More than once I saw my father give a disapproving glance towards japanese men of roughly the same age as him. He had fought in New Guinea for 4 years, and had no love for the 'japs' whatsoever. In the hunt for souvenirs, Dad lost 2 mates, thanks to booby traps which were believed to have been set AFTER cease fire was requested. Dad brought nothing but bad memories and malaria home with him.
There was a time Dad would never have owned a japanese vehicle, but in the 1980s things started to change. The burning stares either stopped or got more covert, and the verbalised justification of hatred slowed and eventually stopped over a number of years. The most obvious sign and the one that prompted me to ask what was going on, was when Dad bought a Nissan. That nearly floored me! When I enquired why, Dad said he had hated the japs for what they did in WWII, but in the years since, he had arrived at the conclusion that it was the japan of 1940s and the men of his own age that he held those ill feelings towards. Apparently Dad had made a conscious seperation between then and now. Without that decision, he might have been one of a number of returned servicemen who kept a very unhealthy hatred towards not only japan, but sometimes all asians and asian races. The Vietnam 'war' seems to have increased the dislike of asian pepoles.
Our prime minister has always given me the impression of a bumbling fool, stumbling from one guff to another, with little understanding of whatever situation he found himself in. He is no wordsmith. He is, to me, an embarrasment on the world stage. Not quite in the league of george bush (dubya), but could be on par if he tries hard enough.
Modern japan has always amazed me. The density of their population, their priorities in life, and their set of 'values'. They speak of honor, while slaughtering whales for 'research' and bash dolphins to death after corraling them to a terrified huddle. Historically speaking, you could say we were no better, but then we changed over time. I dont think there is any other country where you can find vending machines which dispense used womens underwear. Don't believe me? Look here then
http://www.oddee.com/item_96684.aspx
I hold no ill feelings against the japanese people as individuals, its just that I find their culture and society really, really, odd! Much as they view western culture, I guess. If ever there was a good example of healthy seperation of the old VS new generation, look closely at Hawaii. The site of the most infamous piece of treachery in peacetime, now embraces the japanese tourists with arms outstretched (and open cash registers).
The world's a-changin! For better or worse, time marches on. When you think about it, saying sorry for something minor can be very difficult at times. Imagine the level of difficulty required to apologise for a four year period of murderous atrocities and sadism. That could be a little tricky. Look how long it took for Australian Govt. to officially apologise to the Aboriginal people for crimes perpetrated. I think the recent hint of regret on behalf of japan is about all we're gonna get.