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Japan apologises for razing Manila
Herald Sun ^ | 18 February 2006

Posted on 02/18/2006 2:45:31 AM PST by Aussie Dasher

JAPAN'S ambassador to the Philippines today apologized to the nation for the destruction of Manila towards the closing stages of the World War II.

Ryuichiro Yamazaki spoke at a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 61st anniversary of the Battle for Manila that left over 100,000 Filipinos dead and destroyed the city once known as the Pearl of the Orient.

"The terror that each Filipino man, woman and child must have experienced in Manila 61 years ago is beyond the imagination of any sane human being," he said at a memorial to the dead in the Intramuros part of the city.

"With this historical fact in mind, I would like to express my heartfelt apologies and deep sense of remorse over the tragic fate of Manila," the ambassador said in an emotional speech.

"About 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed, many of whom suffered atrocities by the Japanese military," he said.

The Battle for Manila began on February 3, 1945 and lasted 28 days


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Japan; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apology; japan; manilla; philippines; warcrimes; wwii
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To: Aussie Dasher
***A lot of older Aussies cannot forgive or forget what the Japs did to our boys...and nurses!***

"Older Aussies" are not alone. I'm certainly not a WWII vet, but I will never forgive OR forget.

The 'average' NIP soldier was a sub human savage - period. What they routinely did on a daily basis makes the Waffen SS look like Choir Boys in comparison. And the 'medical experiments' performed at Unit 731 (and others) give the SS Totenkopf Division and Josef Mengele a run for their money. On a percentage basis I'd say the Japs 'won'.

The sad part is that most of these sick bastards walked away scot free after the War. And we certainly don't have a special FBI unit dedicated to hunting down 80 year old Jap War Criminals like we do to some German corporal camp guard who maybe once was stationed at Treblinka. Why not? Who the hell gave the Japs a get out of jail free card!!

I 'spit' in their general direction.

41 posted on 02/18/2006 6:42:47 AM PST by Condor51 (Better to fight for something than live for nothing - Gen. George S. Patton)
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To: Aussie Dasher

No other city, including Warsaw, was as damaged in WWII.


42 posted on 02/18/2006 7:24:34 AM PST by aculeus
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To: PzLdr
It was Rear Admiral Iwabuchi.

"At dawn on 26 February, seeing that the Intramuros stronghold had fallen, Rear Admiral Iwabuchi and his staff committed suicide at their headquarters in the Agriculture Building."

(PDF link)

link

43 posted on 02/18/2006 7:28:14 AM PST by Enterprise (The MSM - Propaganda wing and news censorship division of the Democrat Party.)
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To: LibertarianInExile
The Treaty of San Francisco in 1954 established the payment schedule Japan would make for reparations, and they met them. No one expected Japan would get rich in 1954.
44 posted on 02/18/2006 7:37:41 AM PST by GAB-1955 (being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the Kingdom of Heaven....)
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To: Aussie Dasher

Have the Japanese laid any wreaths in Nanjing?

How about back wages plus interest for the POW's who survived to labor in Japanese camps, mines, and factories? Or who survived being medical experiments?


45 posted on 02/18/2006 8:39:53 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: bill1952

Read about the fate of the Aussies who were in Singapore when the Japanese took over?


46 posted on 02/18/2006 8:41:42 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: silverleaf
No, that and the Kokoda trail are events that I only know in passing, but not anything specific.
47 posted on 02/18/2006 8:51:21 AM PST by bill1952 ("All that we do is done with an eye towards something else.")
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To: bkepley
Japan was a seriously sick culture, I think as a result of its isolation.

What, then, would be 1940's Germany's excuse?

48 posted on 02/18/2006 8:58:53 AM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (A Liberal: One who demands half of your pie, because he didn't bake one.)
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To: bill1952

Do a search on the Japanese occupation of Singapore, the camps at Selarang, and Changi, and read about the treatment and fate of the POW's forced to work on the Thai-Burma railway.


49 posted on 02/18/2006 9:05:54 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: Aussie Dasher
Australia is more isolated, and we've always done pretty well.

Didn't you Aussies once wrap folks in pandanum leaves and roast them in bar-b-que pits? :O)

50 posted on 02/18/2006 9:05:57 AM PST by Mad_Tom_Rackham (A Liberal: One who demands half of your pie, because he didn't bake one.)
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To: Aussie Dasher
A lot of older Aussies cannot forgive or forget what the Japs did to our boys...and nurses!

Many America vets are the same but I think yours outnumber ours

51 posted on 02/18/2006 9:07:11 AM PST by dennisw ("What one man can do another can do" - The Edge)
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To: Aussie Dasher

I don't think so....the muzzies have been at their barbarism for hundreds of years now.


52 posted on 02/18/2006 9:08:18 AM PST by indcons
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To: bill1952

http://ajrp.awm.gov.au/ajrp/ajrp2.nsf/437f72f8ac2c07238525661a00063aa6/fbc0ea1aec173416ca256946001ef8b0?OpenDocument


53 posted on 02/18/2006 9:10:09 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: Aussie Dasher
Ryuichiro Yamazaki spoke at a wreath-laying ceremony to mark the 61st
anniversary of the Battle for Manila that left over 100,000 Filipinos
dead and destroyed the city once known as the Pearl of the Orient.


I think the Philippinos would be justified in saying "OK,
nice talk. But since you broke it, now you fix it. Rebuild our Pearl."
54 posted on 02/18/2006 9:12:02 AM PST by VOA
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To: bill1952

This is no different from what the Muslim Turks did to the Christians of Asia Minor and the Balkans.


55 posted on 02/18/2006 9:12:20 AM PST by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: indcons

the muzzies have been at their barbarism for hundreds of years now.
.........................................................

Try 1400 years.


56 posted on 02/18/2006 9:13:39 AM PST by eleni121 ('Thou hast conquered, O Galilean!' (Julian the Apostate))
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To: All
No mention of Bataan?

My uncle was with the Bushmasters Infantry Regiment in the Pacific. He hated the Japs until the day he died (2 years ago).

He talked about cannibalism - of how the Japs would slice off pieces of meat from legs and buttocks and eat it - sometimes while the victim was watching.

He talked of finding several Aussies on New Guinea that had been staked down, face first, naked and raped by a unit of Japs - before being killed.

He talked about finding buddies that had been captured - tied up by their thumbs and used for bayonet practice.

He talked about finding one dead Jap that had pictures of the Jap and his buddies with a hundred or more Chinese, lined up on their knees - and the next picture with all of them headless and these guys covered in blood, grinning.

He said you couldn't capture them without fear of them blowing up with hidden grenades when you got near - so they stopped taking prisoners.

Remember Bush Sr? He was shot down near Ie Shima (sp?), which was notorious for the commander that like to dine on various parts of captured flyers - while they watched.

I dunno, they seem nice to me...barf

57 posted on 02/18/2006 9:14:29 AM PST by SpitfyrAce
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To: dennisw

Do you think 60 years changes a national character?
http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Disturbing%20Truths/unit_731-japanese_evils.htm


58 posted on 02/18/2006 9:15:01 AM PST by silverleaf (Fasten your seat belts- it's going to be a BUMPY ride.)
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To: SpitfyrAce
That's incredibly F'd up. Far worse than I had thought.


Well........what's to be done about this?
59 posted on 02/18/2006 9:21:03 AM PST by starbase (Understanding Written Propaganda (click "starbase" to learn 22 manipulating tricks!!))
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To: NZerFromHK

Do you have any historical links. I would be interested.


60 posted on 02/18/2006 9:23:40 AM PST by satchmodog9 (Most people stand on the tracks and never even hear the train coming)
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