One cannot blame modern Japan for what happend 70+ years ago however in the eyes of many in the region in places such as China, Vietnam, Korea and other nations there is still much resentment over what happened back then. Its not helpful for the Japanese PM to come out with things like this:-
Japan PM dismisses WWII war crimes trials as 'victors' justice' - Telegraph
When one thinks of Japan pre 1945 and also much of the tension in the region today one needs to think of the following. I urge you to read the links:-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_war_crimes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banka_Island_massacre
At mid-morning the ship’s officer returned with about twenty Japanese soldiers. They ordered all the wounded men capable of walking to travel around a headland. The nurses heard a quick succession of shots before the Japanese soldiers came back, sat down in front of the women and cleaned their bayonets and rifles.
[1] A Japanese officer ordered the remaining twenty two nurses and one civilian woman to walk into the surf.
[1] A machine gun was set up on the beach and when the women were waist deep, they were machine-gunned. All but Sister Lt
Vivian Bullwinkel were killed.
[1]
Shot in the diaphragm, Bullwinkel was unconscious when she washed up on the beach and was left for dead. She evaded capture for ten days, but was eventually caught and imprisoned. She survived the war and gave evidence of the massacre at a war crimes trial in Tokyo in 1947.
[2]
To kill nurses in this way, its unspeakable.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle...and#War_crimes
Rear Admiral
Shigematsu Sakaibara ordered the execution of the 98 captured American civilian workers remaining on the island, kept to perform forced labor. They were taken to the northern end of the island, blindfolded and executed with a machine gun.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parit_Sulong_Massacre
The wounded
prisoners of war were kicked and beaten with rifle butts by the Imperial Guards. At least some were tied up with wire in the middle of the road, machine-gunned, had
petrol poured over them, were set alight and (in the words of
Russell Braddon) were "after their incineration — [were] systematically run over, back and forwards, by Japanese driven trucks."
[1] Anecdotal accounts by local people also reported POWs being tied together with wire and forced to stand on a bridge, before a Japanese soldier shot one, causing the rest to fall into the Simpang Kiri river and drown.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palawa...lawan_Massacre
During
World War II, in order to prevent the rescue of
prisoners of war by the advancing allies, on 14 December 1944, units of the
Japanese Fourteenth Area Army (under the command of General
Tomoyuki Yama****a) herded the remaining 150 prisoners of war at
Puerto Princesa into three covered trenches which were then set on fire using barrels of gasoline. Prisoners who tried to escape the flames were shot down.
[9] Others attempted to escape by climbing over a cliff that ran along one side of the trenches, but were later hunted down and killed. Only 11 men escaped the slaughter and between 133 and 141 were killed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanking_Massacre
No wonder there is still much tension between China and Japan!!!
