December 8, 2011
On December 8, 1941, the Japanese Army landed on the British Malay Peninsula and the Navy made a surprise attack on the U.S. fleet in Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor, which was the start of the Asia-Pacific War. Even seventy years from the outbreak of the war, political moves trying to distort history persist with publication of history textbooks glorifying Japan’s war of aggression and colonial rule. With the decreasing number of people who experienced the war, more efforts are needed to hand down the truth of the war of aggression.
Unconvincing ‘Self-defense’ argument
Forces glorifying the war of aggression argue that Japan could not but choose a war for “self-defense and survival” because America, Britain, China, and the Netherlands were putting economic pressure on Japan with severe demands in the so-called ABCD encirclement network.
This argument dismisses the crucial point that Japan’s aggression against China was among the biggest issues between Japan and the United States.
Japan in 1931 started a war of aggression in northeast China (the Manchurian Incident) and in 1937 started a total war of aggression against all of China. Faced with China’s tough resistance, Japan got bogged down with no prospect for ending the war.
Having their own interests in China, the United States and Britain assisted China in fighting Japan’s aggression against China.
Deluded by Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Netherlands and France and its air strikes on Britain, Japan in 1940 concluded a tripartite military alliance with Germany and Italy. Taking advantage of France surrendering to Germany, Japan invaded the northern parts of French Indochina, in an attempt to cut off the U.S. and British route of assistance through Burma to China and to secure important resources for the continuation of the war. This made Japan’s confrontation with the U.S. and British forces inevitable.
In August 1941, Japan encroached further in to the southern parts of French Indochina in the south.
The United States reacted to this by placing an oil embargo on Japan, and demanded that Japanese troops be withdrawn from China. U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill had agreed in the Pacific Charter to not allow any unjust territorial expansion, as a fundamental principle for a world order after WWII. It was thus reasonable that the United States urged Japan to withdraw its troops from China.
However, Japan rejected the request, saying that accepting the U.S. request exactly as it was would overturn what had been obtained by the China Incident (Japan-China War) and would further endanger Manchuria and Japan’s rule over Korea (P.M. Tojo Hideki, previously army minister). The ministerial conference with the presence of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) on November 5, 1941, decided to expand the war in early December unless the economic blockade against Japan was lifted by the end of November. Thus, Japan plunged into the Asia-Pacific War.
The Asia-Pacific War broke out as a result of the escalation of Japan’s war of aggression against China. It is not reasonable to view the two wars separately and say that Japan had to go to war for “self-defense and survival” in resistance to unjust U.S. demands.
Japan’s war of aggression lasted for about 15 years and caused the loss of lives of over 20 million people in other Asian countries and 3 million in Japan itself.
This bitter history must not be explained away as belonging to the past. Prime Minister Noda’s planned visit to China scheduled for December 12 and 13 was postponed. It was reported that the Chinese side called for rescheduling the visit due to the fact that December 13 is the anniversary of the Nanjing massacre by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937.
To never repeat the same tragic mistakes and build genuine friendship with peoples of Asia, any attempt at glorification of Japan’s war of aggression must not be allowed.
All parties except JCP disbanded themselves to help imperial rule
The political structure which sustained the government to proceed with the Asia-Pacific War was the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusan Kai) in which all the political parties at the time, with the exception of the JCP, joined by dissolving themselves.
Presently, the Democratic Party of Japan along with the Liberal Democratic and the Komei parties have formed a virtual coalition in order to faithfully carry out what the United States and Japan’s business circles want accomplished. Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo commented in his report to the 4th Central Committee Plenum that the present situation resembles the situation immediately before WWII in which all the parties except the JCP dissolved themselves to join the IRAA promoting the war. “Let’s not miss the bus,” a message that the pro-Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact forces are using to urge Japan’s participation, was the same slogan that the IRAA used.
Due to severe oppression from the Tenno (Emperor) government, the JCP at that time had difficulty in carrying out its activities, and publication of the newspaper “Sekki (Red Flag)” had to be suspended. However, JCP members who were arrested under the Public Order Maintenance Act carried out undaunted struggles against the imperial despotic rule and the war of aggression in prison as well as in wartime courts.
When Germany took Europe by storm in 1940, a movement calling for a new system emerged in Japan’s political world with a view to strengthen the structure to promote the war of aggression hand in hand with Germany. Citing “Let’s not miss the bus” as the catchphrase, all the parties except for the JCP disbanded themselves and joined in this movement.
