A Comment About

What’s the Matter with Japan?

June 10, 2008 - 11:59 am - by Garrett DeOrio
Xanthippe
2008-06-11 20:41:20

Garrett DeOrio:

“Beyond the broad, sweeping, unsupportable generalization of the entire population, if the Japanese are “inclined toward violence,” they hide it very, very well.”

One thing that has confounded me – (I was born 12 years after WWII ended) — is the scope and brutality of the Japanese people. It seems at odds with the public face of Japanese culture.

The Rape of Nanking, the Manila Massacre, the Bataan Death March, the way the Japanese treated POWs during WWII … there are more examples but these should suffice to show that the Japanese, as a culture, are not non-violent.

I’m still searching for an explanation.

(Does Japan still censor their history books with regard to their part in WWII?)