The following is from a dialogue between Masayuki Takayama and Miki Otaka, published in the monthly magazine WiLL, on pages 184-200, under the title "Let's hit back at the outrageous 'anti-Japanese' books that insult Japan."
This dialogue also proves that Masayuki Takayama is the most deserving of the Nobel Prize for Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize.
It also proves that the dialogue partner, Miki Otaka, is a genuine journalist.
anti-Japanese discourse is linked to it.
How can they not even acknowledge the achievements of Kiichiro Higuchi...
Countering the outrageous book!
Takayama
There are forces all over the world that seek to undermine Japan.
In March 2024, a preposterous book called "Japan's Holocaust" (written by Brian Mark Rig / not yet translated into Japanese) was published in the United States.
Ootaka
The book contains absurd theories such as the "comfort women" issue, the Nanking Massacre, and the "massacre of 30 million people in Asia by the Japanese army under orders from the emperor". Furthermore, the author, Mr. Rig, boasts that he "conducted research at more than 18 research facilities in five countries".
Despite this, there are also ridiculous passages such as "the Japanese army were pedophiles, just like Jeffrey Epstein," which discuss the Japanese army on a par with child prostitution brokers, and the book is complete of war crime delusions on a par with those of Yoshida Seiji.
Takayama
In response to such a ridiculous book, Ms. Otaka published "A New Look at the 'Japan's Holocaust'" (Businesssha).
He thoroughly refutes the book using his extensive knowledge and investigative skills.
Who is the author, Rig?
Ohtaka
Born in 1971, he is a Jew living in the United States.
He holds the titles of American Military University (German military history) and Southern Methodist University historian at the American Military University (German military history) and Southern Methodist University historian.
He is also a former Marine Corps officer and a board member of the Holocaust Museum in Dallas.
Takayama
Rigg has also published a book called "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" (not yet translated into Japanese), but there were allegations of plagiarism.
Ohtaka
The book is about the 150,000 people in the Nazi German army who were classified as having Jewish ancestry.
As a result of the racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s, an astonishing number of German soldiers were classified by the Nazis as Jews or as "part-Jews."
Including this aspect, Rigg developed a critique of Hitler's rule, but when he wrote an article on "part-Jews" before publication, he was accused by a German scholar of plagiarism.
Incidentally, Dr. Henry Turner, a Yale University professor who was Mr. Rigg's supervisor, said, "Mr. Rigg is not actually an intellectual or a historian, and he is not suited to academia, so I refused to recommend him for graduate school."
Takayama
There's nothing we can do about it.
Ohtaka
Even though someone like this wrote this book, the Washington Post ran an article entitled "War Crimes Committed in the Name of the Emperor: During World War II, Japan committed numerous atrocities against its Asian neighbors." rape, beheadings, mutilations, and disembowelments were routine occurrences for the Japanese military, from the lowest-ranking soldiers to the highest-ranking officers."
(dated April 26, 2024), etc., and it is a big problem.
Andrew Roberts, a neo-conservative, is listed as a signatory to Japan's Holocaust letter, which justified the Iraq War by claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Incidentally, when it was discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Roberts made some very strained excuses.
Also, the person who recommended him, Lee R. Mandel, said, "Most of the discussion of the Holocaust of World War II centers on the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. The Holocaust committed by the Empire of Japan has been little studied and even less recognized. Historian Brian Riggs has documented what is probably the definitive study on the subject in his exhaustive research. (...), 'Japan's Holocaust' is a must-read for any student of World War II." I really doubt that he wrote such a compliment after reading the book.
Takayama
It shows where the recommender is from.
Anti-Japanese Discourse is Interlocking
Ohtaka
I feel that anti-Japanese discourse is interlocking, not only in "Japan's Holocaust" but also more recently.
In 2017, Thomas Lockley, an associate professor at Nihon University, published "Nobunaga and Yashuke: The Black Samurai Who Survived Honnoji" (Ota Shuppan).
In it, he wrote that "it seems that a trend began in Japan during the Warring States period for local notables to use African slaves as symbols of authority."
In other words, he is trying to say that Yasusuke, the black samurai who served Oda Nobunaga, was a slave.
Takayama
That's complete nonsense.
Nobunaga took a liking to Yasusuke and had him serve by his side.
There is also a theory that he accompanied Oda Nobunaga at the time of the Honnoji Incident and fled with his head.
In the end, the whereabouts of Nobunaga's head are lost in the mists of history, but they were so closely connected.
If he was a slave, there is no way he would have been so devoted to Nobunaga, and in any case, the Japanese people have no concept of slavery.
The Japanese hated slavery.
In 1775, just before the United States gained independence, the Swedish botanist Thunberg came to Nagasaki disguised as a Dutchman.
He also visited Edo and left a travelogue of Japan, in which he wrote that "the Japanese were seriously angry at the way the Dutch mistreated and overworked their black slaves."
