58th Year of Soul Searching
Jan. 14, 2003 Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi visited again the Yasukuni Shrine provoking protests from neighbors victimized by Japanese aggression. Yasukuni Shrine secretly ensrined 1,068 War Criminals including 14 Class-A War Criminals in 1978. News of the secret enshrinement caused an uproar when it leaked out 6 months later. It is considered a symbol of Japanese wartime military imperialism. This was his 3rd time since he became prime minister.
Jan 22, 2003 Federal Appeals Court, San Francisco, strikes down 1999 law enacted by California Legislature allowing slave laborers of Japanese and German corporations in WWII to sue for wages and injuries; finds law is impermissible intrusion on federal government's exclusive power to make and resolve war; also dismisses claims by slave laborers on other theories, saying statute of limitations bars them and may not sue for wages and injuries.
Mar. 11, 2003 The Tokyo District Court rejected the lawsuit filed by 42 Chinese slave labourer during WWII, seeking damages and unpaid wages, a total 840 million yen from the Japanese government and 10 Japanese companies (Hazama Corp., Nishimatsu Construction Co., Tekken Corp., Nittetsu Mining Co., Japan Energy Corp., Furukawa Co., Ube Industries Ltd., Dowa Mining Co., Tobishima Corp. and Mitsubishi Materials Corp.) The Judge said the plaintiffs lost their right when 20 years had passed since the illegal act. However, the judge also rejected the legal argument that the state bore no responsibility for the actions of civil servants that occurred before enactment of the State Redress Law.
Mar. 28, 2003 Japanese Supreme Court rejected an appeal from a group of South Korean women seeking compensation and apology from Japan for their forced Sex Slavery during WWII. It also ruled today that Japan does not have to pay $1 million to the 80 year old Korean comfort woman Song Shin-do. Japanese government insists that the compensation issue was settled on a government-to-government basis in postwar treaties. The stance has drawn criticism at home and abroad that it remains unrepentant for its war crimes.
Mar 28, 2003 Breaking from over 30 years of strict non-military use of the high sky, Japan launched its first pair of reconnaissance satellites today. Critics say the launch violates a 1969 resolution that prohibits military use of space by Japan.
Apr 10, 2003 In the 59th General Assembly of the U.N., both South and North Korea urged Japan to take measures in accordance with the recommendations made by U.N. Special Rapporteurs to apologize and pay compensation to Korean women forced into Sex Slavery for Japanese soldiers during WWII. In the 1996 report, the rapporteurs denounced the Japanese government for failing to take legal responsibility for the comfort women and falling far short of punishing those responsible for the "inhumane crimes".
Apr 23, 2003 Japan's Air Self Defense Force (ASDF) is holding aerial refueling exercises with the U.S. Air Force from April 21 to May 2, the first such exercises for the ASDF -- ever. U.S. is actively encouraging Japan to move away from its constitutional restrictions and rearm itself.
Apr. 28, 2003 In unprecedented denial, the family members of the two Japanese lieutenants, Mukai Toshiaki and Noda Takeshi who were well known for their Killing Contest to behead 100 Chinese with their sword in 1937, launched a libel suit against the Mainichi. They are seeking a total 12 million yen in damages, claiming that that the defendants failed to retract the stories although it has been "proved" that the alleged massacre did not take place.
Also sued for libel were the Asahi Shimbun that printed a follow up story in 1971, former Asahi writer Katsuichi Honda who reported the story and was one of authors of a book challenging revisionists view that denies the Rape of Nanking, and a Tokyo publishing house that published his book.
May 15, 2003 Tokyo District Court dismissed a lawsuit filed by 5 Chinese who demanded Japan to pay 80 million yen in damages for their health problems caused by Japanese abandoned WMD Chemical Weapons. They mistakenly spilt hazardous liquids on their bodies and inhaled poisonous gas while examining chemical weapons they found. They are still suffering from the after-effects, such as paralysis of an arm, breathing difficulties and a decline in their eyesight. The judge ruled that Japan goverment broke no law when it failed to recover the weapons. Japan abandoned 700,000 - 2,000,000 Chemical Bombs in China.
