Japan

[John Arton]

Most of us have visited Japan during our times at sea and amongst us there will no doubt be various views on the Japanese nation.
What suprised me is that Japan as a nation has only existed since 1860 and its formation is down to one person, a certain Thomas Glover a Scottish trader and a English diplomat.
Up to that point in time Japan was basically a medieval country. If you are reading this at 20:40 UK time switch over to BBC 4 and watch "The Last Explorers".
Basically Glover introduced 19th century technology into Japan which kick started Japan turning itself into an industrial country.
rgds
JA

[John Pruden]

john even in the 60s they were years ahead of us and lovely people well mannered and a very respectful nation?jp

[Capt Bill Davies]

john even in the 60s they were years ahead of us and lovely people well mannered and a very respectful nation?jp

I would totally agree John. Furthermore, they were the most professional ships Officers and crew I ever had the privilege sailing with.

Bill

[John Pruden]

bill they totally reversed my view on the people after meeting them from what happened during the war years? i thought they were all some sort of barbarians and it was a learning curve for me anyway?jp

[John Callon]

When I was with Bibbys on the Lancashire, we sailed for Japan Lines on charter and on the Derbyshire on charter to Mitsui OSK (not the Bulk Carrier Derbyshire) and can honestly say that they were very professional companys to work for. It did not matter where in the world we docked their appointed Agents looked after every aspect regarding the ship and liasised totally with the Owners Agents which made life a lot easier.
Regards
John

[Lou Barron]

Yes it is amazing how a nation of people can change in so many years how i had no time for them in 1945 you have to admire them for the change but i would say that i could never be friendly to them now memories die hard

[j.sabourn]

Was Ch. Mate on a ship in Japan and got friendly with who I thought was the Agents runner. Used to take me ashore and seemed to have plenty of money so later assumed he was a family member of the Business Agency. Not at all demure like most japanese. Asked him about the final years of the war, he was a 14 year old naval cadet and had been taught to take off and fly an obsolete aircraft. He was the last of the Kamikaze pilots which would have been used. I asked him what he would have done if had been called to do so. He said then he would not have gone, However saying that there isnt really anything else he could have said to me. Incidentally it was very basic flying skills he was taught, it was never considered appropiate to teach them how to land the aircraft. In general I found the japanese a very friendly, very loyal to their country, and very law abiding, perhaps with the exception of my fellow drinking companion of that particular time. As the occupation troops had been in Japan for a number of years he spoke excellent English with of course an American accent. All the times I was in Japan there were always the older generation who fought against change, however nowadays I would not really know how it is with all the western influences which have been exerted in the country, I would assume in most cases not for the better. Cheers John Sabourn

[happy daze john in oz]

Yes it is amazing how a nation of people can change in so many years how i had no time for them in 1945 you have to admire them for the change but i would say that i could never be friendly to them now memories die hard

Lou, during war many people do things they would never consider in peace time, many of the soldiers did as they were told because if they did not it would be very bad for them and their families. Not condoning their actions but this is how I see it.

[Ivan Cloherty]

john even in the 60s they were years ahead of us and lovely people well mannered and a very respectful nation?jp

Yes, and so they should have been, billions of Dollars and millions of Sterling were pumped into their economy to supply them with the most modern factory and other equipment available after the war to make sure that they did not go down the communist route. Yes they suffered because of the Atom bombs, but not only did they reap the whirlwind they reaped the benefits of the victors generosity, as did Germany, whose factories were also supplied with State of the Art machinery and also had millions in aid pumped into them. Whilst our own country had nothing pumped into it and had to try and compete in a post war world with Victorian machinery whilst also starting to pay back USA war loans. The Americans also had state of the art machinery built during the war years and their factories were easily converted back to producing white and luxury goods to sate the appetite of their population who had never known hardship during the war years as other nations knew it.

Whilst appreciating the professionalism of the Japanese, if it was that, or was it adhering to the old system of feudalism where-in you gave your soul to the factory, which they did in the 60's and 70's and even later. Lets put aside the rose tinted spectacles and remember what they did (and not who they currently are), I doubt many prisoners of war found it an "Honour" to be beheaded, which the Japanese assured them it was; even to this day there are schools were they practice the ancient art of slicing a man in two with one stroke of the sword and as stated in a recent programme they construct the target as near to the human form consistency as possible so that they can apply the right pressure to the stroke. To my way of thinking it is an art they should be only too willing to forget and cast into the history books.

[Gulliver]

john even in the 60s they were years ahead of us and lovely people well mannered and a very respectful nation?jp

My opinion:
Well mannered...Yes
Very respectful...as in racially tolerant of outside nations? Definitely NOT. Neither in wartime(especially not) nor NOW. -Outwardly yes,inwardly no. A complex inherently intolerant psyche throughout history. We keep and record our history books,they(selectively) throw theirs away.



Gulliver