@nessiejudge What you have done is, needless to say, unforgivable.
Do you know the details of the harm she suffered?
Do you have the right to reopen the wounds of the bereaved family and those involved?
You can apologize and say “next time,” but for her, there was no next time.
August 15, 2025
Today marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Greater East Asia War.
The number of Japanese citizens who still hold clear memories of that war has dwindled to a mere handful. Those who were adults at the time of Japan’s surrender are now over 100 years old, and it can be said that the Greater East Asia War has become a part of history. However, to prevent such tragedies from recurring, it is necessary to reflect on how that war began. Yet, it can also be said that the Japanese government has avoided this reckoning.
The direct cause of the Greater East Asia War was the United States’ total oil embargo imposed in August 1941. At the time, Japan relied on the U.S. for 80 percent of its oil consumption. To have this supply cut off was tantamount to the “death” of the nation. While the exact amount of Japan’s oil reserves at the time is unclear, even if there had been enough for six months, economic activity in Japan would likely have ground to a halt by February 1942. Naturally, the U.S. government was fully aware of this.
Faced with this situation, Japan had two choices: accept the demands of the U.S. Hull Note or invade the Dutch East Indies to secure oil fields.
Had Japan accepted the Hull Note, immediate collapse might have been avoided, but a slow death would have been inevitable. In such a scenario, Japan, like nearly all other non-white peoples of the world at the time, would likely have fallen under the domination of Western powers.
The world at the beginning of the 20th century was vastly different from the one we see today. Most non-white peoples in Asia, Africa, and Latin America did not have independent nations and were under the control of Western powers, subject to relentless exploitation.
The history of colonial domination by European powers dates back to the 15th century, the so-called “Age of Exploration.” By the 19th century, these powers had colonized most regions inhabited by non-white peoples. From their perspective, Japan, located in the Far East, was the last “untouched land.”
In the late 19th century, Japan’s isolationist policies were forcibly ended by the arrival of Commodore Perry’s U.S. East India Squadron (the Black Ships), and the nation fought desperately to avoid colonization.
At that time, “might makes right” was the norm—a world of “survival of the fittest.” The Meiji government adopted a policy of “enrich the nation, strengthen the military” and promoted industrialization. As a result, Japan achieved modernization at an unprecedented pace, catching up with the West and preserving its independence.
In the early 20th century, Japan fought Russia in the Russo-Japanese War—the first time Japan waged war against a white nation. Had Japan been defeated, it could have become a Russian colony or, later, part of the Soviet Union, sharing the fate of Central Asian republics or autonomous regions. At the time, it was considered natural for white powers to dominate non-white peoples.
Yet Japan defeated Russia. This shocked the West and instilled great hope in non-white peoples worldwide.
Following this, at the peace conference after World War I, Japan advocated for the inclusion of a clause in the League of Nations covenant to eliminate discrimination based on skin color. It is a point of pride that Japan was the first nation to propose the concept of racial equality, now a globally accepted principle. Regrettably, this effort was blocked by the United States and the United Kingdom.
Japan’s victory in the Russo-Japanese War and its status as a victor in World War I heightened Western nations’ wariness of Japan. In particular, the U.S. began to view Japan as a potential adversary, clashing over interests in Manchuria and implementing anti-Japanese policies domestically.