By Zhong Sheng
Toshio Tamogami, a former chief of staff of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and a well-known far-right figure, recently posted claims asserting that the US had "framed Japan" over the attack on Pearl Harbor. The post garnered numerous likes and comments in a short time. His remarks are by no means an isolated case. Rather, they reflect a long-standing and calculated effort by Japan's right wing to distort and whitewash its history of aggression. They also serve as a mirror, revealing the Japanese right wing's persistent refusal to acknowledge war crimes and its lingering resentment over Japan's defeat.
Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, which triggered the Pacific War. It is a settled historical fact. In 1941, without issuing a declaration of war, Japan launched a surprise military attack on Pearl Harbor, destroying several major US warships and causing numerous casualties among US troops. The then US Secretary of State Cordell Hull condemned Japan for resorting to all sorts of sophistries, blatantly distorting the facts and never taking responsibility for its actions. The then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in a fireside chat , stated: "And no honest person, today or a thousand years hence, will be able to suppress a sense of indignation and horror at the treachery committed by the military dictators of Japan, under the very shadow of the flag of peace borne by their special envoys in our midst ."
After the war, instead of engaging in serious reflection, Japan's right wing sought to whitewash wartime crimes, reshape collective memory to fit its own narrative, and challenge the foundations of the postwar international order.
The first tactic is to distort cause and effect. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan issued a declaration of war against the US and the UK, constructing a false logic: Japan "rose up" only to "survive and defend itself" because the US and the UK continuously increased their economic and military threats against Japan. Even after defeat, Japanese war criminals still clung to the "self-defense" argument. Over the decades, this militarist falsehood has not been eradicated but has quietly taken root and spread. The Yushukan Museum at Yasukuni Shrine has long promoted this argument: the US, the UK, China, and the Netherlands formed the "ABCD encirclement" of Japan, and although Japan tried to avoid war, it ultimately had to take a gamble. Conspiracy theories such as "the attack on Pearl Harbor was a trap set by the US to drag Japan into war" still have a large market in Japanese right-wing circles.
The second tactic is to glorify atrocities. Even during the war, Japanese militarism fabricated narratives to "justify" its military action against the US: the war was not only for Japan's "self-preservation and self-defense," but also a "war of liberation" representing the conflict between Asian people and European and US colonizers. "I feel that I committed no wrong. I feel I did what was right and true." These were the last words Tōjō Hideki uttered during his trial in 1948. More than 80 years after Japan's defeat, the Japanese right wing's whitewashing of the war has never ceased. Even today, the Japanese right wing still firmly believes in the "glorious dream" woven by militarism. Inside the Yasukuni Shrine, the binoculars used by Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku commander of the Japanese Combined Fleet during the attack on Pearl Harbor, and the letters he wrote are still displayed prominently, worshipped by believers.
The third tactic is the manipulation of concepts. Thoroughly reckoning with Japan's war crimes is an essential requirement for upholding justice. However, Japan's right wing forces get the drop on the victims, using the banner of "reconciliation" to attempt to sever ties with its history of aggression, implying that victimized nations of militarism should not dwell on historical issues. While promoting "peace," the Japanese right-wing forces simultaneously smear neighboring countries, exaggerating a "survival-threatening situation," thus creating momentum for abandoning the post-war pacifist path. They have even adopted the guise of "loyal allies," using cooperation with US forces as a pretext to push for the loosening of restrictions on collective self-defense and accelerate military expansion. Beneath this facade lies a highly dangerous strategic calculation. The Japanese right wing, which has never accepted defeat and still commemorates the planners of the Pearl Harbor attack as heroes, can hardly be expected to remain indefinitely submissive to so-called allies across the Pacific.
Japanese militarism is insidious and cunning. The Japanese right wing's distortion of history is consistent and indiscriminate. Attempts to overturn the historical verdict on the attack on Pearl Harbor are merely one example. From denying history to the dangerous strategic shift currently underway, everything behind it is an attempt by Japan's right wing to rehabilitate and revive militarism.
Editor's note: Originally published on people.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.