Japanese Parade on Hilter's 125th Birthday

Japanese gathered on April 20 to honor Adolf Hitler's 125th birthday. The parade started at Tokyo's Ikebukuro Central Park East where seven Class-A war criminals including Hideki Tojo were hanged by international court post WWII. Participants include youth as well as elders.

Banners advocating Japanese Supremacy were displayed along Nazi flags. Posters of South Korean President Park Geun-hye were defaced and marked 'beggar' and 'prostitute'.

A national politician, former vice president of the nationalist "Restoration Political Party-New Wind", Hiroyuki Seto made the following remark: I don't know what's wrong with agreeing with Hitler. Is it the holocaust of six million Jews? Are there still people who believe that happened? That's a lie. It's the same fabrication of history as the Rape of Nanking and the forced comfort women.

The admiration to the Fuehrer is deeply rooted in generations of Japanese. Last year, referring to a constitution revision, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance commented "we can learn from techniques of the Nazis", who changed Germany's Weimar constitution "unnoticed".

The gathering and parade were escorted by police, as it had been registered and approved.

Prior to US president Obama's visit on April 23, Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and his cabinet members paid respect to a shrine Yasukuni where war criminals were commemorated.

Neighboring countries such as China and South Korea see Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan's militarism, and repeated visits by Japanese leadership as a lack of remorse over the pain Japan had forced on peoples in Asia.

On April 1, 2014, the US Justice Department confirmed that 35 Japanese war criminals were banned from entering US. Most of them either served in Unit 731 which carried out horrifying experiments on live human subjects, or operated 'comfort stations', where females from occupied countries were enslaved as sex tools for Japanese army.

Kimono Does not Go with Cherry Blossom

A group of local tourists were booed away from Wuhan University campus last Friday afternoon.

Wuhan University was taken as the headquarters of occupation force during WWII. The first batch of cherry trees were planted on campus around 1939 by Japanese army as a symbol of victory. Although cherry trees dies in 20-30 years, cherry tree populations has enjoyed a steadily growth ever since. Every year in the cherry blossom time, hundreds of thousands of Wuhan residents will come to Wuhan University to appreciate the scene. Wuhan University students will round up the entire campus, including adjacent road, hills and lakes with ropes, in order to charge a 'special cherry blossom fee'. However, guide brochure distributed at the entrant tells you the trees has been on campus 'forever'. It is a taboo to make any connection between cherry trees in Wuhan University and Japan.

When a group of 4 people, all with local accent, went to Wuhan University on March 21, 2009 to appreciate the cherry blossom, they were booed by a mob of Wuhan University students because a lady and a young woman were wearing kimono. Soon other tourists joined the students, and shouted anti-Japanese slogans. The group immediately stopped taking pictures, and took off kimonos. A reporter at the scene interviewed the family. They said they did not have specific intention, only thought kimono looked pretty with cherry blossoms.

A student who preferred to be anonymous told the reporter that it's unforgivable to make such connections between Japan and Wuhan University. The University would be ashamed if was connected to the humiliation of Japanese occupation which resulted more than 30 million Chinese civilians death. They would probably have to cut the symbols of Japanese occupation. However, it's crucial to the financial stability to keep the trees and revenue from cherry blossom tourism. A campus security officer interviewed vowed they will tighten up the security at entrance, and will not allow similar incidents to happen again.

According to the official web site, the Washington DC cherry blossom will take place between March 28 to April 12 in 2009. The peak bloom period will be from April 1-4.

Another Year on Occupied Islands

3:50 in the morning of June 16, 2008, Taiwan Coast Guard escorted a civilian boat to the Diaoyutai. Taiwan Coast Guard was authorized to open fire if proved by the Japanese warship in the disputed Diaoyutai area.

Taipei government ordered the Coast Guard to upgrade its fleet to match their Japanese counterparts to better Protect Taiwan fishermen's interest in the area. Beijing government is facing mounting criticism from its people, especially the increasingly vocal online community on its soft stance on Sino-Japanese issue. Many argued the two party must hold hands in defending the country, just as they did during World War II.

Death of Two Generals

More than 1000 Chinese generals died in the WWII defending the motherland. Among them, the two highest ranked generals are the commander of the 33 army group General Zhang Zizhong, and the commander of the 36 army group General Li Jiayu.

Days after the 11th Army of the Japanese invasion army launched the Zao-Yi Battle, General Zhang took all the troops he had at hand: two infantry regiments of 74D and one battalion of command guards to cross the enemy line and block their withdraw path. Before setting out, he sent a letter to General Feng Zhi'an, deputy commander of the 33AG, and asked him to take care of the troops. General Zhang loved the people and land deeply, but was not optimistic on the outcome of the war. In many occasions after the war started, General Zhang had expressed his eagerness to die for the country. The first day he assumed the commander of 59D in November 1937, he told his soldiers: "beyond killing enemies, my goal is to find a place to die for the country with you". In every battle, he would fight in the most front line. Some believed General Zhang finally realized his wish of dying for the country on May 16, 1940.

