Chapter 20 3. I see Japanese

As the culprit of World War II, Japan's ending is different from that of Germany.Especially different from Italy.The leader of fascism in Italy was hanged by his own people.Mussolini became Hitler's "brother of life and death", and did not represent his citizens to the greatest extent.He himself wanted to get on Hitler's fascist chariot, so he also dragged the Italian people behind the fascist chariot.They hanged him, which meant his punishment.The people of a country have punished their head of state in the most severe way, proving that their attitude of "drawing a line" with him is extremely clear.

Some German generals foresaw that Germany would be defeated and tried to secretly negotiate a peace with the Allies, but they were sent to military courts.Others attempted to assassinate him to secure a more honorable surrender for Germany, but each and every time they failed.Although Hitler continued to deceive his people, the psychological shadow of Germany's inevitable defeat had spread between the army and the people long before the Soviet and American armies captured Berlin.It can be said that the Germans are psychologically prepared for Germany's inevitable defeat.For the Germans, the defense of Berlin was nothing more than a desperate struggle.The military understands this.The public understands this too.If you struggle, you will lose, if you don’t struggle, you will lose. In short, you are doomed to lose, and only Hitler will be the last curtain caller.

Japan's defeat in the war was beyond the expectation of the general Japanese 50 years ago.In the northeast of China, they still have almost 1 million elite Kwantung Army!This unfettered military strength left Japan with only two options—either to fight to the end, or to sign the armistice agreement with an evenly matched and unyielding attitude.As for surrender, the Emperor never thought about it.Hideki Tojo never thought about it.The soldiers of the general "Great Japanese Imperial Army" never thought about it.Ordinary Japanese never thought about it... 50 years ago, before Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed by American atomic bombs, no matter whether politicians, military leaders, or ordinary Japanese people, no Japanese thought , Have you secretly believed that Japan will be defeated?

Due to the influence of militaristic propaganda, the general Japanese 50 years ago, even if their troops were war-weary, they never had an anti-war mentality.How could they oppose the "East Asian Jihad" carried out by their "children"?Parents, of course, would be eager to have their sons back with them.Of course the wives want that too.But in their imagination, their son or husband should be "disarmed and returned with honor".In the imagination of politicians and military leaders, if they had to sign the Armistice Agreement, Japan would firmly discuss Japan's "legal rights" in Asia with the Soviet Union and the United States before the pen was written...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki raised a mushroom cloud based on these premises... The mushroom cloud of the atomic bomb has fooled Japan, the Emperor, Hideki Tojo, politicians and military leaders, and the Emperor’s people.Just as the Japanese army's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor made the United States fooled, it's just that the latter is more than a hundred times greater than the former. Japan seems to have thought of everything. Only surrender was not considered. Not to mention surrendering in the most humiliating gesture after paying the heaviest price in the history of human warfare!

Even when the emperor announced the edict of surrender, there were still so many politicians and soldiers advocating a "fight to the death" in Japan, and more than a hundred soldiers had their stomachs cut open outside the imperial palace in an attempt to arouse the "war will" of all Japanese men, women and children... However, Japan had no choice but to surrender.There is no other choice. The end of "World War II", for Italy, means "freeing oneself"; for Germany, it means "liberation" from fascist rule; for Japan, it is a complete and unconditional surrender. means surrender.It doesn't mean anything anymore.

On the one hand, Japan is one of the culprits of World War II; on the other hand, it is the only country on earth that has been victim of an atomic bomb. More than 200,000 Japanese died in an instant!The war of aggression brought disasters to Japan that seemed to be more terrifying than the disasters it brought to other countries, first of all China. Moreover, for more than half a century, no country has been able to find even a relatively valid reason to express sincere sympathy for Japan. Japan can only secretly pity itself for a long time. This kind of self-pity, as long as it is a little too much, will inevitably mean a blatant provocation to the "International War Criminals Tribunal of World War II".

