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.