Japan debates its role in Indonesian independence
JAKARTA (JP): While Japan played a role in paving the way for Indonesia's proclamation of independence in 1945, this in no way atones for the atrocities it committed during it's World War II occupation of Indonesia, a leading Japanese historian said yesterday.
Aiko Kurasawa-Inomata of Nagoya University said there is still debate between politicians on the one hand and historians and scholars on the other as to the sincerity of Japan's apology to Indonesia for their war-time occupation.
"We are closer to the view that the role of the Japanese government in the war cannot be tolerated," she told The Jakarta Post during an international seminar to review Indonesia's history since independence in 1945.
Ken-Ichi Goto of Waseda University earlier explained in his paper that there are two views in Japan of their precise role in World War II.
The first is that the Japanese should apologize, while the other, held by many statesmen and politicians, is that no apology is necessary given that Japan facilitated Indonesia's independence struggle.
"Historians must be more careful (of this later view)," Goto said.
Goto and Kurasawa said many Japanese politicians strongly believe that the military training given to Indonesian youths and their recruitment into para-military units during the Japanese occupation, plus the eventual transfer of arms after the Japanese defeat from the Allied Forces, helped Indonesian freedom fighters repel the return of the Dutch colonial forces.
"This is why they doubt that Japan should have apologized (to Indonesia)," Goto said.
Their attitude differs when it comes to apologizing to Korea, China and Taiwan because they were not under any Western colonial ruler when the Japanese arrived, he said.
Goto also argued that further research into one particular incident in Semarang, Central Java, in October 1945, when Japanese forces clashed fiercely with Indonesian independence fighters, could shed more light on Japanese policy at the time.
He said that lack of understanding of historical relations between Japan and Indonesia, particularly between the postwar years of 1945 to 1951, caused "ambiguity in historical recognition of the Japanese control of Indonesia."
He blamed this same lack of understanding during the "unstable years" for leading the Japanese to rush into an 'economy-first' approach to build its relations with Indonesia.
Goto said the Japanese government's policy to declassify official documents after 30 years has resulted in a dearth of studies on historical relations between Japan and the countries it invaded during the war.
"Even with the already released historic documents, highly important and sensitive parts of the government policy ... are still not known," he said.
An Indonesian participant in the conference, noted writer Marianne Katoppo, earlier raised the issue of comfort women, to whom she said Japan should apologize and compensate.
She referred to the existence of official documents mentioning the recruitment of women for the pleasure of Japanese soldiers.
Goto said tensions still exist in Japan over particular chapters of Indonesian occupation, including the Semarang incident.
In this particular incident, Indonesian independence fighters fought tooth and nail to take over arms and ammunitions.
The Japanese forces, under orders from the Allied Forces, had the responsibility to maintain order and ensure that no weapons fell into the hands of the Indonesians.
The Indonesians inflicted heavy casualties on the Japanese forces, Goto said. "(This) might have offset the guilty consciousness .. of having been an assailant during the war."
Japan has already made a formal apology for the atrocities it committed in the Asian countries that it occupied during the war. The Indonesian government has accepted the apology and received huge war reparation funds.
Some members of the public, however, feel that the apology has not gone far enough and that the expression of "deep remorse" was more a statement of atonement than apology. (anr)