General Li Jiayu was a patriotic hero, who led his barely armed provincial army marched thousands of miles from inland to fight the Japanese army. When it's obviously the battle of Henan was falling, General volunteered to stay behind with his troops so that other troops could withdraw faster. General Li's scouts did not find the Japanese ambush until it was all to late. General Li's general uniform stood up among a few guards following him, which made him a primary target. General Li would love to live to see the victory, but he was killed by 2 bullets and 1 grenade shrapnel on May 21, 1944.

Two brave generals, one determined to sacrifice and one wanted to survive, both killed on battlefield in the war defending their motherland.

Nightmare in Nanking, A Documentary

Over 250,000 civilians were murdered, raped and slaughtered by Imperial Japanese Army after the then capital city of China, Nanking, fell in 1937. Now a documentary video on this event is available at www.rapeofnanking.info/, and the producer Dr. Rhawn Joseph's website Brainmind.com.



Awarding winning writer and historian Iris Chang's book 'Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II' can be purchased at bookstores such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Why We Fight: The Battle of China

Why we fight: the battle of China can be viewed on Google Video, also available at Amazon. It's a film which explains what, why and how of the Chinese resistant against Japanese invasion, as well as the US's assistants to the war, which became an essential part of the second World War.

Admiring War Criminals is Morally Bankrupt

'Paying one's respect to war criminals is morally bankrupt and unworthy of a great nation such as Japan, said Congressman Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the Congressional International Relations committee. Republican Congressman Henry Hyde, the chair of the committee joined to criticize Japanese leaders for the shrine visit, as well as history textbook revisions to downplay atrocities committed by Japan during WWII.

Japan's prime minister Junichiro Koizumi led annual official visits to the Yasujuni Shrine, where convicted WWII war criminals were honored.

Bloomberg

69 Years since 7/7/1937

The national resistance to the Japanese invasion started on July 7, 1937. There were regional clashes and even wars between Japan and Russia on Chinese land, but the central government had been basically siting aside until July 7, 1937 when Chinese army stationed in Lugou (aka Marco Polo) Bridge were attacked by Japanese army.

It was estimated that more than 30 million Chinese lives were lost in the eight years war from 1937 to 1945. After the then capital city Nanjing was taken by Japanese occupation, about 400,000 residents were slaughtered in a few days. American Chinese historian Iris Chang wrote a book 'Rape of Nanking' about this history (Penguin, 1998).

Statue of General Zhang Zizhong in Tianjin

General Zhang Zizhong (1891-1940) was the highest ranking Chinese officer died in the battlefield during the war defending homeland from Japan invasion.

General Zhang was born in Linqing, Shangdong. He entered Tianjin Law and Government School in 1911. He was the mayor of Tianjin from 1936 to 1937. General Zhang visited Japan during April 28 to May 23 in 1937. Although he was sent by his commending officer Song Zheyuan, many Chinese saw the visit a poor judgement. At the time, it seemed General Zhang attempted to avoid a full scale war between China and Japan. In one instance, he ordered Chinese troops not to return fire even after Japanese army had started attacked Peking. He also stayed behind as a civilian political leader after Chinese troops retreated. These controversial moves made him a public enemy at the time.

Seeing diplomatic maneuver no longer a feasible option, he left Tianjin soon after its fell to Japan, and reassumed military command. Although the central government cleared him of any wrong doings, he was not forgiven by many Chinese at the time, and probably not by himself. In a scene of a biography movie of General Zhang, when he arrived home after fled from Japanese occupied Tianjin, he was shut out by his wife, and spit upon by his children. It is believed that General had the death wish of dying for the country on the battlefield, before the war would be lost.

Between 1937 and 1940, his troops participated in the battle of Taierzhuang as well as other battles. Each time, he would encourage his soldiers to die in a good place for a good cause. His troops was among the most effective Chinese military forces and won many major battles, often with high cost.

In May 1940, as the commanding officer of the 33rd Army Group, he led 2000 soldiers to intercept a much stronger Japanese attacking force. Some historian think General Zhang was by and large pessimistic on the outcome of the war, and this move was particular suicidal. Before he set out, he took his formal attire and wrote a letter to his associate commander, in which he said he was going to die for the country. General Zhang was out numbered and out gunned. He fought as a soldier after wounded several times to his death on May 16, 1940 in Nanguadian, Hubei. His command and his soldiers all died with him.

Many Chinese cities named roads after his name. In Tianjin, Zhang Zizhong Road and Zhao Dengyu (another general died defending homeland against Japanese invasion) Road accompanied each side of Haihe River winding through the city. In May 2, 2006, a bronze statue of General Zhang was erected on the intersection of Zhang Zizhong Road and Taian Road. The statue is made by professor Jing yumin of Tianjin Art Institute.