Japanese Reacts to “History of Japan”

[@dante340]

"Dipshit" is just a North American insult Lol. The creator of the video just added it to be funny, there is no other significance 🤣

[@KumaCanJapan]

What!? 😂😂😂

[@Daniel_Gil]

I think the idea was the chinese called Japan "small land" or something that can be interpreted as derogatory and the japanese didn't like that. The author of the video just tried to make it sound funny.

[@dizzlebizzle8424]

what i was taught way back in my college days was that it meant 'dwarf.'

[@fllthdcrb]

@@dizzlebizzle8424 You mean, like he wrote in the video (see 2:45)? 😆 Did no one catch that?

[@dizzlebizzle8424]

@@fllthdcrb (i haven't been to college yet ;-) )

[@ssfbob456]

Seeing him Google "Dipshits" was one of the most oddly wholesome things I've ever seen.

[@The_miIk]

i know right!? it feels so pure

[@KeelySmithActress]

😂 Absolutely! It was so cute! 😂

[@picklerick4921]

It's so cute that you had to google the meaning of Dipshit and your response was " I learned a lot from this video" :-)

[@0Aquamelon]

"Dipshit? sorry I don't know the meaning of this word" OH NO!! XD

[@TheKyrix82]

It reminded me of when someone superchatted Haachama, said her cooking looked like Satan asshole, and she googled it

[@noahs1581]

Oh golly no 😭😭

[@nacoran]

Someone on a forum I moderated on had the username mankycodpiece. One of our other moderators was German. Really smart guy but this had him stumped. He didn't know where the breaks in the words were to be able to use google translate.

[@julespumachu]

@@nacoran (In California, a woman in her fifties is about to look up "manky" -- for educational reasons, of course....)

[@philipcapasso667]

He is too pure. :)

[@jadsi]

Ikr

[@coffeeh.joestar-kujo15]

I know he's the first person I know who had to Google an insult... He needs some angel wings :)

[@robertalley2789]

He can't be to pure since he is atheist so yeah no wings for this guy

[@veraluciabana5210]

Cinnamon roll too good for this world, too pure.

[@veraluciabana5210]

@@robertalley2789 nOoOOOooOO, give his wings back :(

[@asktoybox]

As an American, two things: First, the Dipshit thing was funny. Basically in US slang, "Dipshit" means a stupid person. So if someone is simple or stupid, they would be called a "Dipshit". The literal translation of the term probably doesn't convey this. In the US we use a lot of terms that have a secondary meaning that isn't related to the primary definition. So, yeah. Basically "Dipshit" = "Stupid". Secondly, about the bombs. Most Americans, like myself, have just as many negative feelings about this event as you guys probably do. It's not something we look back on with pride. We do sometimes make a lot of jokes about it, but that is because one of the way Americans cope with tragedy is with humor. This doesn't translate well across the globe and can sometimes make us come across as uncaring or coldhearted. I want you, and others in other nations to know that this isn't the case. We as a nation just use humor as part of a healing process. So if you see many jokes coming from the US about this event, it is not that we approve of it, or like it. It is because we understand how big of a tragedy it is, and our way of working through it is through making jokes about it to make it feel less harsh. Most Americans I know actually like Japan very much, but I can understand how our nature to be loud and make jokes about things can come across as rude to others. It was nice to see the perspective of someone who lives in Japan on this, good video!

[@EyeLean5280]

I agree that the vast majority of Americans see the Atomic attacks as terrible and sad.

[@nodishtoodeep3053]

That’s probably the most encompassing and well thought out way I’ve seen it put. I’d give you round of applause.

[@dark5fate]

Even the people working on the atomic bomb themselves weren’t happy about it.

[@Crossword131]

@jack hahn Actually, historians seem to lean toward the idea that in bombing Japan we sent a loud, low key message to Russia that we weren't to be eff'd with after we grabbed our ball and bat and the ink on the treaties was dry. Prophylactic attack.

[@RobertSmith-kb3jl]

Dropping the atom bomb was terrible, however, it saved millions of lives bcz Japan had no intention of surrendering until after the second bomb was dropped a full 3 days later.

