Nagasaki, Part 3

Azrael at GaijinSmash! posted on the topic of Kyuma's resignation, too.

I haven't encountered too many of those responses re: WWII that he has, but I know they exist here. And I also know that the current Prime Minister, Abe, is severely conservative, especially re: WWII, to the point of potentially being a historical revisionist.

I think I'd urge that, when talking about WWII in particular, we distinguish between "Japan" the government and the Japanese people on the street. This is something I hope happens when people talk about "America" the Iraq-invading capitalist superpower vs. me, an American citizen. There's a big fucking difference, believe me, and I know that there are many people in Japan who do not agree with the decisions of their government. I think, definitely, that there's a need for the Japanese people to start making changes to their education system, for example, so as to acknowledge these things for their youth, for sure... just like America has had to try to take responsibility for its own internment of Japanese-Americans and others during WWII, and for slavery, and the genocide of the Native American tribes. This is far from over in the USA, but in Japan it's still in its infancy.

But one big barrier the Japanese have is the fact that, even though the LDP lost SO MANY seats in the elections on Sunday, Abe is still Prime Minister, and will be until he is forced out, because that's just the way it works here. I don't completely get it, but that's kind of scary.