“I will never criticize a World War II veteran who may have bitterness towards the Germans or Japanese.”
Yes, I understand perfectly well that harboring anger for generations on end does not result in a better world. But neither does an absence of memory, because history tends to repeat itself (or at least rhyme, as someone once said). Japan hasn’t done what Germany has - faced up to what its culture produced 3 generations ago. Japan has studiously avoided educating its own people about the entire era - and that most definitely makes me want to walk with my back to the wall when dealing with them, as it breeds intense distrust in anyone who knows and understands history.
Someone pointed out on another thread on this very subject but came to the opposite conclusion. They said the two different approaches (Japan vs. Germany) to dealing with sordid chapters in the history of those countries might explain why Germany is bending over backwards to let itself be overrun by Muslims today, while Islam is practically nonexistent in Japan.