The Japanese hated these heartless Dutchmen and even wrote haiku about them, such as "The Dutchmen who come to the castle are followed by flies because they don't bathe and let their body odor waft about."
Furthermore, there is a story that the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office took pity on the oppressed black people and took them out of Dejima to let them play in the Maruyama red-light district.
Ohtaka
Lockley is highly malicious.
He added to the "Yasuke" entry on Wikipedia and even tampered with the Encyclopædia Britannica.
He is deliberately trying to defame Japan.
Incidentally, Lockley is also of Jewish descent (his great-grandfather was Jewish).
Takayama
Is there a deliberate anti-Japanese wave occurring?
Ohtaka
In fact, it seems that Lockley's influence has led to the BBC reporting on "the samurai from Africa" and CNN reporting on "the enduring legacy of Yasuke," and Lockley himself is now appearing in articles in overseas media.
If his discourse spread worldwide, misunderstandings about Japan would only increase.
This dialogue also proves that Masayuki Takayama is the most deserving of the Nobel Prize for Literature or the Nobel Peace Prize.
It also proves that the dialogue partner, Miki Otaka, is a genuine journalist.
anti-Japanese discourse is linked to it.
How can they not even acknowledge the achievements of Kiichiro Higuchi...
Countering the outrageous book!
Takayama
There are forces all over the world that seek to undermine Japan.
In March 2024, a preposterous book called "Japan's Holocaust" (written by Brian Mark Rig / not yet translated into Japanese) was published in the United States.
Ootaka
The book contains absurd theories such as the "comfort women" issue, the Nanking Massacre, and the "massacre of 30 million people in Asia by the Japanese army under orders from the emperor". Furthermore, the author, Mr. Rig, boasts that he "conducted research at more than 18 research facilities in five countries".
Despite this, there are also ridiculous passages such as "the Japanese army were pedophiles, just like Jeffrey Epstein," which discuss the Japanese army on a par with child prostitution brokers, and the book is complete of war crime delusions on a par with those of Yoshida Seiji.
Takayama
In response to such a ridiculous book, Ms. Otaka published "A New Look at the 'Japan's Holocaust'" (Businesssha).
He thoroughly refutes the book using his extensive knowledge and investigative skills.
Who is the author, Rig?
Ohtaka
Born in 1971, he is a Jew living in the United States.
He holds the titles of American Military University (German military history) and Southern Methodist University historian at the American Military University (German military history) and Southern Methodist University historian.
He is also a former Marine Corps officer and a board member of the Holocaust Museum in Dallas.
Takayama
Rigg has also published a book called "Hitler's Jewish Soldiers" (not yet translated into Japanese), but there were allegations of plagiarism.
Ohtaka
The book is about the 150,000 people in the Nazi German army who were classified as having Jewish ancestry.
As a result of the racial laws first enacted in the mid-1930s, an astonishing number of German soldiers were classified by the Nazis as Jews or as "part-Jews."
Including this aspect, Rigg developed a critique of Hitler's rule, but when he wrote an article on "part-Jews" before publication, he was accused by a German scholar of plagiarism.
Incidentally, Dr. Henry Turner, a Yale University professor who was Mr. Rigg's supervisor, said, "Mr. Rigg is not actually an intellectual or a historian, and he is not suited to academia, so I refused to recommend him for graduate school."
Takayama
There's nothing we can do about it.
Ohtaka
Even though someone like this wrote this book, the Washington Post ran an article entitled "War Crimes Committed in the Name of the Emperor: During World War II, Japan committed numerous atrocities against its Asian neighbors." rape, beheadings, mutilations, and disembowelments were routine occurrences for the Japanese military, from the lowest-ranking soldiers to the highest-ranking officers."
(dated April 26, 2024), etc., and it is a big problem.
Andrew Roberts, a neo-conservative, is listed as a signatory to Japan's Holocaust letter, which justified the Iraq War by claiming that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.
Incidentally, when it was discovered that there were no weapons of mass destruction, Mr. Roberts made some very strained excuses.
Also, the person who recommended him, Lee R. Mandel, said, "Most of the discussion of the Holocaust of World War II centers on the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany. The Holocaust committed by the Empire of Japan has been little studied and even less recognized. Historian Brian Riggs has documented what is probably the definitive study on the subject in his exhaustive research. (...), 'Japan's Holocaust' is a must-read for any student of World War II." I really doubt that he wrote such a compliment after reading the book.
Takayama
It shows where the recommender is from.
Anti-Japanese Discourse is Interlocking
Ohtaka
I feel that anti-Japanese discourse is interlocking, not only in "Japan's Holocaust" but also more recently.
In 2017, Thomas Lockley, an associate professor at Nihon University, published "Nobunaga and Yashuke: The Black Samurai Who Survived Honnoji" (Ota Shuppan).
In it, he wrote that "it seems that a trend began in Japan during the Warring States period for local notables to use African slaves as symbols of authority."
