Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫, さいとう たかお, September 13, 1870 - October 7, 1949)
Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫, September 13, 1870 - October 7, 1949) was a Japanese politician and longtime member of the Imperial Diet from Hyōgo Prefecture. He was a member of the Rikken Minseito party(立憲民政党).
Speech on Army Purge(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ
The speech by Saito Takao on army purge or military cleansing(粛軍演説,しゅくぐんえんぜつ）on 7-5-1936. He blamed the army for the Feb 26th Rebellion.
The February 26 incident (二・二六事件 Ni-niroku jiken, or “2-2-6 incident”) was an attempted coup d'état in Japan, from February 26 to 29, 1936 carried out by 1,483 troops of the Imperial Japanese Army. Several leading politicians were killed and the center of Tokyo was briefly occupied by the rebelling troops. At that time, the incident was called the deplorable incident in the capital (帝都不祥事件 Teito Fushyō Jiken).
粛軍演説（しゅくぐんえんぜつ）は1936年（昭和11年）5月7日に帝国議会の衆議院で斎藤隆夫が行った演説。「粛軍に関する質問演説」ともいう。
Anti-military Speech(反軍演説,（はんぐんえんぜつ)
On February 2, 1940,the Minseitō representative Saitō Takao made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China. During the seventy-fifth session of the Diet, Saitō Takao launched into a devastating critique of the government's position on China. He denounced the official slogans of “holy war”.
The Holy War mentioned was Second Sino-Japanese War(中国抗日战争,日中戦争（にっちゅうせんそう)or支那事変, July 7, 1937 – September 9, 1945, where Marco Polo Bridge Incident of 1937, started the beginning of total war between the two countries. The war developed into The Pacific War, part of World War Two.
At the plenary session of the House of Representatives on 2 February 1940 (Showa 15), during a question-and-answer session between party representatives, SAITO Takao of the Minseito lashed out at Prime Minister YONAI Mitsumasa for his mishandling of the Sino-Japanese War. He harshly criticized the policies designed to resolve the matter, announced at the end of 1938 (Showa 13) by then Prime Minister KONOE Fumimaro, pronouncing them fraudulent, and also expressed doubts over the governing ability of the WANG Chao-ming (WANG Jingwei) Administration that the Japanese Government was maneuvering to install in the Japanese conquered territory of China. In his harangue, he went on say that it was a mistake to have laid out a grand plan for the long-range future of the nation holding up such chiming concepts as international justice, moral diplomacy, coexistence and co-prosperity, while at the same time needlessly neglecting the sacrifices of the people by using the a beautiful expression, "holy war".
The Army naturally responded to his comments with indignation, so Chairman KOYAMA Matsutoshi of the House of Representatives exercised his prerogative and ordered the last half of SAITO's speech excised from the Diet's stenographic records. SAITO was summarily referred to the Disciplinary Committee, having been admonished by his colleagues to voluntarily resign from his seat as Diet member. But he refused, saying that he could "not be true to the people of the nation" quitting simply for having had part of his speech excised from the stenographic record, given that it was supposed to be a "legislature where the freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution," adding that his critics had distorted his arguments.
Nonetheless, a plenary session of the House of Representatives voted on 7 March 1940 (Showa 15) to expel SAITO.
•Support(賛成) 296 : 浅沼稲次郎・河上丈太郎・河野密・三輪寿壮・三宅正一・三木武夫・星島二郎・松野鶴平など
• Spoiled/Empty Votes( 空票): 144
• Abstain(棄権) 121 : 尾崎行雄]・鳩山一郎・水谷長三郎・西尾末広・犬養健・若宮貞夫・安達謙蔵など
* Absent/Walk Out(欠席) 23 : 安部磯雄・片山哲・鈴木文治（以上社会大衆党）など
• Oppose(反対) 7: 牧野良三・名川侃市・芦田均・宮脇長吉・丸山弁三郎（以上政友会久原派）・岡崎久次郎（民政党）・北浦圭太郎（第一議員倶楽部）
Saito Takao was expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940.
His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
In 1940, all political parties were forced to merge into the Taisei Yokusankai, a pro-military political organization headed by former prime minister Nobuyuki Abe.Taisei Yokusankai is known as Imperial Rule Assistance Association or Imperial Aid Association((大政翼賛会).
The 21st General Election of Japan, 1942
Takao was re-elected to the Diet in 1942. He ran as independent, in the election of 1942, the Home Ministry try to make him withdraw his candidacy, and when he refused, the police confiscated all his campaign materials. Nevertheless, he was reelected.
The 21st General Election of Japan of the House of Representatives took place in Japan on April 30, 1942. It was the only election in wartime Japan. At this time, the lower house no longer had any significant executive and legislative power, and power went to the military since 1936. The prime minister was not elected from the lower house since 1932, and was also appointed by the military.
As communist groups, left-wing groups, and anti-war groups were illegal since 1940, they were unable to name a candidate in the election. Communists, left-wing politicians and radical anti-military politicians were arrested and not even allowed to run as independents. Besides, anti-war politician Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫) who was expelled from the diet in 1941 was re-elected again.
The Taisei Yokusankai won 381 seats out of the total 466. In some districts, the Taisei Yokusankai candidates won uncontested. However, while the Imperial Army had gained a victory in almost every battle as of the election, public support for the war was still quite high, which was the main reason for the landslide victory of the Taisei Yokusankai. Turnout in the election was 83.16%.
After the War
After the surrender of Japan in 1945, he enjoyed some attention as one of the few really clean politicians for the Allied Occupation's efforts to democratize Japan.
Saito Takao see the wrongs of Japanese militarism, unlike many Japanese during the war period blinded by the propaganda and brainwashing of patriotism and nationalism. He stand up, and not only that, he was able to voice out from his sincere heart.
At the time he stand up to speak, he may be treated as the traitor of the nation, traitor of Japanese people...he was humiliated by speaking the truth... he was expelled from the Diet to silence his voice....his heart was painful for the nation, for the people, and personally.....
Today, the truth proved that he is right, his speech may saved Japan from the atomic bombing at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, if members of Diet listen to him, and stop the war.
He is a hero, not for Japan, but for the people of the world who see evils of the war today....
Remember you, Saito Takao(斎藤隆夫), a brave man who talk out of his heart.....
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄,1865-1949)@ 日本の野球の父
In the time of mass movement in the country for militarism, many people were stirred by the crowd effect of nationalism and patriotism, and forget the sense of reasoning. This revealed the majority may not be always right. It happen in Hitlers' Germany, Mao's Cultural Revolution and Japan's militarism.
Few people will have ears to hear, the noise of propaganda of war, the education of nationalism, and even the call of holy war; it polluted the sound of the inner heart, and the human lost its affection for fellow human being....