June 12, 2003 30 South Koreans forced into labor in Siberia during WWII by Japan sued the Japanese government for their unpaid wages, demanding an average of 10 million yen per person in damage. They base their lawsuit on international custom and the Geneva Convention for the Protection of War Victims. They launched the suit along with a group of 133 South Koreans who separately sued Japan demanding that the remains of their relatives who died in the war after being conscripted by the Japanese military be returned and that their enshrinement at the controversial Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo be rescinded.
July 26 2003 The Japanese Diet passed legislation allowing the government to proceed with plans to dispatch up to 1,000 troops to bolster the US-led occupation of Iraq. The deployment will be the 1st time Japanese soldiers have been stationed in a combat zone since the end of WWII and the 1st time without a UN mandate. The law is designed to circumvent the Japan’s "Peace Constitution Article 9" that prohibits the use of military force except in self-defence.
Aug 13, 2003 A scrap metal collector in Northeastern China, Qiqihar had mistakenly uncovered 5 drums filled with mustard gas abandoned chemical weapons by the Japanese Army in WWII, harmed more than 40 people. One man had chemical burns over 95% of his body and later died. Others had suffered from vomiting to severe burns. Japan has apologized to China for the incident, but offer NO compensation.
This is the FIRST official acknowledgement by the Japanese Government that the Imperial Japanese Army during WWII used Chemical Weapon (mustard gas). The next step should be the official acknowledgement of the use of the WMD Biological Weapon by the infamous Unit 731.
Approx. 700,000 - 2,000,000 Chemical Bombs most of them loaded with mustard gas and many of them corroded and leaking, are still scattered in China. More than 2,000 Chinese had already been injured by these abandoned deadly WMD Chemical Weapons and damaging the environment. Japan has acknowledged leaving behind chemical weapons in China, has been looking for and disposing of such armaments according to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention. Many doubt such a monumental task can be completed by 2007 because Japan has been inactive in the chemicals cleanup despite its promise.
Sept. 12, 2003 Saito Gun, head of the Japanese investigation team admitted that another 52 mustard gas bombs found in Gaocheng, a city east of Shijiazhuang in 1991 and stored in the mountainous area around Lu Quan, were indeed left by Japan. The 52 mustard gas bombs will be dug up and sealed for future destruction. In reference to the compensation claims of the 20 victims injured, Saito refused to comment.
Ge Guangbiao, Chinese director of the office dealing with the problems said: "The Japanese Government should provide overall statistics on its abandoned WMD Chemical Weapons in China to the Chinese Government, including the location, numbers and categories of the weapons."
Sept. 29, 2003 The Tokyo District Court awarded 190 million yen (US 1.5 million) to 13 Chinese who sued the Japanese government over the abandoned WMD Chemical Weapon causing Chinese killed and injured in 1974 and 1982, and a shell explosion in 1995. It ruled against a ruling the same court issued for a separate case in May. Judge Yoshihiro Katayama said the Japanese government had neglected its responsibility to supply information to China over the whereabouts of the weapons, which killed and wounded Chinese.
This is the first time a Japanese court has accepted a damages claim related to abandoned WMD Chemical Weapons overseas.
The court ruled that "Distributing and abandoning poison gas weapons and similar actions, which are illegal under international law, cannot be accepted as justifiable. Not allowing the right (to claim damages) just because 20 years have passed goes against the principles of justice and fairness." However, the Japanese government has refused to accept the verdict and appealed to the higher court.
Oct. 20, 2003 To the WMD mustard gas victims (one killed and 42 injured) in Aug. incident in Qiqihar, Japanese government decided to offer 300 million yen, but NOT as compensation. But despite the inducement, the family of the person killed by the mustard gas is pressing on with plans to sue the Japanese Government.
Dec. 8, 2003 Japan has retrieved a total of 36,000 Chemical Weapons including bombs, poisonous fume pipes and iron barrels containing chemical preparations and put under temporary safekeeping. A unnamed Japanese official said in an interview with Oriental Outlook magazine, Under the UN Chemical Weapons Convention, Japan has until 2007 to destroy 700,000 - 2,000,000 of them. But experts say it will take much longer to safely dispose of so many WMD Chemical Bombs.
Dec. 9 2003 "Dispatching the Self Defence Forces to Iraq violates our constitution, which forbids the use of military forces," Peaceboat director Tatsuya Yoshioka said. Protesters held placards denouncing Koizumi and his allies as “war criminals”. Japan’s post-war constitution bans the use of Japanese force as a means of settling international disputes.
