Japanese Younger Generations Urged to Better Understand History

The younger generation in Japan should understand what happened in history, said Yazaki Mitsuharu, whose father was among the Japanese troops and invaded China some 70 years ago.

"However, the Japanese government has not informed them of Japan's history of aggression," said the 42-year-old Japanese, now an official in the Japan-China Friendship Association.

Yazaki is here with a 350-member delegation on the 70th anniversary of the "September 18 Incident", an incident deliberately created by Japanese militarists in 1931, which led to China's 14-year-long war against Japanese aggression.

"Liaoning Province was where Japanese militarists first invaded China," he said, "but for my father, this is also the place where he got a new life."

Yazaki said his father was deeply impressed by the splendid Chinese culture and the broad-minded Chinese people, when he was detained in Fushun city as a prison of war.

"My father then came to realize that such a great nation allows no encroachment," he recalled, "He regretted the aggression right up until he died three years ago."

Yazaki expressed disapproval of Japan's fact-distorting history textbook and Junichiro Koizumi's visit to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, and called for a correct attitude towards history as well as enhancing friendship with China.






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