NewEnough of all this second world war apology talk, young Japanese say

When Akiko Ishimaru was choosing courses last year for her master's degree in international security at Bristol University in England, she found more classes were being offered on China than on her native Japan. "Ten years ago, there were a lot of classes related to Japan, but not anymore," the 23-year-old said. "The world is changing." While the courses on China never caught her interest, the Chinese friends she made during the semester helped her realise not all Chinese people were as "messy" as she had thought. There were also occasions when her new friends from China and South Korea asked her about Japan's role during the second world war, a period of history that she knew about mainly from television and school text books. "I vaguely knew that Japan's military did something to them. I still don't know exactly how. So I just said, 'yeah', 'I am sorry'." Ishimaru is now in Malaysia for an internship but would not consider a stint in China. "I don't want to live in a dirty place, and it's smoggy," she said. Asked how Japan could improve ties with its neighbours, Ishimaru said "things should be OK" if China and South Korea stopped complaining about Japan. She believed there was no need for her government to apologise again for its wartime deeds, adding: "I just wonder if [the] Japanese government apologises to them, are they going to be satisfied?" READ MORE: China's younger generation conflicted over Japan as second world war trauma lingers Ishimaru's views on China are widely shared. An increasing number of young Japanese are building a negative impression of their country's neighbours as tensions fuelled partly by historic disputes escalate in the region, observers said. Feeling disconnected from the war that reshaped the region 70 years ago, these young people are weary that their country is still being asked to apologise for wartime behaviour. But their lack of interest in their neighbours, the observers said, could pose long-term implications. Being two generations away from the second world war, young Japanese are more resentful than their parents when their country is criticised over the past, said Nojima Tsuyoshi, a veteran journalist and author of several books on China. "People of my generation tend to think Japan fought an unjust war that brought huge disaster to other Asian countries," said Tsuyoshi, 47. "But the younger generation feels that Japan is always being criticised by China and South Korea. And they think it's something they are not directly responsible for. It happened in their grandparents' time." Echoing such sentiments, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested in a closely watched August 15 speech that his fellow countrymen should not need to keep saying sorry. "We must not let our children, grandchildren and even further generations to come, who have nothing to do with that war, be predestined to apologise," he said. It is enough, he added, "to inherit the past, in all humbleness, and pass it on to the future," in the speech marking the 70th anniversary of the war's end. Since regaining Japan's highest elective office in 2012, Abe and his administration have irked China and South Korea for repeatedly challenging their version of history. This year's anniversary activities have further stoked nationalistic sentiment in the three countries as their governments continue to dispute the facts of what happened 70 years ago. The neighbours' constant criticism of Japan has led to more young Japanese viewing their neighbours negatively, said Stephen Nagy, an associate professor at International Christian University in Tokyo. The resulting resentment will fuel disengagement with two countries that are politically and economically important to Japan, he said. Like Ishimaru, Nagy said many of his students show a lack of interest in studying in China. Instead, young Japanese feed on information provided by mass media and internet platforms, he said. Nagy called the disengagement "worrisome" if future political leaders lack "the skills, ability and network to work with regional partners". "And I would say it's the same in South Korea and China." READ MORE: Hong Kong's World War 2 history The faint glimmer of hope is that people-to-people exchanges have been robust as a weak yen has drawn a record number of Chinese tourists to Japan over the past year. This surge of links could earn law graduate Tomoharu Hasegawa his first job. The 23-year-old recently interviewed for a management position at a retailer that has forged a partnership with a Chinese company. One of the competing candidates was a Chinese national. With the recent tumbles in China's stock market, Hasegawa said, like many in Japan, he feared that Chinese tourists would stop visiting. "China is a very important country for Japan's economy," he said. "We should look at the future." And moving forward, Hasegawa said, should also mean leaving behind the troubled history between the two countries. But for Hideaki Nakagawa, a 54-year-old director for an international NGO in Japan, attempts to forget the second world war have cost Japan dearly. Nakagawa first learned about the war when, as a little boy, he saw amputated veterans begging in the streets. His mother would explain to him what happened to the veterans and what it was like for her to grow up during the war. Nakawaga's interest in this period of history grew and he kept reading about the war as a university student. But discussions about the war have been rare, he said, as people either get too emotional or tend to avoid confrontation. "People often talk about how difficult life was in Japan during the war," he said. "They never talk about what the war actually was." While the war is a distant history for some, Nakagawa thinks the war continues to significantly influence Japan. This is partly due to the failure to debate the war more openly and vigorously. "Many of the shortcomings are rooted in the history of the second world war … how we interpret our experience," he said. "In a way, the end of the war should have meant the failure of the old system, but Japan somehow managed to maintain the old system."