RE: Japanese politician: rape was necessary during WW2
May 14, 2013 at 9:59 am
(This post was last modified: May 14, 2013 at 10:03 am by Anomalocaris.)
Yeah, the same guy also said only an absolute dictator can save Japan.
The rise of right wing nationalists such as this guy, and the current Japanese prime minister and deputy prime minister, is the outcome of Japan's slow motion existential crisis. Her international influence is negligible for a country which until recently had the world's second largest economy. Her economic growth has been stagnant for 20 years. She is coming up on a demographic crisis which would squelch any realistic prospect of major economic growth for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile China has overtaken Japan big time economically and in international power and prestige. Worse still, China is expected to continue to rapidly outpace Japan and thus further diminishing Japan's relative importance, while at the same time the Chinese has shown every sign of having never put WWII behind them, and would seek to extract some major retribution/indemnity for Japan's role in WWII in the future, when Chinese power in East Asia would be expected to eclipse the moderating influence of America. So Japan is anxious, and against this backdrop extreme nationalists who would claim Japan never did anything wrong and would championing extra-constitutional authority to "save Japan" would be the natural social and political outcome.
In some way, Japan is right now similar to the weimar republic, except in slow motion and without the street brawls.
The rise of right wing nationalists such as this guy, and the current Japanese prime minister and deputy prime minister, is the outcome of Japan's slow motion existential crisis. Her international influence is negligible for a country which until recently had the world's second largest economy. Her economic growth has been stagnant for 20 years. She is coming up on a demographic crisis which would squelch any realistic prospect of major economic growth for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile China has overtaken Japan big time economically and in international power and prestige. Worse still, China is expected to continue to rapidly outpace Japan and thus further diminishing Japan's relative importance, while at the same time the Chinese has shown every sign of having never put WWII behind them, and would seek to extract some major retribution/indemnity for Japan's role in WWII in the future, when Chinese power in East Asia would be expected to eclipse the moderating influence of America. So Japan is anxious, and against this backdrop extreme nationalists who would claim Japan never did anything wrong and would championing extra-constitutional authority to "save Japan" would be the natural social and political outcome.
In some way, Japan is right now similar to the weimar republic, except in slow motion and without the street brawls.
