What is the Japanese perception of World War II?

Question

I have heard that the Japanese feel that they were heroes in WWII and that they do not ever acknowledge the battle of Iwo Jima or the fact that it ever happened. I heard that they do not teach it in history at all. If anyone knows more or can elaborate, it would be greatly appreciated.

Although Japan fought battles on many fronts, you would think that the battle of Iwo Jima would be important enough to remember. This was a major turning point of the war in the Pacific. This is where we flew our planes in for airstrikes, right? And didn't this ultimately lead to the Allied forces victory? I mean no one wants to remember the day they were defeated, but for history's sake, you would think it would be important enough to remember.

Answer 1

hi, i'm japanese, born and raised in Hiroshima.
i was really bad at history and unfortunately do not remember exactly, but of course what you mentioned above was taught at school.
i don't know how elderly people in here feel about it, i just consider it as a part of history.
by the way, at 8:15 on 6th Aug every year, we give a silent prayer.

Answer 2

General Douglas MacArthur established a very effective rule, constitution, and parliamentary government in Japan. When the Japanese emperor Hirohito conceded defeat and they surrendered, I think they rationallly understood that what they had been previously told about the war was wrong. Obviously the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki demonstrated US, Allied superiority.

I do not see how they could deny Iwo Jima occurred. However, despite the great bravery of the fighting there it did not involve the number of carriers, troops, and ships at Leyte Gulf (the largest naval battle in world history), Midway, and Coral Sea. So I would think it might not get the attention of the other battles just on the basis of history survey classes have the problem of so much information and so little time.

Answer 3

One thing that you have to remember in considering World War II is that every country's experience of it was dramatically different than the others. Even the United States and Canada, two countries who enjoyed the security of the North American continent, considered themselves the "arsenal of democracy" and had common partners in the affair (ie: Britain) had dramaticly different experiences. We fought different battles, took different losses etc etc. You shouldn't be so shocked to think a nation that was on the other side of the struggle would have a view so divergent from your own.

One of the most important things to remember about Japan's perception of WW II in comparison to the American perception is to Japan, the "real" war they were fighting was not in Saipan, or Iwo Jima, or the Coral Sea. Their "real" war was in China. That was where their largest armies and air divisions were. That's where most of the Japanese soldiers died. That was where the largest imperial gains, the greatest political issues, and the longest fought campaigns were. The Japanese only got into it with the western allies for four years (1941-45). They fought in China against the Kuomantang, the Maoists, and the other various warlords for the better part of two decades and it did get uglier than what happened against the west.

It is with this condition in mind that you should re-evaluate the Japanese position on the war. Once they were defeated and the Cold War started, think about the priorities the western powers set in eastern/south-eastern Asia. All the European Powers tried to come back and re-establish their empires they had lost to the Japanese. They were met with fierce opposition and in many places were replaced with regimes with a leftist, if not downright communist bent. It happened in Northern Indochina, Indonesia, China, and Northern Korea. In the place of these western European powers (the Dutch, British, and French) the Americans stepped in and began to fight these people JUST LIKE the Tojoists had been claiming they were going to during the war. To this end, the Americans rebuilt Japan so they could help with the cause. So when you think about it this way, in the 1950s when the US and other western countries were fighting in Korea and blockading Maoist China, one could easily see how Japan's efforts in their "real" war could in hindsight seem justified.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean to excuse such a perception. I just mean to explain it.

With all that said there are a lot of patently inexcusable things that happened in Asia which Japan has never been called to account on such as occurred in the de-Nazification of Europe. The reasons for this are varied and complex. Perhaps the biggest was location. In Europe we found the grusome evidence of the Shoah or Holocaust because the Nazis had only started their efforts towards a "final solution" well after the war had started in a highly centralized system. When they ramped up these efforts late in the war just before the Allies closed in, that was when the greatest and most grusome atrocities occurred. In short they were all fresh crimes. That just wasn't the case with Japan. The Imperial Armies commission of atrocities was borne of some insane plan nor was it ever conducted in a uniform manner. They had simply been taught to make slaves of their conquered peoples and abuse them as they saw fit. There's no mass graves in China or the Pacific. Just millions of small ones spread all over the place. Makes it a lot easier to forget when you can't find them like that.

Also, like I said, the ugliest the war ever got was in China. That was where the worst atrocities committed by the Japanese occurred (ie the "Rape of Nanking"; if you don't know what I'm talking about, look it up. It's important) When the war ended, China reverted into a state of civil war from which the Maoists emerged victorious. That meant the west's ability to learn of what happened there disappeared amidst the politics of the Cold War. Again, it made it easy for people to just gloss over what happened.

Now I'm sure someone is going to fire back about Americans actions against Japan that could be deemed war crimes. I'm not going there because it is a separate issue. I don't doubt that one day some gesture will be made by the US to apologize for those acts, but I can tell you right now it won't be when any WWII veterans are still with us. I think Japan is very much in the same boat right now. After so long it's hard to address something like that. It will change one day. I say just give it some time.

Answer 4

This is going to be a long "answer", but... I had the opportunity to live in Fukuoka, Japan, for one yr in the early '50's! My Lt. husband and I rented one wing of a very nice Japanese home in the city. My husband was away a lot on TDY and there were no Americans at that time living off base which was 20 miles away. I love languages and so started on a major education by learning first to speak Japanese enough to get around by myself; then learning to read the native characters, Hiragana and Katakana, so that I could also read signs, directions, etc. Americans knew very little about that culture and still held memories of the atrocities during the war. To get to the Base I had to walk 4 blocks, catch a crowded bus (an adventure in itself!), catch a densha (electric train) and then the Post shuttle bus. When I went out doors shopping, exploring etc., the people always stared--openly, never glancing away as we do! Their faces were blank (to me) and I just KNEW they hated my guts for having destroyed over half of their cities and homes!! Our incendiary bombs caused great havoc in the all-wooden homes and shops.
I read as much history of Japan as I could find and talked with the landlord's young daughter often. The war was very delicate to talk of, but I finally asked how the family had survived and finally if the people were angry with us Americans. A: NO.

Answer 5

i suspect that the Japanese felt, and probably teach, that the war was a result of US and British colonialist attempts to extend hegemony into what they viewed as their sphere of influence. They feel that their forces fought bravely, and minimize the atrocities committed, as we do (hear much about Dresden?)

Answer 6

Yeah, well, what do you expect? They lost, they write their own history.

I think their perception is clouded by the thousands of American Bombers that dropped thousands of bombs on their butts.

Answer 7

no, they are ashamed at having been so cruel to humanity and they have stopped all militant programs, making the US go and protect them from their, and our, enemies.