We have one photograph of the Yasakuni Shrine from a distance. You’re not supposed to take photos of the shrine itself. 2.5 millions souls are enshrined here: anyone who died in a war since 1869, 2 million of whom died in the Pacific War. It includes everyone, which means that war-criminals are equally likely to find themselves admitted along side your noble grandfather. In the mid-80’s, a Prime Minister visited the shrine and broke with the Japanese constitution’s requirement of separation of church and state by signing “Prime Minister” to the guest book. In any case, to figure out what the big deal is here, all you have to do is go to the Memorial Hall for a little re-education. There is a little book at the end of the Hall where museum-goers are allowed to write comments. Some idiot family from Los Angeles wrote “They learned a lot from this outstanding museum.” We just decided to write what we “learned” and let you decide.
Gandhi was inspired by the Russo-Japanese War in the liberation movement for India. Ho Chi Minh, Kwame Nkrumah and pretty much every non-Western liberation movement looked to the Russo-Japanese War for guidance.
Japan was called on by the various ethnic groups of Manchuria to help them maintain national sovereignty.
The Nanking “Incident” was provoked by the Chinese.
The US provoked the bombing of Pearl Harbor by illegally refusing to sell oil to the Japanese war machine.
Japan sees itself as having liberated the Asian nations subjugated by European powers, during World War II.
Korea annexation was necessary for Japanese national security.
I see, this seems very right, but true in some aspects, which shows that the history can differ depending on how you look at it.
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