What kind of reflection Japan lacks

04/21/2005 15:41 EST (0148 GMT)

Japan and Germany are often grouped together when people talking about World War II, but people's reactions over the current governments of the two countries are quite different: Europeans seldom criticize the Schroeder governments, but the Asians rushed to condemn the Koizumi administration.

Why?

The reason is that Japan fails to reflect over the history as Germany did. When Germans think of the war past, the first thing that appeared in their minds is the sufferings of the Jews in the concentration camp. But the Japanese's first thought was about the damages caused by the a-bombs dropped by the Americans.

And the result from this difference in first thought is: the Germans pledge that they will never let such atrocities happen again and they should strive for peace while the Japanese deem themselves as victims, instead of inflictors and strive to make themselves even more powerful so that they will not be victimized any longer.

The Germans utilize all kinds of opportunities to display the atrocities the Nazis caused to the Jews and other Europeans, making their citizens fully aware of the danger of another war and telling their children to be peaceful and never resort to war. But the Japanese keeping glorifying their war past, glossing over the crimes they committed, saying that they enter the other nations to liberate them from western colonization and telling their children they are superior to any other human races in the world.

Such being the case, how could the Japanese win the understanding of the people in China and other Asian countries? How could the Asians keep quite? Don't they have the right to say no to Japan's attempt for a seat in the United Nations Security Council?

Japan, please reflect profoundly over your wartime past.

Source: China Daily