Because any country, first of all China, has the most legitimate right to remind Japan: don't forget that Japan is the country that is the culprit first!Don't forget the severe war suffering that Japan has brought to other countries! ... Regarding the "World War II", Japan really has a lot of hardships, and it is still too much to say... Then, reflect on it!However, the deeper the introspection, the more it means admitting—to use a Chinese saying, admitting that one has "made one's own fault." That's a lot of courage. This is a very high level of introspection.

It is commendable to a person, even more valuable to a country, especially to a country like Japan with a strong national self-esteem. Many Japanese have done so commendably, including some "imperial soldiers" of the year.Some Japanese are still unable to do so.Because in order to do this, there must be a decent explanation for the Japanese who died in the atomic bomb.They are basically civilians, they are innocent, they died horribly, and they died unjustly. Their deaths -- in the final analysis, were caused by Japan.Even if the Japan of that year is described as Japanese militarism to distinguish it from the Japan of today, it is still Japan.A country is the country of its people, no matter how you call it, it is still that country.Every other country might as well take that view.Thinking this way and expressing his attitude in this way will not cause any heavy psychological pressure.But for a Japanese, if you put yourself in the shoes of others, you will have psychological pressure.The atomic bomb was made by the United States and dropped by the Americans. It was the Japanese who died from its power. Their deaths were caused by Japan, and they were caused by Japan. How difficult it is to conform to the national sentiments of a Japanese!What's more, among the dead, there may be a dear relative or friend of a certain Japanese.

If Japan had not committed any crimes of aggression during World War II, then Japan would be able to confidently state its war sufferings today, changing from a country that was the culprit of World War II to a country that was a victim of World War II... but…… However, Japan committed serious crimes of aggression against China, North Korea, and the entire Asia.The ironclad evidence is like a mountain, and the case cannot be overturned. As a result, some Japanese embarrassingly fell into silence for more than half a century between Japan's crimes of aggression and the subsequent atomic suffering.They hesitate to talk about the former, and they can only talk about the latter.Their embarrassment is one of the most contradictory embarrassments of human beings.Their silence is one of the most unwilling silences of human beings...

I thought they were understandable. As a Chinese, I can understand them and would like to understand them. The third type of Japanese is quite bad.They simply tried to deny the crime of aggression committed by Japan during World War II.In particular, it attempted to deny Japan's crime of aggression against China. "Huanggutun Incident", "September 18th Incident", "Marco Polo Bridge Incident", "Nanjing Massacre", all Japanese plots and crimes of invading China, they simply tried to deny them all.They disregarded the solid historical facts, and took advantage of the fact that most Westerners knew little about Japan's crimes of aggression against China, especially the fact that certain Western politicians who lacked a sense of international justice had a ambiguous attitude towards Japan's crimes of aggression against China. The war was said to be a war that Japan did not want to fight back then.Moreover, it seems that who fired the first shot is still a matter to be clarified.Their motives are very obvious. If the Western world kept a tacit and secretive silence on Japan's crime of aggression against China, they would dare to reverse the case more openly and boldly.It seems that historical facts can be tampered with, but the acquiescence of the Western world must be obtained before tampering.As for whether the Chinese people agree or not, they seem to be dismissive.Yamamoto Fifty-Six once left a sentence to the Japanese descendants - "We got a Pearl Harbor, but angered a lion".Their presumptuousness is tantamount to angering the lion of China today.They don't seem to understand that once the Chinese people are angry with Japan, Japan will have no bright future in Asia or in the world.At least their bright future will cast a huge shadow on international relations.If they really forget the words of Yamamoto Fifty-Six, then the Chinese people can also forget Premier Zhou Enlai's forgiveness to Japan on behalf of the Chinese people.Yes, although China has an atomic bomb, it will never launch it on Japan.The Chinese people may first reclaim war reparations from Japan.Once the Chinese people really start asking for it, they will never look at the face of any country in the world.If Japan does not give an explanation, the Chinese people will never give up... The third type of Japanese, which is quite bad, is some stupid Japanese politicians