[@bourneethan3190]

Germany : " We are so shameful that we started the war " Japan : " We are so shameful that we lost the war "

[@sim.frischh9781]

And here i am, an Austrian thinking "we blamed the Germans successfully again!" Just kidding, in WWII we got f*cked badly ourself.

[@kie-skatemods4141]

America. “Bwahahahahhaha!!! You want to try it again? This time we will really make you disappear forever.” German and Japan, “………….., ok we can be Allie’s forever.”

[@nationalstudyacademykim5030]

I'm confused! Did the domain of this user just give a heart because he agreed with your statement Ethan? I'm now unsubscribing!

[@WR3ND]

@@nationalstudyacademykim5030 I would assume that they're acknowledging the mindset that some have or have had, not agreeing with it.

[@tigertank3024]

@@kie-skatemods4141 america didn’t really do shit during ww1

[@lhistorienchipoteur9968]

6:07 No, this flag was never the national flag of Japan. It was the flag of the japanese army (and kinda still is from what I know). The confusion is that many people think this was the national flag during WW2 and are representing Japan with this flag during this period. The Hinomaru was used as national flag (officialy or unofficialy) since the 19th century.

[@KumaCanJapan]

Now I got it! Thank you for clarifying it!

[@lhistorienchipoteur9968]

@@KumaCanJapan You're welcome

[@FOLIPE]

It does help that the Japanese invasions were coordenated by the armed forces which were almost autonomous from the civilian government and used their own flags.

[@jovegajo]

Because that flag symbolized the Japanese Army, it was readily recognized as the flag of the oppressive conquerors by other asians who were attacked/enslaved by Japan.

[@CrossJComic]

@@KumaCanJapan the fact that you don't know the design is understandable because Japan considered the WW2 period was quite an ugly time just like Germany

[@kiraszabo1333]

And remember kids! *You don't learn everything in school :'D*

[@hi_me69420]

Like how to pay taxes

[@kiraszabo1333]

@@hi_me69420 **W h e e z e -**

[@billlupin8345]

At the very least our school doesn’t skip the parts where we’re the bad guy. At least I hope it doesn’t. We’re already bastard coated bastards, I hope it doesn’t get worse.

[@joaquincobas2223]

@@hi_me69420 You don't need that

[@fredneecher1746]

And even less from jokey vids like that.

[@philmstud2k]

I mean no disrespect, but someone unironically and genuinely not ever having come across the word "dipshit" and needing to Google it was the funniest thing.

[@HenkJanBakker]

I found it funny to as his English is really good.

[@kilogram3085]

I scream laughed, and i never do that. I got funnier. "I dont know what it means" (me loud laughing), then "hold on let me google it" I died.

[@biggsdhanblahkjraghon2310]

Cartoon di man come from somweh defferent di man talk defferent not being disrespectful but wat yuh xpect🇯🇲🇯🇲🇯🇲

[@shadowtheimpure]

From what I've read, a large number of Japanese are Religiously Athiest but Spiritually Active in terms of faith. They aren't devout to any faith, but they visit shrines and temples for certain festivals and holidays.

[@carlrodalegrado4104]

What's interesting is that Japan could have been Islamic because an emperor (and other Japanese Nationalists) before loved Islam and wanted to help the Ottoman Empire. He wanted to make japan Islamic because it was a compatible religion for the country also a sign of gesture for the Ottoman empire but they both lost world war one(Ottoman empire) and two (Japan) so their culture was more influenced by the victors of the western hemisphere.

[@braxon]

Its funny, but as an American, I learned about the previous Japanese flag before I learned the modern one. For a long time, I thought the previous flag was the modern flag.

[@reveranttangent1771]

American schools tend to tun out of time after world war 2.

[@finris1]

There is less focus on post WWII history, but schools still teach enough.

[@Gojirawars03]

High school generally gives you the Korean War, Cold War, Vietnam War, and the beginning of the 21st century with things like 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

[@reveranttangent1771]

@@Gojirawars03 sounds like things have changed

[@prestonjones1653]

Which is crazy when you think about how much less we have to go through. If we had 2000 years of history like Japan our school system would probably just say "Screw it," and not bother with any of it.