In other words, he is trying to say that Yasusuke, the black samurai who served Oda Nobunaga, was a slave.
Takayama
That's complete nonsense.
Nobunaga took a liking to Yasusuke and had him serve by his side.
There is also a theory that he accompanied Oda Nobunaga at the time of the Honnoji Incident and fled with his head.
In the end, the whereabouts of Nobunaga's head are lost in the mists of history, but they were so closely connected.
If he was a slave, there is no way he would have been so devoted to Nobunaga, and in any case, the Japanese people have no concept of slavery.
The Japanese hated slavery.
In 1775, just before the United States gained independence, the Swedish botanist Thunberg came to Nagasaki disguised as a Dutchman.
He also visited Edo and left a travelogue of Japan, in which he wrote that "the Japanese were seriously angry at the way the Dutch mistreated and overworked their black slaves."
The Japanese hated these heartless Dutchmen and even wrote haiku about them, such as "The Dutchmen who come to the castle are followed by flies because they don't bathe and let their body odor waft about."
Furthermore, there is a story that the Nagasaki Magistrate's Office took pity on the oppressed black people and took them out of Dejima to let them play in the Maruyama red-light district.
Ohtaka
Lockley is highly malicious.
He added to the "Yasuke" entry on Wikipedia and even tampered with the Encyclopædia Britannica.
He is deliberately trying to defame Japan.
Incidentally, Lockley is also of Jewish descent (his great-grandfather was Jewish).
Takayama
Is there a deliberate anti-Japanese wave occurring?
Ohtaka
In fact, it seems that Lockley's influence has led to the BBC reporting on "the samurai from Africa" and CNN reporting on "the enduring legacy of Yasuke," and Lockley himself is now appearing in articles in overseas media.
If his discourse spread worldwide, misunderstandings about Japan would only increase.
I could walk even though I had a cold.
Takayama
It is a bit of an old story. Still, in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the war's end, Jewish scholar Lester Tenney (a professor at the University of Arizona) wrote a book called "Bataan: The Road to the Far Side."
This man was a participant in the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. He talks about his experiences, such as nearly being beheaded by a Japanese officer on horseback. Still, he also writes a whole lot of shameless nonsense, such as that the Japanese military used the same waterboarding torture method as the US military and that they tortured American soldiers in the same way that pirates do in Gary Cooper movies.
Ohtaka
Yukie Sasa wrote an article in Bungeishunju (December 2005 issue) about her experience walking the Bataan Death March.
Takayama
The Bataan Death March was the beginning of the war, where the Japanese and American armies fought.
However, the enemy general, MacArthur, quickly fled, and the remaining 70,000 soldiers raised their hands without fighting when the Filipino soldiers in the vanguard were defeated.
There was no truck available to transport such a large number of people.
So they were made to walk.
It was an 80km journey over two days and one night.
Even former Self-Defense Force member Ms. Yasuko ran 81km in the marathon for Nippon Television Network's "24 Hour Television".
I don't think that's a distance that would cause even a big American soldier much trouble.
Ms. Sasa also wrote that she could walk even though she had a cold.
Otaka
Then Lester Tenney lashed out at Ms. Sasa's article.
Takayama
"What is this mocking and desecration of that death march?"
He had Rev. Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center speak on his behalf and complained to Bungeishunjū.
The company was being bullied by the aforementioned "Marco Polo" magazine, so they were scared at the time and published his story in its entirety.
He wrote that there was no rest at Bataan, that if they rested, the Japanese army would beat them with the butt of a gun, and that they mercilessly killed prisoners who collapsed from exhaustion.
The Japanese army did not behave like that and did not walk 80km all night.
They stayed overnight, and there are also photos of them having a coffee break during their rest.
Is there such a relaxed death march?
Ootaka
I have seen photos of the Japanese army serving tea to American officers and of prisoners of war swimming.
Takayama
Furthermore, Iris Chang published "The Rape of Nanking" in 1997.
Ohtaka
Iris Chang was also trying to write about the "Bataan Death March," but she committed suicide with a handgun in the middle of the process.
Incidentally, Ignatius Dain was the vice-chairman of the Overseas Chinese Association of America (Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese War History Protection Association), and he was the person who arranged for Iris Chang to conduct her research in China and was the driving force behind The Rape of Nanking.
Dain was the founder of the Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese War History Protection Association.
He was from Taiwan and of the Kuomintang bloodline.
In 1978, he moved to the United States, and in 1991, he met an organization that had been holding a memorial service for the Nanking Massacre in New York every year for 25 years.
He then set up an anti-Japanese organization.
I have interviewed him twice in the United States.
On the campus of Sonoma University in California, there is a Holocaust memorial monument modeled on the railway tracks at Auschwitz.
Between the tracks, the Anti-Japanese League has embedded a stone tablet engraved with the words "250,000 Korean women were made into sex slaves by the Japanese military", and they hold ceremonies as if Japan were complicit in the Holocaust.