who think they are smart, as well as some nationalists, neo-militarists, and neo-fascists. They form an extreme right force in Japan.They are very few in Japan.Fortunately, their performance was not enough to completely anger the Chinese people.Therefore, the word "fortunately" is really just for Japan and the Japanese people, but for China and the Chinese people, it doesn't really matter whether it is luck or misfortune. My Japanese colleagues, more specifically, among the Japanese film screenwriters who received us this time, showed us the friendship of landlords without complaint, and conducted discussions with us enthusiastically, frankly and seriously, there is no third type of Japanese.not even one.Undoubtedly, they are all friends of the Chinese people, some are sincere good friends and old friends of the Chinese people. At the welcome banquet held for us at the home of Mr. Suzuki Naoyuki, the chairman of the board, Mr. Hisashi Yamauchi, stood up and said sincerely when he delivered a speech: "Recently, the old father of one of my friends passed away. His old father was He was a sergeant in the Japanese army who invaded China. For nearly half a century, he often repented deeply for the crimes committed by the Japanese army and himself during the invasion of China. He left a will and sold all his inheritance All the funds should be used to promote the friendship between Japan and China. My friend, he did it sincerely according to his old father’s will. He organized a private theater troupe and arranged a film exposing the crimes of the Japanese army’s invasion of China day and night. He is currently leading a troupe on tour in various provinces and cities in Northeast China. They have been sincerely welcomed by Chinese audiences. He told me on the long-distance call that he was moved to tears by the generosity of the Chinese people wherever he went Once. Now, we are welcoming Chinese friends in Japan, and my feelings cannot be described in words. I don’t want to call you ladies and gentlemen politely, please allow me to call you like this on behalf of Japanese film writers——friends... ..." Facing such a Japanese, how can we not regard him as ours and as a friend of the Chinese people? We also watched the new screenplay "Sea of ​​Silence" written by Mr. Yamauchi. It tells about a historical event between Japan and North Korea half a century ago - Japan captured a large number of young and middle-aged men in some Korean villages to build fortifications for the Japanese army.They pretend to be cows and horses, and life and death are like worthless things.After Japan surrendered, they returned to China by boat. Unfortunately, the ship sank in the Japan-North Korea Strait. All men, women, old and children were killed... A Japanese "labor chief" who sympathized with them, helped them, and was whipped for them , Since then, he also abandoned his wife and son, ran away from home, and never heard from him.It turned out that during the long years of half a century, he kept his name incognito, worked as a lighthouse manager, looked at the silent strait every day, prayed for the souls of the dead, and repented for the sins of Japan... This is what a Japanese screenwriter can do today, with the most sense of historical responsibility and mission! He's already doing his best. But we and some of our Japanese counterparts also almost got into an argument during our discussions on the last day.I think the fact that there was no debate in the end was due to time.Also because of the language barrier.If the debate must be translated, it is often impossible to really fight with each other.The translation of "the intervention of a third party" objectively cuts off the debate and eases the conflict. The controversy was sparked by the Chinese movie "Red Cherry". Our friends first questioned a purely "artistic view"—whether the heroine in "Red Cherry" is a fictional artistic character or a real person in reality.They feel that the heroine is nothing more than an artistic figure.If it is an artistic figure, how can it use documentary techniques to write subtitles and tell the audience that she died in Beijing on a certain day of a certain month and year?Isn't this against the principle of documentary? In all fairness, the doubts of Japanese friends are not unreasonable. Of course, we also know that the heroine in "Red Cherry" is far more fictional than real. The story of the whole movie is obviously based on a fictional novel "Human Skin Lampshade". Our answer is inevitably somewhat logically far-fetched. So the topic led to the "Nanjing Massacre".They had requested to see this film.But we didn't take it.It is said that the comrades of the Film Bureau think that it is better not to bring such a film for friendship exchanges. Mr. Kaneto Shinkeme, an 83-year-old respected old Japanese director, said slowly: "Why don't you let us watch "Nanjing Massacre"? I don't understand what concerns Chinese friends have." Mr. Takazo Nakanishi went on to say: "The atomic bomb killed more than 240,000 Japanese civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This