The ambivalence of Japan

[xomputer]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArBnANCuGHw]YouTube - Takeshima???? No, it's indeed an island of Korea!!![/ame]
Japan, harshly devastated by the massive earthquake on March 11st, is now raising the conflicting issue of Dokdo.Neglecting the historical facts and the truth, Japan has been claiming that Dokdo belongs to its territory since Shinla dynasty around 500A.D and this has been the major territorial dispute between South Korea and Japan.Against the Japanese governments argument, some conscientious politicians, scholars, and citizens acknowledged that Dokdo is not Japanese territory either directly or indirectly.
Japan's claim on Dokdo is apparently wrong as it happened last year August 10th that Japanese Prime minister Naoto Kan said on the day of 100th anniversary of Japanese annexation of Korea,
"We apologize to South Korea for colonial rule and attempts to destory its own culture, which critically hurted South Korea people's pride.
Some Japanese right wing extremists' organizations and politicians belittle Korean history and neglecting the issues on Dokdo, history textbooks, comfort women.
History taught us that there's no future for a country unless it knows its history. Therefore in order for Korea and Japan to become proactive, Japan has to show its sincere attitude for resolving the issues on past and Dokdo dispute

 

[waltky]

Pave Paradise an' put up a parkin' lot...

Should rural towns in Japan be rebuilt?
5 Apr.`11 — Framed by 70,000 pine trees, the mile-long strip of sandy beach was a jewel along the rocky coastline of northeastern Japan. The forest of black and red pines was planted more than three centuries ago and helped blunt the racing Pacific Ocean winds.

Today, one tree stands. The rest of the pines lie on the ground or washed out to sea, victims of the tsunami that crashed into the coast March 11 following an earthquake and wiped out dozens of communities like this one. "It is a symbol for us gaman zuyoi," the "tough people" living in this part of Japan, says housewife Yoko Kumagai, 59, whose family is among thousands in this fishing town whose homes were demolished. "We are tough under adversity, strong and able to persevere. That's famous throughout Japan," she says in the junior high school gymnasium that is now home to her, her husband and two children, and 800 other townspeople.

The tsunami killed more than 2,000 residents of this town, a popular resort of 23,000 people. Like many rural communities in the USA, Rikuzentakata and countless towns and villages along Japan's ravaged coastline were home to largely elderly populations, left behind by younger people who moved inland and to the south for better jobs than the fishing and agricultural work this area could offer. Now, the question of how — or whether — to rebuild such rural communities hangs over reconstruction efforts.

Japan's government estimates that the cost of recovery, including restoration of damaged nuclear reactors, will exceed $300 billion. That would make it the costliest natural disaster ever. "Even before the tsunami, young people were leaving for the big cities, as there are no colleges here and jobs were already hard to find" says Futoshi Toba, mayor of Rikuzentakata, where the tsunami destroyed 40% of the city's homes. In a population of 23,000, 35% are older than 65, says Toba, whose administration has seized on the "pine tree of hope" to try to inspire the recovery.

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[editec]

History taught us that there's no future for a country unless it knows its history.

Then CLEARLY this nation is hosed, too.