We also need to keep a close eye on the anti-Japanese movements of the Chinese and Korean communities in the US.
Takayama
It is a bit of an old story. Still, in 1995, on the 50th anniversary of the war's end, Jewish scholar Lester Tenney (a professor at the University of Arizona) wrote a book called "Bataan: The Road to the Far Side."
This man was a participant in the Bataan Death March in the Philippines. He talks about his experiences, such as nearly being beheaded by a Japanese officer on horseback. Still, he also writes a whole lot of shameless nonsense, such as that the Japanese military used the same waterboarding torture method as the US military and that they tortured American soldiers in the same way that pirates do in Gary Cooper movies.
Ohtaka
Yukie Sasa wrote an article in Bungeishunju (December 2005 issue) about her experience walking the Bataan Death March.
Takayama
The Bataan Death March was the beginning of the war, where the Japanese and American armies fought.
However, the enemy general, MacArthur, quickly fled, and the remaining 70,000 soldiers raised their hands without fighting when the Filipino soldiers in the vanguard were defeated.
There was no truck available to transport such a large number of people.
So they were made to walk.
It was an 80km journey over two days and one night.
Even former Self-Defense Force member Ms. Yasuko ran 81km in the marathon for Nippon Television Network's "24 Hour Television".
I don't think that's a distance that would cause even a big American soldier much trouble.
Ms. Sasa also wrote that she could walk even though she had a cold.
Otaka
Then Lester Tenney lashed out at Ms. Sasa's article.
Takayama
"What is this mocking and desecration of that death march?"
He had Rev. Cooper of the Simon Wiesenthal Center speak on his behalf and complained to Bungeishunjū.
The company was being bullied by the aforementioned "Marco Polo" magazine, so they were scared at the time and published his story in its entirety.
He wrote that there was no rest at Bataan, that if they rested, the Japanese army would beat them with the butt of a gun, and that they mercilessly killed prisoners who collapsed from exhaustion.
The Japanese army did not behave like that and did not walk 80km all night.
They stayed overnight, and there are also photos of them having a coffee break during their rest.
Is there such a relaxed death march?
Ootaka
I have seen photos of the Japanese army serving tea to American officers and of prisoners of war swimming.
Takayama
Furthermore, Iris Chang published "The Rape of Nanking" in 1997.
Ohtaka
Iris Chang was also trying to write about the "Bataan Death March," but she committed suicide with a handgun in the middle of the process.
Incidentally, Ignatius Dain was the vice-chairman of the Overseas Chinese Association of America (Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese War History Protection Association), and he was the person who arranged for Iris Chang to conduct her research in China and was the driving force behind The Rape of Nanking.
Dain was the founder of the Overseas Chinese Anti-Japanese War History Protection Association.
He was from Taiwan and of the Kuomintang bloodline.
In 1978, he moved to the United States, and in 1991, he met an organization that had been holding a memorial service for the Nanking Massacre in New York every year for 25 years.
He then set up an anti-Japanese organization.
I have interviewed him twice in the United States.
On the campus of Sonoma University in California, there is a Holocaust memorial monument modeled on the railway tracks at Auschwitz.
Between the tracks, the Anti-Japanese League has embedded a stone tablet engraved with the words "250,000 Korean women were made into sex slaves by the Japanese military", and they hold ceremonies as if Japan were complicit in the Holocaust.
We also need to keep a close eye on the anti-Japanese movements of the Chinese and Korean communities in the US.
Are they ignoring the achievements of Kiichiro Higuchi?
Takayama
But why was "Japan's Holocaust" published at this time?
Ohtaka
One reason could be the prolonged Israel-Hamas war.
South Africa has filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Brazilian President Silva and Colombian President Petro have also likened Israel's actions to a "Gaza Holocaust."
In a speech in California on September 14, President Trump said, "Under the Biden administration, 325,000 immigrant children went missing, many of whom were either killed or turned into sex slaves."
As I mentioned at the beginning, Mr. Riggs is trying to give the impression in his book that the Japanese military is a group of child molesters and bizarre murderers.
Takayama
They may be trying to shift the focus of international criticism by blaming Japan for their crimes.
Ohtaka
They also aim to prevent Japan from becoming independent.
They don't want Japan to become nuclear-armed, and they want to keep Japan dependent on the US and forever a cash dispenser.
For this reason, it is probably more convenient for the Japanese to remain brainwashed by the self-deprecating view of history, and they may have thought that they could also bring up the issue of post-war reparations again.
In fact, since Mr. Rig's book came out, former comfort women have filed lawsuits against Japan in China, and a comfort women statue has been installed in Italy with an explanation board that refers to the "Holocaust" and other such terms.
Takayama-san previously told me about how, during the Clinton administration, a Jewish lawyer based in the United States was involved in the 120 trillion yen worth of postwar reparations to Japan in the United States.
