There seems to be some people here who think that it’s OK for the Japanese ignore some horrible parts of their history. I wonder if a relative of someone that Japanese officers ate would agree with that. I know that I want Japanese children to know that my uncle died of a bayonet wound to the throat. I want Japanese children to know why we incinerated most of their cities.
I don’t care about their patriotism. I don’t care about their feelings. I don’t think they have a right to be proud.
“I don’t think they have a right to be proud...”
Or rather, sifting between the dark pages of the country’s past and “bright” pages make the bright pages that much brighter, and allow the stories of real heroes to emerge. And they’ll be able to understand for what they actually should be proud...
This kind of false pride rooted in lies is rather fragile. And Japan to this day is notorious for its social insecurities...at the moment most manifest in their low birthrate, high suicide rates, etc..
Also in the meantime, Japan remains one of the least Christianized countries in Asia. Missionaries throughout history have lamented the hardness of hearts they encountered there...Spiritual strangleholds on people’s souls have remained strong through their history. Repentance is one of the factors that can break the spell...