Dec 10, 2003 Grief overflowed and anger erupted as aged Japanese survivors confronted the Enola Gay, the US warplane which unleashed the world's 1st atom bomb on Hiroshima in 1945. The Enola Gay was put on display for the 1st time in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, which also includes a just retired French Concorde and space shuttle prototype. However, the vigil stirred anger among some visitors to the museum. "Remember Pearl Harbor" "What about the Nanjing massacre ?" several men shouted, as several scuffles broke out.
Dec 26, 2003 Japanese Supreme Court turned down a 920 million yen damages suit filed by Filipino women forced into Sex Slavery for the Japanese military during WWII. The suit has been filed by 81 people, including former "comfort women" from the Philippines and relatives of those who have died. Supporters said it was the Japanese government that lost the court battle, because Japan was deprived of an opportunity to make amends for its wartime wrongdoing.
59th Year of Soul Searching
Jan. 1, 2004 On New Year's Day, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited war shrine the 4th time, the controversial Yasukuni Shrine which secretly enshrined 1,068 War Criminals including 14 CLASS-A War Criminals in 1978, triggering instant condemnation from China and South Korea. Before Koizumi, only serving postwar prime minister, Yasuhiro Nakasonein 1985 and Ryutaro Hashimoto in 1996, had visited the shrine. The torrent of protest was enough to persuade him not to make another. Koizumi defied logic, insisting that neighboring countries would not be offended by his un-constitutonal shrine visits.
Jan 15, 2004 Japan is sending troops to combat zone FIRST TIME since WWII. 600 ground troops and 400 air force and naval personnel are due to be deployed in Iraq by March. Public are opposed to the plan arguing that the mission violates the Japanese Peace Constitution which prohibits offensive capability.
Feb. 10, 2004 The Tokyo High Court rejected an appeal by 7 women from Taiwan for an official apology from Japanese government and a total of 70 million yen in damages for being forced to become Sex Slave during WWII. The plaintiffs said they will appeal to the Supreme Court and are considering taking the case to the international tribunal.
Mar. 15, 2004 There could be over 700,000 or even 1,000,000 lives lost to Japan’s Biological Warfare programme said Daniel Barenblatt, author of new book "A Plague Upon Humanity: The Secret Genocide of Axis Japan's Germ Warfare Operation", in a recent interview. Barenblatt said the plague bacteria released then still lingers on in some animal populations today. "It is still there.... rodents still test positive for antibodies to the bubonic plague ..... What the US did in making the deal with top doctors is unconscionable. As far as we know, no one in the US government raised any more objection to it."
Mar 23, 2004 The Sapporo District Court rejected an 860 million yen damages suit against the Japanese government and 6 companies filed by 43 Chinese who were forced to work at coal mines and construction sites in Hokkaido during WWII.
In a similar lawsuit in 2002, the Fukuoka District Court ruled for the First time that the Japanese government and a mining company both committed a crime in using slave labor. But the court ordered only the company to pay compensation and excluded the state, agreeing with the government's argument that it cannot be held responsible.
Mar. 26, 2004 In Japanese Niigata District Court, Presiding Judge Noriyoshi Katano acknowledged that the Chinese were forced to perform hard labor under poor working conditions for Niigata-based harbor transport company Rinko Corp. (previously known as Niigata Koun) and ordered the state and a Japanese company to pay 88 million yen in compensation, marking First time for a Japanese court to order both Japanese government and a firm to pay damages for slave labor crimes. The judge dismissed the defendants' arguments that the statute of limitations for the crimes had passed.
Apr 7, 2004 Hiroyuki Hosoda of a group of 211 activists filed a lawsuit alleging that Koizumi's visits to the shrine violated the constitution. Fukuoka District Court ruled that Koizumi's visit in his official capacity as prime minister to the Yasukuni Shinto shrine indeed violated constitution of separation of church and state. But the court rejected their claims for compensation,
In Feb. the Osaka District Court refused to rule on the constitutionality of the visit, saying the plaintiffs had not suffered emotional turmoil as claimed. Four other cases are making their way through Japanese courts.