In Military Japan, however there are many brave Japanese who stand up for righteousness, calling the militarist government to stop the wars; some was killed, some was imprisoned, some was silenced....but the opposition continued....
They even have systematic thought change program called Tenko (転向, literally, changing direction). A Japanese term referring to the ideological reversal of numerous Japanese socialists who, between 1925 and 1945, renounced the left and (in many cases) embraced the "national community.". Tenko was performed especially under duress, most often in police custody, and was a condition for release (although surveillance and harassment would continue). But it was also a broader phenomenon, a kind of cultural reorientation in the face of national crisis, that did not always involve direct repression. One of the most well known of tenko came in June 1933, when Sano Manabu (1892—1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901—1979), top figures in the Communist Party leadership, renounced their allegiance to the Comintern and the policy of violent revolution, embracing instead a Japan-specific mode of revolutionary change under imperial auspices.
Many of the social reformers are Christian, and also socialist; I was wondering how the two opposing forces were able to sparks out the Japanese Reformation Movement during the war period....
Abe Isoo(安部磯雄)is one of them.
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄, 1st March 1865 - 10 February 1949) was a well known Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist.
Abe was born in Fukuoka, the second son of Okamoto Gonnojo, a samurai family. He studied at Doshisha Yogakko(Doshisha University) for 4 years and went abroad to USA in 1891. He studied at Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary, including at the University of Berlin, before becoming a Unitarian Church preacher. Abe was attracted to socialism while studying for the ministry in the United States, where he graduated from the Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary. He taught at Tokyo Semmon Gakkō from 1899, and two years later became a professor of Economic. Tokyo Semmon Gakkō later become Waseda University.
Professor Abe Isoo formed a baseball team , Waseda Nine in 1901. Their American tour in 1905 helped develop baseball in Japan. Organized the Tokyo Big Six League (TBSL), becoming its first president in 1925. Known as father of student baseball in Japan.
In 1901 he helped to found the short-lived Japanese Social-Democratic party(社会民主党), which the government swiftly prohibited.
During the Russo-Japanese War he advocated non-cooperation and participated in various early feminist movements. In 1906, he played an instrumental role in founding the first Japanese Socialist Party, from which he advocated a Christian Socialist viewpoint. However, the government outlawed this party too in 1907. In 1924 he became the first President of the Japanese Fabian Society or Nihon Febian kyôkai,(日本フェビアン協会/日本费边社),found in 1922. In 1928 voters elected Isō to the Japanese Diet as Chairman of Shakai minshûtô or Socialist People Party, where he held a seat for four consecutive elections. In 1932, he became a chairman of Shakai Taishuto or Socialist Masses Party (社会大衆党). He withdrew from politics in 1940.
Social Mass Party
Japanese government propaganda, the educational system, government repression, and social pressures effectively prevented the Japanese people from resisting government policies, military orders, or the war. Anyone against the war , Hatanaka (67) puts it bluntly: "Honestly speaking, nobody said openly that they opposed the war. If you said that you'd have been killed immediately, or taken away and killed later."
The program of thought conversion,Tenko (転向), resulted in many leftists changed their direction.
Social Mass Party, in the period of increasing extremism in politics, attempted to maintain a middle-of-the road approach, which inevitably resulted in a confused policy. The party was dominated by central and rightist elements, the lefts were mainly under government arrest, which helped to maintain unity and avoid potential splits between the fractions which had formed it.
Shakai Taishuto approved the creation of the state of Manchukuo in 1932 and voted for new military appropriations. The party took the antimilitary sentiments of Japanese workers into account; it proposed the conclusion of a Japanese-Soviet non-agression pact and in the period 1932–35 condemned Japan’s resignation from the League of Nations. It also voiced support of a campaign against inflation and poverty.
In the general election of December 1936 (Showa 11), the public pinned great hopes on the anti-fascists, still the Shakai Taishuto increased its representation in the House of Representatives, to 37 seats. The Party leaders, having built up self-confidence through their successful electoral performance, instead drew closer to the military.
In 1936 and 1937 some left-wing members of Shakai Taishuto responded to a call of the Communist Party of Japan and Nihon Musanto, a legal left-wing party of workers and peasants, to help organize an antifascist national front. However, the rightist leadership of Shakai Taishuto dismissed from the party those who supported the front.
What solidified that trend was the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937 (Showa 12), sparked by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7 (Japanese troops of the Kwangtung Army, camped on one side of the bridge, claimed a soldier of theirs was missing in nearby Wanping Town, and demanded that the Kuomintang troops there let them look, giving them an ultimatum; when the KMT refused, the Japanese bombarded the town at midnight, and set in motion the events that led to Japan overrunning Peiping(now Beijing) on July 29 and Tientsin, now Tianjin, on July 30, starting the 2nd Sino-Japanese War).
The Shakai Taishuto avidly supported the war with China. At the Party 6th convention held from 15th November 1937, the Party platform was revised so as to advocate the progress and development of the Japanese people based on the basic principle of the national polity. The Shakai Taishuto thus publicly declared its participation in the national unity framework.
Cooperating with the military, the leadership of Shakai Taishuto announced on 6th July 1940 the disbanding of the party and and becoming the first political party to join the movement for the establishment of the New Order. Formation of 2nd KONOE Fumimaro Cabinet on 22-7-1940.
Opposition to the War
He is one of the opposition voice to the Japanese militarism, prior to the Pacific War/World War 2. One of the few who dare to be difference, against the war.
In 1930, after the Taisho Democracy was passed, Abe in his 2nd election campaign, called for disarmament within the limits required for self defense. Abe's pacifism was under extreme political pressure,while his political party was trying to adjust to the nationalism of the country. He as educator, waiting to educate the younger generation through the avenue of sport, mainly baseball. But his spirit of pacifism still burning in his heart.
At the height of the war in China, Abe said " We will not have the slightest needs for the sword, in contract to the situation in the past".
The breaking point finally come on 2-2-1940.....
On February 2, 1940, Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫) made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China(反軍演説).Votes were taken in the Diet to expel him, Katayama Tetsu(片山哲), Suzuki Bunji(鈴木文治), Abe Isoo(安部磯雄), and Nishio Suehiro(西尾末広) and 6 others supported Saito Takao by walking out of the Diet. Suzuki Bunji, a lawyer and Abe Isoo, professors at Waseda University, Saito Takao was later expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940. His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
The Secretary General of Social Masses Party, Hisashi Aso(麻生久, 1891-1940),changed direction and allied himself with militarist Party, at the side of the Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro. Abe Isoo resigned in 1940 as chairman of Social Mass Party, over the issue of cooperation with the government's militaristic policies. Social Mass Party was the only leftist party allowed to function in the 1930s, it grew increasing nationalistic and militaristic, but was absorbed into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940.
