While there are a number of historically proximal events that culminated into the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, one should also consider distal events. The current article suggests that the journey to Pearl Harbor began with the arrival of Commodore Mathew Perry and his ships into Edo Bay on July 8, 1853. Based on the Japanese perspective of this intrusion, one could conclude that a conflict between Japan, as the soon-to-be first independent Asian nation to industrialize, and America, a white nation with an evangelical foreign policy, was perhaps inevitable.
The article gives an overview of European rule over Asian colonies, clearly showing why native peoples saw the Japanese as liberators during the Great East Asian War. Again, perhaps it was inevitable, given the injustice perpetuated by Europeans in Asian countries, that a clash would occur between European colonialists and Japan. While Japan suffered defeat, Asian countries rose up and declared independence from their European masters. Thus, Japan offered hope in the midst of tragedy.
The Base National Korean Mind is Utterly Incomprehensible to the Japanese
At one point, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak spoke of improving relations with Japan. The Japanese welcomed Lee¡Çs statements with optimism, as a dramatic shift in attitude compared to previous South Korean administrations, which were stridently anti-Japanese, anti-American and pro-communist. However, President Lee¡Çs recent actions, his visit to Takeshima and calling on the Emperor of Japan to apologize to those who died for independence, while highly distressing, should not be entirely unexpected to level-headed Japanese.
Taiwanese author and commentator Kou Bunyu (Gao Wen-xiong) explains that such conflicting behavior is indeed inevitable, given Korean denial of their own history and of their tendency to fawn to those who are of greater military and political strength. Because such behaviors are deeply ingrained in the Korean psyche, especially within the youth (the ¡ÈHangul generation¡É), Mr. Kou expects that irrational behaviors, such as virulent anti-Japanese protest and repeated demands for apologies, will persist for some time.
Senkaku (Chinese version) Àí阁诸岛À§ÆüËܸÇÍŪ领ÅÚ
As is well-known, China had never claimed sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands
until 1968, when the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far
East published its survey findings, which noted the possible existence of huge
resources below the seabed surrounding the Senkaku Islands.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, in his address made at the United
Nations General Assembly on September 27, 2012, reiterated that Japan ¡Èstole¡É
the Islands.
This, however, is a sheer lie, without any basis at all in historical fact and
international law. This is fully verified by a paper below, which has been
uploaded to our Website.
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Why Is It so Easy for the Chinese to Lie?
Kitamura Minoru, professor at Ritsumeikan University and Lin Sinyu, who holds a Ph.D. in engineering, discuss Chinese psychology and how it relates to Chinese interaction with Japan. Chinese thinking of course can apply to countries beyond Japan. Understanding the Chinese way of thinking is critical not only in understanding their current and past actions, but to forecast their future actions.
The key behavior is "bihui," preserving stability of the state and the good name of the group: "the reputation of your group can't be dishonored". For this purpose, facts can be easily ignored. In other words, lying is allowed and even patriotic. Drs. Kitamura and Lin's paper explains this behavior at length and in depth.
Tokyo Trials shroud Communist warmongering
The Tokyo Trials did everything they could to deny Japan¡Çs justification of defense. Japan¡Çs pre-war foreign policy was designed to address a fundamental concern—the spread of Communism. However, this very important item of Japan¡Çs foreign policy was not actually allowed to even present to the court since the presence of Soviet judge. Dr. Kobori explains in this paper how the trial judgements were distorted by this unfair regulation in detail. To make the matter worse is that this fact has not been given a due attention in the discussion of the Tokyo Trials.
It¡Çs a sheer lie that the Senkaku Islands have been Chinese territory since the Ming Dynasty
Professor Shimojo states that the current dispute between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands is based on a highly dubious Chinese historical claim to the islands. A distorted reading of history by Japan¡Çs neighbors is leading to more and more aggressive actions against Japan in territorial disputes. The ramming of a Japan Coast Guard vessel by a Chinese fishing trawler is one such act of aggression. Professor Shimojo points out that before formulating a strategic response to Chinese actions regarding the Senkaku Islands, it will be necessary to clearly understand the historical basis for Chinese thinking.
It is a sheer lie that ¡ÈEast Sea¡É predates the birth of Christ
A bill recently introduced in the Senate of Virginia Committee on Education and Health required that public school textbooks ¡Èwhen referring to the Sea of Japan, shall note that it is also referred to as the East Sea.¡É The bill failed to pass the Committee—by just one vote. The historical basis for the bill is nonexistent, but it is curious that such a close vote should have even occurred—it should have been rejected outright. How did this bill even reach consideration in a chamber of an American legislative body?