What Japanese history lessons leave out

[Rattfink]

Japanese people often fail to understand why neighbouring countries harbour a grudge over events that happened in the 1930s and 40s. The reason, in many cases, is that they barely learned any 20th Century history. I myself only got a full picture when I left Japan and went to school in Australia.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21226068

[Ambassador]

"Equally, Japanese people often find it hard to grasp why politicians' visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine - which honours war criminals among other Japanese soldiers - cause quite so much anger."

Yerr... like I said, imagine what kind of clustersh1t will hit the fan in a multitude of offended European and Jewish nations if a bunch of German or Italian chancellors officially admitted worshiping Hitler and other dead Nazis (yes, deny Holocaust), and gave them full honor as national heroes, and on top of it, the ordinary Germans and Italians acted just plain clueless about what's wrong with the whole thing... the ensuing unrest will pale in comparison to the kind of public restraint that Koreans are showing to the Japanese right now. At least we are not being rude to the Japanese we see on the street or sumthin'. Just think about the certain veeeery interesting debate between some Israeli members and European members over the David star issue in Denmark that took place here a few months ago. Somehow I doubt the same people's fingers will show more restraint at Nazi-loving leaders running amok in Europe en masse.

[Piirka]

And no mention of the unit 731, either.

[gaz]

It's an interesting article and it's also interesting that it's a British news source reporting it. I attended school in the UK up until 1995 and I don't remember learning anything about some of Britain's sh*ttier moments on the world stage in relatively modern history- the Amritsar massacre and concentration camps in the Boer war spring immediately to mind.

[Corrupt]

It's an interesting article and it's also interesting that it's a British news source reporting it. I attended school in the UK up until 1995 and I don't remember learning anything about some of Britain's sh*ttier moments on the world stage in relatively modern history- the Amritsar massacre and concentration camps in the Boer war spring immediately to mind.

I did history until 06 and I don't think we covered the darker actions by the Empire whatsoever. We did the a lot on the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles and Hitler coming to power though.

[West Texican]

It seems that in the US every wart, blemish, sin, crime and atrocity this country has ever been accused of, no matter how big or small, is front and center in history classes. We certainly learn who we are and what we have done.

As an aside, ask Harley Davidson about the Sankyo company and Rikuo motorcycles and they go silent. Ever seen a WW2 Imperial Japanese Army motorcycle that looks exactly like a Harley Davidson?

[harryc]

It seems that in the US every wart, blemish, sin, crime and atrocity this country has ever been accused of, no matter how big or small, is front and center in history classes. We certainly learn who we are and what we have done.

As an aside, ask Harley Davidson about the Sankyo company and Rikuo motorcycles and they go silent. Ever seen a WW2 Imperial Japanese Army motorcycle that looks exactly like a Harley Davidson?

This may be a bit of an exaggeration - Alamo ? Nauvoo ? - but the point is very valid, I am not aware of any country asking the US to update it's history books.

Others made the point that such apologists and outirght (literally) worship of war criminals would be roundly and vehemently criticized if it were the Nazis not the Imperial Japanese.

If you want some real fun - point out that Japan is "the land of the rising sun" - now stop and think about this, who else calls themselves the land of the rising sun ? after all the sun rises in all our lands. BUT if you were colonizing an island from the west (Korea) then that island is "the land of the rising sun". This may be why no ancient tombs are ever opened in Japan, it's a good bet they would be full of Korean pottery, from the recent conquerors.

[Coattail Rider]

It's an interesting article and it's also interesting that it's a British news source reporting it. I attended school in the UK up until 1995 and I don't remember learning anything about some of Britain's sh*ttier moments on the world stage in relatively modern history- the Amritsar massacre and concentration camps in the Boer war spring immediately to mind.

to be fair its a 'little' further back in time...

[harghill1718]

I did history until 06 and I don't think we covered the darker actions by the Empire whatsoever. We did the a lot on the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, WW1 and the Treaty of Versailles and Hitler coming to power though.

Largely the same, although we did cover the Troubles which wasn't Britain's proudest moment at times.

[harryc]

to be fair its a 'little' further back in time...

To be fair the trail of tears was even further back, and we covered it in the '70s, long before (and far from) the tide of "political correctness".

[hughdotoh2]

To be fair, history classes in school can only cover so much. There is that time element to cover so much within a term, and students would only ever skim over some parts if it means they get more time to study calculus or physics which are "harder" subjects.

Seems the only reason I really got myself into history was because I was working on a Panzer I model kit.

[Mousepad]

That's what MP.net is for, once you burp out how awesome your country is, there's 10 foreign guys behind the corner, just happy to remind you about every single fvck up your country had.

[Nyusu]

To be fair, history classes in school can only cover so much. There is that time element to cover so much within a term, and students would only ever skim over some parts if it means they get more time to study calculus or physics which are "harder" subjects.

Seems the only reason I really got myself into history was because I was working on a Panzer I model kit.

History classes in school can cover pretty much every important even in history if done right. Problem is that too often time is either spend on utterly unimportant subject or some subject is being done many time over several years without adding anything new.

[Xaito]

Apparently not every country has "let's hate ourselves" in it's curriculum.

[Rattfink]

Apparently not every country has "let's hate ourselves" in it's curriculum.

Its not about hating yourself, its about being academically honest about your past. And of course we all know, those who forget history....