Abe tried to form a new party, the Nationalist Labor Party (Kinrô kokumintô). However, the Home Ministry banned it on the grounds that it was socialist and that, representing the working class, it would instigate class struggle.
Abe Isoo withdrew from politics in 1940.
After the War
He is the President of Japan Student Baseball Association(日本学生野球協会,にほんがくせいやきゅうきょうかい) in 1946. He was regarded as Father of Japanese Baseball(日本の野球の父), and Father of Japanese student baseball(学生野球の父).
He was political adviser to Social Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakai Minshu-tō)
He died on 10-2-1949.
Abe Isoo stand up tall .......even during the war. He is universally acclaimed as Father of Japanese Socialism.
Suggested readings/references:
1. PASTOR OF A BIG JAPANESE CHURCH.; The Rev. Iso Abe, Who Has Been Study- in This Country, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html
2. 先人の風景, The Sanyo Shimbun, http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/kikaku/senjin/news/2008/04/04/20080404170108.html
3. 安部磯雄, wikipedia(in Japanese)
4. Pacifism in Japan: the Christian and socialist tradition, by Nobuya Bamba, John F. Howes, UBC Press, 1978.
Few people will have ears to hear, the noise of propaganda of war, the education of nationalism, and even the call of holy war; it polluted the sound of the inner heart, and the human lost its affection for fellow human being....
In Military Japan, however there are many brave Japanese who stand up for righteousness, calling the militarist government to stop the wars; some was killed, some was imprisoned, some was silenced....but the opposition continued....
They even have systematic thought change program called Tenko (転向, literally, changing direction). A Japanese term referring to the ideological reversal of numerous Japanese socialists who, between 1925 and 1945, renounced the left and (in many cases) embraced the "national community.". Tenko was performed especially under duress, most often in police custody, and was a condition for release (although surveillance and harassment would continue). But it was also a broader phenomenon, a kind of cultural reorientation in the face of national crisis, that did not always involve direct repression. One of the most well known of tenko came in June 1933, when Sano Manabu (1892—1953) and Nabeyama Sadachika (1901—1979), top figures in the Communist Party leadership, renounced their allegiance to the Comintern and the policy of violent revolution, embracing instead a Japan-specific mode of revolutionary change under imperial auspices.
Many of the social reformers are Christian, and also socialist; I was wondering how the two opposing forces were able to sparks out the Japanese Reformation Movement during the war period....
Abe Isoo(安部磯雄)is one of them.
Abe Isoo (安部磯雄, 1st March 1865 - 10 February 1949) was a well known Japanese Christian socialist, parliamentarian and pacifist.
Abe was born in Fukuoka, the second son of Okamoto Gonnojo, a samurai family. He studied at Doshisha Yogakko(Doshisha University) for 4 years and went abroad to USA in 1891. He studied at Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary, including at the University of Berlin, before becoming a Unitarian Church preacher. Abe was attracted to socialism while studying for the ministry in the United States, where he graduated from the Hartford (Conn.) Theological Seminary. He taught at Tokyo Semmon Gakkō from 1899, and two years later became a professor of Economic. Tokyo Semmon Gakkō later become Waseda University.
Professor Abe Isoo formed a baseball team , Waseda Nine in 1901. Their American tour in 1905 helped develop baseball in Japan. Organized the Tokyo Big Six League (TBSL), becoming its first president in 1925. Known as father of student baseball in Japan.
In 1901 he helped to found the short-lived Japanese Social-Democratic party(社会民主党), which the government swiftly prohibited.
During the Russo-Japanese War he advocated non-cooperation and participated in various early feminist movements. In 1906, he played an instrumental role in founding the first Japanese Socialist Party, from which he advocated a Christian Socialist viewpoint. However, the government outlawed this party too in 1907. In 1924 he became the first President of the Japanese Fabian Society or Nihon Febian kyôkai,(日本フェビアン協会/日本费边社),found in 1922. In 1928 voters elected Isō to the Japanese Diet as Chairman of Shakai minshûtô or Socialist People Party, where he held a seat for four consecutive elections. In 1932, he became a chairman of Shakai Taishuto or Socialist Masses Party (社会大衆党). He withdrew from politics in 1940.
Social Mass Party
Japanese government propaganda, the educational system, government repression, and social pressures effectively prevented the Japanese people from resisting government policies, military orders, or the war. Anyone against the war , Hatanaka (67) puts it bluntly: "Honestly speaking, nobody said openly that they opposed the war. If you said that you'd have been killed immediately, or taken away and killed later."
The program of thought conversion,Tenko (転向), resulted in many leftists changed their direction.
Social Mass Party, in the period of increasing extremism in politics, attempted to maintain a middle-of-the road approach, which inevitably resulted in a confused policy. The party was dominated by central and rightist elements, the lefts were mainly under government arrest, which helped to maintain unity and avoid potential splits between the fractions which had formed it.
Shakai Taishuto approved the creation of the state of Manchukuo in 1932 and voted for new military appropriations. The party took the antimilitary sentiments of Japanese workers into account; it proposed the conclusion of a Japanese-Soviet non-agression pact and in the period 1932–35 condemned Japan’s resignation from the League of Nations. It also voiced support of a campaign against inflation and poverty.
In the general election of December 1936 (Showa 11), the public pinned great hopes on the anti-fascists, still the Shakai Taishuto increased its representation in the House of Representatives, to 37 seats. The Party leaders, having built up self-confidence through their successful electoral performance, instead drew closer to the military.
In 1936 and 1937 some left-wing members of Shakai Taishuto responded to a call of the Communist Party of Japan and Nihon Musanto, a legal left-wing party of workers and peasants, to help organize an antifascist national front. However, the rightist leadership of Shakai Taishuto dismissed from the party those who supported the front.
What solidified that trend was the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in July 1937 (Showa 12), sparked by the Marco Polo Bridge Incident on July 7 (Japanese troops of the Kwangtung Army, camped on one side of the bridge, claimed a soldier of theirs was missing in nearby Wanping Town, and demanded that the Kuomintang troops there let them look, giving them an ultimatum; when the KMT refused, the Japanese bombarded the town at midnight, and set in motion the events that led to Japan overrunning Peiping(now Beijing) on July 29 and Tientsin, now Tianjin, on July 30, starting the 2nd Sino-Japanese War).
The Shakai Taishuto avidly supported the war with China. At the Party 6th convention held from 15th November 1937, the Party platform was revised so as to advocate the progress and development of the Japanese people based on the basic principle of the national polity. The Shakai Taishuto thus publicly declared its participation in the national unity framework.
Cooperating with the military, the leadership of Shakai Taishuto announced on 6th July 1940 the disbanding of the party and and becoming the first political party to join the movement for the establishment of the New Order. Formation of 2nd KONOE Fumimaro Cabinet on 22-7-1940.
