[gandalftb]

I think many Japanese are driven by the shame, not of starting the war but of losing the war. They are an extremely prideful people, to a point of insular arrogance. They rarely emigrate and constantly deny or minimize their atrocities. Once their war generation passes on, their new nationalists will pressure their society to reassume the mantle of E Asian superiority that is a subtext to many of them. They are well capable of national delusion.

[MacDorcha]

Good luck getting an interview with a Kamikaze...

[dirtboy]

As my wife says, KMAR. Kiss my ass running.

My grandfather was Damage Control Officer on the Bunker Hill when it got kamikazied. Killed hundreds of men. Any military action that regularly depends upon suicide actions of men, from Japan in WWII to Islamifascists today, is illigitmate and immoral. A moral regime seeks to bring its bravest home if possible after the war, instead of deliberately sending them to suicide missions.

[Sherman Logan]

Museum director Kikunaga said the pilots were attacking military targets, not civilians.

A perfectly legitimate point. US warships were attacking Japan and they were valid military targets.

The kamikazes were not terrorists or suicide bombers in today's sense.

[sushiman]

” I think many Japanese are driven by the shame, not of starting the war but of losing the war. They are an extremely prideful people, to a point of insular arrogance. They rarely emigrate and constantly deny or minimize their atrocities. Once their war generation passes on, their new nationalists will pressure their society to reassume the mantle of E Asian superiority that is a subtext to many of them. They are well capable of national delusion.
“

Very well said . Right on .

[RichInOC]

The suicidal flyers are glorified in a film by Tokyo's governor, a well-known nationalist.

What's the name of the film..."The Japan That Can Say 'Unnngh!'"?

[rageaholic]

patriotic conservatives, don’t knock ‘em.

[colderwater]

I have spent my share of time in Japan and I largely concur with your opinion. I recall one guy who was arrested for assault. His excuse was that he thought the other guy was a Korean (he wasn't). And never mind the attitude towards foreigners; they can be extremely cold, to each other. I would add that with very low birth rate they are raising a generation of spoiled brats.

There is something we should contemplate about their national character. Why did it take two nuclear bombs and not just one to get them to surrender? Even then it was a close run thing, a gang of militarists attempted to stop the emperor's surrender address. Victory may have required 3 bombs, not two.

C.W.

[pabianice]

[Grizzled Bear]

Director Shinjo said Japan launched the war in self-defense...

---

I’ve been considering taking a trip into the mountains, finding a huge bear, sneaking up on it and kicking it in the nads. For self defensive purposes of course.

Isn’t that what the Japanese did to the us? The consequences are about the same!

[sphinx]

A good friend of mine who is knowledgable about such things offered this insight some time back. As background to the kamikazes, one needs to remember that U.S. air supremacy by late 1944 was overwhelming. The mortality rate for Japanese pilots was exceedingly high. For new pilots, which most of them were by that time, it was darn near 100% within two or three missions ... if they lasted that long. Japanese pilots who didn't abort their missions were flying suicide missions anyhow. The institution of the kamikaze essentially formalized what was already the reality.

I don't know how much water it holds, but it's an interesting take.

[eekitsagreek]

Does anyone have a problem with Japan declaring war on the US after the Pearl Harbor strike force was launched? Kind of like declaring war while the bullet is in flight, isn't it?

[WorkingClassFilth]

Ping!