Enormous sums of money are involved in post-war reparations.
For example, after the First World War, Germany's total reparations payable as stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles was approximately 132 billion Marks (approximately 200 trillion yen).
The reparations were paid off in full in 2010, 92 years after the end of World War I.
Furthermore, after World War II, the amount of reparations paid by Germany to Jews who claimed to have been persecuted by the Nazis between 1956 and 2009 reached 67.118 billion euros (about 11 trillion yen).
There were many doubts about the payment of reparations to Israel, which did not even exist during World War II, but in the end, reparations were also paid to Israel.
Apart from this, Jewish groups claiming to have been persecuted by Nazi Germany made reparations claims not only in Germany but also in Switzerland and the former Eastern Bloc countries.
These major lawsuits coincided with the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
Takayama
In Japan, the Asahi newspaper also ran a series of articles on the comfort women issue in the first half of the 1990s.
Iris Chang's book, "The Rape of Nanking," was published in 1997, and the New York Times, which championed Chang, was in partnership with the Asahi.
Ohtaka
In that sense, if we look at the comfort women and Nanjing issues within the context of postwar reparations, we can say that these issues were strategically addressed as a set to extract postwar reparations from Japan and Germany.
Takayama
However, it is strange that they would include Japan in this.
But it's strange to target Japan as well.
Looking back at history, the Jews have been grateful to Japan and have never looked down on it.
The Jewish people have been persecuted throughout their long history.
It was no different before the war.
Former Japanese ambassador to Israel, Elie Cohen, says that people all over the world helped the Jewish people, but this is not true.
The only country that helped them was Japan.
Ootaka
Strangely enough, the Jewish people stubbornly refuse to acknowledge this fact.
A typical example is Lieutenant General HIGUCHI Kiichiro, who saved the lives of many Jewish refugees who fled to Manchuria during the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy.
Lieutenant General HIGUCHI and his colleagues opened the gates of Manchukuo to Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany and were stranded at Otpor Station on the border of Manchukuo after taking the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The escape route known as the "Higuchi Route" is also a famous story.
TAKAYAMA
The so-called “Otpor Incident” (1938).
OTAKA
However, the achievements of Lieutenant General HIGUCHI were flatly denied by two Jewish scholars.
They were Professor Joshua Fogel, a historian specializing in East Asia at York University in Canada, and Professor Rotem KAUFER, a historian and Japan researcher at Haifa University in Israel.
In December 2022, they held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo, saying, "Japanese historical revisionists are calling Lieutenant General HIGUCHI Kiichiro a hero who saved wartime refugees, but their baseless explanations are deliberately misusing the suffering of the Jewish people."
In response, Mr. Ryuichi Higuchi, the grandson of Lieutenant General Higuchi, submitted a rebuttal to the FCCJ, but we have not seen any response.
Takayama
It is an outrageous story.
Ota
Furthermore, Professor Cowner was not satisfied with denigrating General Hidenori Higa, and he also commented on an article entitled "Japan's Schindler: The number of Jews saved by Sugihara during World War II may be less than Japan claims" that was published in a leading international newspaper in Asia.
They claimed that Sugihara's achievements were nothing more than an exaggeration.
Their discourse is not only a case of returning evil for good, but is nothing more than a very malicious distortion of history.
Takayama
Now that the Israel-Hamas war is bogged down, Netanyahu himself should officially mention the debt of gratitude he owes to Japan.
Actually, there was one time when the ungrateful Israelis did show their gratitude.
When the Wuhan virus spread, Israel cut off all traffic with China at the same speed as the US.
They kicked out the Chinese.
Then, Dai Yuming, the Chinese ambassador to Israel, criticized Israel's callousness at a press conference, saying, "I am saddened. How can you treat China, which accepted the Jews during the Holocaust, in such a cold way?" (from the bimonthly magazine "Mitosu")
However, Israel responded, "What are you talking about? It was the Japanese who helped the Jews," and "Shanghai was under Japanese control. Don't try to rewrite history."
Until then, about 20,000 Jews who had been forced to leave their countries had been accepted into the Japanese concession in Shanghai, and so they were all saved from death.
Among them was Michael Blumenthal, who later became the Secretary of the Treasury under the Carter administration.
Even so, they have never thanked us and have completely ignored us.
Even if it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, they clearly said that Japan, not China, saved them in a tit-for-tat exchange of words.
Are they furious at the Chinese for trying to act like good guys?
Ota
As mentioned above, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Memorial Museum has deliberately erased the name of Lieutenant General Higuchi, who worked so hard to help Jewish refugees, and instead displays the exhibit as if China had helped the Jews.
Previously, at a lecture sponsored by the Israeli Embassy, I mentioned that Lieutenant General Higuchi and Colonel Yasue Norihiro are registered in the "Golden Book" (a record of people who have contributed to the Jewish people).
