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2026-05-04 China-Japan-Koreas

'Kill and Burn.' Why the Emperor of Japan Wasn't Hanged for Warmongering

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Posted by badanov 2026-05-04 00:00|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [1767 views ] Top

1 From the late 1920s to the early 1940s, Tokyo was already preparing for global aggression

Can you say Comintern

Nice piece by those who invaded Poland, the Baltic States, and attacked Finland. Well documented the Soviet actions.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-05-04 06:54|| 2026-05-04 06:54|| Front Page Top

2 John Toland's 2 volume book 'The Rising Sun' describes Hirohito as someone who did have absolute the power, but almost never used it. There was even a serious attempt by army officers to kidnap Hirohito after he ordered Japan's surrender, in an effort to continue the war. While it's been sometime since I've read the book, the prime minister and others went to Hirohito with a decision already made and Hirohito pretty much rubber stamped everything. I doubt he knew the details of what was going on, the PM & others tended to only give him news that put them in a postive light.

Posted by Chantry 2026-05-04 09:34|| 2026-05-04 09:34|| Front Page Top

3 ^ That can happen when you surround yourself with syncophants.

Posted by Skidmark 2026-05-04 09:59|| 2026-05-04 09:59|| Front Page Top

4 The same Chinese who will tell you about Nanjing will also tell you about the Opium Wars. Some of those same Chinese killed more of their own people than the Japanese ever could have.

Japan was merely the latest entrant into the Great Game of Empires. Earlier contestants included Great Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Netherlands and, yes, Russia. Maybe shouldn't forget the Turks while we're at it, or the Americans for that matter except the Americans called their conquests states or territories instead of colonies.

When Commodore Perry first arrived in Japan, that country was a mostly rural, pastoral society divided into several shogunates. Perry made it clear to the Japanese that they could be colonized by Europeans, or Americans, just like India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Indochina, Hong Kong, Burma, Malaysia, Macau, etc. By then Japan was one of the few Asian nations that had yet to be colonized. Long before the outset of WWII, Hawaii, Guam and the Philippines had become American territories.

So the Japanese established a centralized government by giving power to the emperor. They modernized, industrialized, militarized and established their own empire. What crimes did they commit that all those other imperial powers did not?

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-05-04 12:59|| 2026-05-04 12:59|| Front Page Top

5 Some of those same Chinese killed more of their own people than the Japanese ever could have.

Taiping Rebellion

The Chinese thought they were culturally superior and the European were unwashed barbarians. The Japanese came to the realization that it was the European institutions. They sent 'teams' out to get the technology and methodologies. They divided up their institutions by clans with the first taking the army, the second the navy, and others to banking, railroads, and industries. Yes, they did follow the pattern of the Europeans.

Posted by Procopius2k 2026-05-04 13:21|| 2026-05-04 13:21|| Front Page Top

6 They sent their best and brightest to Europe to learn of European ways. They learned quickly.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-05-04 13:24|| 2026-05-04 13:24|| Front Page Top

7 @3 Possibly, but that's not the impression I got.

Guess it all depends on what sources are used, if they are correct and was the author objective

Posted by Chantry 2026-05-04 14:06|| 2026-05-04 14:06|| Front Page Top

8 Putin is obviously not the only world leader who should beef up security to prevent a coup or assassination.

Posted by Abu Uluque 2026-05-04 14:24|| 2026-05-04 14:24|| Front Page Top

23:50 Skidmark
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