[@drewpamon]

Whenever I see comments like this I always wonder how little the commenter paid attention in school

[@BloggerMusicMan]

When you Googled "dipshit" I audibly laughed. I thought "oh boy, he's going to learn some interesting English today." XD

[@Me-wk3ix]

LOL, me too!

[@enochlo9156]

he didn't google dipshit, he googled the Chinese character which was aptly translated as dipshit. that Chinese character means "dwarf" to be more precise, and it was incredibly insulting. The ancient Japanese folks didn't have a name for their newborn country and they wanted the biggest nation in the east to give them a name, they were a lot shorter than the ancient Chinese so the Chinese emperor named them "Dwarf" but never explained what that character meant. it was a really cruel joke which spawned years of hatred.

[@timaalo154]

@@enochlo9156 that was fucked up :((

[@marymorris6897]

I was born in 1950. I remember the early Japanese imports, which were inexpensive toys. So the "economic miracle" was made up of small starts and lots of hard, hard work. I'm so glad Japan is doing well.

[@carlrodalegrado4104]

Any economic miracle like the german economic miracle was part of the post war plan to make countries export more and get better economies while U.S.A. imports most of it with no tarrifs or taxes. It's like being a successful businessman teaching and helping friend start his own business and buying his stuff to upstart his career. The same happened to China and now U.S.A. wants to be isolationist again, increase tariff like the trade wars and put more taxes in imports to save local industries and jobs. The days of post war era is over now it's only to maintain the global peace of "Pax Americana".

[@marymorris6897]

@@carlrodalegrado4104 Yes. Different groups are protected at different times to try to keep a healthy balance.

[@carlrodalegrado4104]

@@marymorris6897 I do hope the healthy balance will maintain especially when China is a rising power. Things might get ugly if diplomacy is not done well. Just like how the healthy balance of power in Europe was disrupted many times due to an aggressive rising power resulting in many wars.

[@marymorris6897]

@@carlrodalegrado4104 I also hope things remain stable. There are plenty of power hungry people and regimes.

[@JoeSmoe1]

"Dipshit" is a very rude way of calling someone an idiot

[@jasoncheung2661]

That character actually means "short people" as Japanese are generally shorter in height. In China, we don't use that word to describe modern Japan but ancient Japan.

[@Jyiber]

*Dipshit* is roughly equal to *Dumbass,* but harsher. Also, that last shot gave me FilthyFrank vibes.

[@gristen]

dipshit isnt chinese, its a rude word that means "idiot" in english. its a joke about how china made up their own name for japan which was actually wakoku (倭國) which was considered offensive.

[@Phantlos]

6:07 no that was never Japan's flag. That's Japan's navy flag.

[@kamronthompson1499]

It is the land flag

[@kamronthompson1499]

The navy flag is off center

[@chloekaftan]

Theres also the vice admiral flag, ensign flag, and so on. Unlike the Nazi Flag, the Rising Sun Flag is not a symbol of war or oppression but that of Japans rich culture and history, and is still used today by the JSDF during naval operations, Japanese fishermen celebrating a big catch, in traditional childbirth, festivals, etc. So please do not compare the Rising Sun Flag with the Nazi flag.

[@bigrob10p]

In United States history classes, we were taught that the US dropped the atomic bombs on japan to "prevent more suffering and to end the war." Imperial Japan was ruthless, and surrender was rare. Most of the time they quite literally fought to the last man. The US and allies calculated that a mainland invasion of japan, which would have happened if not for the atomic bombs, would cause millions of more deaths on both sides. After the first bomb was dropped, imperial japan still did not surrender. It wasn't until the second bomb was dropped that they did. This is when the famous 玉音放送 was broadcasted with the quote from the emperor: "The enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is, indeed, incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives." The "victors" of ww2 take a retrospective look at it as a triumphant part of history. Fighting for the greater good, for the love of country and what not when in fact, this was the darkest period in human history. It showed how far we have come in the ability to end another man's life, brought upon the idea that might makes right, the toll of blind patriotism, and the creation of the most terrifying weapon we have ever, and will ever see. A weapon that almost ended the world just 2 decades later when these same morals were tested once again. There were no winners really when you think about it. Just suffering that no human being should ever have to go through. All for the sake of their country and morals. Sorry for the long essay xD I hope it isn't too much. Loved the video! じゃあねクマさん!

