Germany, Japan demonstrate different approaches to wartime history

German leaders' attendance of the D-Day anniversary ceremonies on June 6 showed that Germany has won forgiveness and praise from the rest of the world by repeated acknowledging its responsibility for World War II. However, Japan, another defeated fascist country, treated its wartime history differently and therefore got what it deserved from its neighboring countries.

"We in Germany know who committed the crime of war," German Chancellor GerhardSchroeder said at the international peace memorial in France last Sunday. "We acknowledge our responsibility before history, and we take it seriously."

Since the end of World War II, Germany has taken full responsibility for war crimes and apologized repeatedly to the countries which it invaded.

Meanwhile, Germany was forgiven gradually by European countries and the rest of the world as a whole. Schroeder's attendance of the D-day celebrations, the first by a German chancellor, capped steady reconciliation spanning nearly two generations.

Schroeder's predecessor Helmut Kohl reportedly turned down an invitation from France in 1994 to attend the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landing due to his countrymen's sensitivity on the event.

"Only those who face up to the past can win the future," Schroeder said, "We should never again permit racism, anti-Semitism and rule by force."

Schroeder also urged his fellow Europeans to look forward and work for a better future.

In contrast, Japan is still trying to cover up its war crimes against Asian peoples and the alienation left by the war still lingers. It makes every bid to whitewash its wartime atrocities. Some rightist extremists even openly beautify and justify the aggressive war and Japan's colonial rule in Asia.

While Schroeder and his country took responsibility for the war seriously, Japanese Prime Minster Junichiro Koizumi visited Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine in the years beginning 2001, and most recently in January.

Asked in parliament in February whether he felt reluctant to visit Yasukuni because it enshrines war criminals, Koizumi said: "I have no such feeling."

The Yasukuni Shrine, located in central Tokyo, is known to honor 14 Class-A World War II criminals, whose hands were stained with the blood of the peoples of Asian countries.

Koizumi proclaimed he had no regrets about visiting the Yasukuni Shrine and that he had no intention to change his ways just because of fierce indignation among the peoples of other Asian countries.

Political analysts here believe that a proper attitude towards history is an important condition for Japan to be trusted and respected by Asia and the international community and the basis for reconciliation between Japan and other Asian nations victimized by Japan's aggression.

They also believe that Japan's reluctance to admit responsibility for war crimes is not helpful to Japan and the peace in the world. If Japan wants to change its embattled situation, Japan should learn from Germany and face up to the history.