number is accurate to the single digit. The census is based on the household registration book. The photo is evidence, indicating the age, marriage, and family situation at that time. The details are beyond doubt. As for the Nanjing Massacre, what is the basis for the Chinese death toll? In Japan, there are currently four or five versions The books exposing the Nanjing Massacre. They are all written by Chinese. The numbers in each book are different. Which number should we believe?..." Among our Chinese members, except for me, no one has seriously studied the historical materials related to the Nanjing Massacre. I gave this answer: "Friends, I have to admit that Japan's statistics on the number of deaths caused by the atomic bomb disaster are undoubtedly more accurate than China's statistics on the number of deaths caused by the Nanjing Massacre. But China's statistics are also inaccurate. Unfounded. It’s just that the necessity of accurate statistics was ignored before, which brought difficulties to the statistics 50 years later. What I want to tell my friends is that during the eight years of Japanese invasion of China, the Japanese died of war responsibility and The number of Chinese civilians killed by the Japanese army was about 30 to 40 million. Compared with the 30 to 40 million, whether more than 300,000 or more than 200,000 Chinese were killed in the Nanjing Massacre really matters to Japan and the Japanese Does it have any special meaning?" After the Japanese friends were silent for a while, Mr. Kaneto, who was still highly respected, said slowly: "I don't think we need to discuss this issue any longer. Aggression is aggression. In the war of aggression, half a century ago, How can it be possible not to massacre the people of the invaded country? Especially when they are resisted. Massacre is a crime. We cannot be skeptical of Japan’s crimes of aggression against China in the past. Any skepticism has a negative attitude towards Japan The crime of aggression against China is justified..." During the dinner together, Mr. Takazo Nakanishi took the initiative to talk to me through an interpreter.He said that he was not skeptical about Japan's crime of aggression against China, he just felt sorry for China.Why can't China collect more detailed evidence and figures?He said that in Japan, there are actually quite a few skeptics, and some factual books written by Chinese have contradictory figures, which only makes the skeptics even more suspicious... I said that some Japanese had been to Nanjing, China when the Japanese army invaded China, and now that China has "opened up", he went to Nanjing again.After half a century, he walked around, looked at, and said triumphantly - "Nanjing, I'm back again!" I asked, is it right for the Japanese to say this and hold such a complacent attitude? Mr. Nakanishi replied immediately: "This is not right! This is disgusting!" After dinner, Mr. Nakanishi seemed to have a lot to talk to me about.I saw this, so I invited translators and asked them to come to my room as guests. In the room, we sat face to face, and the interpreter sat between us.Mr. Nakanishi looked at me with a dignified and sincere gaze, which made me see that he had many important things in his heart, and he wanted to confide in me, a Chinese writer and film screenwriter.Makes me wonder how nice it would be if we could talk directly without an interpreter! I said, "Mr. Nakanishi, maybe you want to know very much, whether a Chinese of my age will have the hatred for the Japanese that we have inherited from history?" After the interpreter translated my words to him, he couldn't help being startled, his expression became more serious, his eyes became more serious, he nodded repeatedly, and said in an inaccurate Chinese saying: "Yes, yes..." I took out a cigarette from the pack, held both ends between my fingers and showed him, and said at the same time: "A cigarette will not get longer and longer. There is a saying in China - it is better to solve an enemy than to tie it. We, China and Japan, They were enemies 50 years ago, but they are no longer. Because many Chinese and many Japanese have done a lot of valuable work for the friendship between China and Japan. The exchanges between our Chinese and Japanese film and playwrights actually have the effect of promoting Sino-Japanese friendship. The meaning of friendship. What we have to do together is not to influence our next generation to remember hatred, but to tell them to always love peace and oppose war, right?" After the translator translated my words to him, he even said: "Yes, yes! This is exactly what our generation of Japanese should strive to achieve!" When I was smoking that cigarette, he said: "Our generation of Japanese, Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Yamauchi, Mr. Katsume, Mr. Baba, etc., were all children and teenagers during World War II. The atomic disaster that Japan suffered, In our childhood and adolescence, there are terrible memories. When we grow up, we understand why Japan suffered an atomic disaster, and then we understand that