Opposition to the War
He is one of the opposition voice to the Japanese militarism, prior to the Pacific War/World War 2. One of the few who dare to be difference, against the war.
In 1930, after the Taisho Democracy was passed, Abe in his 2nd election campaign, called for disarmament within the limits required for self defense. Abe's pacifism was under extreme political pressure,while his political party was trying to adjust to the nationalism of the country. He as educator, waiting to educate the younger generation through the avenue of sport, mainly baseball. But his spirit of pacifism still burning in his heart.
At the height of the war in China, Abe said " We will not have the slightest needs for the sword, in contract to the situation in the past".
The breaking point finally come on 2-2-1940.....
On February 2, 1940, Saitō Takao (斎藤隆夫) made a speech in which he sharply questioned the prosecution and justification of Japan's "holy war" in China(反軍演説).Votes were taken in the Diet to expel him, Katayama Tetsu(片山哲), Suzuki Bunji(鈴木文治), Abe Isoo(安部磯雄), and Nishio Suehiro(西尾末広) and 6 others supported Saito Takao by walking out of the Diet. Suzuki Bunji, a lawyer and Abe Isoo, professors at Waseda University, Saito Takao was later expelled from the Diet on March 7, 1940. His speech also led to the creation of the League of Diet Members Believing the Objectives of the Holy War by Fumimaro Konoe(近衞文麿).
The Secretary General of Social Masses Party, Hisashi Aso(麻生久, 1891-1940),changed direction and allied himself with militarist Party, at the side of the Prime Minister, Konoe Fumimaro. Abe Isoo resigned in 1940 as chairman of Social Mass Party, over the issue of cooperation with the government's militaristic policies. Social Mass Party was the only leftist party allowed to function in the 1930s, it grew increasing nationalistic and militaristic, but was absorbed into the Imperial Rule Assistance Association in 1940.
Abe tried to form a new party, the Nationalist Labor Party (Kinrô kokumintô). However, the Home Ministry banned it on the grounds that it was socialist and that, representing the working class, it would instigate class struggle.
Abe Isoo withdrew from politics in 1940.
After the War
He is the President of Japan Student Baseball Association(日本学生野球協会,にほんがくせいやきゅうきょうかい) in 1946. He was regarded as Father of Japanese Baseball(日本の野球の父), and Father of Japanese student baseball(学生野球の父).
He was political adviser to Social Democratic Party (社会民主党 Shakai Minshu-tō)
He died on 10-2-1949.
Abe Isoo stand up tall .......even during the war. He is universally acclaimed as Father of Japanese Socialism.
Suggested readings/references:
1. PASTOR OF A BIG JAPANESE CHURCH.; The Rev. Iso Abe, Who Has Been Study- in This Country, The New York Times, http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html
2. 先人の風景, The Sanyo Shimbun, http://www.sanyo.oni.co.jp/kikaku/senjin/news/2008/04/04/20080404170108.html
3. 安部磯雄, wikipedia(in Japanese)
4. Pacifism in Japan: the Christian and socialist tradition, by Nobuya Bamba, John F. Howes, UBC Press, 1978.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社 or 靖國神社 Yasukuni Jinja) is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of Imperial Japan, particularly to those killed in wartime.It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II
Yasukuni is a shrine to house the actual souls of the dead as kami, or "spirits/souls" as loosely defined in English. It is believed that all negative or evil acts committed are absolved when enshrinement occurs. This activity is strictly a religious matter since the separation of State Shinto and the Japanese government in 1945. The priesthood at the shrine has complete religious autonomy to decide to whom and how enshrinement may occur. They believe that enshrinement is permanent and irreversible. According to Shinto beliefs, by enshrining kami, Yasukuni Shrine provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor. Yasukuni has all enshrined kami occupying the same single seat. The shrine is dedicated to give peace and rest to all those enshrined there. It was the only place to which the Emperor of Japan bowed.
History of Yasukuni Shrine
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
Shinto rites are performed at the shrine, which, according to Shinto belief, houses the kami, or spirits, of all Japanese, former colonial subjects (Korean and Taiwanese) and civilians who died in service of the emperor while participating (forced or willing) in the nation's conflicts prior to 1951.
There are over 2,466,000 enshrined kami currently listed in the Yasukuni's Symbolic Registry of Divinities. This list includes soldiers, as well as women and students who were involved in relief operations in the battlefield or worked in factories for the war effort. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Currently, Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans without consultation of surviving family members and in some cases against the stated wishes of the family members. There are numerous enshrined kami who died at Chinreisha.
Eligible categories
As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to military personnel who were killed while serving Japan during armed conflicts. Civilians who were killed during a war are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. A deceased must fall into one of the following categories for enshrinement:
1. Military personnel, and civilians serving for the military, who were:
- killed in action, or died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty outside the Home Islands (and within the Home Islands after September 1931)
- missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
- died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
2. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
3. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps during and after the war
4. Civilians who were officially mobilized or volunteered (such as factory workers, mobilized students, Japanese Red Cross nurses and anti air-raid volunteers) who were killed while on duty
5. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
6. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (e.g. Awa Maru)
7. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (e.g. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
8. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan
Enshrinement of war criminals
One of the controversies arises out of the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. According to documents released by the National Diet Library of Japan in 2007, Health and Welfare Ministry officials and Yasukuni representatives officially met 31 January 1969. After the meeting the Shrine officials and Ministry officials agreed that all "are eligible" for enshrinement based on the extant rules. After the meeting, it was specifically decided to not publicly announce the criminals' enshrinement due to the controversial decision.[42] In 1959, the kami of 1,068 executed as Class-B or C war criminals by Allied Forces military trials were enshrined at Yasukuni.[43] In 1978, the kami of 14 executed or died in prison who were sentenced or suspected as Class-A war criminals by IMTFE were enshrined at Yasukuni.[44] According to a memorandum released in 2006 by Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, enshrined Class-A was the reason Emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine from 1978 until his death in 1989.[45][46] Since the enshrinement, there have been calls from some groups of people to remove the war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine. Shrine officials have stated that unlike traditional Shinto shrines, all enshrined kami are immediately combined and therefore become impossible to be separated for removal.[47] There has been no move to separate the enshrinements.
(extract from wikipedia)
靖国神社：不为人知的攻防战
Lee Teng Hui(李登輝) & Yasukuni Shrine
In May 2007, Ex President of Taiwan Republic of China Lee Teng Hui(李登輝)visited Yasukuni Shrine. Lee said his brother was enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine as a navy with Imperial Japanese Navy who died during WW2. Lee's elder brother served in the Japanese Imperial Navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.
