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Letter from Japan: Hail Emperor
We're sorry, we really are
By PETER McKILLOP
May
19, 2000
Web posted at 3:00 p.m. Hong Kong time, 3:00 a.m. EDT
One of the longest running diplomatic sideshows in Asia is Japan's ritual attempt to apologize for the atrocities it committed during World War II. Every year some elegant dignitary--ranging from the Emperor himself to the Prime Minister of the month--will trek to Beijing, Seoul or some Southeast Asian capital and utter yet another apology. The reaction is always the same: We still don't believe you.
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Recently, there had been a growing consensus that Japan's former foes, particularly China, were ganging up. I say let bygones be bygones. Japan has been at peace with its Asian neighbors for more than half a century. It has apologized endlessly, and it has spent billions in foreign aid to rebuild its relations throughout Asia. It is time for both Japan and its neighbors to move on. Not forget the past, but build from it in a constructive way.
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All this hard work to get Asia to finally believe that Japan was sincere about its World War II regrets fell apart this week with one statement by the oafish new Prime Minister, Yoshiro Mori. To the joy of Japan's unrepentant, Emperor-loving Shinto (the official religion of the Emperor) worshippers, Mori uttered the "divine" word, declaring that Japan was a "divine country with the Emperor at its core." Translation: the Emperor is God and all those nutty Kamikaze pilots crashing into enemy warships were right to die for his "divine" causes.
To many, particularly the Chinese, Mori's comments were hardly surprising. There remains an extremely influential conservative political force in Japan that is utterly unrepentant in its Emperor-worshiping, Shinto-practicing ways. Over the years, these beliefs had not disappeared but had been hidden by sophisticated, well-crafted statements--that is until Mori came along.
These groups, which gather in such highly symbolic locations as Tokyo's Yasakuni Shrine to honor the war dead, refuse to acknowledge war crimes committed in the name of the Emperor and Shinto. Their influence over government politics and policy remains strong. It does not take a tourist more than five minutes in downtown Tokyo to witness their influence.
What I can't understand is why do police stand by idly and not stop the convoys of gray buses waving Imperial War flags and blasting ear-splitting Emperor-worshipping rhetoric? You and I would be arrested. But these annoying caravans are allowed to ply the streets of Tokyo unfettered because their organizational roots and ties can be traced to the highest levels of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, of which Mori is a loyal, card-carrying member.
It will be impossible for Asia to ever accept Japan's apologies for World War II until the links between these groups and Japan's political rulers are broken. It must have been particularly ironic for Chinese officials when they heard Japanese opposition leader, and a former member of the LDP, Yukio Hatoyama, declare that Mori's remarks were the "vocalization of an idea that seeps out from deep inside the Prime Minister." That is exactly what the Chinese have been saying for years as to why they cannot accept Japan's official apologies.
For the moment, there is a rallying cry for Mori to resign as Prime Minister. That will accomplish nothing. The pro-Shinto roots go far beyond the bumbling Mori. He's just the latest in a long line of LDP leaders who refuse to disavow groups that want Japan to go back to its pre-war ideological ways. Sadly, they are but a small faction of a much broader mosaic of more enlightened political views in Japan.
Most Japanese do not believe the Emperor is God. Most do not practice Shinto. Most are genuinely remorseful about Japan's wartime past--that is, if they can remember it. The problem is not that most Japanese actually believe that the Emperor remains God. The problem is a small group of well-organized, well-funded conservative pro-Shinto organizations have had a disproportionate influence on Japanese politics for too long.
Japanese voters have a chance to right this historical anomaly. In June, the parliament will be dissolved and Japanese voters will have a chance, once again, to vote out LDP politicians tied to these conservative right wing forces. Only then can Japan truly apologize for its actions in World War II--and be believed.
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