Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

I watched the Masters this year and thought it must have been pretty exciting for Japan. Here is what I cannot understand: The Japanese people are so gracious and humble. The caddie bowed to the audience and I have seen this humble expression many times from Japanese performers. As a whole the Japanese people seem so gentle and unassuming. Yet during WWII the Japanese warriors were inhuman in their treatment of prisoners. I know the Germans did some really bad things as well, but the cruelty of the Japanese was unmatched. The forced marches, the disregard of the Geneva Convention, and the starvation of prisoners was unbelievable. The two faces of the Japanese do not seem to be compatible.

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

The 'Allies' committed their share of atrocities as well, but in any war history is written by the victors,
Just a small correction; the caddie actually bowed to the 'course' as a mark of respect to the game, not the audience.

jaymatt Loc: Alexandria, Indiana

The war was over seventy-some years ago; times and people change.

NMGal Loc: NE NM

The sins of the fathers should not be carried forward.

le boecere

Could it be that one of the "faces" you believe you're seeing is actually a mask?

Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA

Possibly, but the mask is on which face?

Canisdirus

It's a combination of the Bushido code and religion...which led to an obscene amount of racism towards other neighboring cultures.
The code was a perfect way to provide absolute devotion to their God...the emperor...who was infallible.
The Japanese were highly racist ... far more than the average German...or anyone else at the time.

It's the perfect combination for atrocities on a HUGE scale.

ClarkJohnson Loc: Fort Myers, FL and Cohasset, MA

The Japanese have a deep certainty of their own superiority. The “humility” that gets displayed is the result of an overcrowded, homogeneous and hierarchical society that demands strict etiquettes for interpersonal relations. In wartime, such niceties are irrelevant.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No comparison.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Don't confuse a code of social behavior with what people are really like. Many people in this country seem polite and genteel, but they would stab you in the back. There is a world of difference between manners and behavior. I have seen "polite" people become vicious when someone else wasn't polite enough.

Bull Schmidt

time fortunately heals most wounds.. unfortunately you forgot to mention the muslims.
they like killing anyone who does not agree the there religion

Tex-s

None of what I'm about to type is actually differentiated by race, gender, age, or any other demographic means of disaggregating data. I'm just citing convenient examples.

People are remarkably able to compartmentalize their actions based on context. I have athletes every year that exemplify this idea. Some of my most violent football performers are exceedingly gentle with their own pets, siblings, and friends. Different context.

The Uruguayan rugby team that crashed in the Andes in 1972 had survivors resort to cannibalism to survive. Without context, cannibalism is abhorrent, and with context, it's perfectly understandable.

Looking back at wars, I have have no way to evaluate context. Therefore, I don't look at any war-time choice as representative of the person (or people) overall. Were I inclined to judge a group generally, I'd look more to cultural norms like educational focus, parenting norms, general discipline of the youth, civic engagement, religious devotion, the focus on family, and the roles and responsibilities permitted to women in the culture. Looking at the Japanese as a culture of these many things paints a very favorable picture, one far at odds with the outlier image of war atrocities.

Dannj

I saw a great golfer win his first major tournament against a field of talented professionals.

Tdearing Loc: Rockport, TX

Recently reread John Tolands "The Rising Sun" it was in my humble opinion a balanced and in depth(1,600pp) appraisal of the Japanese people and culture; and apart from the war itself much time was spent analyzing the behavior of the soldiers, and the conflicts within the society as it related to the military and bushido influence. No apologies were made for the behavior, rather much insight was given on that period of Japanese history.

Fayle Loc: Seward, Alaska and Rionegro, Colombia

There is comparison if you can disregard the time difference.
Our government committed its own atrocities against its own citizens that were equally as appalling as what the Japanese did during WW2.

A quick Google search will reveal several comparisons between the "Bataan Death March" and the "Trail of Tears".

Those who do not learn from history can always get a job at Fox News.