Honestly, there have been apologies from Japanese officials (as documented
in post 46). Some are probably sincere, some are more qualified apologies.
And I wasn’t ragging on the average Japanese person about this duplicity...
Of course most of them weren’t even alive in WWII, but the collective
national amnesia on what proceeded Hiroshima/Nagasaki has been a
calculated bit of politics emanating from above; e.g., Japanese school
textbooks that gloss over Japan’s adventures in China/Manchuria,
Pearl Harbor and the Pacific.
I’ve worked and published with a fair number of Japanese; they are
without fail courteous and accomplished in their work.
BUT I never bring up anything even remotely connected with WWII because
it just would be a no-win discussion given the WWII victim mythology.
And we are in agreement here. It is my belief that the Japanese believe so much in personal honor that they cannot bring themselves to admit their mistakes in WWII because then they would bring shame on Japan. They then would be accountable for the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and that they will not do.