War is, by nature, an act of killing and inevitably involves violence. Yet ignoring its causes and historical context while portraying Japan alone as uniquely brutal is neither journalism nor moral reasoning. This essay criticizes the self-denigrating historical view prevalent in media and academia, and argues for a world-class understanding of Chinese, Korean Peninsula, and Japanese history through the scholarly works of Kō Bun’yū.

Forced to exist under the pressure of absolute power, and compelled to endure what should never have been required.
2016-10-28

War, by its very nature, becomes an act of killing.
In other words, it is not an exaggeration to say that it inevitably turns into the exercise of extreme violence.

Nevertheless, without conveying at all the truth of why war occurred,
(and without even realizing that they themselves were among those who played one of the most decisive roles, forgetting their own actions while treating only the memories of Prince Mikasa as unquestionably correct),
to report that only Japan committed acts of brutality in war, and to believe that such reporting constitutes journalism and moral righteousness, leaves no choice but to say that NHK program producers possess a uniquely self-abasing mentality found nowhere else in the world.

What they ought to do is not to study at universities dominated by scholars who now openly believe that countries like China and South Korea—nations that likewise consider it virtuous to denigrate and despise their own countries—are correct, while Japan alone was an evil and mistaken nation.

Rather, they themselves should read the scholarly works of Kō Bun’yū, one of the world’s foremost authorities on China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan.
If they truly consider themselves elites possessing intellect comparable to my own, then they should be able to grasp historical truth within a single hour.

Once one genuinely understands the history of China and the Korean Peninsula, the phrase “the Japanese military committed brutality to the utmost degree” would never emerge, even if one were standing on one’s head.

Such words can only arise from a collective of individuals who were forced to exist under the pressure of absolute authority, passed through excessive and unnatural entrance-exam training they should never have been subjected to, convinced themselves that they had joined the elite, and then formed their ideology within universities dominated by the abnormal individuals described above.

To be continued.