war pacifist constitution.

Japan is often criticised by China and South Korea for not being contrite about its past and for trying to whitewash its often brutal militarist march into Asia.

But Tamogami said Japan must stand up to such criticism and should be proud of its history.

In particular, he said Japan deserves praise for building universities in Taiwan and Korea during the colonial period and for allowing colonial subjects to study at its military academies.
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Antipodean Andy · Dec 7, 2008

I think Japan was gentler
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In what?! Application of armour to aircraft?!

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