Racial Point of View on WWII
A political leader of the Empire of Japan had thought, before the Pearl Harbor attack, that Europeans and Americans could not be trusted.
Europeans and Americans had colonized various parts of Africa and Asia using their advanced weapons. But when the Empire of Japan started to colonize some part of East Asia, they blamed Tokyo so harshly. Europeans and Americans criticized the Empire of Japan for building colonies in barbarous fashion. They regarded those activities by the Empire as an act of barbarism.
Europeans and Americans justified their occupation of African and Asian regions as permitted actions based on their superiority of culture, technology, and military strength. But when the Empire of Japan started to do the same thing in East Asia, they blamed the Empire as an inhuman invader.
Indeed, before the end of WWII, race discrimination was a common practice by Europeans and Americans. Most parts of the world outside Europe were occupied by western powers. No Africans and Asians were respected as the same human beings as the European race. Even Japanese were not so respected as they are today, though the Empire of Japan was the only major non-European country in the League of Nations which had been established after WWI.
So, before WWII, even the Japanese people were well aware of this arrogance of the European race. However, the Japanese people were confident in their ability to absorb and apply the modern European civilization, since the Empire had defeated the Russian Empire in the war made between 1904 and 1905 (with help from the UK).
Accordingly, when the Japanese people heard that the Imperial Navy had successfully attacked US naval bases in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941, they were excited and got extremely glad. The Japanese people thought that they could eradicate western powers from East Asia by force now that the strongest western power the US was hit hard and suppressed by the Imperial military. Though the Imperial Government did not mention anything about how the war against the US would proceed and an armistice would be declared in any future, the Japanese people were very optimistic in the war. They probably thought that this war against the US would become something similar to the Japanese-Russo War that was fought 40 years ago. "The Empire and the US will cease fire while maintaining power and influence on each side and enter negotiations to settle new borders," they vaguely expected.
However, the war ended in August 1945 with the US invasion of Okinawa, atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and USSR's entry into war. Capital Tokyo was devastated by American air raids. The only effective strategy for the Imperial forces was kamikaze attacks which forced pilots to commit a suicide to hit US naval ships with their planes.
Truly, at the end of the Pacific Theater of WWII, the Imperial Navy lost almost all the battle ships and aircraft carriers, though it had thousands of attack planes for the final battle in the mainland. The Imperial Army could still mobilize three million troops in Japan proper in addition to one million troops stationed in China, but there was no hope to stop American invasion into mainland Japan.
So, it was extremely difficult for the Imperial Government and the Emperor to persuade Army generals to surrender to the US as they were determined to fight in the four major islands of Japan till all the resources were lost if it had meant to sacrifice tens of millions of lives, including women and children. It took a very tough course but finally the Emperor himself expressed his will to surrender, and thus leaders of the Imperial military gave up finally. All the Japanese people also followed suit, but nobody was sure how cruel the coming US occupation of Japan would be.
But, to the surprise of the Japanese people, occupation of Japan by US forces after WWII was not so cruel at all. General MacArthur did only execute a handful of top leaders of the Empire (class-A criminals) as retaliation through the Tokyo Tribunal of War Criminals. (The number of Japanese B-class and C-class war criminals who were executed after WWII was about 1,000 in war tribunals set up in various parts of East Asia.) Even the Emperor was not held responsible. The Japanese people naturally accepted the American style of democracy General MacArthur aggressively introduced into Japan so as to suppress Japanese militarism.
In this process after WWII, the Japanese people came to trust the US. The US did not try to get and expand territory and colony in East Asia, though the UK, France and the Netherlands tried to restore their colonial rule in their former colonies in Southeast Asia. In fact, the US allowed its former colony the Philippines to get independent. (The US has kept many military bases in Japan after WWII, though.)
And as the time went by, the world came to adopt prohibition of racial discrimination.
Today nobody thinks that the European race is inherently superior to other races. But, in 1941, even the Japanese race had to attack Pearl Harbor to demonstrate its ability to fight modern warfare like the European race.
http://omoixtukiritekitou.blog79.fc2.com/blog-entry-1275.html
*** *** *** ***
Mat 8:14 And when Jesus was come into Peter's house, he saw his wife's mother laid, and sick of a fever.
Mat 8:15 And he touched her hand, and the fever left her: and she arose, and ministered unto them.