The IRAA controlled the Industrial Patriotic Society (Sangyo Hokoku-kai), women’s associations, and neighborhood associations in towns and villages in order to deprive people of all their democratic freedoms. It was an organizational tool to control and mobilize people into sacrificing everything, even their lives.
Unconvincing ‘Self-defense’ argument
Forces glorifying the war of aggression argue that Japan could not but choose a war for “self-defense and survival” because America, Britain, China, and the Netherlands were putting economic pressure on Japan with severe demands in the so-called ABCD encirclement network.
This argument dismisses the crucial point that Japan’s aggression against China was among the biggest issues between Japan and the United States.
Japan in 1931 started a war of aggression in northeast China (the Manchurian Incident) and in 1937 started a total war of aggression against all of China. Faced with China’s tough resistance, Japan got bogged down with no prospect for ending the war.
Having their own interests in China, the United States and Britain assisted China in fighting Japan’s aggression against China.
Deluded by Nazi Germany’s occupation of the Netherlands and France and its air strikes on Britain, Japan in 1940 concluded a tripartite military alliance with Germany and Italy. Taking advantage of France surrendering to Germany, Japan invaded the northern parts of French Indochina, in an attempt to cut off the U.S. and British route of assistance through Burma to China and to secure important resources for the continuation of the war. This made Japan’s confrontation with the U.S. and British forces inevitable.
In August 1941, Japan encroached further in to the southern parts of French Indochina in the south.
The United States reacted to this by placing an oil embargo on Japan, and demanded that Japanese troops be withdrawn from China. U.S. President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill had agreed in the Pacific Charter to not allow any unjust territorial expansion, as a fundamental principle for a world order after WWII. It was thus reasonable that the United States urged Japan to withdraw its troops from China.
However, Japan rejected the request, saying that accepting the U.S. request exactly as it was would overturn what had been obtained by the China Incident (Japan-China War) and would further endanger Manchuria and Japan’s rule over Korea (P.M. Tojo Hideki, previously army minister). The ministerial conference with the presence of Emperor Showa (Hirohito) on November 5, 1941, decided to expand the war in early December unless the economic blockade against Japan was lifted by the end of November. Thus, Japan plunged into the Asia-Pacific War.
The Asia-Pacific War broke out as a result of the escalation of Japan’s war of aggression against China. It is not reasonable to view the two wars separately and say that Japan had to go to war for “self-defense and survival” in resistance to unjust U.S. demands.
Japan’s war of aggression lasted for about 15 years and caused the loss of lives of over 20 million people in other Asian countries and 3 million in Japan itself.
This bitter history must not be explained away as belonging to the past. Prime Minister Noda’s planned visit to China scheduled for December 12 and 13 was postponed. It was reported that the Chinese side called for rescheduling the visit due to the fact that December 13 is the anniversary of the Nanjing massacre by the Japanese Imperial Army in 1937.
To never repeat the same tragic mistakes and build genuine friendship with peoples of Asia, any attempt at glorification of Japan’s war of aggression must not be allowed.
All parties except JCP disbanded themselves to help imperial rule
The political structure which sustained the government to proceed with the Asia-Pacific War was the Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusan Kai) in which all the political parties at the time, with the exception of the JCP, joined by dissolving themselves.
Presently, the Democratic Party of Japan along with the Liberal Democratic and the Komei parties have formed a virtual coalition in order to faithfully carry out what the United States and Japan’s business circles want accomplished. Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo commented in his report to the 4th Central Committee Plenum that the present situation resembles the situation immediately before WWII in which all the parties except the JCP dissolved themselves to join the IRAA promoting the war. “Let’s not miss the bus,” a message that the pro-Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) pact forces are using to urge Japan’s participation, was the same slogan that the IRAA used.
Due to severe oppression from the Tenno (Emperor) government, the JCP at that time had difficulty in carrying out its activities, and publication of the newspaper “Sekki (Red Flag)” had to be suspended. However, JCP members who were arrested under the Public Order Maintenance Act carried out undaunted struggles against the imperial despotic rule and the war of aggression in prison as well as in wartime courts.
When Germany took Europe by storm in 1940, a movement calling for a new system emerged in Japan’s political world with a view to strengthen the structure to promote the war of aggression hand in hand with Germany. Citing “Let’s not miss the bus” as the catchphrase, all the parties except for the JCP disbanded themselves and joined in this movement.
The IRAA controlled the Industrial Patriotic Society (Sangyo Hokoku-kai), women’s associations, and neighborhood associations in towns and villages in order to deprive people of all their democratic freedoms. It was an organizational tool to control and mobilize people into sacrificing everything, even their lives.