At the time, a young Israeli diplomat was so moved by the lecture that he said, "I didn't know that! Thank you for telling me!
However, after that, we received a complaint from the Israeli Embassy.
The Kwantung Army, led by Lieutenant General Higuchi, decided to accept the Jews, but the person ultimately responsible was Tojo Hideki.
When I mentioned Tojo's name, Japanese groups were inundated with protests, and the Israeli Embassy struggled to respond.
I think that the Japanese people's actions have made the Israelis even more stubborn.
Takayama
But why was "Japan's Holocaust" published at this time?
Ohtaka
One reason could be the prolonged Israel-Hamas war.
South Africa has filed a lawsuit against Israel at the International Court of Justice, claiming that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
Brazilian President Silva and Colombian President Petro have also likened Israel's actions to a "Gaza Holocaust."
In a speech in California on September 14, President Trump said, "Under the Biden administration, 325,000 immigrant children went missing, many of whom were either killed or turned into sex slaves."
As I mentioned at the beginning, Mr. Riggs is trying to give the impression in his book that the Japanese military is a group of child molesters and bizarre murderers.
Takayama
They may be trying to shift the focus of international criticism by blaming Japan for their crimes.
Ohtaka
They also aim to prevent Japan from becoming independent.
They don't want Japan to become nuclear-armed, and they want to keep Japan dependent on the US and forever a cash dispenser.
For this reason, it is probably more convenient for the Japanese to remain brainwashed by the self-deprecating view of history, and they may have thought that they could also bring up the issue of post-war reparations again.
In fact, since Mr. Rig's book came out, former comfort women have filed lawsuits against Japan in China, and a comfort women statue has been installed in Italy with an explanation board that refers to the "Holocaust" and other such terms.
Takayama-san previously told me about how, during the Clinton administration, a Jewish lawyer based in the United States was involved in the 120 trillion yen worth of postwar reparations to Japan in the United States.
Enormous sums of money are involved in post-war reparations.
For example, after the First World War, Germany's total reparations payable as stipulated in the Treaty of Versailles was approximately 132 billion Marks (approximately 200 trillion yen).
The reparations were paid off in full in 2010, 92 years after the end of World War I.
Furthermore, after World War II, the amount of reparations paid by Germany to Jews who claimed to have been persecuted by the Nazis between 1956 and 2009 reached 67.118 billion euros (about 11 trillion yen).
There were many doubts about the payment of reparations to Israel, which did not even exist during World War II, but in the end, reparations were also paid to Israel.
Apart from this, Jewish groups claiming to have been persecuted by Nazi Germany made reparations claims not only in Germany but also in Switzerland and the former Eastern Bloc countries.
These major lawsuits coincided with the Clinton administration in the 1990s.
Takayama
In Japan, the Asahi newspaper also ran a series of articles on the comfort women issue in the first half of the 1990s.
Iris Chang's book, "The Rape of Nanking," was published in 1997, and the New York Times, which championed Chang, was in partnership with the Asahi.
Ohtaka
In that sense, if we look at the comfort women and Nanjing issues within the context of postwar reparations, we can say that these issues were strategically addressed as a set to extract postwar reparations from Japan and Germany.
Takayama
However, it is strange that they would include Japan in this.
But it's strange to target Japan as well.
Looking back at history, the Jews have been grateful to Japan and have never looked down on it.
The Jewish people have been persecuted throughout their long history.
It was no different before the war.
Former Japanese ambassador to Israel, Elie Cohen, says that people all over the world helped the Jewish people, but this is not true.
The only country that helped them was Japan.
Ootaka
Strangely enough, the Jewish people stubbornly refuse to acknowledge this fact.
A typical example is Lieutenant General HIGUCHI Kiichiro, who saved the lives of many Jewish refugees who fled to Manchuria during the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Germany, and Italy.
Lieutenant General HIGUCHI and his colleagues opened the gates of Manchukuo to Jewish refugees who had fled Nazi Germany and were stranded at Otpor Station on the border of Manchukuo after taking the Trans-Siberian Railway.
The escape route known as the "Higuchi Route" is also a famous story.
TAKAYAMA
The so-called “Otpor Incident” (1938).
OTAKA
However, the achievements of Lieutenant General HIGUCHI were flatly denied by two Jewish scholars.
They were Professor Joshua Fogel, a historian specializing in East Asia at York University in Canada, and Professor Rotem KAUFER, a historian and Japan researcher at Haifa University in Israel.
In December 2022, they held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan (FCCJ) in Tokyo, saying, "Japanese historical revisionists are calling Lieutenant General HIGUCHI Kiichiro a hero who saved wartime refugees, but their baseless explanations are deliberately misusing the suffering of the Jewish people."
In response, Mr. Ryuichi Higuchi, the grandson of Lieutenant General Higuchi, submitted a rebuttal to the FCCJ, but we have not seen any response.
Takayama
It is an outrageous story.
