The Japs -

[Danbert Nocurry]

- not enough hate, not half enough shame and remorse

Been reading a bit about the war in the east, The Railway Man, The Forgotten Highlander, Tears in the Darkness and Nemesis:The Battle for Japan (all excellent books btw) and it struck me that the Japanese got off rather lightly in the post war retribution and hate stakes. While everyone can give you chapter and verse on the nazis and the germans had a fair few years of keeping their heads down, although you wouldn't know it now.

The Japs were given a very easy ride considering the genocidal atrocities and the general barbarous behaviour from around the turn of the century to the end of the war. OK they may have been nuked, but that was completely justified given the casualties that would have been involved in invading the kamikaze place.

At the very least, the Emperor should have been publicly executed in a classic BBC outside broadcast type of way. They also killed my mrs's granddad in Burma, but what a working class lad from Blackley was doing fighting imperial wars in the far east when he volunteered to fight Hitler in 1939 is another story.

Viva le hate

[IainR]

- not enough hate, not half enough shame and remorse

Been reading a bit about the war in the east, The Railway Man, The Forgotten Highlander, Tears in the Darkness and Nemesis:The Battle for Japan (all excellent books btw) and it struck me that the Japanese got off rather lightly in the post war retribution and hate stakes. While everyone can give you chapter and verse on the nazis and the germans had a fair few years of keeping their heads down, although you wouldn't know it now.

The Japs were given a very easy ride considering the genocidal atrocities and the general barbarous behaviour from around the turn of the century to the end of the war. OK they may have been nuked, but that was completely justified given the casualties that would have been involved in invading the kamikaze place.

At the very least, the Emperor should have been publicly executed in a classic BBC outside broadcast type of way. They also killed my mrs's granddad in Burma, but what a working class lad from Blackley was doing fighting imperial wars in the far east when he volunteered to fight Hitler in 1939 is another story.

Viva le hate

Learnt from WW1 though.. let a country get strong again.

But i thought its argued that the bombs were just a show of power and not needed? TBH I think they would have been used in anger at some point, probably resulting in WW3 with Russia, so maybe in the longer term using them then was the best of a bad situation..

They've basically done what Nobel wanted dynamite to do in many ways and are a huge deterrent.

[Stolly]

I think the Japanese got a fair chunk of 'hate' during the Pacfic campaign of WW2. In the invasion of Saipan for instance pretty much every member of the 30,000 strong Japanese garrison was killed by the Americans. At Iwo Jima, the Americans took about 200 prisoners from the 22,000 Japanese there and killed almost 19,000 - I think the remnants of the 'Japs' hid in caves and gradually gave themselves up after the battle had finsished.

They sure reaped what they sowed

[Stolly]

And for a little bit of perspective - British War Crimes

[Muddy Retriever]

- not enough hate, not half enough shame and remorse

Been reading a bit about the war in the east, The Railway Man, The Forgotten Highlander, Tears in the Darkness and Nemesis:The Battle for Japan (all excellent books btw) and it struck me that the Japanese got off rather lightly in the post war retribution and hate stakes. While everyone can give you chapter and verse on the nazis and the germans had a fair few years of keeping their heads down, although you wouldn't know it now.

Not seeking to excuse Japanese attrocities but wasn't the major factor in their treatment of allied prisoners a cultural thing. It was considered dishonourable by the Japanese to surrender in battle and therefore they had no respect for Allied POW's. By comparison far less Japanese servicemen surrendered and of course many were persuaded to enage in kamikaze missions.

Although I believe they committed many attrocities in occupied China and other places, the difference between them and the Germans is that as far as I am aware, they didn't set out to exterminate an entire race of people. That is what elevates German war crimes far above others.

Although it is fair to say that the allies (exclduing the Soviet Union) conducted themselves far better than the axis powers during WWII, we weren't immune from doing some pretty unsavoury things ourselves at times. For instance the mass carpet bombing of German cities like Dresden had no military purpose but simply slaughtered the civilian population. Churchill later disowned Bomber Harris but was fully behind this policy at the time. As they say, history is written by the winners.

[Muddy Retriever]

Another reason why the Japanese get off more lightly than the Germans is almost certainly due to proximity. The British population were far less affected by the war in the east. Blackouts, bombing, fear of invasion and rationing were all a factor of war with Germany.

[Swoop]

They sure reaped what they sewed.

Yes, I'm sure the story got embroidered a little!

[Alf]

- not enough hate, not half enough shame and remorse

Been reading a bit about the war in the east, The Railway Man, The Forgotten Highlander, Tears in the Darkness and Nemesis:The Battle for Japan (all excellent books btw) and it struck me that the Japanese got off rather lightly in the post war retribution and hate stakes. While everyone can give you chapter and verse on the nazis and the germans had a fair few years of keeping their heads down, although you wouldn't know it now.

The Japs were given a very easy ride considering the genocidal atrocities and the general barbarous behaviour from around the turn of the century to the end of the war. OK they may have been nuked, but that was completely justified given the casualties that would have been involved in invading the kamikaze place.

At the very least, the Emperor should have been publicly executed in a classic BBC outside broadcast type of way. They also killed my mrs's granddad in Burma, but what a working class lad from Blackley was doing fighting imperial wars in the far east when he volunteered to fight Hitler in 1939 is another story.

Viva le hate

Oi! you build railway

[IainR]

Another reason why the Japanese get off more lightly than the Germans is almost certainly due to proximity. The British population were far less affected by the war in the east. Blackouts, bombing, fear of invasion and rationing were all a factor of war with Germany.

After the war we knew we had to get Germany going to prevent another hitler stepping in.. but also we feared the 'domino effect' soon after..

So we (well US) pumped millions into Germany and France to rebuild.. admittedly not without strings.. but it did work out fairly well.

The Uk struggled because we 'made hay' when the rest of the world was war torn/damaged, they modernised as they rebuilt, we remained archaic.. and then got overtaken.. we actually now out produce many other areas again, just with few jobs.

Supposedly sheffield actually produces more steel than it ever did, just on a fraction of the work force.

[Conor74]

OK they may have been nuked, but that was completely justified given the casualties that would have been involved in invading the kamikaze place..l

Not sure I'd use the word "completely" to describe the reasons for killing up to quarter of a million innocent civilians in the only wartime deployment of atom bombs in our history. But it is true to say it may have been justified. And no, they didn't pay for atrocities like the Rape of Nanking...but then again what is appropriate?