Prince's Comments

From Yahoo:
"Japan crown prince warns on 'correct' history"

Japan's crown prince has warned of the need to remember World War II "correctly", in a rare foray into an ideological debate as nationalist politicians seek to downplay the country's historic crimes. In an unusual intervention in the discussion, Naruhito's mild-mannered broadside was being interpreted in some circles as a rebuke to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a key figure in the right-wing drive to minimise the institutionalised system of wartime sex slavery. "Today when memories of war are set to fade, I reckon it is important to look back our past with modesty and pass down correctly the miserable experience and the historic path Japan took from the generation who know the war to the generation who don't," Naruhito said. The comments, released Monday on the prince's 55th birthday come as Abe's controversial views on history roil relations with China and South Korea, and cause unease in Washington. Abe has openly said he wants a more sympathetic telling of the history of the first half of the 20th century, a period marked by brutal expansionism in Asia and warring with China and the West. The prime minister last week appointed a 16-member panel to advise him on a statement he is set to make later this year to mark the 70th anniversary of Japan's surrender.  Abe has said he will largely stand by Tokyo's previous apologies, but amid growing anger in China and South Korea over the "comfort women" system, speculation is mounting that he will seek to downplay the issue. Mainstream historians agree that up to 200,000 women, predominantly from Korea, were forced into sexual slavery during WWII. Right wing Japanese insist there is no documentary proof that the Japanese state or its military were involved in the system on the Korean peninsula and reject official guilt. That position, which is hardening, angers South Korea and China. Both countries will be carefully watching any official pronouncement on the war. While Japan's newspapers remained staid in their coverage of Naruhito's comments, social media users leapt on them.

 

^ Denying the war crimes the Japanese did during World War 2 is the same as denying the war crimes the Germans did. None of it should be allowed. It's good to see the crown prince making a rare statement about his country's role during the war. (especially considering his grandfather was king at that time.) It is very important for officials as well as regular people to remember the good and the bad of their country's past. The Japanese Government tends to try and brush everything under the rug and hope no one notices or remembers. It is only through great people like the crown prince that Japan can fully make amends for their dark past and gain the respect of the whole world. ^

http://news.yahoo.com/japan-crown-prince-warns-correct-history-060303976.html