Japan's Attitude towards WWII

"When Japanese politicians become prime minister, they usually make some kind of statement about history. In Tokyo, there is the Yasukuni Shrine—you can look it up—where some politicians openly go to pay their respects. They see those enshrined there as martyrs, people who died in the war...

"In Japan, many things simply don’t make it into the history books. For example, just as in China, nearly 99% of people would never go to the Yasukuni Shrine, in Japan the same site is treated differently. For us Chinese, it represents war criminals, but many Japanese regard those same figures as national heroes. The perspectives are completely different...

"In my view, Japan’s treatment of World War II in its education system is very understated. The textbooks rarely mention the darker aspects, such as the issue of comfort women or the Nanjing Massacre. These serious topics are largely absent...

"From my experience, most of Japan’s history education about World War II focuses on the Pacific War — especially the atomic bombings and the Battle of Iwo Jima. Since I went to an international school, I didn’t encounter much about that period, but our school still arranged a field trip to Hiroshima...

"From what I’ve seen, most Japanese history textbooks basically cover up Japan’s aggression, focusing instead on the battles of the Pacific War during World War II. The government doesn’t officially recognize the full casualty numbers from the Sino-Japanese War — they only admit to a much smaller figure...

"In Japan, the Nanjing Massacre is typically referred to as the “Nanjing Incident,” with history textbooks using deliberately vague or softened language. Because China has not been able to provide what Japan considers conclusive evidence, Japan does not officially acknowledge the figure of 300,000 victims, but concedes to a lower estimate of around 170,000–180,000...