Japan has also given a generation to other Asian countries. , mainly because a generation of Chinese people have left terrible memories in their childhood and youth. So we have pity for ourselves and others. We are a generation of Japanese who grew up alternately doing three kinds of nightmares—atomic catastrophe The nightmare of the crime of aggression against China, the nightmare of China's military revenge against Japan...Unknowingly we are getting old, and the young people are tired of the confession and teachings of our generation, but we only envy their lives. Carefree How good it is to live without being affected by the horrors and crimes of war!..." When the translator translated his words to me, he took his pen in his hand... I pushed a blank sheet of paper to him...he wrote the following two lines of Chinese on the paper: Human beings love peace, and the world will always be peaceful! Let us oppose war together, long live Japan-China friendship! I guess, these two lines of Chinese characters must be written and practiced by him often. I cherished that page in a book and brought it back to China... The day we left Japan, it was a rainy day.The Japanese side did not arrange for Mr. Nakanishi to see us off in advance, but he came despite the rain.I didn't even open an umbrella, and my clothes got wet.Every Japanese friend gave us small gifts without exception, from pens to pickles... The relationship with the United States is very similar to the most common relationship in Jin Yong's martial arts novels-a swordsman or a swordsman, who cuts off his troubled character, but at the same time plays the role of guardian of the other party's son, similar to the role of guardian of a foster father.He seemed to have forgotten that the child was going to grow up after all.The child will inevitably grow up.Lightweight and hard skills, internal and external skills are all available, even enough to "compete" with him, seeing that Tian Tian is no longer out of his control.At this time, his role of "guardian" became a little awkward.His "status in the rivers and lakes" is also disturbed by his "guardian" and "training" objects from time to time.Perhaps far from threatening, but it did add to his mind a certain uneasiness ever since.This worry has become more and more worrying for him... After World War II, Japan had no army.It can no longer bark its claws at other countries.It changed from "beast" to "beast".Its politics and diplomacy, in the first 20 to 30 years, depended on the United States.It has actually become a "second-class ally" of the United States.Between China and the United States, it is in a status similar to "adopted son". Without the army, there is no military spending.This is an exemption from a huge military burden for any country. Without the army, politics becomes correspondingly simple.The mutiny, mutiny, and coup d'etat of the army, and all the restrictions and interventions of the army on politics are all nonsense.So politics has only become a "literary play" performance among politicians. The situation of "literary opera and martial arts singing" will never happen.The world has always been peaceful.No matter how fierce the struggle among politicians is, it will not lead to "continuous civil strife". Without the military, politics is almost left to the mission of national policy.Diplomacy is almost limited to economic negotiations.For any country, this is actually the "golden stage" of economic prosperity and development.The Japanese economy is taking off day by day in such a "golden stage".And it can have a sense of protected security.Because the United States, the "guardian", has long-term troops stationed in Okinawa.The wings of America's nuclear weapons shelter it... The Japanese's psychology towards the United States must be very contradictory, but the contradiction is not complicated, it is just a contradiction.On the one hand, they regard the United States as their "foster father".Because it is still under the military protection and nuclear shelter of the United States, it has to still rely on three points.On the other hand, how can they be willing to be in the position of "adopted sons" forever?Why is it unwilling to get rid of the "guardianship" of the United States?Why don't you want to be like the Yankees, who are addicted to bossing around on the world stage and sanctioning this "international rivers and lakes" overlord who sanctions this and that?On the one hand, he is grateful for the "guardianship" of the United States for decades; on the other hand, he is brooding about the atomic disaster he has suffered.Comparing a country to a person is akin to revenge for killing one's father or for adultery of one's mother!Does Japan have an attempt to retaliate against the United States?It is useless to have it, and it is useless to have it.It can't be realized at all.At least it is impossible to put it into practice in the military.Did Japan really not retaliate against the United States?When Japanese cars hit the US market and the yen appreciates and the dollar depreciates, the pleasure in the Japanese hearts