Possibly apocraphal story about Enola Gay display

"Duck Dog" wrote in message
...

The American occupation authorities made a concerted effort to
revitalize Japan after the war (non-militarily, of course) in an
effort to create an ally in the region that would oppose communist
expansion. One aspect of this effort was instilling a sense of pride
in Japanese culture, and one of the ways that the U.S. accomplished
this was to de-emphasize the war guilt teachings that would otherwise
have been imposed on Japanese teachers and schools. There may have
been a certain logic to it then (indeed, it may have been the right
move), but the cost was 60 years of ignorance by the Japanese of their
own history of atrocities.


The American occupation of Japan ended in 1952. What has stopped the
teaching of Japan's history as it happened for the last half-century?

Cub Driver wrote:

the Japanese have enshrined their war criminals in Tokyo -

Not quite the same thing as a shrine to Nanjing. Nor is Yasukuni in
Tokyo.

Nor in fact is Yasukuni a shrine to war criminals. As posted, those
who were tried as war criminals are included among the war dead and
those who committed suicide afterward. (I don't think it's in Tokyo,
either, though my browser is down this morning.)

First, I never said it was a shrine to Nanking, I said it was a shrine to the
*perpetrator* of the rape of Nanking. That's a war criminal. As to the rest, if
Yasukuni is not in Tokyo nor a shrine to war criminals, I would assume that Ms Chang
was not referring to Yasukuni.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"Tom Sixkiller" wrote in message
...

I wonder how those in western Canada feel about it.


They may very well have been disappointed with the vote.


The couple I know in Calgary were heartbroken.

"Duck Dog" wrote in message
...

Yup...that's the one.

I knew my psych degree would come in handy some day. ;-)

To be fair, the post-war generations of
Japanese have never been TOLD of the sins of their nation. And
ironically, it may have been at least partly our doing.

How would that be?

The American occupation authorities made a concerted effort to
revitalize Japan after the war (non-militarily, of course) in an
effort to create an ally in the region that would oppose communist
expansion. One aspect of this effort was instilling a sense of pride
in Japanese culture, and one of the ways that the U.S. accomplished
this was to de-emphasize the war guilt teachings that would otherwise
have been imposed on Japanese teachers and schools.

Hmmm...they had a funny way of doing it. At the time they tired to instill
pride in Japanese culture, they gave women the vote, broke up their old
economy, westernized them further than just about anyone else in the
region...

Not to mention stomped their military and drove their divine emporer from
heaven.

There may have
been a certain logic to it then (indeed, it may have been the right
move), but the cost was 60 years of ignorance by the Japanese of their
own history of atrocities.

Sounds like someone was practicing denial on the US side as well. :~)

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Congress declared
war so that they could invade the Canadian colonies; they didn't invade
the
Canadian colonies because they were at war.

How terribly oldfashioned of them!

(It's amazing, how many things you can learn on Usenet.)

Well, don't consider it "learned" just yet. We're still waiting for some
historical reference.

Tom Sixkiller wrote:

"Cub Driver" wrote in message
...

Congress declared
war so that they could invade the Canadian colonies; they didn't invade
the
Canadian colonies because they were at war.

How terribly oldfashioned of them!

(It's amazing, how many things you can learn on Usenet.)

Well, don't consider it "learned" just yet. We're still waiting for some
historical reference.

Well, it's described concisely in the book _Don't Know Much About History_. The
congresscritters of that day used that argument to rouse public enthusiasm for the
war. I would provide a quote, but my copy has grow legs.

George Patterson
None of us is as dumb as all of us.

In a previous article, "G.R. Patterson III" said:
Well, it's described concisely in the book _Don't Know Much About History_. The
congresscritters of that day used that argument to rouse public
enthusiasm for the
war. I would provide a quote, but my copy has grow legs.

I can't remember the book, but what I read said that the coastal states
wanted to go to war to stop the Royal Navy from boarding US ships at sea
to "impress" (aka "Shanghai") US citizens into Royal Navy service, but in
order to get states like Tennessee and Kentucky to vote for the war, they
promised them the chance to invade and loot Canada.

--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
....life suddenly made much more sense, the day I fully grokked that people
are stupid.
-- Frank Sweetser

"Paul Tomblin" wrote in message
...

I can't remember the book, but what I read said that the coastal states
wanted to go to war to stop the Royal Navy from boarding US ships at sea
to "impress" (aka "Shanghai") US citizens into Royal Navy service, but in
order to get states like Tennessee and Kentucky to vote for the war, they
promised them the chance to invade and loot Canada.


What I read said Canada was considered a barren wasteland at the time and it
was expansion to the west that was desired. Barriers to that were European
alliances with various Indian tribes.

On Sun, 30 May 2004 14:18:44 GMT, "Steven P. McNicoll"
wrote:


"Duck Dog" wrote in message
.. .

The American occupation authorities made a concerted effort to
revitalize Japan after the war (non-militarily, of course) in an
effort to create an ally in the region that would oppose communist
expansion. One aspect of this effort was instilling a sense of pride
in Japanese culture, and one of the ways that the U.S. accomplished
this was to de-emphasize the war guilt teachings that would otherwise
have been imposed on Japanese teachers and schools. There may have
been a certain logic to it then (indeed, it may have been the right
move), but the cost was 60 years of ignorance by the Japanese of their
own history of atrocities.


The American occupation of Japan ended in 1952. What has stopped the
teaching of Japan's history as it happened for the last half-century?

Hey, I'm just saying we fostered it; certainly, I would agree that it
would be a valuable lesson for Japanese folks.

On Sun, 30 May 2004 08:57:39 -0700, "Tom Sixkiller"
wrote:


"Duck Dog" wrote in message
.. .

Yup...that's the one.

I knew my psych degree would come in handy some day. ;-)

To be fair, the post-war generations of
Japanese have never been TOLD of the sins of their nation. And
ironically, it may have been at least partly our doing.

How would that be?

The American occupation authorities made a concerted effort to
revitalize Japan after the war (non-militarily, of course) in an
effort to create an ally in the region that would oppose communist
expansion. One aspect of this effort was instilling a sense of pride
in Japanese culture, and one of the ways that the U.S. accomplished
this was to de-emphasize the war guilt teachings that would otherwise
have been imposed on Japanese teachers and schools.

Hmmm...they had a funny way of doing it. At the time they tired to instill
pride in Japanese culture, they gave women the vote, broke up their old
economy, westernized them further than just about anyone else in the
region...

A fact that was welcomed by the Japanese at the time. See "Embracing
Defeat" by Dover.

Not to mention stomped their military and drove their divine emporer from
heaven.

I think that was VERY apparent to those living in Japan at the time.

There may have
been a certain logic to it then (indeed, it may have been the right
move), but the cost was 60 years of ignorance by the Japanese of their
own history of atrocities.

Sounds like someone was practicing denial on the US side as well. :~)

Yep.