On December 26 2013, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Yasukuni shrine which was built for commemorating soldiers who had died in service of the empire of Japan from 1876 to the end of World War 2. His visit to the Shrine was denounced internationally because it can be seen as praying for the honor war criminals. Especially his decision to go to the shrine made the victims of the atrocities and the descendants of them suffer. When the time, both South and North Korea were colonized by Japanese government, majority of Koreans were devastated. The government officials hauled both men and women off to Japan. A lot of men were forced to fight for the empire and the rest were performed medical experiments on their bodies. Concurrently, some women were sent to factories which made bullets and clothes. Others were tragically compelled to be sex slaves, known as "Comfort Women". The comfort women are a big issue between South Korea and Japan.
"The Japanese government has maintained that the legal aspects of their wartime aggression were settled in the Tokyo Tribunal and the resulting Tokyo Judgment, as well as the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, which formally ended the war and stipulated that Japan pay war reparations(Kuki 245-256). “In a Japanese Diet session in June 1991, the government denied the involvement of the state in the comfort system and rejected demands for apologies and compensation, arguing that the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 and other bilateral agreements with its neighbors had settled all postwar claims of compensation--although none of the above specifically addressed comfort women.”(Kuki 245-256)
Due to Japanese government has ignored legal responsibility and the wail of the women who were co...
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... because there is a contention that Japan has not regretted their miserable behavior. (Patrick 162). "An International jurists' group has added to growing pressure on Japan to compensate victims of its wartime brutality, particularly women forced into sex slavery during the Second World War. The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said in a report yesterday that Tokyo should pay so-called 'comfort women' at least $40,000 (L25,000) each as interim atonement for the 'unimaginable' violence and cruelty they suffered at the hands of Japanese soldiers before and during the war. The payment should be increased over time.” (Women's International Network News).
However
Both Korean and Japanese know that before committing their wrongdoing during World War two, psychologically a major barrier between us will renew and rebirth in the future. (Patrick 132).
Much of what is considered modern Japan has been fundamentally shaped by its involvement in various wars throughout history. In particular, the events of World War II led to radical changes in Japanese society, both politically and socially. While much focus has been placed on the broad, overarching impacts of war on Japan, it is through careful inspection of literature and art that we can understand war’s impact on the lives of everyday people. The Go Masters, the first collaborative film between China and Japan post-WWII, and “Turtleback Tombs,” a short story by Okinawan author Oshiro Tatsuhiro, both give insight to how war can fundamentally change how a place is perceived, on both an abstract and concrete level.
In 1937, Japan started a war against China, in search of more resources to expand its empire. In 1941, during World War II, Japan attacked America which is when the Allies (Australia, Britain etc.) then declared war on Japan. Before long the Japanese started extending their territory closer and closer to Australia and started taking surrendering troops into concentration camps where they were starved, diseased and beaten. When they were captured, one survivor reports that they were told
...ar the use of weapons of this magnitude, the American idea of the Japanese people has changed, and we now have set up preventions in the hope of avoiding the use of nuclear weaponry. John Hersey provides a satisfactory description of the atomic bombing. Most writers take sides either for or against the atom bomb. Instead of taking a side, he challenges his readers to make their own opinions according to their personal meditations. On of the key questions we must ask ourselves is “Are actions intended to benefit the large majority, justified if it negatively impacts a minority?” The greatest atrocity our society could make is to make a mistake and not learn from it. It is important, as we progress as a society, to learn from our mistakes or suffer to watch as history repeats itself.
Martin Luther King Jr. once stated, “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope” (Brainy Quotes). Even though a nation agonizes over its collapse, it must never lose its optimistic views for the future. Korea was a nation that was annexed, however the determination for liberation was never diminished. Korea became a colony of Japan in 1910 for its natural resources and also for its territory which had an advantageous position, geographically. Thousands of Koreans who resisted annexation were killed by the Japanese military. During these years under the Japanese rule, the Koreans suffered greatly as the men were forced into extreme labor while the women were bounded into prostitution. Although the majority of Koreans detested the Japanese occupation, they were impotent against the Japanese harsh reign. Developments in industrial activities also took place, partially encouraged by the Japanese government, overall however the country’s citizens were living in destitution. Only the Japanese government was gaining resources and wealth, while Koreans were forced into harsh labor. In 1945, Korea was liberated from this sadistic rule partially due to its continuous efforts for freedom.
