Did the Japanese learn ANYTHING from losing WWII?

I am by nature the type of person who does not hate, despise or distrust any group of people, nor am I xenophobic.  Typically I address the idiots of the world on a one to one basis.  I guess the best example would be our conversations in the past about Muslims.

But having said that, many Japanese, and in many instances, the Japanese Government / Imperial Diet still refuse to acknowledge many of the atrocities committed by the Imperial Army during WWII.  Proof of the pudding is the Mayor of Osaka is only in tepid water of remarks he made about the Imperial Army's use of "Comfort Women".
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Some historians estimate that 200,000 women were rounded up from across Asia to work as comfort women for the Japanese Army. Other historians put that number in the tens of thousands, and say they served of their own will. Japan formally apologized to the comfort women in 1993.

Mr. Hashimoto told reporters in Osaka on Monday that they had served a useful purpose. “When soldiers are risking their lives by running through storms of bullets, and you want to give these emotionally charged soldiers a rest somewhere, it’s clear that you need a comfort women system,” he said.

When pressed later, he insisted that brothels “were necessary at the time to maintain discipline in the army.” Other countries’ militaries used prostitutes, too, he said, and added that in any case there was no proof that the Japanese authorities had forced women into servitude.

Instead, he put the women’s experiences down to “the tragedy of war,” and said surviving comfort women now deserved kindness from Japan.

Mr. Hashimoto is a co-leader of the Japan Restoration Association, a populist party with 57 lawmakers in Parliament. His comments followed those of a string of Japanese politicians who have recently challenged what they say is a distorted view of Japan’s wartime history. Last month, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe seemed to question whether Japan was the aggressor during the war, saying the definition of “invasion” was relative.

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That was reported on May 13th, and there was some backlash, but yesterday, he basically doubled down on his feelings by saying many other countries had done this too.

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The issue existed in the armed forces of the U.S.A., the UK, France, Germany and the former Soviet Union among others during World War II.

It also existed in the armed forces of the Republic of Korea during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

If only Japan is blamed, because of the widely held view that the state authority of Japan was intentionally involved in the abduction and trafficking of women, I will have to inform you that this view is incorrect.

He went on to question whether the Japanese Government was involved in the system of taking, holding, and enslavement of the Comfort Women.

His popularity number have 'slumped', but if OUR political set up is any bell weather for how idiot politicians get treated or reelected based on 'numbers', he'll eventually become Prime Minister.  Given that last week or the week before Germany was touted as the Happiest Industrialized Country, and that PM Merkel has repeatedly referred to Germany as THE leader and Economic Engine of the EU, and as such their opinion should carry more weight, I'm hearing defenses of past events and remarks from countries who wanted to rule the world is a little off putting.  If these people are at or near the top, and they think like this, what does Hans the Plumber think in Hamburg or Yoshi the Plumber in Osaka? 

Listen, I don't dislike the Japanese nor the German people as 'entities'.

But I'm starting to question whether we used enough atom bombs during WWII.


Schteveo