Many passages in this month's Sound Argument, the monthly magazine, that I have not read.
This morning, when I was reading the serial (long) article by Dr. Sukehiro Hirakawa, Professor Emeritus of the University of Tokyo, there was a part that made me think that this is today's China itself.
In the last part of his notes, which he summarized and published, there was a part that proved that I had hit the bull's eye.
Mr. Hirakawa's article is a must-read not only for the people of Japan but also for people worldwide.
Establishment of the Allied view of history in Japan
From December 8, 1945, the American Occupation Army published "Pacific War History" in Japan's major newspapers with the exclusive paper distribution.
Of course, it is part of the occupation policy.
It was prepared by the Civilian Information and Education Bureau of MacArthur's General Headquarters and reviewed by the military historian of the Third General Staff of MacArthur's General Staff.
It likes the Truth About the War program on the radio of NHK, and it was supposed to convey the historical facts that were not known to the Japanese during the war.
It emphasized the atrocities committed by the Japanese military.
In other words, it was a view of the history of the Japanese bad guys.
Jun Eto pointed out the importance of this view as follows.
The History of the Pacific War" not only defined the paradigm of postwar Japanese historical writing but also limited and closed down the linguistic space where historical writing was to take place. In this sense, it exerted a severe influence almost equal to the CCD (Civilian Censorship Branch of the General Headquarters of the Allied Forces).
Note 8.
Was the "Pacific War" the only one Japan fought in World War II or was there no aspect of the "Greater East Asia War" at all?
As for the view that the "Pacific War" imposed by the Allies took hold in Japan after the war, this is partly because there was room for this view on the part of the Japanese people in general, even after the Restoration of Japan's independence in 1951.
In Japan, some conservatives were willing to accept the U.S. view when asked about the need to entrust the country's security to the United States.
A large number of people on the left favored the people's democracy, such as those in Russia and China, who accepted the so-called "Tokyo Trials history" view, as it was later called.
When a significant number of Japanese citizens endorsed such a view of history as expressed by the occupation authorities, that view of history naturally stuck in Japan.
Once entrenched, it is difficult to change one's view of history.
During the Occupation period, domestic and foreign powers held their hands in the academic, newspaper, and educational circles and the view of history soon became academically legitimate.
It was, in other words, the Meiji-Taisho period, when Satsuma and Chōshū's forces were in full force, which led to the Restoration. Although the modern view of Japanese history, which celebrates the achievements of the elder statesman, has taken hold.
On the contrary, the Tokugawa Shogunate, who claimed the Opening of a country to the world and amity, was correct than Revere the Emperor and expelled the barbarians Satsuma and Chōshū. The counterargument on the side of being branded would be the same as it was no longer easily accepted.
This article continues.
