"A day that will live in infamy." Should Shinzo Abe apologize for Pearl Harbor?

[guacamole]

I haven't found a better article for this yet, as so here you go, from something called "ZNews" (which seems to be an Indian new source) via, in all honestly, Reddit. Ironic apologies given for the "British English" spelling of some of the words:

Source

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will become the first Japanese leader to visit Peal Harbour when he will be in Hawaii on December 26 and 27 for talks with US President Barack Obama.

Abe will honour the war dead at the memorial but will not apoligise for the deadly December 7, 1941 assault on the US naval base. The surprise attached triggered World War II in the pacific.

The Japanese PM's visit to Pearl Harbour comes months after Barack Obama`s historic May trip to Hiroshima.

During the visit, the first by a sitting US president, Obama spoke of the suffering endured by the victims but offered no apology for dropping the world`s first nuclear bomb.

etc.

The article is short enough to read in two or three minutes. It should be noted, in fairness, that Abe apologized (somewhat?) more broadly for WWII when he spoke before congress in 2015:

World War II Memorial

Before coming over here, I was at the World War II Memorial. It was a place of peace and calm that struck me as a sanctuary. The air was filled with the sound of water breaking in the fountains.

In one corner stands the Freedom Wall. More than 4,000 gold stars shine on the wall.

I gasped with surprise to hear that each star represents the lives of 100 fallen soldiers.

I believe those gold stars are a proud symbol of the sacrifices in defending freedom. But in those gold stars, we also find the pain, sorrow, and love for family of young Americans who otherwise would have lived happy lives.

Pearl Harbor, Bataan Corregidor, Coral Sea.... The battles engraved at the Memorial crossed my mind, and I reflected upon the lost dreams and lost futures of those young Americans.

History is harsh. What is done cannot be undone.

With deep repentance in my heart, I stood there in silent prayers for some time.

My dear friends, on behalf of Japan and the Japanese people, I offer with profound respect my eternal condolences to the souls of all American people that were lost during World War II.

I hadn't heard or read the speech before until I'd seen in it that Reddit thread. I suppose it's debatable whether or not that last line in the citation is the classic "sorry/not sorry" non-apology. But I'm more interested in this question:

To what extent is an apology for the wrongs of the past required for the descendants of the perpetrators?

When is history so far gone that there is no point to the apology?

Of course, Obama didn't apologize for Hiroshima when he went to Japan in 2015. Here is the transcript. Here is the closest I think that he gets in the speech to showing remorse for the sins of the past:

That is why we come to this place. We stand here in the middle of this city and force ourselves to imagine the moment the bomb fell. We force ourselves to feel the dread of children confused by what they see. We listen to a silent cry. We remember all the innocents killed across the arc of that terrible war and the wars that came before and the wars that would follow.

Mere words cannot give voice to such suffering. But we have a shared responsibility to look directly into the eye of history and ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again.

I'm irritated by Obama's appeal to moral growth which is pointless sans objective morality. What he and other moral relativists are really talking about is "moral change"--that is objectively neither better nor worse. So on the one hand I hope that we grow morally, but on the other hand, appeals to moral growth from most post-modern thought is foolish.

I think Abe's speech is interesting because is shows, perhaps in post-war pragmatism but perhaps not, that reconciliation (which I assume is what we would all agree is the actual point of an apology) is possible without a formal apology. Sometimes deeds of friendship are all the apology needed.

So...

Pros/Cons:Yes/No

Historical apologies?

fwiw,
guacamole

[seer]

Of course not, Shinzo Abe did not order the attack. He wasn't even born yet...

[JB DoulosChristou]

I'm inclined to think that Abe's and Obama's remarks, in light of the current relationship between Japan and the USA, are quite sufficient.

(Also worth noting is that Prime Minister Abe's grandfather was an ardent political opponent of the general who gave the orders for Pearl Harbor.)

[guacamole]

Well. Who are we going to shout at if no disagrees with us?

[JB DoulosChristou]

Well. Who are we going to shout at if no disagrees with us?

This is TWeb. We always find a way...

[TheWall]

I think japan and china are the ones who need to get together and forgive each other.

[guacamole]

I think japan and china are the ones who need to get together and forgive each other.

Yeah, as long as the Communist Party can still use the Japanese of the past to unite their people, they won't.

[rogue06]

Yeah, as long as the Communist Party can still use the Japanese of the past to unite their people, they won't.

IIRC, the Chinese have been clamoring for even an acknowledgement of the Rape of Nanking during WWII. Something like that might go a long way to defuse things and make it harder for the communists to portray the Japanese as the same society from 70-80 years ago.

[seer]

IIRC, the Chinese have been clamoring for even an acknowledgement of the Rape of Nanking during WWII. Something like that might go a long way to defuse things and make it harder for the communists to portray the Japanese as the same society from 70-80 years ago.

Rape, what rape? It was just a couple of Japanese soldiers out on a lark!

[guacamole]

IIRC, the Chinese have been clamoring for even an acknowledgement of the Rape of Nanking during WWII. Something like that might go a long way to defuse things and make it harder for the communists to portray the Japanese as the same society from 70-80 years ago.

I figured when the Chinese gave the Japanese a couple of pandas that it was all water under the bridge. I mean, if you're giving out pandas, that kinda means I forgive you.

[Sparko]

No, the Japanese today did not bomb America. Just like the Germans today did not kill the Jews. It is better left in the past. Showing respect and giving condolences are all that are needed. It was a horrible war and many people on both sides died. Those that caused the evil are destroyed and the rest of us are left to make and live in peace. That is the best thing we can do for those who gave their lives.

[rogue06]

I figured when the Chinese gave the Japanese a couple of pandas that it was all water under the bridge. I mean, if you're giving out pandas, that kinda means I forgive you.

Unless they're really spies or secret agents like some of those roguetech may or may not have bio-transmutated during a contest of topping each other for bizarre (but successful!) experiments.

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