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China and South Korea have excoriated Japan over its approval of new school books which they say whitewash the atrocities committed during Japanese occupation. The lingering bitterness over Japan’s past imperialism still threatens to mar relations between the big East Asian powers.

This is interesting Polycarp, IMO one of the most inglorious episodes of any nation was the Rape of Nanking, I know the chinese (quite rightly IMO) are still bitter about it.

I occassionaly attend veterans meetings and social events and it is interesting to me that ex servicemen who were imprisoned or fought against the germans or italians are much more forgiving thatn those who had the same experiences against Japan.

I think it was the sheer brutality of the Japanese more than the scale of deaths that affects people even so long after the event.

Imperial Japan's abhorrent legacy in Asia will take as many generations to erase as will Germany regarding it's crimes against Europe and Africa. The much more 'racially pure' east Asian countries will take much longer to digest this era in history. Japan's treatment of Koreans, Chinese, Filipinos and others should be taught to every student in Japan. But until the US teaches the truth about Vietnam and Iraq plus our involvement in assasinations, coups and stoking the fires of civil war we have no right to point fingers at another imperial criminal like Japan.