With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

An honest Japanese effort to own up to history, says Chinese paper

Journalists ask questions and get answers. But answers to some questions are tough to come by as Yomiuri Shimbun's special project team found.

Why did Japan plunge into the quagmire of what the Japanese call the "Sino-Japanese War" and what actually was the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression?

Why did Japan wage war against the US despite lacking resources?

What caused the Japanese military to go on "kamikaze" attacks?

Could Japan have prevented the atomic bomb attacks?

Was the Tokyo Tribunal beset by problems?

For answers to these and many other questions, it was necessary to re-examine Japan's responsibility and pinpoint those who were to blame for the war that killed a great number of people and caused boundless suffering across Asia Pacific. And that's exactly what Yomiuri Shimbun group chairman Tsuneo Watanabe started in the summer of 2005.

Watanabe was opposed to the war as a student, but he was forced to become "one of the Imperial Japanese Army's last group of privates" to prepare to fight US troops on Japanese soil.
Read entire article at China Daily