May 27, 2004 A group of 219 Japanese citizens filed a lawsuit claiming Japan's dispatch of troops to Iraq violated Japan's pacifist constitution. One of the plaintiffs is Nobutaka Watanabe who was one of 5 Japanese taken hostage by the militants in Iraq. Four similar lawsuits have been filed by other groups across Japan.
June 14 2004 U.S. Supreme Court has ordered the lawsuit against Japan filed by 15 kidnapped and enslaved former "Comfort Women" when they were only 10 - 26 years old from China (People's Republic of China), Taiwan (Republic of China), North and South Korea and the Philippines, to be reconsidered by the Appellate Court in the District of Columbia if Holocaust survivors and heirs can sue the French national railroad for transporting Jews and others to Nazi concentration camps during WWII. It is an encouraging news to the plaintiffs. Japan has argued that it is entitled to immunity from suit in U.S. courts concerning its pre-1952 acts.
July 9 2004 Hiroshima High Court overturned a lower court decision in July 2002, which ruled that too much time had passed to award compensation. Nishimatsu Construction must pay 27.5m yen ($255,000) in damages to 5 Chinese (2 of whom have since died) worked as slave labor in a power plant construction site owned by Nishimatsu. Presiding judge Satoshi Suzuki ruled Nishimatsu's argument that the statute of limitations had expired "seriously goes against justice". Japanese Government has acknowledged that many people suffered as a result of forced labour, but insists that most reparations were settled by treaties.
Jul 24, 2004 "The abandoned weapons issue is little known in Japan," said Japanese freelance director Tomoko Kana, who recently completed a doucmentary film From the Land of Bitter Tears."The way Chinese people feel about this issue is very similar to how Japanese feel about North Korea's abductions of Japanese," she said.
Min Liu whose father was killed in 1995 by Japanese abandoned artillery shell, was hoping of becoming a school teacher, but instead she has since been working at her relative's cafeteria to pay off her father's medical bills. The film captured the emotional Liu and 3 other victims from separate incidents has been on, including the scene of Liu giving a tearful hug to her mother while the mother burst into tears, confessing that she pulled the plug on her injured husband because family could not pay the medical bills and thus took him out of the hospital. He died the following day.
Tokyo District Court awarded the 13 plaintiffs a combined 190 million yen in damages, but Japanese government filed an appeal. The case is now pending before the Tokyo High Court.
Jul 23, 2004 Two Chinese children playing near a river in Dunhua, Jilin Province, injured by mustard gas leaked from the Japanese WMD Chemical Weapon discarded by the Japan in WWII. Japanese embassy statement says it was "quite regrettable" and expressed sympathy for the victims. At least 2,000 Chinese have so far become victims of the discarded 700,000 - 2,000,000 Japanese WMD Chemical Weapons since the war ended.
Aug 2, 2004 Fifteen years have passed since Human Bones that Haunt a Nation - Japanese war atrocities, dug up at a construction site in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, linked to the infamous Unit 731, and they remain a mystery that Japanese authorities still appear reluctant to resolve. The citizens' group speculate that Unit 731's victims' corpses were sent to the medical school for research purposes, and now ask Japanese government to use DNA and superimposing technology to verify their origins.
Kanagawa University professor Keiichi Tsuneishi said Japan's failure to address the issue over the past 15 years shows how the people disregard Unit 731's atrocities. The group is also demanding that the ministry and Shinjuku Ward excavate another site near Toyama Park where it suspects, based on testimony of some surviving officials, that more remains might be buried. Japanese authorities have refused to comply.
Aug 3, 2004 Payment worth US$ 401 million will be paid to some 130,681 Nazi-era Jewish slave laborers in 62 countries. The payments come from the German Foundation "Remembrance, Responsibility, and the Future", a US$ 6 Billion dollar Slave Fund established in 2000. Half of the DM 10 Billion Foundation's Funding is provided by the German government and half by the German industries and businesses. The first disbursement to Jews, totaling $703 million, was transfered to recipients between June 2001 and July 2004. Payments to non-Jewish slave laborers were largely covered by humanitarian organizations.
In addition to reparations from the German fund, the Claims Conference also disbursed a special payment to slave laborers out of 1.25 Billion Swiss Banks Settlement signed in 1999 by the Swiss banks. The banks agreed to compensate slave laborers, following evidence that during WWII they raked in profits on deals and financial services for German factories that used slave laborers.