Ota
Furthermore, Professor Cowner was not satisfied with denigrating General Hidenori Higa, and he also commented on an article entitled "Japan's Schindler: The number of Jews saved by Sugihara during World War II may be less than Japan claims" that was published in a leading international newspaper in Asia.
They claimed that Sugihara's achievements were nothing more than an exaggeration.
Their discourse is not only a case of returning evil for good, but is nothing more than a very malicious distortion of history.
Takayama
Now that the Israel-Hamas war is bogged down, Netanyahu himself should officially mention the debt of gratitude he owes to Japan.
Actually, there was one time when the ungrateful Israelis did show their gratitude.
When the Wuhan virus spread, Israel cut off all traffic with China at the same speed as the US.
They kicked out the Chinese.
Then, Dai Yuming, the Chinese ambassador to Israel, criticized Israel's callousness at a press conference, saying, "I am saddened. How can you treat China, which accepted the Jews during the Holocaust, in such a cold way?" (from the bimonthly magazine "Mitosu")
However, Israel responded, "What are you talking about? It was the Japanese who helped the Jews," and "Shanghai was under Japanese control. Don't try to rewrite history."
Until then, about 20,000 Jews who had been forced to leave their countries had been accepted into the Japanese concession in Shanghai, and so they were all saved from death.
Among them was Michael Blumenthal, who later became the Secretary of the Treasury under the Carter administration.
Even so, they have never thanked us and have completely ignored us.
Even if it was just a spur-of-the-moment thing, they clearly said that Japan, not China, saved them in a tit-for-tat exchange of words.
Are they furious at the Chinese for trying to act like good guys?
Ota
As mentioned above, the Shanghai Jewish Refugees Memorial Museum has deliberately erased the name of Lieutenant General Higuchi, who worked so hard to help Jewish refugees, and instead displays the exhibit as if China had helped the Jews.
Previously, at a lecture sponsored by the Israeli Embassy, I mentioned that Lieutenant General Higuchi and Colonel Yasue Norihiro are registered in the "Golden Book" (a record of people who have contributed to the Jewish people).
At the time, a young Israeli diplomat was so moved by the lecture that he said, "I didn't know that! Thank you for telling me!
However, after that, we received a complaint from the Israeli Embassy.
The Kwantung Army, led by Lieutenant General Higuchi, decided to accept the Jews, but the person ultimately responsible was Tojo Hideki.
When I mentioned Tojo's name, Japanese groups were inundated with protests, and the Israeli Embassy struggled to respond.
I think that the Japanese people's actions have made the Israelis even more stubborn.
Japan put a crack in the white man's rule
Takayama
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan appeared on the world stage, and the white man's world went crazy.
Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, and a crack appeared in the white man's rule.
From then on, controlling and ruling Japan became the US's first mission.
I think that the Jewish community also participates in this.
To begin with, the Jewish community is part of the white world, but in fact, Israel has already joined the ranks of white nations.
It is a little strange because the Jews who were scattered around the world in the Diaspora were Sephardic Jews of the Semitic race, the same as the Arabs.
On the other hand, the Jews in Germany, France, and Eastern Europe are Ashkenazi Jews of the Caucasian race.
At the moment, up to 9 out of 10 people in Israel are of the European-white Ashkenazi variety.
The King of Jordan had initially said that he would welcome Semitic Jews returning to the country.
However, when the Jews who had "returned from the diaspora" actually arrived, they were all white (Ashkenazi).
Otaka
So, Israel has become a white nation.
Takayama
However, it seems that this is a topic that shouldn't be talked about too loudly.
Just before the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, the American black actress Whoopi Goldberg commented on an American TV program to the effect that "they say the Holocaust was a racial issue, but in reality, it was a conflict between white people (Europeans vs. Ashkenazi)."
The atmosphere froze, and Goldpark was immediately suspended from appearing on the show.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, as the world's attention turned to the war in Ukraine, Goldpark was given a light punishment of a two-week suspension as if nothing had happened.
If Whoopi's comments had caused a stir worldwide, it would have been an enormous problem.
In other words, the self-proclaimed Jews in Israel today were originally white Jews with no connection to Palestine, who came to Palestine in search of a new land under pressure from Europe and who are now driving out the indigenous Palestinians.
There is also a theory that they are the Khazar people who lived in the Caucasus region.
In any case, if we imagine that unknown white people have come to Palestine under the name of Zionism, it would be the same as the history of the American pioneers, where white people who had run out of food in Europe came to the new land of America and drove out the native Indians.
The Gaza conflict could also be seen as the "Apache" in Gaza fighting with the white settlers.
Ota
Furthermore, the Jerusalem Post reported that a rabbi (a Jewish leader) commented to the effect that "goyim (non-Jewish peoples) exist only to serve the Jews."
Takayama
Therefore, Netanyahu's decision to continue until the annihilation of Gaza would be in keeping with the Old Testament.
