mtfester@netscape.net wrote:

> Eric Takabayashi <etakajp@yahoo.co.jp> wrote:
> > mtfester@netscape.net wrote:
>
> >> Could you define this a bit more tightly?
>
> > You see how Japanese can't stop talking about North Korea, and are so (relatively) demanding
> > over the issue? You see the difference in progress made on resolution? That is what happens when
> > Japanese actually know and care about an issue.
>
> Right. Hardly surprising that the issue of an unstable nuclear power within
> spitting distance of them,

That is not the issue to the Japanese, the fate of 13 abductees and their children is.

> who's made threats to turn a major city into
> "a sea of fire" takes precedence over something that happened 60-odd years
> ago, IMO?

The only reason time passed without resolution, is because the Japanese did not do anything about it
then.

> >> It's not like Ienaga's book
> >> didn't sell well in Japan in the 60s, after all.
>
> > So why are Japanese still surprised en masse 30 years later?
>
> I dunno. Why hadn't YOU heard of it?

I do know Japanese are surprised even now. Masayuki has kindly found a cite that it was necessary for
the Supreme Court to rule in 1998 that the very EXISTENCE of Unit 731 was "accepted" by ACADEMICS.

> God knows I've posted enough about it.

And Japanese still don't know.

> >> Again, I haven't heard of "mass-graves" in Tokyo.
>
> >> > So a book about Unit 731 became a "million" seller in 1982. Gotai Fumanzoku became about a
> >>
> >> And yet you stated that people hadn't heard about this in the 90s...
>
> > They hadn't.
>
> Nor you, apparently, given what you've posted.

I am not the one who needs to be told more about Unit 731.

> >> Actually, from what I gather, the abduction issue (if you're talking about
> >> the N K abductions of Japanese) was well-known among people living on Ura-
> >> nihon,
>
> > So why the widespread surprise?
>
> Because NK actually ADMITTED it, is my guess.

No, people are surprised because they found out.

> > Why is it now and not three decades ago that people are actually
> > afraid to travel to the Sea of Japan lest they somehow be abducted, decades after the last known
>
> Uh, as I've stated, the people in the area had known of it for awhile.

And what of the other Japanese, you know, the vast majority who live elsewhere?

> > Do these people also know about the thousands of Japanese who accompanied returnees to North
> > Korea and their descendants, suffering five decades later, but simply don't care, thus no public
> > outcry or government response even a hundredth that of the abduction issue?
>
> Hmm, considering I've seen that on NHK, I'd say some of them do.

I know the Japanese people and government doesn't care about them like the abductees.

> >> > know or care about the THOUSANDS of OTHER Japanese still not back from the war era, and NOT
> >>
> >> Thousands? Maybe, but they'd be at least 59 by now, and no longer Japanese.
>
> > What, you don't know about the Japanese in North Korea for five decades either? You put no faith
>
> I know there are some.

I know there are thousands, if they are still alive.

> As I said, after 6 generations, they aren't Japanese anymore.

I am referring to the Japanese trapped in North Korea by the war, or who accompanied Koreans to North
Korea after the war, not six generations ago.

> >> Which might point out that the problem with the Japanese government is more
> >> one of motivation and laziness than one of malicious cover-up.
>
> > Why is not important.
>
> Actually, Mr Takabayashi, if you are trying to take action against something,
> "why" is VITALLY important.

Why is it relevant?

> >> I dunno; the German people are no longer "offended" by the actions of the
> >> Nazis, though they don't support them.
>
> > The issue is not Germany;
>
> The issue is things that happened decades ago.

The only reasons decades have passed is because Japan didn't resolve their issues sooner. Japanese
don't think of Hiroshima or their own suffering as merely something "that happened decades ago".

> The cases are quite similar.

No, they are not. Germany's legal and political stance are quite different from that of Japan.

> Similarly, I doubt people in Russia are much "offended" by Stalin.

Yet Japanese continue to whine about how they suffered in the war, or about the nuclear issue today.
What a difference.

> >> Simply, it was part of a history
> >> from a couple decades ago, and they don't feel enough of an emotional
> >> connection to feel "offended".
>
> > Though I do wonder how much responsibility the German public feels for WWII instead of merely
> > blaming it on Hitler and the SS or some Nazis, as if they appeared and came to power from
> > nowhere.
>
> I've pointed this out before; why not simply read the introduction to
> Shirer's book yourself, this time?
>
> >> Again, what would you mean by "resolved"?
>
> > For example, see the demands Japanese (the public or government) make regarding the decades old
> > abduction issue, and contrast that to what Japan has done regarding Japanese war atrocities.
>
> That's not the question; the question was "what would you mean by
> resolved?"

Japan should pay survivors and their families, those responsible punished by courts of law, and the
issue should be "explained", similar to what Japanese would like done regarding the abduction issue.

--
"This is the best book I've ever read! Even though I've only read one, it is by far the best in the
world."

- A 12 year old reader from California, CA USA