Well you see....there is a system of economics in which a valuable asset, which in this case we'll call 'money' which is backed by the state, can be exchanged for goods or services.
You simply find the good or service that you require and if you have sufficient 'magic government paper' you can exchange it for that which you desire.
It’s extremely difficult to purchase a gun in Japan. Many stages of applications, background checks, and interviews. Take years. Which is probably why this guy made his own.
Yup, he was a member of Nippon Kaigi in Japan, a right-wing extremist group that has never been ashamed to share their nationalist views publicly including the denial of Japan's rape of Nanking, China. He had his fair share of enemies for those same beliefs, which included the desire for Japan to have the chains removed from them militarily so they can rise back up to the power they once were.
On a related note, I love Japan and have been there 6 times. Amazing food, wonderful people and endless unique neighborhoods to explore. Just don't stay at any hotels affiliated with APA - it supports the denial and refrabication of Japan's cruel history to the rest of Asia and is backed by hardcore nationalists like Abe.
The extremism in Japan is very concerning. They were downright fanatical in WWII, and trying to whitewash that is scary. Not sure I want to see Japan rearm itself then have internal warhawks try some ####. Every country has war hawks.
The extremism in Japan is very concerning. They were downright fanatical in WWII, and trying to whitewash that is scary. Not sure I want to see Japan rearm itself then have internal warhawks try some ####. Every country has war hawks.
Be that as it may, I would rather have a balance of power that favours Japan than one that favours China. Heck, the way things are trending, Japan might even be preferable to the USA.
Be that as it may, I would rather have a balance of power that favours Japan than one that favours China. Heck, the way things are trending, Japan might even be preferable to the USA.
We can agree to disagree. The war crimes carried out by Japan are amongst the very worst, ever. Full stop. Most in the west just don't learn or even know about this because they are allies of the west and the Americans actively tried their best to keep the events on the down low in exchange for Japan to forever do their bidding. Look up Unit 731 and comfort women. The current people can't be blamed for what happened back then, but they can certainly be blamed for covering up and denying these things happened.
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I'm going to be rude about this and say this isn't a guy I'm going to miss. I mean I don't think it was okay to shoot him or anything of course, but it happened, they caught the one who did it, and I'm going to decide to not feel bad about this happening.
I also wouldn't worry too much about martyrdom. That tends to be more of a thing on the left than on the right.
We can agree to disagree. The war crimes carried out by Japan are amongst the very worst, ever. Full stop. Most in the west just don't learn or even know about this because they are allies of the west and the Americans actively tried their best to keep the events on the down low in exchange for Japan to forever do their bidding. Look up Unit 731 and comfort women. The current people can't be blamed for what happened back then, but they can certainly be blamed for covering up and denying these things happened.
The crimes are, of course, awful. But in addition to that, what is sometimes lost on people is the sheer aggressiveness of their national policy/direction for the entire first half of the century. Their entire culture and identity was focused solely on becoming a great power. It was mass production of warships and warplanes, and marching into any country they laid eyes on. It was staggering.
I have absolutely zero concern with Germany ever becoming aggressive again because they came to terms with their past, and actively take steps to prevent extremists from rising up again. Japan actively denies their past, so if they rearmed, I would be more than a little concerned that they would start "liberating" their Asian neighbors.
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I also wouldn't worry too much about martyrdom. That tends to be more of a thing on the left than on the right.
Tough for either the media or political opposition to be hard on a former PM and his views when he has just been murdered. There will likely be a lot more celebration of him and his accomplishments now than there would have been, and much less critique. That will be taken advantage of in an election and beyond.
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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
I also wouldn't worry too much about martyrdom. That tends to be more of a thing on the left than on the right.
Not in Japan. There is a good history of this with right wing activism wanting to return Japan to military power, bushido, conservative ways, celebrating WWII shrines, denying war crimes, etc.
One 17 year old stabbed a socialist leader on TV (Pulitzer winning photo as well) and then hung himself in prison . Another very famous intellectual championed a return to the samurai spirit of Japan, stormed an office, and committed seppuku as an embodiment of the classic ideals.
The crimes are, of course, awful. But in addition to that, what is sometimes lost on people is the sheer aggressiveness of their national policy/direction for the entire first half of the century. Their entire culture and identity was focused solely on becoming a great power. It was mass production of warships and warplanes, and marching into any country they laid eyes on. It was staggering.
I have absolutely zero concern with Germany ever becoming aggressive again because they came to terms with their past, and actively take steps to prevent extremists from rising up again. Japan actively denies their past, so if they rearmed, I would be more than a little concerned that they would start "liberating" their Asian neighbors.
Yup, great post and I agree with your opinion 100%. A lot is the way in which they did things and their pursuit of being an aggressive power in Asia. A lot is said about China and even N. Korea in the west, but if Japan were allowed to rearm, I'd be very concerned for my family and friends in Asia - not because of what they did in the past, but because current leadership in Japan supports a return to that.
The crimes are, of course, awful. But in addition to that, what is sometimes lost on people is the sheer aggressiveness of their national policy/direction for the entire first half of the century. Their entire culture and identity was focused solely on becoming a great power. It was mass production of warships and warplanes, and marching into any country they laid eyes on. It was staggering.
I have absolutely zero concern with Germany ever becoming aggressive again because they came to terms with their past, and actively take steps to prevent extremists from rising up again. Japan actively denies their past, so if they rearmed, I would be more than a little concerned that they would start "liberating" their Asian neighbors.
It's not a time where you can just do immediately to turn yourself into some kind of powerful military from having basically no uber military at this point in time. We are well past the time where you can just roll up with a zillion guys and have a good army.
They are also a rapidly aging population and shrinking population as it is. If they just throw a bunch of people into an army and lost a bunch of them - their problems gets worse.
And yes - they should admit to what they did, but in the grand scheme of things - it doesn't matter that much. As we've seen in the US - it doesn't take a heck of a lot for people to decide that something they've always valued (fair democratic elections) to something they don't care about.
It's not a time where you can just do immediately to turn yourself into some kind of powerful military from having basically no uber military at this point in time. We are well past the time where you can just roll up with a zillion guys and have a good army.
They are also a rapidly aging population and shrinking population as it is. If they just throw a bunch of people into an army and lost a bunch of them - their problems gets worse.
And yes - they should admit to what they did, but in the grand scheme of things - it doesn't matter that much. As we've seen in the US - it doesn't take a heck of a lot for people to decide that something they've always valued (fair democratic elections) to something they don't care about.
Really? I would say that what people believe to be true about history is really important in the grand scheme of things. The divisions in the US between people who believe Biden won the election vs those who believe Trump won is a prime example. People having different beliefs about what took place has the potential to result in outcomes as different as those between a peaceful transfer of power or the overthrow of a government.
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"If stupidity got us into this mess, then why can't it get us out?"
