Mission Accomplished

There has been a lot of controversy in the news recently over the Japanese war criminal shrine, also known as the Yasukuni Jinja. There has been an especially loud noise coming from the people's league of justice, human rights and morality, also known as China. Yasukuni, which means peaceful nation in Japanese, is dedicated to Japan's war dead. Now, please note that this means any and all Japanese who have died in a war are enshrined here. It is not, as some ignorants are claiming, a shrine dedicated to the war criminals who turned Japan into a totalitarian state during WWII and attacked and conquered a large area in Asia.

The recent controversy comes from the state visits being made by a number of high ranking government officials including, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Health minister Hidehisa Otsuji and Environment Minister Yuriko Koike Protests from all sorts of organizations have turned these visits, which are meant to honor the war dead of Japan, have created a huge situation as well as a large amount of political pressure between Japan, China and South Korea. Some people feel that these visits are basically saying that Japan’s attrocites in China during WWII didn't happen. Others feel that these visits encourage the further use of military action in Japan's future and are seen as a symbol of stronger ties with a more militaristic America. Yet others feel that these visits, by state officials to a religious location violate Japan's separation of church and state laws (those haven't stopped much in America have they?).

The loudest voice, by far seems to be China. That champion of human rights, freedom, justice and unedited history, the Chinese see these visits as a big F-YOU in the face and are demanding they stop. But in reality many believe that the Chinese government is for these visits, as they provide sufficient material for a propaganda campaign aimed at hiding their own governmental issues. And let's not forget the questionable things China has done in the past, Tiananmen Square, Korean War, Season IV of 24, to name a few.

As for myself, while I do feel strongly that Japan's actions in Asia, especially China, during WWII were terrible, I also feel that they paid a heavy price, not only in their subsequent defeat, but through a pair of special bombs that were dropped on their citizens. All the people enshrined in Yasukuni, including the class-A war criminals, died for their country and were patriots. They may have been misguided, but they loved their country, should we hold it against them?

Wisdom of the Day: If you come to Japan, instead of Yasukuni, pay your respects to Yasuda Misako