Todays Top Storiesddd
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Hiroshima Ex-Mayor Opposes U.S.-Japan Nuclear and Iraq Policies, Yasukuni Visits
A quite remarkable series of statements that should (but won’t) embarrass the leadership of the first country to suffer the effects of an atomic bombing in wartime.
Excerpts:
“...despite the unprecedented destruction caused by the nuclear bombs dropped on us, Japan continues to stick with the security provided by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, even as our nation officially opposes the idea of possessing or testing nuclear weapons.”
“Sixty years after the atomic bombings, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi continues to visit Yasukuni Shrine-which enshrines the nation’s war dead, including Class-A war criminals-shrugging off the past as something we should not cling to.
Yet the prime minister and the politicians who support his visits have yet to spend much time reflecting on all the pain and sadness that Japan’s past actions caused so many people.
Koizumi tells us he is praying for peace when he visits Yasukuni Shrine. If he is indeed serious about wanting peace, the very least he should do is stop supporting war.
Japan must regain trust
To that end, Koizumi should withdraw the Self-Defense Forces from Iraq, reduce the number and size of U.S. military bases in Japan and work to ensure that nuclear weapons are abolished around the world.”
Japanese Court Again Rejects Germ Warfare Damages, Acknowledges Crime Itself
TOKYO The Tokyo High Court rejected on Tuesday demands from Chinese plaintiffs for compensation and an apology from Japan’s government for biological warfare in China before and during World War II.
The court, however, backed a landmark ruling in 2002 that recognized that Japan had carried out biological warfare during the war, something the Japanese government has never officially acknowledged.
Story continues... Also, you can read about the2002 ruling here. There are many articles on Japanese history here and historical memory here. Not only foreign victims of Japan’s colonialism suffer, as shown in the recent story, Japanese Court Rejects Funds for War Orphans.
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
Introducing Japan IndyMedia-CfBfBȀЉ
Indymedia Japan is a site where the readers join the editors in making available news and commentary about social and political issues/activism in Japan.インディメディアは、自由に記事の投稿ができるサイトです.
Ken Masuoka’s Website/ ṽy[W"̏Љ
From Indonesia to Iraq, Ken Masuoka’s respected translations of articles originally published outside Japan bring to the Japanese speaker information not provided by many other Japanese language sources, let alone English ones.
Introducing CNIC (Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center)
With both English and 日本語 sections, this website will keep you up-to-date on not only the dangers of nuclear energy but also the corruption within the government/nuclear industry. Like other websites and journals introduced here, much or what is offered cannot be found in the mainstream press. The website is produced by professionals, so there is little if any hyperbole that might be expected from anti-nuclear activists. That makes this site even more valuable.
Introducing People’s Plan Japonesia
Although not frequestly updated, yet another source of enlightened commentary is PPJ. With recent articles on “Bashing Gender Equality: Establishing a System that Skews the Population on All Sides,” which talks about the ruling party’s attempts to toy with the gender equality that is supposedly enshrined in the country’s constitution, or “Japan should turn back from a collision course with Asian neighbors--Perception of history and anti-Japan demonstrations in China,” the reader is provided a perspective rarely offered in the mainstream press.
