Forum - View topicINTEREST: Ghibli Producer Suzuki Discusses 'Western Influence,' War Loss
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Nemo_N
Posts: 272 |
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Hey, why don't we try dropping nuclear bombs on every "awful country" on the planet? That will certainly make them better! |
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Zump
Posts: 131 |
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Please don't take other people's quotes out of context. That being said, I am very much looking forward to the Blu-Ray release of Totoro. It'll probably be a while before it makes it to the U.S., but it'll be worth the wait. |
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Nineofclubs
 Posts: 78 |
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nice to see an interesting perspective.
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050795
 Posts: 230 |
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^second that. You really don't have a clue do you.  Do you even know what Japan's government was like during the war? Akira Kurosawa and others have said the same thing that is was a good thing Japan lost. I tend to agree that is was probably for the best I hate to think what Japan would be like today if they had continued down that path.
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Nemo_N
Posts: 272 |
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Since we are comparing it to an alternate universe Japan we will never know. Had anyone seen the US during the Civil War he could have reasonably conclude that the country would have ceased to exist as it was in a few years. Or that there was no way a black president could ever be elected. More important, Japan didn't become a great country because it lost the war but despite of it. If someone kills one your sons you don't go around saying how good it was that it happened because it made you love your other children more. Japan is the country that it is today because of its people's resilience and hard work not because a part of its inhabitants were incinerated by bombs. |
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Spoofer
 Posts: 356 Location: NY |
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He didn't say he was glad that his country got nuked, he said he was glad that Japan wasn't successful at enslaving their share of the @#%&ing world.
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Nemo_N
Posts: 272 |
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Oh, so he is separating the means from the ends. Okay. |
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luffypirate
 Posts: 3187 |
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English dialogue and subtitles will be included on the Japanese set. No need to wait. |
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Kikaioh
 Posts: 1205 Location: Antarctica |
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It's one thing to love anime and Japanese culture (for over a decade I've been and continue to be a passionate fan), but something totally different to overlook or sugar-coat their history. The rise of anime and manga, and Tezuka's influential pacifistic nature, were all greatly affected by the war and Japan's eventual surrender. You can imagine the world would be quite a different place today if Germany succeeded in conquering all of Europe, and it would very much so be the same if Japan had won the war in the Pacific. Maybe you're not too aware of WWII history in regards to Japan, and if so, you might want to look up the darker aspects of the war, such as the rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, the Three Alls policy, as well as Japanese culture and beliefs during the time period. For the duration of the second Sino-Japanese War and WWII (and I encourage others to correct me if I mistake anything, since I'm a bit rusty with the history), Japan was an Imperialistic, occupying aggressor that viewed most of the Asian Pacific rim as resource-rich countries populated by inferior races of peoples --- while considering themselves a chosen, pure race of people, bestowed with honorary Aryan-hood by Hitler himself. Not only did Japan ally itself with Nazi Germany, it was the first to declare war on the US after preemptively attacking Pearl Harbor. Japan was rife with intense militaristic nationalism and an Imperialist cult that crafted a fanatic state religion around the Emperor. This surely wasn't the stance for all Japanese at the time, but it was the commanding tone of the era, and a driving force behind their occupation policies. Japan was a very different nation during WWII, and in many ways became emasculated from their aggressive/racist nature when they lost the war. Surrender transformed Japanese culture to one of worldly obeisance and pacifism. Western mandates such as the Shinto directive built a separation between Church and State in Japan, removing the "Emperor is God" propaganda of the time. The country was additionally forbidden to have a standing army or to declare war, contributing factors to the general pacification of the country as a whole. My understanding is that Osamu Tezuka, the 'god of manga' that was immensely influential in the overall development of the manga and anime industries, was largely affected by his own experiences during WWII, which drove him towards a pacifistic nature that became a cornerstone for many of his woks. Being a fan of Japan doesn't mean you have to jump to its defense when it comes to their history. I think it's important to be honest about the past, and appreciate the present for what it's become. Unless I'm misunderstanding the context, that seems to be the attitude I see from Toshio Suzuki here, and one I ascribe to myself. |
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faintsmile1992
 Posts: 295 Location: England |
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Japanese are susceptible to the same self hate westerners are. Since WW2 Japan has been treated like shit by America, which is doubtless why they turned to Europe for their Western influences.
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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This thought can be applied to all of us. The past needs understanding, to ignore it will only cause it to repeat in some form or another. Japan today is not what it was 60+ years ago, neither is the U.S., nor England, France, Italy or Germany. Much worse could have happened instead of what actually did happen over the past decades. At least on Earth, when viewed from orbit, there are not glassy black spots where cities used to be. The truly good worthwhile hard work for us all is to keep it that way. Mark Gosdin |
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ScruffyKiwi
 Posts: 709 Location: New Zealand |
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Japan had already lost long before any nukes were dropped. It just shortened the campaign by a month or two. Also if you want to talk about deaths, a hell of a lot more died in the fire bombing of Tokyo than the nukes. |
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Blood-
 Bargain Hunter Posts: 24167 |
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Okay so today's "Incredibly Stupid Post" contest is over - we have a winner.
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Spoofer
Posts: 356 Location: NY |
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And you're, what, separating the 20-35 million innocent civilian deaths that Japan was directly responsible for during the Second Sino-Japanese War/WWII, as well as all the other forms of oppression, death, and destruction they caused, from the actions taken to put an end to it? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes I'm sure the countless millions who died at the hands of the Japanese during that period would have wished Japan had lost far sooner. And you're saying it's wrong for anyone, Japanese or otherwise, to regret the actions Japan employed directly preceeding and during WWII, and to be thankful that their absurdly globally-detrimental mentality was checked and forced to come to an end? The quoted comment has absolutely nothing to do with what it took for Japan to lose the war. It quite obviously has to do with them regretting their mentality and their actions.
Assigning these posts as winner for the day isn't doing them justice. |
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TarsTarkas
 Posts: 5936 Location: Virginia, United States |
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Your first post was crap. Continuing to defend yourself about it is only digging yourself a bigger hole. You are attacking a man whose comments were quite moderate and are probably accepted by many, including me. |
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