Lee's father was a middle-level Japanese police aide and his brother served and died in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Lee was one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school class—graduated with honors and was given a scholarship to Japan's Kyoto Imperial University, then known as Kyoto Technical School. In 1944 he too volunteered for service in the Imperial Japanese Army and became a second lieutenant officer of an anti-aircraft gun in Taiwan. He was ordered back to Japan in 1945 and participated in the clean-up after the great Tokyo firebombing of March, 1945. Lee stayed in Japan after the surrender and graduated from Kyoto University in 1946. During his youth Lee had a Japanese name, Iwasato Masao (岩里政男).
Ironically, he was presented with the first Shinpei Goto Prize by Tokyo's Shinpei Goto Society. The prize was established to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the late Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto(後藤新平),and is awarded to people who have contributed to national or regional development.
What is in the mind of a Father of Taiwan independence?.
The agreement for keeping the Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)after the war, was there will not be any state Shintoism, where Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)will only remain as purely a civilian independent religion institution, free from politic and militarism. But has the Yasukuni Shrine comply with that after the war? Just look at the movies below:
靖国神社, 軍装おじさん、自衛隊に「大和魂」を求むる
The ceremony was full of military color, reflective of revival of Japanese militarism. It was no longer just a simple family remembrance ceremony for the family members. It already become a symbolic place for the ultra-right militarist and supporters.
Will Yasukuni be the birth place of future Japanese Militarism? or as some critic said, the revival of Japanese Militarism....
This is the worry of the people all over the world.
2011
Yasukuni is a shrine to house the actual souls of the dead as kami, or "spirits/souls" as loosely defined in English. It is believed that all negative or evil acts committed are absolved when enshrinement occurs. This activity is strictly a religious matter since the separation of State Shinto and the Japanese government in 1945. The priesthood at the shrine has complete religious autonomy to decide to whom and how enshrinement may occur. They believe that enshrinement is permanent and irreversible. According to Shinto beliefs, by enshrining kami, Yasukuni Shrine provides a permanent residence for the spirits of those who have fought on behalf of the emperor. Yasukuni has all enshrined kami occupying the same single seat. The shrine is dedicated to give peace and rest to all those enshrined there. It was the only place to which the Emperor of Japan bowed.
History of Yasukuni Shrine
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
Shinto rites are performed at the shrine, which, according to Shinto belief, houses the kami, or spirits, of all Japanese, former colonial subjects (Korean and Taiwanese) and civilians who died in service of the emperor while participating (forced or willing) in the nation's conflicts prior to 1951.
There are over 2,466,000 enshrined kami currently listed in the Yasukuni's Symbolic Registry of Divinities. This list includes soldiers, as well as women and students who were involved in relief operations in the battlefield or worked in factories for the war effort. Enshrinement is not exclusive to people of Japanese descent. Currently, Yasukuni Shrine has enshrined 27,863 Taiwanese and 21,181 Koreans without consultation of surviving family members and in some cases against the stated wishes of the family members. There are numerous enshrined kami who died at Chinreisha.
Eligible categories
As a general rule, the enshrined are limited to military personnel who were killed while serving Japan during armed conflicts. Civilians who were killed during a war are not included, apart from a handful of exceptions. A deceased must fall into one of the following categories for enshrinement:
1. Military personnel, and civilians serving for the military, who were:
- killed in action, or died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty outside the Home Islands (and within the Home Islands after September 1931)
- missing and presumed to have died as a result of wounds or illnesses sustained while on duty
- died as a result of war crime tribunals which have been ratified by the San Francisco Peace Treaty
2. Civilians who participated in combat under the military and died from resulting wounds or illnesses (includes residents of Okinawa)
3. Civilians who died, or are presumed to have died, in Soviet labor camps during and after the war
4. Civilians who were officially mobilized or volunteered (such as factory workers, mobilized students, Japanese Red Cross nurses and anti air-raid volunteers) who were killed while on duty
5. Crew who were killed aboard Merchant Navy vessels
6. Crew who were killed due to the sinking of exchange ships (e.g. Awa Maru)
7. Okinawan schoolchildren evacuees who were killed (e.g. the sinking of Tsushima Maru)
8. Officials of the governing bodies of Karafuto Prefecture, Kwantung Leased Territory, Governor-General of Korea and Governor-General of Taiwan
Enshrinement of war criminals
One of the controversies arises out of the enshrinement of World War II war criminals. According to documents released by the National Diet Library of Japan in 2007, Health and Welfare Ministry officials and Yasukuni representatives officially met 31 January 1969. After the meeting the Shrine officials and Ministry officials agreed that all "are eligible" for enshrinement based on the extant rules. After the meeting, it was specifically decided to not publicly announce the criminals' enshrinement due to the controversial decision.[42] In 1959, the kami of 1,068 executed as Class-B or C war criminals by Allied Forces military trials were enshrined at Yasukuni.[43] In 1978, the kami of 14 executed or died in prison who were sentenced or suspected as Class-A war criminals by IMTFE were enshrined at Yasukuni.[44] According to a memorandum released in 2006 by Imperial Household Agency Grand Steward Tomohiko Tomita, enshrined Class-A was the reason Emperor Hirohito refused to visit the shrine from 1978 until his death in 1989.[45][46] Since the enshrinement, there have been calls from some groups of people to remove the war criminals from Yasukuni Shrine. Shrine officials have stated that unlike traditional Shinto shrines, all enshrined kami are immediately combined and therefore become impossible to be separated for removal.[47] There has been no move to separate the enshrinements.
(extract from wikipedia)
靖国神社：不为人知的攻防战
Lee Teng Hui(李登輝) & Yasukuni Shrine
In May 2007, Ex President of Taiwan Republic of China Lee Teng Hui(李登輝)visited Yasukuni Shrine. Lee said his brother was enshrined in Yasukuni Shrine as a navy with Imperial Japanese Navy who died during WW2. Lee's elder brother served in the Japanese Imperial Navy and died while on duty in February 1945 in the Philippines.
Lee's father was a middle-level Japanese police aide and his brother served and died in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Lee was one of only four Taiwanese students in his high school class—graduated with honors and was given a scholarship to Japan's Kyoto Imperial University, then known as Kyoto Technical School. In 1944 he too volunteered for service in the Imperial Japanese Army and became a second lieutenant officer of an anti-aircraft gun in Taiwan. He was ordered back to Japan in 1945 and participated in the clean-up after the great Tokyo firebombing of March, 1945. Lee stayed in Japan after the surrender and graduated from Kyoto University in 1946. During his youth Lee had a Japanese name, Iwasato Masao (岩里政男).
Ironically, he was presented with the first Shinpei Goto Prize by Tokyo's Shinpei Goto Society. The prize was established to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of the late Japanese colonial administrator Shinpei Goto(後藤新平),and is awarded to people who have contributed to national or regional development.
What is in the mind of a Father of Taiwan independence?.
