Opinion | From Singapore to Taiwan, Japan must face its past for Asia’s future

The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyers Shigure, Isokaze, Hamakaze and Yukizake were assigned to escort duties when convoys were sent to Singapore to collect badly needed supplies for Japan during the second world war. The destroyers protected the light carrier Ryuho carrying a load of aircraft bound for the Japanese colony of Taiwan.

There is no apparent awareness that the Japanese occupation of Singapore, from February 1942 to September 1945, was anything but benign. “Collecting supplies” from Singapore meant the ruthless extraction of resources from conquered Southeast Asia, with romusha (forced labourers) taken from what is now Indonesia by the Imperial Japanese Army and left to die on the streets of Singapore when they could no longer work.

That such an anime could air in 2023 is a telling symptom of the lack of historical awareness within Japanese society regarding the atrocities inflicted by the country’s forces during the war. For those who need more evidence, a visit to the museum at the Yasukuni Shrine will be instructive.

Now there is a new furore caused by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan, which were interpreted to imply that Japan might intervene militarily in the event of an armed conflict.