Japan Needs to Remember Its Past, Part 235445436563213

Remember that ****?
I know you don't remember jack
--Ghostface

Japan's leading daily (The Asahi Shinbun) invites attacks on the editorial boards' intelligence:

"There is no reason whatever for us to allow foreigners to stick their noses in our business when we console the souls of those who nobly sacrificed their lives," said an organizer. Many participants sitting on chairs in a specially pitched tent applauded him.
[...]
Japan has had enough of being blamed for its past acts. This sentiment, which is mixed with anger, causes people in Japan to view China and South Korea in a critical light or harbor feelings of discontent against them.

That one sentence should have read "Japan hasn't faced up to responsibility for its past acts".

Quick note: The term "Gaijin" (and probably the word used in the editorial quote) is commonly translated into "foreigner", which literally means "Other Person". This is an extremely derogatory term for non-Japanese people.

Here's some common sense from the Japan Times (unfortunately, it's an English language paper).

The 15-year-long war inflicted enormous suffering on the peoples of the Asia-Pacific region. Fatalities in the region totaled an estimated 20 million -- far greater than the 3 million deaths that Japan suffered. Unless the Japanese accept this fact and carry out deep soul-searching, it will be impossible to realize a sincere dialogue with the peoples of neighboring countries on war-related historical issues. The absence of such dialogue has hampered development of sound and lasting relations between Japan and its Asia-Pacific neighbors.

Thank you, JT. I was beginning to think every editorial board in Japan was on crack.