[Opinion] Japan, Turn to a Path of Peace

After seeing Koizumi attending the shrine worship...

Last month, on the evening of July 17, Tokyo University’s School of Education campus hosted the testimonial of Hwang Kum Joo, former victim of Japanese forced military prostitution during WWII. It was organized by the students who protested the Ministry of Education’s recent approval of the Husosha textbook which justifies Japan’s raid on Asia.

The testimony of a former `comfort woman` made a forceful impression on students who heard it for the first time. The assembly went into shock when a student asked, ``What do you think about the Husosha history textbook?`` Mrs. Hwang answered in a loud voice, ``We cannot tolerate a textbook that denies our existence.`` and tore the cover off the textbook. The people gathered at the event once again realized the magnitude of Mrs. Hwang’s rage and the problem of the history textbook.

Today is the first August 15 in 2001. Yet, unfortunately, Korea-Japan relations is at its worst due to the textbook issue and Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro’s attendance at the Yasukuni Shrine.

I personally believe that all the responsibility rests on the Japanese side. After former Prime Minister Nakasoni Yasuhiro made a formal visit to the Yasukuni Shrine in 1985, he stated in a discussion on national security that `it can create misunderstanding and create mistrust with neighboring countries`, and put a stop to the worship. Koizumi’s recent action amounts to a betrayal of neighboring nations who had trusted the former promise made by Japan. The textbook issue also violates the `Neighboring Nations Clause` (1982), which stipulated that the production of textbooks will take into consideration the concerns of other nations, and the Korea-Japan Mutual Declaration (1998), which agreed to include appropriate historical acknowledgments in education.

After half a century since the war, attacked nations have begun to put pressure on Japan for the first time. The resurgence of Japanese nationalism in the latter part of 1990s was a reaction against taking responsibility for the war. The last decade saw the collapse of the economy and long-term recession, making the Japanese people realize that the myth of economic boom had come to an end. Japan, a cold war `victor` began to feel the pressure to take responsibility for the past. On top of this, Japan experienced an `economic defeat` which all contributed to a growing sense of victimization. It was within this mix that the nationalist cry for `restoring Japanese pride` started to get a hearing. One cannot fail to notice the passage of new laws along nationalist lines in the summer of 1999. The textbook issue and Koizumi’s Yasukuni worship are extensions of these trends.

Over the last couple of years, the forces of opposition have repeatedly taken the backseat. In the political and journalism world, the trend is to move toward the right. Yet, I will not give up hoping, neither in the present, nor in the future. I am talking about the hope that the lingering `Empire’s Unjust Legacy` in Japan – at the heart of which stands the Japanese emperor – will be settled, the imperialist Japan will disappear once and for all, the trust between East Asian nations will be restored, and that regional peace based on democratic relations across national borders will be established.

Although the opposition forces had to retreat in recent years, they did not remain completely passive. Last December, Japanese Feminist organization hosted `The International Feminist War Crimes Court for Prosecuting Perpetrators of Japanese Military Sex Slavery` in Tokyo, which made international news. South and North Korea formed a joint investigative committee which condemned the institution for sexual slavery as a `crime against humanity` and handed down the decision that pronounced the guilty verdict on Emperor Showa. It was an epoch-making event that helped to form a common understanding of war crimes across nations and citizens, and offered a model for establishing an order of peace in the region.

There have been citizen protests against the Husosha history textbooks across Japan, and the factor that reduces the possibility of textbook selection close to zero is the sound judgment that still remains in Japanese society. It is a moving sight to behold Korean-Japanese and Japanese citizens working together to block the selection and reveling in their joint effort.

Mrs. Hwang stated, ``You are not the bad ones, the government is.`` Yet, it must be said that the Japanese government represents the Japanese people politically. As a citizen of Japan, I share responsibility in the actions that the Japanese government takes. The Japanese government has not fully acknowledged its responsibilities for colonizing North and South Korea. I am doing what I can do as one person to rectify this abnormal situation, and I believe that is a basic condition for creating friendship and solidarity with the Korean people.

Professor Takahashi Taesuya is an intellectual of sound judgment who has steadily criticized Japanese nationalism, insisted that Japan must listen to the victims of Japanese Militarism and take responsibility for the aftermath of the war. He has published multiple works including `Inquiring after Japan’s War Responsibility` (History Critique Publication, 1999)

Takahashi Taesuya (Professor, Tokyo University Graduate School, Department of Inter-Cultural Research)