can be imagined.Japan does not have an army, but Japan has money. When the Japanese think of the United States, they wish they could buy the entire United States back to Japan with yen. No, Japan today also has an "army".Its "army" is its large and small financial groups today.This "army" has great ambitions. It is eyeing the United States and Europe, as well as China and other Asian countries.Its economic strength evolved into its "military strength".Or to put it another way, what it could not achieve with the military back then is now being achieved through economic means.Japan is a country that implements its global economic strategy with a "military development"-like strategy.Japan's global economic strategy has become increasingly aggressive.It will increasingly make the United States feel tricky, headache, helpless and difficult to deal with.The "beasts" of the past are still "beast tamers" today, and their "wildness" is still exposed from time to time. As a country, Japan already has the strength to "compete" with its "foster father" the United States economically.But it is doomed to remain a deeply flawed country for now.That is - it is unlikely to produce enough politicians in the short term to influence major international issues.This is the psychological sustenance of the entire Japanese nation, and it is impossible to count on the psychological sustenance of comfort in the short term.This is limited by the international status of its "adopted son", by the historical humiliation of its "second-class ally".It is an embarrassment for Japan, as it is for the United States, and Japan is unlikely to produce, even in the short term, popular politicians who are popular with the Japanese people.Politicians who are difficult to achieve in the international political arena cannot be deeply supported and popular in their own countries. Almost all Japanese politicians are politicians in the minds of its citizens.The international image may be slightly higher, but it is not much higher.The difference is, and only is - senior politicians or junior politicians, mature politicians or immature politicians, witty or stupid politicians.Although there are outstanding people among them, outstanding politicians on the fringe of the international political stage, no matter how outstanding they are, can only play the role of the "mass" on the fringe of the international political stage.This is one of the reasons, one of the fundamental reasons, why the Japanese people would rather continue to respect the emperor than to bestow the same reverence on Japanese politicians. This is Japan's "eternal pain in the heart". This is America's "eternal joy." In the next few years, Japan-US relations will become more and more "dramatic" to watch.It is about to embarrass the United States more and more, and it will also humiliate Japan more and more. Between the "adopted father" and the "adopted son", the grievances caused by "guardianship" and "atomic hatred" will become more frequent. This is the aftermath of World War II. Japan is a "pathogen". It infects America. The United States has no choice but to continue to "guardian" it, not knowing which year or month it should end.More importantly, once I "revoke" the responsibility of "guardianship" on my own, once its "adopted son" really becomes an independent "international person", whether it will be beneficial or harmful to me.Will he be courteous to himself, or will he turn against him once and "dragon and snake fight for hegemony"? When I was in Japan, the "Okinawa Island Incident" was in full swing.Two American soldiers gang-raped a Japanese girl, and the Japanese people were outraged.The "guardian" of the United States has no place to be ashamed in front of Japan.And the Japanese politicians are obviously doing their best to maintain the minimum decency of the United States. The "adopted son" knew that it was not time to completely fall out with the "adopted father". The "adopted father" expressed his "understanding" of a favor given by the "adopted son". "Normalization of Japan-U.S. relations," or conversely, "Normalization of U.S.-Japan relations," is the most false, unthinkable, and ridiculous "diplomatic rhetoric" after World War II. In the future, this "diplomatic rhetoric" will still be on the lips of American diplomats from time to time. It will still be on the lips of Japanese diplomats from time to time. However, many young men and women in Japan's "new generation" yearn for the United States very much in their hearts. In a Japanese love movie, the Japanese girl said to the Japanese guy: "It's okay for me to marry you, but you have to take me to live in New York!" They don't have as much psychological accumulation as their parents. As long as Americans don't look down on the Japanese, why don't they and they, like young people in many countries, want to have an American "green card"? This is something that makes the Japanese fathers who have a strong sense of nationality very unhappy. However, in the current world, the wind of betrayal is prevalent everywhere. What can Japanese fathers do? ...