"I pay tribute to all those who were subjected to slave and forced labor under German rule, and in the name of the German people beg forgiveness", said Johannes Rau, German president in 2000, "We will not forget their suffering."
Aug 9 2004 13 former Chinese slave laborers (6 relatives of laborers who have died) forced to work in the Makimine copper mines in Miyazaki Prefecture during WWII, filed a damages lawsuit against the Japanese government and Mitsubishi Materials Corp., seeking 184 million yen for compensation, and demand an official apology.
Aug 12, 2004 U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy Richard Armitage, have both reiterated U.S. support for Japan's eager quest for permanent UN Security Council membership and urged Japan to revise war renouncing Article 9 of its Constitution if it wants to become a permanent U.N. Security Council member.
Aug 12, 2004 German Interior Minister Otto Schily joined a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of a Nazi massacre site in Tuscan village, in Sant'Anna di Stazzema, Italy, calling it a "place of shame" for Germany. In August 1944, Nazi SS soldiers were ostensibly hunting for partisans, but instead they rounded up and killed approx. 560 villagers
Also in 2002, President Johannes Rau became the first German leader to visit another 1944 Nazi massacre site of 700 people killed, at Marzabotto in the hills south of Bologna, where he expressed sorrow and shame.
Aug 14, 2004 Germany has offered its first formal apology for the colonial-era massacre of Herero tribe by German troops in Namibia 100 years ago. Herero chief Kuaima Riruako said the apology was appreciated but added: "We still have the right to take the German government to court."
Some 200 ethnic Herero filed a lawsuit in the US court of the district of Columbia in Sept. 2001 demanding $2 billion from the German government and $2 billion in damages from several German companies including Deutsche Bank, mining company Terex Corporation, formerly Orenstein-Koppel Co., and the shipping company Deutsche Afrika Linie, formerly Woermann Linie, all of which allegedly profitted. About 55,000 Herero died after German officers issued an extermination order in 1904 to crush an uprising against German colonial rule.
The US district court of Columbia was chosen to hear the case as it has a 215-year-old law on its books, the Alien Tort Claims Act of 1789, that allows for such civil action from foreign countries.
Aug 15, 2004 Three Japanese ministers, joined by 58 members of parliament, paid homage to the country's war dead in the Yasukuni Shrine, which celebrates Japan's military past and sparked anger from neighbouring countries.
But Junichiro Koizumi had visited the shrine 4 times since he became the Japanese prime minister. Mr. Koizumi who had vowed to visit the shrine every year, avoided the shrine this time obviously because the illegality of his visits ruled by the Japanese court in April.
Aug 21, 2004 Japan plans to build a 2.8 billion dig-up facility and two incinerators in Haerbaling in north China's Jilin province to clean-up its abandoned WMD Chemical Weapons. China worries about the chemicals that will be released in the air during the disposal process. Japan may be difficult to meet the 2007 deadline demanded by the international Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to dispose all its 700,000 - 2,000,000 abandoned WMD Chemical Weapons. At least 2,000 Chinese have so far become victims of the discarded Japanese WMD Chemical Weapons since the war ended.
Aug 26, 2004 A Japanese history textbook omitting Japanese wartime atrocities was approved by Tokyo's school board for use in a public secondary school in the Tokyo. China and Korea say it distorts history and omits Japanese wartime atrocities, e.g. WMD Biological Warfare in China and the use of hundreds of thousands of military Sex Slaves.
Sept 15, 2004 Despite a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that WMD weapons are unlikely to be found in Iraq. However, Japan refused to admit that there are no WMD in the war-ravaged Iraq. Even Brithish PrimeMinister Tony Blair admitted that WMD which is vital to the case for the Iraq war, was wrong. Also, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he hasn't seen "any strong, hard evidence" to link Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda terrorists who staged the 9/11 attacks.
After 2 years intensive search with 1,200 experts, U.S. finally quit the WMD search. Unfortunately, the WMD was the main reason for US to "pre-emptive" invade Iraq. End to search for WMD seals doubts about pre-emption.
