The Comfort Women Issue

[Gaijin Punch]

Going to try to be better about popping in here. Not gaming much but still interested in Japan, read about Japan, etc. etc. That being said, one big issue that I'm actually shocked about is the comfort women issue seems to have been resolved... sort of. While the J-govt has said they will give some dough to Korea, it is continegent on one thing. Anyone want to take any guesses as to whether they will reach an agreement with China over the number of casualties in Nanking?

[layzee]

Your link is broken now (if it wasn't before) but I'm guessing we're referring to the recent "agreement" between Japan and Korea. I put the word agreement in quotes because it ended up, predictably enough, anything but (i.e. the Korean side are, again, claiming that Japan's apology was not sincere, and Japanese government official(s) are, again, making statements/comments that are not conducive to furthering the cause of the agreement).

As for the giving of dough to Korea by Japan, the amount being given pretty insignificant and more of a token gesture (but better than nothing eh). In case you didn't know (I certainly didn't), Japan already gave lots of aid/money re: comfort women a long time ago to the Korean government, which was a dictatorship at the time. Instead of giving the money to the victims, the government used it for infrastructure/the economy in general, and I'm sure, they also enriched themselves in the process.

Overall, I think these three Asian countries are far too nationalistic and too lacking in humility/self-reflection/self-criticism to ever reach an agreement/consensus. Furthermore, there are too many political ("domestic scene looks pretty bad... quick! blame the foreigners/Japan!") and financial ("gib money pls") incentives for Korea and China to ever stop pushing the issue. Further furthermore, any Japanese person who was directly involved in the past wars are by now, getting very old or already dead (and the same could be said of the Chinese/Korean war victims) so understandably, the average Japanese citizen would be getting annoyed about being asked to apologise for their ancestor's actions (e.g. sins of the fathers). Seeing as how hatred of Japan is embedded into Chinese and Korean society to a great extent (seems to begin at elementary school students) and also taking into account the aforementioned political/financial aspects, I don't think the issue will ever be truly resolved to all parties' satisfaction. At best, I would say that the whole situation will simply die with a whimper, as the people directly involved in the past wars, literally die.

[Gaijin Punch]

That's hilarious.... pretty sure that thing went WAY south. South Korea started posting a bunch of anti-Japanese shit online and Japan was like, "Oh no you didn't...". Not sure if it got a full retraction but they said unless the media stopped the circus they weren't giving yen 1.

Predictable though... not sure if it's Asia in general, but it's just crusty old dudes running the show. The sad thing is is that it's a mirror image of the private sector. Met up with a friend that used to live in Japan, translates for a living, etc. etc. Talked about the nightmare stories of working for a Japanese company. I guess if they were still crushing it I'd give them props, but they're doing the same bullshit and think someone the 80's are coming back. Get real.