Well said. That is fact of life. Amazing how Japanese politicians so easy forgotten Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sons of fearless samurai?
――LEONARD.NOEL.DESERT@LeonardDesert
Since I'm probably of Japanese ancestry (I can trace my ancestry back at least to the early Edo period in the 17th century & have a family tree), as a Japanese I feel I've the right to speak from my individual perspective on this political & national moral, a samurai ethos issue.
You're right, I don't hear any tone of resentment from the Japanese people toward the U.S., Britain, France, or other former allies regarding the atomic bombings.
Or rather, except for the convenient passages that deliberately create a context of international political conflict (his Russian imperialism scheme is one of the patterns), such a tone is almost nonexistent, even in patriotic circles. I have wondered about this myself.
For example, Masahiko Fujiwara, one of the leading contemporary Japanese patriotic intellectuals, recently said the following in a lecture.
"If an Anglo-Saxon dropped an atomic bomb, he would surely take revenge on his enemy 100 or 200 years later. But not a single Japanese thinks of revenge, and they forgive their enemies because of their generosity. The United States does not think that way. The Japanese will surely take revenge one day. That is why the U.S. government has made all kinds of indirect government plans to destroy the Japanese national ethos."
--Masahiko Fujiwara *1
As a Japanese myself, I would agree with Fujiwara that he has a point, even if he did not bother to quote Jesus saying, "Love thine enemy".
Perhaps due to a certain EQ, I see no contradiction in thinking "I can understand the American point of view in the philosophy of freedom and republic" and becoming one of our best friends when the fight is over. You know, in many ways they're more competent than we are.
If you want to know a similar feeling, please read the story of "Dragon Ball", one of the most famous Japanese manga, where the main character, the martial artist Son Goku, and one of his greatest opponents, the Saiyan prince Vegeta, are inseparable (laughs). True warriors were able to recognize each other's strengths. There is a saying in Japanese that "samurais are each other" *2, but only when the opponent is powerful enough to clash in a truly serious and non-negotiable "righteous and just" manner.
It may be that the attitude of risking one's life to fight for what one must protect is truly felt most respectfully when one loses one's life in self-sacrifice.
Perhaps the Japanese national ethos has seen the U.S.-Japan relationship as settling into the kind of friendship historically known as "bushido" *3.
Since we hear nothing about bushido from the U.S. government, Fujiwara's theory that "Anglo-Saxons do not think like samurai" seems to be a perfectly correct analysis, which is why the U.S. and the Allies continue to doubt Japan's desire for revenge.
―――
Refereces
1) "Spirit of the Meiji Period" lecture by Masahiko Fujiwara
29:48-
November 3, 2018, at the 'Meiji Restoration 150th Anniversary Festival' held at the Himeji Gokoku Shrine in Hyogo Prefecture.
https://youtu.be/ZyCll_eMAZk?si=Z0-_JkIf4pA-D6jV&t=1788
2) Quoted image links:
https://images.app.goo.gl/QnuEa4FDoBXpvkYu7
https://images.app.goo.gl/iGc4NsjwnkUvhRxQ9
https://images.app.goo.gl/iorXsNVRrJVH7X716
https://images.app.goo.gl/JpR8awdskGr5xfwTA
コトバンク「武士は相身互い」 (Bushi wa aimitagai)
https://kotobank.jp/word/%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%E3%81%AF%E7%9B%B8%E8%BA%AB%E4%BA%92%E3%81%84-617915
3) "Bushi" is another expression of "warrior," known as "samurai".
"Bu 武" means "arm". "Shi 士" is "warrior" or a similar nuance of "gentleman" or "servant" etc..
"Do 道" is "way".
"Bu-shi-do" is literally "arm-gentle warrior-way".
Wikitionary "武, "士", ""武士", "道", "武士道"
コトバンク「士」
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6#Japanese
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%A3%AB#Translingual
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%81%93#Japanese
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%81%93#Japanese
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E6%AD%A6%E5%A3%AB%E9%81%93#Japanese
