• norbert@kbin.social
      1542·
      30 days ago

      Yeah a lot of people might not be aware just how heinous Japans actions were in The Second Sino-Japanese War (the Chinese War of Resistance) in the lead-up to Asias involvement in WWII.

      The Rape of Ninjing and Unit 731 are just two of the atrocities we know of.

      Implying that Japan is now “back for more” and with frens this time is indeed pretty dark.

      • frickineh@lemmy.worldEnglish
        42·
        30 days ago

        I think that’s probably true - Japan has such a sanitized reputation now (which, frankly, isn’t entirely deserved), and most people probably don’t ever take a history class after high school, so a lot of people probably genuinely don’t know how bad it was. I did a little over 3 years of an undergrad history major and never heard a word about it. The only reason I know anything about it is because my AP US History teacher in high school told a few of us about it after a class on WWII. I had nightmares about some of the pictures for a few nights. I see why they don’t generally teach it to kids.

        • Titou@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          102·
          30 days ago

          Let me correct you, only otakus didn’t known. Japan is known to be worst than germany in thoses old times

      • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.worldEnglish
        17·
        29 days ago

        Yeah a lot of people might not be aware just how heinous Japans actions were in The Second Sino-Japanese War

        Or at a thousand other points in their history with China.

      • Noxy@yiffit.netEnglish
        15·
        30 days ago

        I only recently learned about Unit 731 and I wish I hadn’t. It’s that fucking bad. Shit keeps me up at night if I allow myself to think about it.

        • DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.socialEnglish
          2·
          27 days ago

          The funny thing about John Rabe is that he was probably the only Nazi in any sort of power after The Night of the Long Knives to think they were still a socialist party, because he was off chilling in China and everyone forgot about him.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.worldEnglish
        14·
        28 days ago

        Yeah a lot of people might not be aware just how heinous Japans actions were in The Second Sino-Japanese War

        Unless if you’re from Asia.

          • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
            1·
            28 days ago

            Their Navy flag predates the rise of State Shinto and Imperial Japan. It’s not really the same thing

            • Cowbee@lemmy.mlEnglish
              8·
              28 days ago

              The swastika predates Nazi Germany, but is forever tarnished by it. In Asia, the flag of Imperial Japan is often seen as a symbol of fascism, Imperialism, and war crimes.

              • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
                11·
                28 days ago

                There are actually efforts to reclaim the swastika for cultural reasons predating the Nazis. It’s not hard to tell a Nazi swastika from a Hindu one

                Behind the Bastards did a two part episode on the history of it.

                I know what the Rising Sun flag means in Asia. I’m just saying that they’re not quite the same thing.

                • Cowbee@lemmy.mlEnglish
                  3·
                  28 days ago

                  More power to them for trying to reclaim it! It was stolen anyways.

                  The difference with Imperial Japan is that the flag is still being used by the same group that committed war crimes. The Rising Sun can’t simply be reclaimed, unlike the Swastika.

    • Socsa@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      15·
      28 days ago

      Lol imagine being so edgy that NCD says “pump the brakes bruh.”

      Apparently this is more controversial than mommy milkers on an airplane.

  • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
    643·
    30 days ago

    with frens

    I think this needs an asterisk, pretty sure South Korea and the Philippines would be happy if Japan and China somehow simultaneously destroyed each other.

    Edit: astrix to asterisk. Sorry, English isn’t my first language. I mean it’s been my primary for nearly 30 years, but it’s still a bitch sometimes.

    • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.todayEnglish
      383·
      30 days ago

      The average SK citizen doesn’t really hate the Japanese, they just want their damn artifacts back. After all, it’s difficult to say the largest instantaneous loss of life in human history wasn’t punishment enough.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
        343·
        30 days ago

        The average SK citizen doesn’t really hate the Japanese, they just want their damn artifacts back.

        I think you’d be surprised, we’ve been hating the Japanese since the 1600s.

        After all, it’s difficult to say the largest instantaneous loss of life in human history wasn’t punishment enough.

        Up to 30k Koreans being used as slave labour were killed in the atomic blast… We don’t typically see that as squaring everything away, especially considering the modern Japanese government is made up of the children of war criminals who continue denying their parents many crimes against humanity.

    • xx3rawr@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      111·
      28 days ago

      Philippines would not want to see Japan hurt. We are taught about the ugly history for most of our childhood but the general public is pro-Japan in the present. Pop culture aside, they funded projects and research without much debt traps and is curently much less evil than what China is doing these past decades.

      • TranscendentalEmpire@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        28 days ago

        That’s understandable, i guess you guys wouldn’t have the historic animosity. Plus, they probably aren’t still attempting to do historic revisionism on your entire country’s existence.

  • Coasting0942@reddthat.comEnglish
    362·
    30 days ago

    It’s a nice meme but their population is turning geriatric, and they’re literally unable to pass any policies to make the birth rate go up.

  • MBM@lemmings.worldEnglish
    2112·
    28 days ago

    Isn’t fren one of those words used by 4chan as a dogwhistle? Feels a bit icky when talking about WW2 Japan

    • Gsus4@mander.xyzEnglish
      103·
      28 days ago

      urban dictionary says it stands Far-Right-Ethno-Nationalist turns out you’re probably right. But I like saying frens 😅

        • ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          81·
          28 days ago

          Originating from 4chan means it occupies a little of both.

          For example: 4chan intentionally trolled mainstream American media to make the ‘ok’ finger gesture be white supremacist, because it wasn’t a symbol. But then the media reported it was a symbol AND white supremacists started using it. So the ‘ok’ symbol now being a white supremacist symbol is quite real.

          Any amount of sewage in a soup makes the soup sewage. Only question is was the soup made with sewage or was the sewage added later. This meme being related to current events indicates the likelihood the creator is aware of the connotation as ‘high.’

    • ILikeBoobies@lemmy.caEnglish
      12·
      28 days ago

      It meant friend long before that

      If you dilute their ability to use it as a dog whistle then it loses the ability to

      The okay symbol worked because people typically didn’t use it that often

  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.todayEnglish
    41·
    30 days ago

    Idk if the wording of “peace in the Taiwan straight” accurately describes an “intervention in armed conflict with full military force” but I’m all for it if it means even the mere notion helps prevent further escalation in the region.