For anyone who has ever visited the Arizona Memorial.?

Question

Whenever I go there it is mostly Japanese visitors. It makes me wonder if they visit to relish their victory or to mourn those who died.

Did any of you wonder the same thing?

Answer 1

I've visited the memorial on several occasions. Many Japanese visit it to atone for "Haji" (shame). We call it "loss of face", but it goes beyond that. They mourn those who died and (in that way) hope to atone for the shame of attacking us before any formal declaration of war was ever presented to our government. Added to that is the fact that few Japanese of this generation were ever taught the full facts of Japan's involvement in the Pacific War. That deliberate withholding of facts is still a source of great debate in Japan.
BTW, the flowers which adorn all of those urns in front of the centotaph that contains the names of my dead shipmates are paid for by former Lieutenant Commander Abe of the Imperial Japanese Naval Air Force. He was one of the Japanese aviators who participated in the attack, dropping his bomb onto USS West Virginia.

Answer 2

We were fortunate to visit Hawaii in the 1990's and saw what happened on Dec.7th 1941. The Japanese who were there at the shrine seemed to be somber. Their losses of young men were horrific. It did not seem they came to relish victory. On our flight back to the states , we met a Japanese adult , who ,after seeing the size of the United States, wondered what possessed their military to start a conflict with such a huge country.

Answer 3

Hawai'i is a Japanese tourist mecca as it is cheap and easy to get to from their homeland.

and no, It is not to gloat. the vast majority of citizenry is ashamed of what their Emperor did in the name of self defense.

They come to pay respect.