In conclusion, Japanese Canadian interments in World War Two have left life-long scars on Japanese Canadians by violating the rights to their properties, rights to build their own social status, and basic human rights. Therefore, in order for Canada to truly recompense for its wrong doings to Japanese Canadians, both the government and the people of Canada should make an appropriate apology with right amount of compensation to cover all the damages caused.
The dropping of the atomic bombs had led to the death of hundreds of thousands of innocent Japanese citizens. When the bombs were detonated in
Japan has moved on since then. They now have become one of the world's wealthiest countries and one of the United States' most powerful allies. Although Japan was hurting for a while, they overcame their struggles which is testament to how strong the people of Japan are, just ask Tamiko Tamonaga and Sachie Tashima. Word Count: 888
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have a Japanese soldier barge into your house, rape your mother and sister, and then kill your father, all while you’re being forced to watch? Hopefully not, but unfortunately at one point in our history, that has happened to hundreds of thousands of people of Nanking, China. This Rape of Nanking or Massacre of Nanking can sometimes be referred to as the “forgotten Holocaust of WWII” seeing as it took place close to the start of the Second World War and is not nearly talked about as much as the German Holocaust with the Jews. It all happened in December of 1937, when Nanking fell to the Japanese.
The problem with Japanese American treatment during World War II was harsh and cruel but was approved of at the time. The japanese descendants were taken from their homes and businesses because the government had passed a law that said the Japanese Americans had to move inland to safe camps that were ready for them. The truth was that the government and the military was scared of the Japanese Americans going to fight with the japanese. Some may of wanted to go peacefully but others did not want to leave everything behind, there were protests from the Japanese Americans, that are listed in multiple documents, in which they wanted to stay by the coast. The government had made it sound as if the movement was like a wonderful vacation where everything was taken care of and the living conditions were amazing but the conditions were actually rough and cruel but everyone thought the government was treating them kindly.
In the process of war the public skipped to the conclusion that all Japanese Americans were out to get them. The suspicion of a government takeover was on everyones mind. Paranoia led people into to thinking every single Japanese American was guilty, no matter if it was a child, a WWI veteran, or if they had ever even been to Japan. The suspicion did not end there, inducing temporary segregation, and the exploitation of japanese american’s human rights. Mass hysteria and racism influenced the government's actions towards the Japanese.
Although the Canadian government reimbursed Japanese Canadians for their suffering during internment, the government did not admit full responsibilities for all the direct and indirect torturous acts it subjected Japanese Canadians to in WWII. About 22, 000 (7) people of Japanese of descent (men, women and children), 75% of whom were Canadian citizens (3.5), were forced from their homes and to live in crowded, small, unhygienic internment cam...
referring to is regarding the internment of Japanese Americans and the long restoration period it
Japanese Americans filed continuous legal action against the United States Government for reparations plus punitive damages in the form of class action lawsuits. The Japanese Americans class action lawsuits against the United States Government sought reparations for the imprisonment of 120,000 Japanese American after the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War II. The lawsuits requested that the United States Government acknowledge that Japanese Americans were harmed as a group based on their race and that they should be paid for the economic loss suffered because of their race. Even though many lawsuits were filed and denied in the United States Federal Courts Japanese Americans decided to work as a unified as a community in seeking reparations. ( The Children of the Camps Project., 1999).
The Japanese saw China as the place to spread their imperial and expansionist objectives. A rough estimate of 300,000 Chinese men and women died in the six weeks after December 13, 1937 (Jones). Around 20,000 women from ages 8 to 70 were raped by Japanese soldiers (Scarred). The Japanese leaders of these tragedies included Emperor Hirohito, who gave several military orders such as taking over China; Prince Asaka, who developed brutal ways to kill captives; General Yanagawa Heisuke, who received the orders and enforced them; and lastly, General Nakajima Kesago, who inaugurated the killings in Nanking by beheading two prisoners of war to test his sword (Jones). The motives of these people were to kill soldiers that were seen as a threat by any means necessary (Chang). “Many were shot down like the hunting of rabbits in the streets” (Scarred).
This book depicts how Japanese behaved both before and after the World War II. In this book, it describes how Japanese military slaves (a.k.a. comfort women) was made, what motivated Japan to do these abuses.