I would have thought that modern Japanese were not as nationalistic or fascist as their warlord forefathers of 50+ years ago.
"I would have thought that modern Japanese were not as nationalistic or fascist as their warlord forefathers of 50+ years ago."
Any warlords from 50+ years ago are mostly dead. But modern Japanese aren't somehow actively pacifist as a result. Pacifists are not a majority in the circles that are running the country, from what I can see. The same families own the keiretsu that did during and before WWII, and most of the same men who owned them during WWII did afterward, too, just as Krupp still kept his works after being declared a war criminal in Germany. Sure, the academics are more pacifist than they used to be, and publically, Shintoism has certainly toned down its militarist bent. But it's still there.
Plenty of Chinese people refer to Japanese as ghosts or foreign devils. Plenty of Korean people refer to Japanese as Jok-bali, it's the national pasttime for both China and Korea to enjoy beating Japan at things. And for some reason people sort of dismiss it as humorous racism or friendly--if racist--competition because of regional history. But it is heartfelt, not some sort of game. When Japanese refer to all foreigners as gaijin instead of gaikokujin, however, it's just as bad, only we blithely assume it's just 'foreigners' they mean, not 'outside the race.' And don't get me started on sangokujin or Shina. There is an ingrained superiority in these cultures and a deep shame they are NOT currently superior that Americans cannot understand and don't fear as they should. American academic PC feeds this shame and this superiority as these cultures feel put upon and consider themselves deserving of reparation.