The agreement for keeping the Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)after the war, was there will not be any state Shintoism, where Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社)will only remain as purely a civilian independent religion institution, free from politic and militarism. But has the Yasukuni Shrine comply with that after the war? Just look at the movies below:
靖国神社, 軍装おじさん、自衛隊に「大和魂」を求むる
The ceremony was full of military color, reflective of revival of Japanese militarism. It was no longer just a simple family remembrance ceremony for the family members. It already become a symbolic place for the ultra-right militarist and supporters.
Will Yasukuni be the birth place of future Japanese Militarism? or as some critic said, the revival of Japanese Militarism....
This is the worry of the people all over the world.
2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
The famous photograph of VJ Day Kiss at Time Square
The famous photograph of VJ Day
V–J day in Times Square, one of the most famous photographs ever published by Life, was shot in Times Square on August 14, 1945, shortly after the announcement by President Truman occurred and people began to gather in celebration. News wire reports of the announcements in Japan had let the media know the likelihood of an imminent announcement. Alfred Eisenstaedt went to Times Square to take his specialty, candid photographs and he spotted a sailor: "There were thousands of people milling around, in side streets and everywhere. Everybody was kissing each other . . . And there was also a Navy man running, grabbing anybody, you know, kissing, I ran ahead of him because I had Leica cameras around my neck, focused from 10 feet to infinity. You only had to shoot . . . I didn't even know what was going on, until he grabbed something in white. And I stood there, and they kissed. And I snapped five times." He took five exposures, but only published the one he selected as the best. Eisenstadt was very gratified and pleased with this enduring image, saying: "People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture."
The central figures in the photograph never were confirmed by Eisenstaedt although, as he would probably agree, the identities of his fellow subjects were not important - instead the representative nature of the many men and women rejoicing was the intention. Life, however, received nurse Edith Cullen Shain's claim as the woman to hold this honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt thirty-five years later. After that a call was made in the magazine for the identity of the man. Three women claimed to be the nurse. More than twenty men have claimed to be the sailor, but none has been identified positively as the man. Edith Shain considered the possibility of one man, Carl Muscarello, but finally stated that she could not tell whether he was or not. Shain died Sunday, June 20, 2010, in Los Angeles.
V–J day in Times Square, one of the most famous photographs ever published by Life, was shot in Times Square on August 14, 1945, shortly after the announcement by President Truman occurred and people began to gather in celebration. News wire reports of the announcements in Japan had let the media know the likelihood of an imminent announcement. Alfred Eisenstaedt went to Times Square to take his specialty, candid photographs and he spotted a sailor: "There were thousands of people milling around, in side streets and everywhere. Everybody was kissing each other . . . And there was also a Navy man running, grabbing anybody, you know, kissing, I ran ahead of him because I had Leica cameras around my neck, focused from 10 feet to infinity. You only had to shoot . . . I didn't even know what was going on, until he grabbed something in white. And I stood there, and they kissed. And I snapped five times." He took five exposures, but only published the one he selected as the best. Eisenstadt was very gratified and pleased with this enduring image, saying: "People tell me that when I am in heaven they will remember this picture."
The central figures in the photograph never were confirmed by Eisenstaedt although, as he would probably agree, the identities of his fellow subjects were not important - instead the representative nature of the many men and women rejoicing was the intention. Life, however, received nurse Edith Cullen Shain's claim as the woman to hold this honor in a handwritten letter to Eisenstaedt thirty-five years later. After that a call was made in the magazine for the identity of the man. Three women claimed to be the nurse. More than twenty men have claimed to be the sailor, but none has been identified positively as the man. Edith Shain considered the possibility of one man, Carl Muscarello, but finally stated that she could not tell whether he was or not. Shain died Sunday, June 20, 2010, in Los Angeles.
End of Pacific War on 15-8-1945
Today is 15th August, the VJ Day. 8月15日。今日は、終戦記念日です。
Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, to August 14, 1945, (when it was announced in the United States, Western Europe, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Australia/New Zealand), as well as to September 2, 1945, when the signing of the surrender document occurred.
August 15 is the official V-J Day for the UK while the official US commemoration is September 2. The name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe.
On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan aboard the battleship USS Missouri. In Japan, the day usually is known as the "memorial day for the end of the war" (終戦記念日 Shūsen-kinenbi); the official name for the day, however, is "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace" (戦歿者を追悼し平和を祈念する日 Senbotsusha wo tsuitōshi heiwa wo kinennsuru hi). This official name was adopted in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government.
August 15 is commemorated as Liberation Day in Korea.
As the final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, which represented China on the Missouri, announced the three-day holidays to celebrate V-J Day, starting September 3. Starting from 1946, September 3 was celebrated as "Victory of War of Resistance against Japan Day" ( 抗日戰爭勝利紀念日), which evolved into the Armed Forces Day (軍人節) in 1955. September 3 is recognized as V-J Day in the People's Republic of China. There are still "September 3" streets (九三街) and primary schools (九三小学) in almost every major city in China.
One is VJ Day or Liberation Day to remember civilian who was killed, and military man who died during the war to defend their country. The other is Memorial or Surrender day to remember civilian died during the war, and the Imperial Japanese Army who died for invading other countries. It was the day with positive and negative value for the young generations, from different perspective.
VJ Day should not be the day to remember aggression and violence in war, or to honor militarism or war criminals who killed innocent civilians..... it should be the day to remember the positive value of heroic act to defend a nation, to help the weak, and to promote the message of peace....
Yasukuni Shrine or Yasukuni Jinja(靖国神社)
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社 or 靖國神社 Yasukuni Jinja) is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of Imperial Japan, particularly to those killed in wartime. It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II.
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
One of the central controversies of the shrine is the personal visits by Japanese politicians. There have been many visits including numerous politicians, and heads of state including several prime ministers. Many in the international and Asian community see this as support for or complicity with Japanese nationalism, and denial of the events of World War II. The politicians themselves see this as paying respect to the over two million war dead of Japan from several wars, done on personal time.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
(extract from wikipedia)
There are still people who still pay respect to Japanese militarism, the Class A criminals who started the Pacific War, causing the death of many people during the World War 2. If it was the family members that pay the respect in their family shrine, it is private affairs, no body will bother about it. But if a national leaders are paying their respect during VJ day, then it is like saying, that Japan cherish the militarism and their war criminal acts; it is a disrespect to all civilian people who died during the war, Japanese or non-Japanese. It is also the disrespect to the Japanese civilian victims of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They died as innocent people, as civilian. It was because of the two atomic bombs that killed many in Hiroshima and Nagsaki, Japan emperor surrender. The lives of many people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulted in surrender, otherwise more lives will be lost if the emperor did not surrender. May be more atomic bombs will be dropped. The people of Hiroshima and Nagsaki died for their emperor unknowingly and may be not willingly...
