That is certainly a part of the problem but the bigger issue is with their superiority complex. It prevents them from admitting wrongdoing. I think it stems from the whole "Emperor is a descendent from God" thing.
Most people aren't aware that Tojo, along with more than 1,000 other Japanese WWII war criminals, are honored in the Yasukuni Shrine, in Tokyo. This shrine memorializes Japanese who died in service to the Emperor. No true remorse for their murderous actions in WWII. They were just serving a descendent of God, after all.
Thanks for your comment, Mase. I was not aware that Tojo was among the honored dead of the war. Shameful.
The Japanese have great pride as a people. I watch the samurai Taiga Dramas every year and enjoy them. I wish America did films about its history and lionized its people of merit.
But I do agree with you that along with pride comes a certain feeling of racial superiority. I was in the Navy and stationed in Sasebo for 3 years. What a wonderful time.
But just before my wife and I married, her mother explained to her for the first time that her father was of Korean ancestry. And that a brief, but psychological blow to a person who considered herself pure Japanese.
We really take for granted America’s melting pot and relatively lack of inbred racism.