Japan must pay countries occupied during WW II

Japan must pay countries occupied during WW II

JAKARTA (JP): Japan, which occupied Indonesia from 1942 to
1945, still has a moral obligation towards the peoples it
conquered during World War II, a Japanese scholar said here
yesterday.

Aiko Kurasawa-Inomata, a professor from the Graduate School of
International Development at Nagoya University, Japan, told The
Jakarta Post that Tokyo had neglected to discharge its moral
obligation to the people who suffered under Japanese rule.

"Japan has paid war reparations but we still have to pay our
moral obligation," Kurasawa said during seminar on Japanese
occupation in Southeast Asia. The seminar was held at the Center
for Strategic and International Studies.

At the height of World War II in 1942, Japanese imperial
forces defeated the Allied forces in Southeast Asia and forced
the Dutch to flee from Indonesia.

This ushered in a new era, fueling the expansion of
nationalism and promoting the use of the Indonesian language.

It also provided an opportunity for Indonesian youths to
become competent soldiers through their participation in
Japanese-styled student regiments.

The three-year occupation was also one of the bleakest periods
in Indonesian history, with the people being exploited and
oppressed. Atrocities were also widely committed by the occupying
Japanese.

For its actions, the Japanese government paid US$223 million
in war reparations over a 12-year period, between 1958 and 1970.

The money was used for several projects, such as the
construction of a dam on the Brantas river, East Java, and the
Sarinah and Wisma Nusantara buildings on Jl. M.H. Thamrin.

Kurasawa believes that this is not enough and there is a
bigger moral debt that remains unpaid.

The issue of reparations for "comfort women" has gained much
attention in many Asian countries recently, particularly in the
Philippines and Korea.

Kurasawa warns that, although people do not openly express
anger towards Japan, they may continue to harbor a sense of
animosity unless these obligations are duly met.

She could not specify how the Japanese government should go
about discharging its duties, since the Tokyo government has only
recently begun to wrestle with the problem.

"It is only now that Prime Minister Murayama is raising the
question," Kurasawa said, referring to a recent offer made by the
Japanese premier to donate funds for the establishment of an
education center, in response to the complaints of former
Filipino comfort women.

Kurasawa adds that for Japan it is also important to truly
recognize and learn a lesson from the suffering caused by the
war.

"We are still lacking in that," she remarked, adding that only
through such a lesson can the Japanese people address their moral
responsibility for the war.

"One of the first steps is through education. This is very
important," she said.(mds)