V J Day

[cmperry4]

There was a VJ day ceremonial here in Wpg today (with a few appropriate vehicles in attendance, BTW). Our reporter referred in the story only to victory in the Far East and war in the Far East - although there were some good quotes from vets who had been prisoners of the Japanese and family members. I got to write the headline on this one, so I made sure it read "Victory over Japan commemorated"

BTW, not long ago, my Member of Parliament was addressing a group of veterans, and, having had a relative who had suffered under the Japanese during the war, he got into what he figured was the spirit of things and remarked that "the Japs were bastards."Well, he got a fair bit of stick for that, some of the vets even said they were offended, so he made his apologies and the matter seems to have blown over - though, as he is a Conservative, I'm sure the Liberals (and the media) will keep this in their back pocket to trot out when the next election rolls around.

And speaking of fighting the Japanese, look for a book by George MacDonald Fraser (the Flashman author), called Quartered Safe Over Here, which is his excellent memoir of fighting in Burma, where, he notes, the enemy was only ever called "Jap."

As for Japanese civility being a thin veneer - I gather that is pretty much the case with the Japanese in general, from everything I've seen or read. The popularity of 'manga' - openly enjoyed on public transit and so on, speaks to this. among other things.