1945年8月15日，日本战败并宣布无条件投降。这一天，本该是日本反躬自省的日子，但时至今日，日本媒体仍将之称为所谓的“终战日”，部分日本政客和右翼势力更是公然祭拜靖国神社。军国主义的遗毒，还在日本国内蔓延。
On August 15, 1945, Japan was defeated and announced its unconditional surrender. This day should be a time for the country to reflect on itself, however, the Japanese media still calls it the "memorial day for the end of the war" until today, and some politicians and right-wing forces in this country even worship the Yasukuni Shrine undisguisedly. The pernicious remnants of militarism are still spreading in Japan.
一方面，日本政客执意“拜鬼”，妄图美化军国主义。靖国神社是日本军国主义发动侵略战争的重要象征，供奉有包括东条英机在内的14名二战甲级战犯。但长期以来，部分日本政客坚持公然参拜，宣称向所谓“英灵致敬”。而究其实质，不过是为了美化日本军国主义侵略历史，挑战世界反法西斯战争胜利成果和战后国际秩序。
On the one hand, Japanese politicians insist on “worshipping the war dead” in an attempt to beautify militarism. The Yasukuni Shrine is an important symbol of the aggressive war waged by the Japanese militarists, which honors 14 Class-A war criminals of WWII including Hideki Tojo. However, some Japanese politicians have long stuck to visit the shrine openly, claiming to salute the so-called martyrs. Their fundamental purpose is only to whitewash the Japanese militarist aggression history and challenge the victory of Global War against Fascism and the international order post-war.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida
今年4月，日本首相岸田文雄再次向靖国神社供奉祭品，跨党派议员联盟约90名国会议员前往进行集体参拜。日本国内众多爱好和平人士和国际社会随即提出强烈反对，敦促日本以实际行动做到对历史遗留问题的深刻反省。
In April 2023, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made another offering to the Yasukuni Shrine, and a cross-party group of more than 90 lawmakers collectively call on this notorious spot. Many peace-loving people in Japan and the international community immediately raised strong opposition and urged the government to reflect deeply on issues left over by history with concrete actions.
另一方面，与美国一唱一和，日本扩张军备动作不断。近年来，在美国或明或暗的怂恿下，日本政府不断强化防卫力量，特别是2022年底通过的三份新版安保文件，宣称日本应拥有“对敌基地攻击能力”，同时鼓吹日美同盟，渲染所谓“中国威胁”。
Besides, Japan continues to expand military presence in concert with the US. Under the explicit or implicit seduction of the US, Tokyo has continually strengthened its defense forces in recent years. Particularly, the three new security documents it endorsed at the end of 2022 proclaim that the country should have "the ability to attack enemy bases" while advertising the Japan-US alliance and clamoring the so-called China threats.
日本舆论认为，这标志着二战后日本安全保障政策发生重大转变，将使其实际上放弃“专守防卫”原则。日本关东学院大学名誉教授足立昌胜还一针见血地指出，日本在防卫战略等一系列问题上紧跟美国的脚步，只会挑起地区对抗，对日本民众没有任何好处。
The Japanese public opinion believes that this marks a major shift in Japan’s post-WWII security policies, actually leading the "exclusively defense-oriented" principle to fail to come true. Honorary Professor of Kanto Gakuin University of Japan Masakatsu Adachi also straightly pointed out that the government's closely following with the US on a series of issues such as the defense strategy will only provoke regional confrontation and do no good to the people in the country.
此外，宣扬错误史观的日本“毒教材”屡屡被开绿灯。过去数年来，“新历史教科书编纂会”等日本右翼组织不断推动篡改历史教科书。而日本文部省也多次审核通过否认侵略历史、淡化罪行的教科书。韩媒注意到，就在几个月前，日本文部省审核通过的新版教科书中，淡化了二战时期日本强征劳工的相关表述。
In addition, Japan’s toxic textbooks that promote wrong historical views have been given the green light repeatedly. The Japanese Society for History Textbook Reform and other right-wing organizations in the country have been pushing for tampering their history textbooks over the past few years. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan has also repeatedly approved textbooks that deny the Japanese aggression history and downplay their crimes. Korean media noted just a few months ago that the new versions of the Japanese textbooks approved soften the relevant depiction of forced labor activities Japan conducted during the WWII.
这样的教科书若进入课堂，势必对日本社会尤其是青少年造成严重误导。日本纪录片导演齐加尚代批评称，“日本政府利用教材歪曲史实的做法，剥夺了孩子们学习正确历史的权利。对于日本政府施压修改教科书，如果大家都不发声抵制，日本社会的未来将十分危险。”
If such textbooks enter the classrooms, the Japanese society, especially young people will inevitably be misled. "The Japanese government's distortion of historical facts by exploiting textbooks deprives children of their right to learn correct history. If people do not speak up against the government's pressure to revise the textbooks, the future of Japanese society will be at stake," a Japanese documentary director Hisayo Saika criticized.
忘记历史就意味着背叛，否认罪责就意味着重犯。二战期间，日本犯下的罪行罄竹难书：细菌战、活体实验、大屠杀……数以万计的无辜民众惨遭毒手，亚洲多国被拖入战争泥潭。这些血淋淋的事实，不容否认。
Forgetting history implies a betrayal to it, and denying culpability means repeating the offense. The crimes committed by Japan during the WWII are beyond enumeration, for examples, germ warfare, live experimentation, and massacres. Tens of thousands of innocent people were brutally killed, and multiple Asian countries were dragged into the quagmire of war. These bloody facts are undeniable. Japan should earnestly face up to its crimes and engage in profound soul-searching, rather than being bent on beggar-thy-neighbor policy.
Editor's note: Originally published on chinanews.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