Sept. 18 2004 Instead of reflecting on own war crimes, the 10-member Japanese advisory panel to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will recommend that China be treated as a military threat. Japan will also discuss the possibility of permitting US and Japanese military flights to an island halfway between Okinawa and Taiwan, and build a port there.
Sept. 21 2004 Japan, Germany, India and Brazil told UN in joint bid seeking for a permanent seats on the UN Security Council.
Japan said it has been the second largest contributor to the UN and is involved in peacekeeping operations. However, U.N. members' contributions are in line with assessments based on their relative "Capacity To Pay" with a ceiling set at 22% - the rate at which the US is assessed. Next come Japan (19.5), Germany (9.8), France (6.5), Russia (1.1), and China (1.0) percent.
The U.N. Charter has a special stipulation about the WWII Axis enemies of the Allied nations and Japan has NEVER offered any government official apology that is formally and officially approved by Japanese Parliament as a "True Legal National Apology" using the more sincere Japanese word " shazai ", NOT the less sincere word "owabi" for its unspeakable horrific War Crimes, and takes full legal and moral responsibilities.
Japanese former PM Murayama had tried very hard for the official apology, but failed miserably to achieve it in the " No War Resolution" for the 50th anniversary of U.N. and End the War in 1995. That is exactly why Murayama's Personal Apology in 1995 repeatedly used the words "I", "me", and "my".
That is exactly why Japan has been apologizing for several decades but NO one believes that Japan is sincere.
"The U.N. is not a board of directors and you cannot decide its composition according to the financial contribution", Chinese spokesman said, "We want to see a responsible attitude from the Japanese including a clear understanding of historical issues."
Sept. 24 2004 In a steelworks site located in Ningan county, Mudanjiang China, a team of Japanese and Chinese experts unearthed more than 2,000 Bombs. 89 of the 2,000 bombs were confirmed as WMD Chemical Bombs abandoned by Japan. China says Japan made the WMD weapons in Hiroshima. At least 2,000 Chinese have so far become victims of Japanese discarded 700,000 - 2,000,000 Japanese WMD Chemical Weapons since the war ended.
Sept. 26 2004 The Chinese say there are 4 barriers on Japan's way to U.N. "Permanent Seat" :
1. Peace Constitution
2. Honestly face up to its own History
3. At the US' bidding and losing independence
4. UN competition and complicated procedure
Korea also questions Japan's Security Council bid.
Sept 29, 2004 Settlement reached in Osaka High Court that Tokyo-based Nippon Yakin Kogyo Co. has to pay 21 million yen to a group of Chinese abducted to Japan during WWII to work as slave laborers and their surviving family members. However, the company refused to offer an apology. The plaintiffs will continue their suit against the Japanese government, which has claimed the statute of limitations for compensation has expired. The Kyoto District Court ruled in last year that the Japanese government and Nippon Yakin Kogyo had acted illegally in abducting the plaintiffs and used them as slave laborers. But the court rejected the plaintiffs' demand for compensation.
Oct 1, 2004 A Japanese defense ministry panel has urged that the military be given the capability to launch "Pre-Emptive Strikes", shoot down Japan's pacifism, a move that would deviate from Japan's long-held defense-only policy. "A Pre-Emptive Strike would go beyond what current government policy and Article 9 of the Constitution allows," said Takehiko Yamamoto, political science professor at Tokyo's Waseda University. Article 9 renounces the right to go to war and forbids a military, although it is interpreted as permitting forces for only self-defense.
Oct 3, 2004 According to a research report, Japan secretly studied the possibility of Japan going nuclear. The report, dated July 30, 1981, is titled "On nuclear equipment" and was part of a research project on "The future of Japan's defense policy."
It was the 2 Atomic Bombs, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man", had finally stopped Japan's in-human War Crimes.
What if Japan had succeeded in building their A-Bomb first in WWII ? Nobody would ever doubt that the Japanese would have certainly used it 60 years ago.
For nearly 6 decades, historians have been unable to solve one of the mysteries of Japan's WWII WMD Atomic Bomb Project : How close were Japanese scientists to building the Atomic Bomb ?
A long-lost wartime 23 pages document of Imperial army papers returned to Japan in April 2002, finally offer some insight into Japan's WMD Atomic Bomb Project - An Unrealized Nuclear Armageddon in China.
