Originally posted on May 4, 2019.
Drawing on an essay by Kaji Nobuyuki, this chapter examines the danger of the doctrine of “perpetual apology,” which seeks to compel Japan to continue apologizing indefinitely.
It sharply criticizes as fascistic any discourse that ignores the wisdom of legal reconciliation, such as the postwar settlements with the United States, China, and South Korea, and seeks to force “the entire nation” into endless apology.

2019-05-04
To say, without learning from or making use of that wisdom, that one must continue apologizing “even if one has no personal recollection of any wrongdoing,” is a statement like that of an agent for China and Korea.

The following is from the book below by Kaji Nobuyuki.
It is truly a masterpiece.
It is a book that every citizen should read, and it is also the perfect book to read during this ten-day holiday journey.
Those who trusted my recommendation and bought it at their nearest bookstore will surely all agree with me.
Fascism Called the Doctrine of Perpetual Apology — The Discourse of Masakazu Yamazaki.
Since retiring from active work, this old man has been learning about conditions on the ground from those still actively engaged in the field.
The other day, I heard an interesting story.
People are becoming disgusted with the vulgar and outrageous lies in the recent words and conduct of China and Korea, and as a result the number of students wishing to study or major in China or the Korean Peninsula is declining.
I see.
That is certainly possible.
There was once a boom in studying Chinese.
That has already subsided.
In other words, at present China and the Korean Peninsula are invisibly but greatly damaging themselves by losing young Japanese people who would understand their countries.
Moreover, now that the first baptized generation of Japan’s postwar education, namely the baby-boom generation, which was the most easily influenced when China and Korea raised their voices loudly, is retiring one after another from active life, even if they keep shouting in the same tone as before, it is no longer as effective on Japanese public opinion as it once was.
First of all, among the Japanese left, on which China and Korea rely, there are now hardly any noteworthy polemicists.
Even if there are some, most have fled and stopped speaking.
That is only natural.
The Soviet Union, which the Japanese left had revered as its “motherland,” has vanished, and there is no way they can now speak while gratefully embracing the present condition of the People’s Republic of China, which claimed to make communism a reality and is now wallowing in “money.”
Just when one thinks that, however, there appears some outrageous person who still says, no, Japan is to blame.
In a text by the playwright Masakazu Yamazaki, astonishingly, it says, “For the Japanese, there is only one path that can be chosen.
Even if one has no personal recollection of any wrongdoing, the entire nation must continue apologizing to the countries that suffered in the past.”
Quoted exactly as written.
It appears in Ushio, November 2013 issue, page 25.
Of course, this refers to China and Korea.
Japan has freedom of speech, so one may state one’s opinion however one likes.
However, one must never compel others to do the same.
And yet, in this short passage by Mr. Yamazaki, there are at least three words of compulsion that cannot be overlooked.
Namely, ① “there is only one path,” ② “the entire nation,” and ③ “must continue.”
Above all, “the entire nation.”
That means every last person.
For example, there is no problem in saying, “The entire nation must obey traffic regulations.”
That is because it is an obligation to obey the law.
But if one says, for example, “The entire nation must fall in love,” that is a matter of individual feeling and cannot be compelled.
Yet Mr. Yamazaki says one must apologize from the coercive standpoint of “all,” and furthermore says one must continue doing so endlessly, with no statute of limitations, and limits the matter by saying that only such a path exists.
That is what is commonly called a “fascistic” statement.
Because it permits only one way of being, namely his own position.
It is a foolish thing to say.
Looking back, throughout human history there have always been harms, victimization, conflicts, wars, and such misfortunes.
However, once peace treaties, or treaties akin to them, have been concluded after such misfortunes, then even if both sides may still have things they want to say, the wisdom of humanity is to say those things no more, and instead to form and build a new friendly relationship between the two countries.
The典型 of this is Japan-U.S. relations.
The two countries waged a tremendous war.
Each side has mountains of things it would like to say.
Yet Japan, while paying various sacrifices as the defeated side, nevertheless concluded a peace treaty, and after that treaty was concluded, the two countries formed a new friendly relationship and have come down to the present day.
Japan has made the same kind of legal reconciliation with China and South Korea, and the wisdom of humanity is that, as states, both sides thereby agree to ask no further questions about the past.
To say, without learning from or making use of that wisdom, that one must continue apologizing “even if one has no personal recollection of any wrongdoing,” is a statement like that of an agent for China and Korea.
The ancients said, “What is done need not be explained.
What is finished need not be remonstrated against.
What is past need not be blamed.”