It is worst if the Japanese nation attempt to erase or alter the history of World War 2.....it is not respectful even to their own people who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who died because of Japanese militarism and because of the wars...
If you feel for the victims of Atomic Bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you will also feel for the victims of the World War 2(Pacific War) who died during the war started by Japan militarism, Japanese Imperial Army....we will feel the same pain for them, the same sorrow for them, they died unwillingly from the war started by Japan. Japan is the offender, the initiator of the war, they should feel sorry for the war, Surrender Day should be the day for repentance, the day to remember the war crimes done, and the day to call for world peace...
I really respect the German, who was bold to face the history, and even pay their respect to the Jews and victims of WW2. I remember seeing a picture of one German foreign minister who even kneel down in front of WW2 memorial, with the public watching, with regret in his heart, and tears in his eyes. This gained the respect of the people witnessed the memorial ceremony.
That is the difference between Japanese and the German....and today German can walk boldly to face their future, unlike Japanese who still carrying the burden of the WW2, trying to erase or justify the act of the war....
Japan should take the courageous step to be sensitive to the feeling of the victim countries, avoid any ceremony and activities that will provoke their emotion and sad memories. The scar of the war is difficult to erase from memory, just like the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Surrender Day or Victory Day, it does not matter; the most important is the message that many civilian lives were lost because of the war, the war started by Japanese militarism. Any peaceful citizen of the world, Japanese or non-Japanese, will not let it to happen again, ....
To many people the war had ended, but to the victims and their families, the memory of the war still linger in their life.....the scar and bad experience of the war still remain strongly in their heart, and the painful experience still torment them even until today.....
Let there be no war, the message is clear....
Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively ending World War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both the day on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made in the afternoon of August 15, 1945, in Japan, and because of time zone differences, to August 14, 1945, (when it was announced in the United States, Western Europe, the Americas, the Pacific Islands, and Australia/New Zealand), as well as to September 2, 1945, when the signing of the surrender document occurred.
August 15 is the official V-J Day for the UK while the official US commemoration is September 2. The name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe.
On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan aboard the battleship USS Missouri. In Japan, the day usually is known as the "memorial day for the end of the war" (終戦記念日 Shūsen-kinenbi); the official name for the day, however, is "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace" (戦歿者を追悼し平和を祈念する日 Senbotsusha wo tsuitōshi heiwa wo kinennsuru hi). This official name was adopted in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government.
August 15 is commemorated as Liberation Day in Korea.
As the final official surrender of Japan was accepted aboard the battleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China, which represented China on the Missouri, announced the three-day holidays to celebrate V-J Day, starting September 3. Starting from 1946, September 3 was celebrated as "Victory of War of Resistance against Japan Day" ( 抗日戰爭勝利紀念日), which evolved into the Armed Forces Day (軍人節) in 1955. September 3 is recognized as V-J Day in the People's Republic of China. There are still "September 3" streets (九三街) and primary schools (九三小学) in almost every major city in China.
One is VJ Day or Liberation Day to remember civilian who was killed, and military man who died during the war to defend their country. The other is Memorial or Surrender day to remember civilian died during the war, and the Imperial Japanese Army who died for invading other countries. It was the day with positive and negative value for the young generations, from different perspective.
VJ Day should not be the day to remember aggression and violence in war, or to honor militarism or war criminals who killed innocent civilians..... it should be the day to remember the positive value of heroic act to defend a nation, to help the weak, and to promote the message of peace....
Yasukuni Shrine or Yasukuni Jinja(靖国神社)
Yasukuni Shrine (靖国神社 or 靖國神社 Yasukuni Jinja) is a Shinto shrine located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It is dedicated to the soldiers and others who died fighting on behalf of the Emperor of Japan. Currently, its Symbolic Registry of Divinities lists the names of over 2,466,000 enshrined men and women whose lives were dedicated to the service of Imperial Japan, particularly to those killed in wartime. It also houses one of the few Japanese war museums dedicated to World War II.
The site for the Yasukuni Shrine, originally named Tōkyō Shōkonsha (東京招魂社) was chosen by order of the Meiji Emperor. This shrine was to commemorate the soldiers of the Boshin War who fought and died to bring about the Meiji Restoration. It was one of several dozen war memorial shrines built throughout Japan at that time as part of the government-directed State Shinto program. In 1879, the shrine was renamed Yasukuni Jinja. It became one of State Shinto's principal shrines, as well as the primary national shrine for commemorating Japan's war dead. The name Yasukuni, quoted from the phrase 「吾以靖国也」 in the classical-era Chinese text Zuo Zhuan (Scroll 6, 23rd Year of Duke Xi), literally means "Pacifying the Nation" and was chosen by the Meiji Emperor. The name is formally written as 靖國神社, using obsolete (pre-war) kyūjitai character forms.
One of the central controversies of the shrine is the personal visits by Japanese politicians. There have been many visits including numerous politicians, and heads of state including several prime ministers. Many in the international and Asian community see this as support for or complicity with Japanese nationalism, and denial of the events of World War II. The politicians themselves see this as paying respect to the over two million war dead of Japan from several wars, done on personal time.
After World War II, the US-led Occupation Authorities issued the Shinto Directive. This directive ordered the separation of church and state and effectively put an end to State Shinto. Yasukuni Shrine was forced to become either a secular government institution or a religious institution independent from the Japanese government. People[who?] decided that the shrine would become a privately funded religious institution. Since that decision in 1946, Yasukuni Shrine has continued to be privately funded and operated.
(extract from wikipedia)
There are still people who still pay respect to Japanese militarism, the Class A criminals who started the Pacific War, causing the death of many people during the World War 2. If it was the family members that pay the respect in their family shrine, it is private affairs, no body will bother about it. But if a national leaders are paying their respect during VJ day, then it is like saying, that Japan cherish the militarism and their war criminal acts; it is a disrespect to all civilian people who died during the war, Japanese or non-Japanese. It is also the disrespect to the Japanese civilian victims of atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They died as innocent people, as civilian. It was because of the two atomic bombs that killed many in Hiroshima and Nagsaki, Japan emperor surrender. The lives of many people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, resulted in surrender, otherwise more lives will be lost if the emperor did not surrender. May be more atomic bombs will be dropped. The people of Hiroshima and Nagsaki died for their emperor unknowingly and may be not willingly...
It is worst if the Japanese nation attempt to erase or alter the history of World War 2.....it is not respectful even to their own people who died at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who died because of Japanese militarism and because of the wars...
If you feel for the victims of Atomic Bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, you will also feel for the victims of the World War 2(Pacific War) who died during the war started by Japan militarism, Japanese Imperial Army....we will feel the same pain for them, the same sorrow for them, they died unwillingly from the war started by Japan. Japan is the offender, the initiator of the war, they should feel sorry for the war, Surrender Day should be the day for repentance, the day to remember the war crimes done, and the day to call for world peace...