Oct 7, 2004 Despite a statement by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that WMD weapons are unlikely to be found in Iraq. Japan refused to admit that there are no WMD in the war-ravaged Iraq. Even Brithish Prime Minister Tony Blair admitted that WMD which is vital to the case for the Iraq war, was wrong. Also, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said that he hasn't seen "any strong, hard evidence" to link Saddam Hussein and the al-Qaeda terrorists who staged the 9/11 attacks.
A new CIA report by US arms inspector of Iraq Survey Group in 1,000 pages concluded U.S. "Almost All Wrong" on Iraq's WMD Weapons. The report forced Bush to recast his rationale for Iraq war. This time, Japan said the U.N. resolutions justify the War.".
After 2 years intensive search with 1,200 experts, U.S. finally quit the WMD search. Unfortunately, the WMD was the main reason for US to "pre-emptive" invade Iraq. End to search for WMD seals doubts about pre-emption.
Apr 1, 2005 "Dead Wrong" on Iraq WMD crippled US credibility A new presidential commission reported "We conclude that the intelligence community was dead wrong in almost all of its prewar judgments about Iraq's WMD". It is probably the biggest blunder in the history of US.
Apr 25, 2005 CIA final report: No WMD in Iraq "After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted" Mr Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), wrote in the 92-page addendum.
Oct 16, 2004 Tokyo District Court rejected the lawsuit of compensation 20 million yen each over the Japan's refusal to give unpaid wages to Korean laborers forced to work and died at Japan Iron & Steel Co. (Nippon Steel Corp.) Kamaishi plant in Iwate Prefecture in Japan during WWII. The families had discovered through company documents that a total of about 9,500 yen unpaid wages to the deceased and had been placed in trust. Judge ruled that domestic laws based on a 1965 agreement between Japan and South Korea had terminated the property rights of Korean nationals.
In a separate 1995 lawsuit, families are also seeking damages from Japan and Nippon Steel. The steel giant agreed to an out-of-court settlement and paid roughly 20 million yen as "condolence" money. In 2003, the Court rejected their demand for compensation from Japan government, and they are appealing.
Oct 19, 2004 Japanese politicians including Tsutomu Takebe, newly appointed secretary general of the ruling LDP, and former prime minister Tsutomu Hata of the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and others, altogether 79 Japanese politicians made a pilgrimage to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine. For people in Asia, Yasukuni Shrine is a symbol of Japan's brutal militaristic past.
Oct 29, 2004 Since 1999, the playing of the Imperial Japanese notorious militarism anthem Kimigayo (His Majesty's Reign) and the flying of the notorious militarism Hinomaru (Rising Sun) flag, have been compulsory at Japanese school ceremonies, but many teachers refuse to toe the line and filed a lawsuit taking the Tokyo education board to court. Kazuhisa Suzuki, who teaches civics at a high school in Kanagawa Prefecture, said: " It's as though Germany brought back the Nazi swastika and forced teachers to stand for it. If teachers don't fight it, who will ?" Japan’s patriotic revival Last year 243 teachers were punished for not honouring the notorious Militaristic flag and 67 reprimanded for not ordering students to sing the notorious anthem.
Japanese Emperor opposes compulsory flag, anthem in schools
Nov 2, 2004 "I buried poison gas weapons. I received the emergency order from our commander," the 83-year-old former Japanese soldier told the Tokyo High Court. The testimony could overturn the government's contention that the Japan was not involved in the dumping of WMD Chemical Weapons in China. Five Chinese who became ill after digging up ground where chemicals had allegedly been buried, are seeking damages of $750,000. The Tokyo District Court had dismissed the lawsuit in May last year, prompting the plaintiffs to appeal to the high court.
Nov 10, 2004 Iris Chang, author of " Rape of Nanking - The Forgotten Holocaust", a young author, historian, and Human Rights advocates dies at age 36. The news re-minds Japanese unspeakable atrocities :
"An estimated 20,000 - 80,000 Chinese women were raped. Many soldiers went beyond rape to disembowel women, slice off their breasts, nail them alive to walls. Fathers were forced to rape their daughters and sons their mothers as other family members watched .........."
Nanjing Massacre claims another life.
Sad news stunned the Survivors of Rape of Nanjing.
