Lost Cause
It's a wrap!
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2001
- Posts
- 30,949
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faced protests Saturday as he marked the 62nd anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa amid outrage over the conservative leader's views on wartime history.
Ahead of his trip to the southern island chain, Okinawa's assembly demanded the education ministry acknowledge that the imperial army forced local people to commit suicide rather than surrender to US invaders in the 83-day battle.
The ministry instructed publishers in March to delete references in high school history textbooks on the forced suicides for lack of documentation -- despite witness accounts backing up the allegations.
Holding banners, some 30 people rallied against Abe's visit outside the war memorial park where he attended a ceremony to mark the end of the bloodiest battle in the Pacific war which left 200,000 people dead.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who is backed by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, also offered veiled criticism.
"To pass on the true picture of the Battle of Okinawa to future generations, bear in mind that we must learn lessons from the war. Each and every one of us must strive every day for peace," Nakaima told the nationally televised ceremony.
Abe, who has led a drive to build a "beautiful nation" proud of its history, used his speech to address one of the island chain's top concerns, the heavy US military presence unseen anywhere else in Japan.
"We must definitely reduce the burden of concentrated US military facilities," Abe said. "We are determined to listen to the earnest voice of people in Okinawa prefecture and steadfastly promote the realignment of US forces in Japan."
Okinawa was under US occupation for 27 years and has since grown into a curious mix as a subtropical vacation paradise and the strategic US "keystone of the Pacific" hosting more than half the 40,500 American troops in Japan.
After the ceremony, the premier told reporters that the textbook issue had been examined by a government council "from a scientific viewpoint".
Abe has faced growing public disillusion with his approval ratings plunging to 30 percent, the lowest since he took office nine months ago, ahead of crucial upper-house elections scheduled for late July.
Abe, Japan's first leader born after World War II, is known for his hawkish views on history and has made it a priority to rewrite the US-imposed postwar pacifist constitution.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070623/wl_asia_afp/japanwwiihistory_070623190008
My Dad's ship got a Gold Battle Star at Okinawa for fending off the Kamikaze attacks- He had nightmares about them until the day he died.
http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/2004/10/zeilin_kamikaze_attack.jpg
Ahead of his trip to the southern island chain, Okinawa's assembly demanded the education ministry acknowledge that the imperial army forced local people to commit suicide rather than surrender to US invaders in the 83-day battle.
The ministry instructed publishers in March to delete references in high school history textbooks on the forced suicides for lack of documentation -- despite witness accounts backing up the allegations.
Holding banners, some 30 people rallied against Abe's visit outside the war memorial park where he attended a ceremony to mark the end of the bloodiest battle in the Pacific war which left 200,000 people dead.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who is backed by Abe's Liberal Democratic Party, also offered veiled criticism.
"To pass on the true picture of the Battle of Okinawa to future generations, bear in mind that we must learn lessons from the war. Each and every one of us must strive every day for peace," Nakaima told the nationally televised ceremony.
Abe, who has led a drive to build a "beautiful nation" proud of its history, used his speech to address one of the island chain's top concerns, the heavy US military presence unseen anywhere else in Japan.
"We must definitely reduce the burden of concentrated US military facilities," Abe said. "We are determined to listen to the earnest voice of people in Okinawa prefecture and steadfastly promote the realignment of US forces in Japan."
Okinawa was under US occupation for 27 years and has since grown into a curious mix as a subtropical vacation paradise and the strategic US "keystone of the Pacific" hosting more than half the 40,500 American troops in Japan.
After the ceremony, the premier told reporters that the textbook issue had been examined by a government council "from a scientific viewpoint".
Abe has faced growing public disillusion with his approval ratings plunging to 30 percent, the lowest since he took office nine months ago, ahead of crucial upper-house elections scheduled for late July.
Abe, Japan's first leader born after World War II, is known for his hawkish views on history and has made it a priority to rewrite the US-imposed postwar pacifist constitution.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070623/wl_asia_afp/japanwwiihistory_070623190008
My Dad's ship got a Gold Battle Star at Okinawa for fending off the Kamikaze attacks- He had nightmares about them until the day he died.
http://beldar.blogs.com/beldarblog/2004/10/zeilin_kamikaze_attack.jpg
