Should we forgive the Japanese for WW II?

Question

TOKYO (Reuters) - Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday Japan will not apologise again for forcing women to act as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War 2 even if a U.S. House of Representatives resolution demanding an apology is adopted.
But Abe said he stood by a 1993 Japanese government apology that acknowledged that the military played a role in setting up and managing wartime brothels and that coercion was used.
"I have to say that even if the resolution passes, that doesn't mean we will apologise," Abe told a parliamentary panel, reiterating the government stance that the U.S. resolution contains factual errors.
Abe has said since becoming prime minister last September that he stands by the 1993 apology, a statement he repeated on Monday. This has disappointed many of his conservative supporters who shared his past criticism of the statement.
But last week, Abe sparked a fierce reaction from South Korea when he appeared to question the degree to which physical coercion was involved in recruiting the women for the brothels.
"There is no evidence to back up that there was coercion as defined initially," he told reporters on Thursday, apparently referring to accusations that the Imperial Army had kidnapped women and put them in brothels to serve soldiers.
On Monday, he said there seemed to have been some apparent cases of coercion, such as by middlemen, but added: "It was not as though military police broke into peoples' homes and took them away like kidnappers."
On Saturday, South Korea's foreign ministry issued a statement saying Abe's denial of coercion was regrettable and cast doubt on the sincerity of Japan's previous apology.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said on Monday that the government stood firmly by the 1993 apology.
"Looking at the various media coverage and comments, I believe they were not based on an appropriate interpretation," he told a news conference.
U.S. House of Representatives member Michael Honda, a California Democrat, has introduced a non-binding resolution calling on the Japanese government to "formally and unambiguously apologise for and acknowledge the tragedy that comfort women endured at the hands of its Imperial Army during World War Two".
"Comfort women" is a Japanese euphemism for the estimated 200,000 mostly Asian women forced to provide sex for Japan's soldiers at battle-zone brothels during the war.
Honda, one of a handful of U.S. lawmakers of Japanese descent, has said he is alarmed at efforts by some conservatives in Japan to withdraw or revise the government's earlier admission of a state role in the brothel system.
A group of ruling party lawmakers was set to urge the government to water down parts of the apology and had drawn up a report on changes it wanted made, the Yomiuri Shimbun said last Thursday.
But Shiozaki said he did not believe this was the case, adding: "I don't think there are efforts being made to amend or retract the statement."

Answer 1

I asked a question similar to this and I was told pretty much get over it and it doesn't effect me so why should I care. My grandfather was a Japanese Pow and he went to his grave with an intense hatred for them. Someone once said that those who do not remember the past are doomed to repeat it. Well, the Japanese young people of today aren't taught about what role their country played during the war. So isn't that an accident waiting to happen? How can we forgive when over half the people in this country don't know what they are forgiving. If they showed remorse for their war crimes then they should be forgiven.

Answer 2

The Japanese gov't apologized already in 1993. That would have been alright if Prime Minister Abe had left it at that. The problem now is that his recent statements sound like a retraction of the previous apology. Statesmen in any country should be seen by the public has sticking by what they say, unless there are clear explanations for changing their minds. Politicians and statesmen need to be beyond reproach. Otherwise, who's going to believe them?

Answer 3

Considering that WWII ended almost 62 years ago, we should forgive the Japanese and learn from the mistakes that led to the war.

It is important to forgive as blaming today's Japanese for what their predecessors did back then makes no sense at all.

But at the same time, it also important for us to study and learn from history and never forget what happened or, as they say, we are doomed to repeat it.

Assuming that Abe's comments you listed above were not taken out of context and are correct, Abe made a diplomatic blunder. In my opinion, he could have avoided a lot of unnecessary controversy by being more conciliatory. His comments make him seem defiant and unapologetic. The Japanese, after all, were responsible for mass destruction and murder on a scale comparable to the Germans during WWII. A quick Internet search on the rape of the city of Nanking in China will show this.

Answer 4

Asking apology for thing happened more than 60 years ago is meaningless. It's more important to ensure that arrogant Japanese have learned their mistakes in WWII, and will not repeat the history again. But frankly, from the way they are behaving, there is no indication that Japanese have learned their mistake, and no one can be sure they will not start another war if they are capable to. I won't forgive the current Japanese and the Government, as I never blame them since the war was not started by them. But I do still deserve my cautious again Japanese capability to start another war.

Answer 5

This is so in the past. It is a horrible horrible thing that happened. But, gosh the world has so many troubles that we should leave the past in the past.

If we can't keep the past in the past.....then I apologize for my ancestors........the Vikings that pillaged and raped up and down the the coast of Europe and beyond.

Humans over the centuries have been inhumane and it is very sad.

Answer 6

Get over it!
For the actual perpetrator to apologize is one thing, but after 62 years, who is still alive?! Should I apologize to my great-grandpa's neighbor for taking his rake 62 years ago? Should we ask the Romans to apogize to the Celts? Why aren't we asking the Muslims to get out of Egypt so we can re-establish Pharaohs? History is history. We must learn from it and get on with the present.

Incidentally, my great-grandfather was killed by the U.S. in Hiroshima by the A-bomb. Should I resent Americans?

Answer 7

I honestly think that asking a country/ people to apologize for something they were not directly involved in is stupid. The people who will be apologizing to you had nothing to do what what happened, it's like asking me to apologize for slavery when I was not even born yet. It is absolutely moronic. What happened is over and done with, there are more important issues right now that deserve our governments attention.

Answer 8

Never forgive, never forget. We owe it to the people who were tortured, raped and killed by one of the most brutal armies in history.

Answer 9

Since none of my relatives were affected by this action, I abstain from having an opinion. Unless you have relatives that were affected, I suggest you abstain, too. It's none of our business.