Granddaughter of Survivors of the Nanjing Massacre
New Interest in Japan's War Atrocities, but Why Now ?
Dec 4, 2004 Japanese media still deny Nanking Massacre "No serious scholar has denied the gist of The Rape of Nanking -- that it was one of the most brutal war crimes in history."
Nov 11, 2004 A popular Japanese comic would self-censor after nationalist anger about its portrayal of Japanese brutality during the Rape of Nanking. Young Jump, halted publication of its long-running story, "The Country Burns", in September after being inundated by phone calls and e-mails objecting to the latest episode. The magazine ran an apology for illustrations showing Japanese soldiers bayoneting helpless captives, assaulting women and beheading civilians in former Chinese capital Nanjing. The publisher also said it would delete 10 pages and amend another 11 when the story is released in book form. There is no precedent for such self-censorship in Japanese comics, which often have graphic war scenes.
Nov 29, 2004 After more than a decade legal process, Japanese Supreme Court refused compensation to 35 kidnapped south korean Slaves and Sex Slaves. Japanese government has refused to pay any compensation saying such claims were settled through postwar peace treaties. In March 2001, the district court said too much time had passed for the redress. It also ruled that international laws banning Sex Slavery don't require restitution.
The suit was originally brought in Dec. 1991 by 3 south Korean Sex Slaves, the first such victims to shed light on their plight after staying silent for decades out of shame.
Nov 30, 2004 Japan's top court denied compensation to abducted Slave fatalities of an explosion on Japanese ship ferrying Korean Slaves home after WWII. It was a sharp reversal to the survivors who filed their case in 1992 and won in a lower court in 2001. The Koreans were angered that Tokyo annually pays compensation to relatives of the 25 Japanese crewmen killed on the ship, but offers no compensation to the hundreds abducted Slaves and Sex Slave victims and their kin.
Nov 30, 2004 Japanese Education Minister Nariaki Nakayama slams textbooks as 'self-torturing' over Japan's war atrocities.
Dec 1, 2004 Women's organisations from Asia, Europe and North America agreed to act together from next year, the 60th anniversary of WWII to made Abducted Sex Slaves By Japan To Become Global Issue In 2005. "We'll launch a million-signature campaign worldwide to demand an apology and compensation from the Japanese government," said Suda Kaori, a Japanese member of the Korea Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sex Slavery by Japan.
Dec 3, 2004 Japanese "War Orphans" sued Japanese government and demand 33 million yen compensation for each of them for being left in China for such a long time and receiving little or no Japanese language education or job search support after they came to Japan. Similar suits have been filed at 12 district courts across Japan, including in Tokyo, Kyoto and Kagoshima.
Dec 6, 2004 Former abducted Sex Slaves from South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines gathered in Tokyo, Kyoto, Fukuoka etc in mass rallies across 10 cities in Japan to demand a formal apology and compensation.
Dec 9, 2004 Nanking Massacre survivor Li Xiuying dies at 86. She was 18 and pregnant, was attacked and slashed 37 times with swords by Japanese tried to rape her. She lost her unborn baby but survived after treatment by an American doctor, Robert Wilson. In 1999, Li sued right-wing Japanese authors who claimed she had faked her accounts and won. The Japanese Supreme Court awarded her 1.5 million yen against author Toshio Matsumura and Tendensha, the publisher that the book "A Big Doubt About the Rape of Nanking" had damaged Li's reputation.
Dec 12, 2004 A day after the pro-U.S. government voted to keep Japanese "Self-Defense Force" in war of Iraq for another year, Japan took another step away from its post-war pacifism on by ending its decades-old ban on military exports.
Dec 12, 2004 In a written statement, Juanita Cruz, a native of the Mariana Islands witnessed Japanese atrocities in Guam. Vividly told of how she at 8, was unable to help her mother while she was repeatedly raped by Japanese soldiers, and how she at 10, watched her 5 years old young brother die as a Japanese soldier cut his tongue off. All around her, people were being beaten, beheaded or gunned down with machine guns, she said at a forum in Tokyo.
Dec 15, 2004 Four former abducted Chinese Sex Slaves lost appeal in Tokyo High Court.
Dec 20, 2004 Shiro Takahashi, editor of history textbook which whitewashes Japan's war crime atrocities has been appointed to the local school board.