hm

Today in Japanese History we began looking at World War 2, and more specifically, Japanese atrocities. And I purposefully forgo the use of quotation marks.

Simply, I felt sick to my stomach looking at the pictures and hearing the explanations. The Rape of Nanking: at least one hundred thousand chinese massacred by the Japanese without remorse. they turned it into a game. One of the reasons, the professor told us, was the brutal treatment of incoming soldiers by their superiors. for the first six months of their time in the army they were beaten, punched, kicked, treated like dirt. they were bound to take it out on somebody. Unit 731 - biological warfare testing area, where people were injected with bacteria, and then cut open, without antiseptics, to see what happened inside. the pictures were just hideous.

And the reason it made me sick is because I feel like I've made a second home for myself within their culture, however superficially. and to now learn of that culture's history of brutal and unthinkable violence, i feel like it's a part of me as well.

I also realise how uncomfortable they must be with their own history, the new generation. unlike the germans with the jews, who left as soon as they could, japan was still in the midst of the asia they were so violent against. they deal with it every day, in business, politics, culture, everything, and it is awful. I understand why they are so accepting, so quick to be nice to anybody, where this comes from.

I wish it didn't come from there, but now I see that it does. I love that country and now I know more of its history. I suppose a better understanding will lead to a deeper relationship, and i hope to be able to do that.

human beings can be ghastly creatures - better in history than in the present, i would say.