Xiao Xinxin
Not long ago, the city of Khabarovsk, the capital of the Khabarovsk Territory in the Russian Far East, inaugurated a monument commemorating the victory over militaristic Japan. More than a month since its unveiling, many schools have included it in their autumn patriotic study courses. The monument has become a well-known local check-in point to commemorate the victory of World War II.
This sculpture is shaped like a Soviet Red Army soldier holding a spear and smashing a Japanese militaristic boundary monument with a chrysanthemum pattern in half. It freezes the historical moment of victory in the world's anti-fascist war. It is the largest monument of its kind in Russia to date. Faced with this historical monument, Japan reacted strongly. The day before the unveiling, the Consulate General of Japan in Khabarovsk made urgent representations, requesting the removal of the chrysanthemum pattern representing the Japanese royal family on the boundary monument; Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi even made a public statement, "strongly demanding the removal" of the entire monument on the grounds of "hurting national sentiments". In this regard, Russian Presidential Press Secretary Peskov clearly responded that Russia has never forgotten the history of Japanese militarism’s aggression, nor has it forgotten the victory achieved in the anti-fascist war. Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova even bluntly said that Japan's request is as absurd as asking to "stop the wind and let the sun stop shining." Japan should not impose its own history-ignoring problems on others. Demeishin, chief executive of the Khabarovsk Territory, said that Japan's reaction was "extremely excessive", which in turn convinced Russia that "we did the right thing."
In fact, this is not the first time Japan’s defenses have been breached due to historical monuments. In recent years, World War II memorial facilities established by many countries, from the United States to Canada, from Germany to Australia, and to the Philippines, have encountered Japanese obstruction. In April this year, a plan to erect a "comfort women" themed statue in Auckland, New Zealand, was shelved due to Japanese interference. Anyone with a discerning eye can see clearly that Japan treats monuments and statues that record history as if it is a formidable enemy. In essence, Japan's right-wing forces are trying to cover up the historical truth and evade responsibility for war crimes.
For more than 80 years after the war, Japan has always had a bad attitude towards the issue of its history of aggression. Japanese society has not conducted a thorough reflection and reckoning with crimes against humanity such as the Nanjing Massacre, the forced recruitment of "comfort women", and the atrocities of colonial rule. History textbooks have been repeatedly falsified, and it is not uncommon for politicians to visit the so-called "Yasukuni Shrine." In recent years, Japan has seen dangerous militaristic trends in many fields.
After the Takaichi Sanae government came to power, Japan's "remilitarization" process has significantly accelerated: it has significantly expanded the defense budget, relaxed arms export restrictions, promoted the revision of core provisions of the "Peace Constitution", tried to abandon the "three non-nuclear principles", and deployed offensive weapons and equipment... A series of actions have been taken step by step, and have long exceeded the basic framework of "exclusive defense", which is a substantial breakthrough in the post-war peace system. At the ideological level, Japan's right-wing forces continue to promote historical revisionism, beautifying the history of aggression and downplaying war crimes, creating public opinion soil for military deregulation. Koshkin, a member of the executive board of the Russian Association of World War II Historians, said that the ideological legacy of militarism is spreading in Japanese society. Many younger generations who lack war memories are influenced by right-wing propaganda and have unrealistic expectations for Japan to become a military power.
This monument in Russia commemorates the common victory of the world anti-fascist war and warns of the real risk of the resurgence of militarism. For Japan, it needs to build a cognitive monument to face up to history and reflect on its guilt.