The Book of Numbers says: "The Israelites who entered the land of Canaan killed all the warriors of Midian and brought them back.
Then Moses said, 'Kill all the men who know a woman (married women) and kill all the men who have children. But let the virgins live and play with them. He said, "It is a gift from God to you."
It is what is happening in Gaza now, but in an unexpected place, both the white people and the Jews have revealed that "looting, killing, and rape" was the pattern of war.
Even the Chinese, who don't read the Bible, have come to the same three-point set of looting, rape, and killing when it comes to conflict.
However, Japan was different.
There had never been an army that forbade looting, killing, and rape in war.
That is why the white world (including Jewish society) disliked the Japanese army and wanted to defile it.
They have made it their sworn enemy.
Otaka
Riggs has developed a bizarre theory of Japan, saying things like "For the Japanese, anyone who is not Japanese is a child that God does not like" (Japan's Holocaust).
Riggs probably doesn't even know that Japan proposed racial equality at the Versailles Peace Conference.
In addition, Mr. Rigg writes that "the Japanese military was committing rape throughout Asia," and he does not even understand the point of the comfort women issue.
The comfort stations were established to prevent rape in the area.
Until now, the very creation of places like comfort stations during wartime had been unthinkable.
This article continues.
Takayama
After the Meiji Restoration, Japan appeared on the world stage, and the white man's world went crazy.
Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, and a crack appeared in the white man's rule.
From then on, controlling and ruling Japan became the US's first mission.
I think that the Jewish community also participates in this.
To begin with, the Jewish community is part of the white world, but in fact, Israel has already joined the ranks of white nations.
It is a little strange because the Jews who were scattered around the world in the Diaspora were Sephardic Jews of the Semitic race, the same as the Arabs.
On the other hand, the Jews in Germany, France, and Eastern Europe are Ashkenazi Jews of the Caucasian race.
At the moment, up to 9 out of 10 people in Israel are of the European-white Ashkenazi variety.
The King of Jordan had initially said that he would welcome Semitic Jews returning to the country.
However, when the Jews who had "returned from the diaspora" actually arrived, they were all white (Ashkenazi).
Otaka
So, Israel has become a white nation.
Takayama
However, it seems that this is a topic that shouldn't be talked about too loudly.
Just before the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict, the American black actress Whoopi Goldberg commented on an American TV program to the effect that "they say the Holocaust was a racial issue, but in reality, it was a conflict between white people (Europeans vs. Ashkenazi)."
The atmosphere froze, and Goldpark was immediately suspended from appearing on the show.
Fortunately, or perhaps not, as the world's attention turned to the war in Ukraine, Goldpark was given a light punishment of a two-week suspension as if nothing had happened.
If Whoopi's comments had caused a stir worldwide, it would have been an enormous problem.
In other words, the self-proclaimed Jews in Israel today were originally white Jews with no connection to Palestine, who came to Palestine in search of a new land under pressure from Europe and who are now driving out the indigenous Palestinians.
There is also a theory that they are the Khazar people who lived in the Caucasus region.
In any case, if we imagine that unknown white people have come to Palestine under the name of Zionism, it would be the same as the history of the American pioneers, where white people who had run out of food in Europe came to the new land of America and drove out the native Indians.
The Gaza conflict could also be seen as the "Apache" in Gaza fighting with the white settlers.
Ota
Furthermore, the Jerusalem Post reported that a rabbi (a Jewish leader) commented to the effect that "goyim (non-Jewish peoples) exist only to serve the Jews."
Takayama
Therefore, Netanyahu's decision to continue until the annihilation of Gaza would be in keeping with the Old Testament.
The Book of Numbers says: "The Israelites who entered the land of Canaan killed all the warriors of Midian and brought them back.
Then Moses said, 'Kill all the men who know a woman (married women) and kill all the men who have children. But let the virgins live and play with them. He said, "It is a gift from God to you."
It is what is happening in Gaza now, but in an unexpected place, both the white people and the Jews have revealed that "looting, killing, and rape" was the pattern of war.
Even the Chinese, who don't read the Bible, have come to the same three-point set of looting, rape, and killing when it comes to conflict.
However, Japan was different.
There had never been an army that forbade looting, killing, and rape in war.
That is why the white world (including Jewish society) disliked the Japanese army and wanted to defile it.
They have made it their sworn enemy.
Otaka
Riggs has developed a bizarre theory of Japan, saying things like "For the Japanese, anyone who is not Japanese is a child that God does not like" (Japan's Holocaust).
Riggs probably doesn't even know that Japan proposed racial equality at the Versailles Peace Conference.
In addition, Mr. Rigg writes that "the Japanese military was committing rape throughout Asia," and he does not even understand the point of the comfort women issue.
The comfort stations were established to prevent rape in the area.
Until now, the very creation of places like comfort stations during wartime had been unthinkable.
This article continues.
2024/9/26 in Umeda
