Festival UK 98, Japan is welcome, but...
When the Emperor of Japan visited Britain in summer of 1998 (this visit was that this year is the year of Festival UK 98 - it has been very successful in Japan), many veterans protested against him.
I, as one of the people who was rebuked by old people a couple of times in the U.K., however, don't know how much more Japan will have to apologise and pay than before. Some veterans say they want more compensation and some say they don't want that, but a deeper apology. On the other hand it seems that a lot of others are still determined not to forgive Japan and go on teaching how cruel the Japanese were/have been/are.
1) ignore any thing they say or do -> easiest, but most frustrating
2) go into it deeply by talking about the opposite party's inexcusable acts in the past -> causing quarrel
3) tell them the historical standpoint of Japan against this background -> most ideal, but I doubt they would listen to the last.
And what I actually did was #1, as with regard to criticism and misunderstanding I have found that is the only thing to do, if I wish to remain sane.
If I was British, I could understand why they would want to make a demand and there is no doubt that the treatment of prisoners was very bad but it is in the past. If I met a Japanese veteran who was a prison officer, I still could not ask for an apology. He may apologise personally but he cannot do it for his country.
After the emperor's incident I read that the culture of Japan which at the time was still traditionally believed that to die in battle was more honourable than surrender. Therefore to see British, American and other Commonwealth soldiers surrendering was seen to be dishonourable and they should be treated accordingly.
Frankly speaking Japan was too poor to participate in the war in the first place, but the majority of Japanese people had a mixed feeling of desperation (honourable defeat) and recklessness. (Now Japan has become the biggest creditor nation in the world)
Still, when I, as a Japanese tourist, am demanded "you must apologise for your country's behaviour during the war", I can only say "I am not responsible for what happened many years before my birth."
- though, actually I know there are several Japanese groups; supporting the Emperor System whatever happened/happens/will happen, being indifferent toward the past, blaming the then emperor, incompetent leaders of military authorities and zaibatsu (plutocrats, that made a lot of money from the war), and so on.
If they demand an apology for Japan's behaviour then Japan should also demand an apology for the nuclear attacks which finished the war. To many people what Japan did was unacceptable but during the days of the British Empire, the British treated some of its defeated colonials equally badly, especially in Africa. And what happened in Vietnam was worse. Wars give a country easy money, but also need justifications.
Now I have made up my mind not to be a nationalist but a patriot in terms of a lover of my mother nature or arts. And I think it is important for each Japanese person staying or living abroad to act with self-confidence and flexibility for mutual understanding. Common people's making effort to deepen friendship will be more effective than politicians' limited diplomacy.