I really respect the German, who was bold to face the history, and even pay their respect to the Jews and victims of WW2. I remember seeing a picture of one German foreign minister who even kneel down in front of WW2 memorial, with the public watching, with regret in his heart, and tears in his eyes. This gained the respect of the people witnessed the memorial ceremony.
That is the difference between Japanese and the German....and today German can walk boldly to face their future, unlike Japanese who still carrying the burden of the WW2, trying to erase or justify the act of the war....
Japan should take the courageous step to be sensitive to the feeling of the victim countries, avoid any ceremony and activities that will provoke their emotion and sad memories. The scar of the war is difficult to erase from memory, just like the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Surrender Day or Victory Day, it does not matter; the most important is the message that many civilian lives were lost because of the war, the war started by Japanese militarism. Any peaceful citizen of the world, Japanese or non-Japanese, will not let it to happen again, ....
To many people the war had ended, but to the victims and their families, the memory of the war still linger in their life.....the scar and bad experience of the war still remain strongly in their heart, and the painful experience still torment them even until today.....
Let there be no war, the message is clear....
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
This is London, MY God!
The young man was filmed sitting on the floor dazed as he appeared to have an injury to his mouth. Surrounded by a number of youths he is helped to his feet by one, stepping carefully past a pool of his blood.
As he stood upright a man searched into the boy's backpack, snatching items from the bag. Other youths joined the mugging, grabbing anything they could find from the vulnerable victim's pack.
The footage posted online mirrors scenes across North London where looting has been rife.
London has being a great city; and the old gentleman days of British people who teach us about human right and democracy; the country who provide us our legal system and parliament.
The country that many great missionaries come from....who had touched many lives..
The top education opportunities given to many nations...
The humanitarian help and citizenship given to political refugees...
But sad to say, it seems that Britain has changed; may be there are not many old Londoners around now a day. They have moved? London has lost its charm...its greatness....
or
Are they Londoners or outsiders? they seems to have the same culture, not typical of London we know...
or
Their culture has been polluted by the humanitarian import?
or
There is no thankfulness by the outsiders for the local Londoners from the people they helped and who provided them homes in London?
.... the name of London, the great city, is her reputation of the city now fading out?
.... gone will be the tourist money and education fund of other countries.....
or
Is it because of the weak economy? is it still safe to walk in London now? Many questions to ponder....may be to postpone the next holiday to London?...
What happen to London? .....
Instead of helping the injured victim, he has been mugged, not one but many joined in, and this happen in the North London riots
Where is the human right advocates?....where is the police?....
This happen in London....where is the old London now?
OMG....What a shameful act...of great city to a visitor...
Now I remember Norway.....the extremism become popular culture?.....and now the new culture of London....
or is it global phenomenon of the young people; a popular culture from the internet era....is it war and violence computer games? is it idolized football hooligan culture? is it fragile emotion? is it the manifestation of social instability?,or uneasiness not to get what they want, the modern electronic gadgets popularized by advertisement and social media? discontent caused by social pressure?..... a state of social unbalance.....manifested by crowd contagion, which developed into violence.....
The psychological development is similar to Norway mass killer, but here the contagion effect was taking place, no longer a lone ranger. With the help by social media, it evolved into emotional violence of the crowds.....abuse of freedom of association....
It is not the issue of wrong time and the wrong place; it is the social problems of a nation...
It is the interaction of Generation Y and social media, a double edged swords, the speed it stir up emotion like contagion effect of Jasmine Revolution, but this is for different agenda, a negative and destructive agenda.... this is typical example of abuses of social media by Y generation. While we are excited when social media was used in Jasmine Revolution and its contagion; but we are now faced another side of social media, how it can also be used for destructive purpose.
Is it a warning sign and time bomb for the future of London?
A great problem to arise, like in Norway; for UK, and for many countries having similar problems....where family value breakdown, where religion value disappeared, where moral value declined, where human does not care about other human, where emotion is contagion and wild, where there is no reasoning,......
A global problem to come.....
As he stood upright a man searched into the boy's backpack, snatching items from the bag. Other youths joined the mugging, grabbing anything they could find from the vulnerable victim's pack.
The footage posted online mirrors scenes across North London where looting has been rife.
London has being a great city; and the old gentleman days of British people who teach us about human right and democracy; the country who provide us our legal system and parliament.
The country that many great missionaries come from....who had touched many lives..
The top education opportunities given to many nations...
The humanitarian help and citizenship given to political refugees...
But sad to say, it seems that Britain has changed; may be there are not many old Londoners around now a day. They have moved? London has lost its charm...its greatness....
or
Are they Londoners or outsiders? they seems to have the same culture, not typical of London we know...
or
Their culture has been polluted by the humanitarian import?
or
There is no thankfulness by the outsiders for the local Londoners from the people they helped and who provided them homes in London?
.... the name of London, the great city, is her reputation of the city now fading out?
.... gone will be the tourist money and education fund of other countries.....
or
Is it because of the weak economy? is it still safe to walk in London now? Many questions to ponder....may be to postpone the next holiday to London?...
What happen to London? .....
Instead of helping the injured victim, he has been mugged, not one but many joined in, and this happen in the North London riots
Where is the human right advocates?....where is the police?....
This happen in London....where is the old London now?
OMG....What a shameful act...of great city to a visitor...
Now I remember Norway.....the extremism become popular culture?.....and now the new culture of London....
or is it global phenomenon of the young people; a popular culture from the internet era....is it war and violence computer games? is it idolized football hooligan culture? is it fragile emotion? is it the manifestation of social instability?,or uneasiness not to get what they want, the modern electronic gadgets popularized by advertisement and social media? discontent caused by social pressure?..... a state of social unbalance.....manifested by crowd contagion, which developed into violence.....
The psychological development is similar to Norway mass killer, but here the contagion effect was taking place, no longer a lone ranger. With the help by social media, it evolved into emotional violence of the crowds.....abuse of freedom of association....
It is not the issue of wrong time and the wrong place; it is the social problems of a nation...
It is the interaction of Generation Y and social media, a double edged swords, the speed it stir up emotion like contagion effect of Jasmine Revolution, but this is for different agenda, a negative and destructive agenda.... this is typical example of abuses of social media by Y generation. While we are excited when social media was used in Jasmine Revolution and its contagion; but we are now faced another side of social media, how it can also be used for destructive purpose.
Is it a warning sign and time bomb for the future of London?
A great problem to arise, like in Norway; for UK, and for many countries having similar problems....where family value breakdown, where religion value disappeared, where moral value declined, where human does not care about other human, where emotion is contagion and wild, where there is no reasoning,......
A global problem to come.....
Monday, August 8, 2011
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