Courage Under Fire

A few days ago, I read an article contributed by a Japanese, Dr. Takamitsu Muraoka in Today that rather touched me. The article was titled "The World Remembers, But When Will Japan?" The article essentially argued that Japan has to face up to its ugly militaristic past, the pain that their forefathers inflicted on the people of Asia and the Pacific and some reflections of the pain of knowing that "your husband, father, brother or son died in a war that cannot be ethically defended."

It was refreshing to finally hear such enlightened views from a Japanese rather than the typical Japanese mantra that the Japanese were not the only nationals in the entire history of civilization that committed atrocities or that they were victims of the war too and even had the dubious honour of been the only nation to be hit not by one but two nuclear bombs. If Freud is still alive, he would immediately jump up and said "See, this is defence mechanism at work!"

The resentment against the Japanese was not so much that they were the only people in history who had committed wartime atrocities on a large scale (the Japanese shared the notoriety with the Nazis, the Soviets and if you want to go really way back, the Mongols and the Christian Crusaders as well) but their refusal to sincerely confess their nation's wrongdoing. It is one thing for their Prime Minister to make statements that admitted the Imperial Army had inflicted great hurt and suffering to the people of Asia-Pacific, and quite another to seriously show that as a nation they are determined to make sure they would not set foot on the same path again. And by continuing to not educate Japanese citizens on what really happened in the Pacific War and justifying the annual visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, the Japanese could not assure the people of the world that never again would militarism rise its ugly head.

A comparison could be made between Japan and its former Axis ally, Germany. The Germans have shown remarkable courage in admitting and facing up to the crimes against humanity committed by their nation in the Second World War. We do not expect the people of Germany to show their penance in grossly overt and melodramatic ways like flinging themselves at the graves of the victims of Nazism every year to ask for their forgiveness or an apology by the state in every UN meeting, for instance. We are satisfied and assured by the efforts that the Germans made to ensure that their own people remember. I must say that I am rather impressed by the length that Germany can go to stamp out Nazism; it is illegal in Germany to do the "Heil Hitler" Nazi salute even in jest! The Germans determination to face up to their past could also be seen in the statement made by former Federal President Richard von Weizsacker "Our forefathers left us a stupendous legacy. Guilty or not guilty, young or old, all Germans must accept this past history. We are responsible for what we make of this legacy and how we relate to it... He who refuses to register in memory past acts of inhumanity run the risk of becoming infected again by the same disease." Thus acknowledging history and showing penance is not just a way of appeasing the peoples who have been victimized by military aggression but a way to drive home the point to future generations that this is wrong and should never be committed again. However, to be fair, I must say that because of the physical proximity of Germany to their neighbours and their closer economic integration, it must be virtually impossible to keep the Germans from knowing their dark past. The same is not true for Japan; an island state far from the rest of East Asia and always regarded by its Asian neighbours as been a country belonging to the West rather than Asia (ironically, America and Europe do not count Japan as being in their own league, to them, Japan IS an Asian country, so one can say that Japan is rather isolated in international politics).

Recently, Japan along with Germany, Brazil and India have made a failed bid to increase the permanent seats in the UN Security Council to include themselves. There are good reasons for doing so, the strongest of which is to more accurately reflect the power distribution of the 21st century. Afterall, the composition of the 5 permanent seats was based on the power distribution right after the Second World War, more than 50 years ago! Britain for example is a power of the past (except for its nuclear weapons) and its continued subservience to Washington means that the seat is totally wasted on it (You might as well give America two seats). Given that Japan has in the postwar period contributed directly (in foreign aid, which is more generous than America, especially in Asia) and indirectly (in FDI and acting as an economic engine for Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia in the 70s and 80s), Japan should deserve a permanent seat. But its continued denial of the wartime atrocities it committed and its tolerance of right-wingers that glorified Japan's imperial and militaristic era remained a grave concern. Until Japan faced up to its past in the way Germany did, it should never be made a Permanent Member of the UN Security Council.

In this respect, I hope that there would be more Japanese like Dr. Muraoka. Enough of them to start a movement in Japan to rightly educate their own citizens. Again I quoted from his article "In March 2003, I retired from Leiden University. My wife and I decided to spend five weeks every year, as long as I am mentally and physically fit, sharing my knowledge with scholars and students of Asian countries that suffered under Japanese imperialism, and teaching those subjects at universities and theological seminaries as a volunteer, without honorarium... We have lived abroad for over 41 years. We are sometimes asked whether we have Dutch citizenship. Until a while ago, I would rountinely reply that I wouldn't do so long as my parents are alive. Now, I have an added argument: I am determined to remain Japanese until my country resolves squarely to face this past legacy of ours and begins to translate this resolution to tangible deeds. I hope the day will come, in my lifetime, when I can produce my Japanese passport and wave it proudly."

The Japanese have always placed much virtue on courage. But courage encompasses more than the bayonet charge in battle or crashing a plane into an enemy warship (the "Divine Wind" in the Pacific War). It takes a lot of courage too to admit that one has been greviously wrong and live with it for the rest of one life than to die gloriously in inferno for the country in a manifest of Horace's famous but somewhat controversial quote. " Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori" ("It is a sweet and seemly thing to die for one's country"). If the Japanese are indeed a courageous people, it is high time they show it to the world.