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Why don't the Japanese hate Americans after WWII?

AMCRambler

AMCRambler

Diamond Member
Here we are 60 years after the horrors of WWII and relations between the US and Japan make it seem like the war never happened. It's a beautiful thing, but my god some of the things that went on on both sides during that war were pretty god awful.

I read the book Letters From Iwo Jima and the Japanese commanders on that island were friggin' crazy (eating the organs of US airmen) as was some of the things their soldiers did even just during training. Beheading Chinese prisoners for one.

At the same time I also read about the horrors of the bombing raids the US made on the city of Tokyo using incendiary bombs. Most of the buildings were made of wood which our bombing groups knew and purposely used fire bombs so that the city would burn. Supposedly 16 square miles of the city was burned and over 88,000 people killed, 41,000 wounded and 1,000,000 left homeless. The firebombing raids on Tokyo killed more people then the initial casualties from the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Some of the first hand accounts of people getting caught in the firestorms that engulfed the city are just terrible.

All in all that was one awful war and I hope to hell we've learned from our mistakes. It just boggles the mind that both sides have been able to forgive the things that happened during that awful time.

Wikipedia link in case you're interested
 
I've talked to some japanese people about this issue while i was in Japan and they all said the same thing. The japanese never thought they could ever be beaten. The fact that we never backed down and ended up winning in the end makes them respect us. They are an interesting culture. They assume that everyone is bellow them, but as soon as we showed them that they were not the strongest they looked up to us.
 
Some still don't like us, and some of our people don't like them, but it has to do with moving on. Why do some many people love Germany and German cars? I mean Hitler did kill 6 million Jews.
You can't hold a nation in contempt forever. And I believe part of the reasoning for the Japanese not outright hating us is that after the war, even though they were beaten and in ruins, WE paid to fix their country. If we had left it the way it was, the world would be a lot different right now.
 
Originally posted by: UberNeuman
War is hell.
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Amen. Unfortunately, people have very poor memories and don't even remember the insanity of Viet Nam let alone WWII. It's one of the reasons humans are doomed to continually repeat history.
 
You should watch Grave of the Fireflies... that's an interesting anime movie dealing with the firebombing of Tokyo. There's also a Live Action of it, but I have yet to watch it (I think I have it though...).
 
Because we pay their defense expenses. Have you checked how much of our GDP is spent on defense? They don't have to pay any of theirs.....

(Of course I oversimplify)
 
Originally posted by: andylawcc
cuz they know Toyota Honda and Nissan will one day pown GM, Ford, and Dodge.

revenge is best served cold.
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i, for one, welcome our japanese automotive overlords!
 
Originally posted by: GrantMeThePower
I've talked to some japanese people about this issue while i was in Japan and they all said the same thing. The japanese never thought they could ever be beaten. The fact that we never backed down and ended up winning in the end makes them respect us. They are an interesting culture. They assume that everyone is bellow them, but as soon as we showed them that they were not the strongest they looked up to us.
Click to expand...

Scary thing is this will happen to the US soon, eventually.
 
Why should they? They attacked us first. Yes, I know the history, we were not exactly a nice country with the embargos and all the blah blah blah. But they did attack us first. No, we should not have nuked the targets that we did. But, JP has won economically. They rebounded financially soo freaking fast after we, the USA, gave them billions of $$$ after we nuked them. IMO, we both f**ked up, but they didnt have to attack us the way they did and we didnt have to nuke them years after. So we both probably agreed to just not do that again.
 
I've read various accounts on both sides as well, and its disgusting. I had a grandfather on the Bataan Death March, who witnessed unspeakable atrocities committed against prisoners. There's also the well-publicized war crimes committed in Manchuria and in the Phillipines. Then on the other side you have Truman and the US government murdering a hundred thousand civilians in order to demonstrate US military superiority to the world. Go ahead and make arguments about how the resulting MAD has saved more lives than it cost, but if I were a 1940's Japanese civilian I would be none too impressed with the morality of my enemies.

I really believe that economic prosperity is what allows wounds to be healed. There are countless examples of a country deteriorating after being ravaged by war so that it becomes a breeding ground for nationalism, terrorism, and religious extremism. OTOH when you have a nation rebuilt, you see forgiveness and forward-thinking.
 
Probably because the U.S. went to great lengths to help Japan rebuild. Lots of industry experts from America helped out.
Plus, the only reason we bombed Jap civilians was because that was their manufacturing base. There were shops set up all over, in shrines, restaurants, etc that were cranking out war materials.
 
One reason is after completely crushing the Japanese we handled the occupation and treatment of them with amazingly good treatment.
Hmmm. I wonder why the Iraqis hate us......?

Anyway, its a sins of the father thing. Many Jews buy Mercedes and other German made products both in the US and Israel.
I personally don't avoid IBM products despite IBM being clearly guilty of war crimes and being an accessory to mass murder.
 
Originally posted by: LuckyTaxi
what do they care? they're banking off of us with their merchandises
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Exactly.

Sony, Nintendo, Panasonic, Pioneer, Zojirushi, Tiger, etc... and don't forget cars!

Seriously, name a good American made appliance because even the new washers are LG and Samsung. Mini toaster ovens? Maybe that's all we had but it's kinda sad.
 
Originally posted by: m1ldslide1
I've read various accounts on both sides as well, and its disgusting. I had a grandfather on the Bataan Death March, who witnessed unspeakable atrocities committed against prisoners. There's also the well-publicized war crimes committed in Manchuria and in the Phillipines. Then on the other side you have Truman and the US government murdering a hundred thousand civilians in order to demonstrate US military superiority to the world. Go ahead and make arguments about how the resulting MAD has saved more lives than it cost, but if I were a 1940's Japanese civilian I would be none too impressed with the morality of my enemies.

I really believe that economic prosperity is what allows wounds to be healed. There are countless examples of a country deteriorating after being ravaged by war so that it becomes a breeding ground for nationalism, terrorism, and religious extremism. OTOH when you have a nation rebuilt, you see forgiveness and forward-thinking.
Click to expand...

Arguing morality during a war. That's funny....
 
Originally posted by: Oyeve
Why should they? They attacked us first. Yes, I know the history, we were not exactly a nice country with the embargos and all the blah blah blah. But they did attack us first. No, we should not have nuked the targets that we did. But, JP has won economically. They rebounded financially soo freaking fast after we, the USA, gave them billions of $$$ after we nuked them. IMO, we both f**ked up, but they didnt have to attack us the way they did and we didnt have to nuke them years after. So we both probably agreed to just not do that again.
Click to expand...
They deserved to be bombed and were lucky they didn't get more.
 
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