Originally posted by hunter at 23-6-2009 00:46
but after 40 posts....I have yet to get the Yes or No answer to my question....Have any of you watch the movie? ...
No I haven't watched it and I probably won't, unless you tell me it puts forward a number of new facts? I have read a lot about the subject and it is very disturbing and a depressing view of mankind's potential for evil. I'm not sure I want to revisit that.
Some words have been written here of how Japanese soldiers were brutalised by their own system to become dehumanised themselves. This is true, corporal punishment was the norm, some could be systematically beaten by their fellow soldiers, even to death in some cases. That still doesn't cut it as an excuse to me. The "educated" elite that ran the campaigns and the most horrific of experiments were not subject to the same brutal indoctrination as the foot soldiers.
One point that has not come up is the man himself, Hirohito. There is comprehensive evidence he was not just some innocent token leader but closely involved in all major aspects of the planning and implementation of the Sino-Japanese war, WW2, and responsible for war crimes. Hirohito personally removed the concept of a Chinese prisoner of war, and of following international conventions .... essentially a take no prisoners policy. Hirohito's granduncle Prince Asaka commanded the attack on Nanking and was the ranking officer in the city at the height of the atrocities. Nanking has become a focal point but the Japanese "Annihilation" campaign affected a large swath across China from Nanking to the Soviet border. With the veneration of the royal family it is not too hard to see the difficulty Japan has in any form of a real apology. For those who want more info refer: "Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan" by Herbert P. Bix. ISBN 0-06-019314-X. |
