How Japan's youth see the kamikaze pilots of WW2

[KLMKsunbunny]

Interesting article this week from the BBC regarding the changing views of Japan's wartime past...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-39351262

[o.r.k.]

fighting for a country still leaves the option of survival open- Kamikaze missions rather not. I´ve read that also in WW2 most Kamikaze pilots weren´t so keen on the job but rather felt the strong social pressure of not being the units coward not bringing shame to the own family... the burden of duty was rather the motive than the wish to dive into certain death for glory. If they would have had an option most would have probably said no, too, I believe.

[pete]

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Its not surprising...its quite common in the world in the little countries especially where for example "anybody agaisnt the russians/or historical "bad guys" in the region! (dependent on the dynamic)...very grey and not black and white back then even...sons of a same family on two sides at once....Any where that statehood was established or grew during WW2 for example you see that people did not change their allegiances they just kept quiet, and families have kept that too in many cases...they just ended up on the loosing side...

In some countries for example kids are talking about sports after a couple beers, in others its WW2....truth! Then I ask them, so do you support concentration camps? Answer: No, So do you support your countries WW2 Puppet state: Yes....Next question...so dont you see they were on the wrong side?......Answer: Well yes but its not like that! Next question: Again, they were FULLY supporting the wrong side and helping!......

Its often typical!...So im not surpised that a certain % still thinks this or that, because they hear it at home! Sometimes the state allows it politically! Even if fringe!

[Ian Hulley]

I was under the impression that Japanese schools did not teach about World War 2 ... as if it didn't exist. Where I read that I cannot remember but I did read it somewhere.

Ian

[Larry Davis]

I was under the impression that Japanese schools did not teach about World War 2 ... as if it didn't exist. Where I read that I cannot remember but I did read it somewhere.

Ian

From the Beebs, so take it as you will, but overall a good read on the subject.

"What Japanese history lessons leave out..."

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21226068

And; Japan’s way of remembering World War II still infuriates its neighbours

http://theconversation.com/japans-wa...ighbours-45663

There is so much more out on the web about this, just search Japanese school curriculum - world war two.

It's not as though other countries don't do the same with their histories, and I'm not about to point a finger...and we all know where that discussion will end.

From the aforementioned Beebs article: the caption under a photo of Chinese youth protesters, "Chinese protesters often mark anniversaries of 20th Century clashes with Japan", one has to wonder what that is really all about? What is the real underlying agenda behind stirring up all that angst in the younger military age population? Food for thought...


..

[Larry Davis]

The Last Kamikazes-The Documentary

The PODcast audio documentary from the Beebs world service.

The Last Kamikazes-The Documentary


"Mariko Oi meets two of the very last surviving men to have been trained to fly their airplanes straight into enemy ships, ensuring certain death. Ninety-one-year-old Keiichi Kuwahara says “I kept looking back, thinking that it was the last time I would see the land. And as I was doing so, the sun came out and made the horizon shine light pink. And I thought that I have to go in order to defend this beautiful land. That was what I told myself.”"

Here at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswbyx

Enjoy!
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[fik]

Yes....Next question...so dont you see they were on the wrong side?......Answer: Well yes but its not like that! Next question: Again, they were FULLY supporting the wrong side and helping!......

The Soviets were "supporting the wrong side and helping!" for two whole years in exchange for big chunks of territory, among other things. Who knows how long they would have done so if not attacked. So I don't see how they are on the "right" side, considering their widespread human rights abuses, launching wars of aggression against neighbors, and annexations of entire nations.

I think it would be more appropriate to say that those puppet governments were on the "losing" side, because both sides were wrong