[@ZaleskaRose]

Oversimplified has very funny but educational videos on history.

[@markthompson180]

Maybe the Japanese need to learn about all of the horrible things that the Japanese did in China and Korea during World War II.

[@AviationNut]

I am literally crying from laughing at him googling the word "Dipshit".

[@Dej24601]

“Dip shit” is a term in English used to indicate disrespect, inferring the person (or groups of people) is stupid or ignorant or worthless. It isn’t used very often and has a little bit of silliness attached to it and is a little old-fashioned now. I doubt that any actual historical records included it; it seems to have started in the US during the 20th Century.

[@thesplittedbanana5058]

Kuma: googles dipshit meaning Also Kuma: (finds meaning) O_O

[@Mikedeela]

I find it surprising that you would not know the Rising Sun flag of Japan. Even historians don't know every single thing that happened historically, but that flag was on everything during the war.

[@KindaJadedish]

in Japan, there were literally over 6 different names for what the rest of the world calls wwii. because they had already been at war for so long.

[@davemoyer4478]

The problem is they emphasize in the school system they were victims because of the atomic bombs. The Japanese people are very nice people but are ignorant to there history. In World War 2 when the government was taken over by the military they became the first victim of the Japanese Imperial army, they provided the means for the army to grow and take over other areas. The co-prosperity sphere in theory was a mutual benefit thing, in reality it was very abusive system that made colonization by western nations look tame. This spawned all western colonies to seek independence to take control of there own future. Now in Japan WW2 is simplified as the world started attacking us. The invasion of Manchuria was the being of the path to war. The invasion of China was the start. There occupation of these areas would sicken modern day Japanese. They need to know this so it never happens again. The modern people have no sin in the past, but should be aware because governments often do tricks to get away stuff. To be knowledgeable of history prevents a repeat of history.

[@donaldlyons17]

@@unestablished1994 Best thing is to do what people love doing best "just moving on" because we can't change the past!!

[@darryllmaybe3881]

I love how he says that he is a Japanese student and knows Japanese history well, and then he pauses it like 20 seconds in and says "I.......... didn't....... know... that....." XD (I'm not insulting you, I just thought it was funny XD Great video!!!)

[@dodongjakadventures7732]

He googled Dipshit man. 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ hahahahahaha!!! You are a pure soul, i envy you!!

[@XCasper1999X]

You might be interested in the video Dropping the Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki by Shaun. It's quite lengthy, but if you're curious as to what was going on with the American side of the bomb being dropped its a really thorough overview.

[@manuelsilva3365]

From what I remember, there was 2 reasons why the bomb was dropped. First reason was so there wouldn't be such a massacre on both sides if the US were to invade Japan. The 2nd reason was to show off the power of the atomic bombs to the USSR who was occupying Eastern Europe and making them their puppet states. People usually go with either one or the other but the way I see it, the bombs killed 2 birds with one stone.

[@nacoran]

Shaun has some amazingly in depth videos on all sorts of topics that touch on politics. For no BS deep analysis of things that matter he's one of the very best on KZbin. Three Arrows and CGP Grey are also excellent, at least when Grey isn't doing silly gaming videos to relax his brain a bit.

[@Ulysses.0]

You should really look into the Nanking Massacre, Bataan Death March and Unit 731. Fair Warning this information was kept from your people for a reason but as a historian it is your duty to know this and to educate others so just history will not repeat itself.

[@nacoran]

And the general conditions of prisoners of war beyond just Bataan, as well as the use of germ warfare against China and Korean Comfort Girls, or the hero's treatment Hiroo Onoda got after killing people in the Philippines for years after the war ended. I still think there is something hinky with the reports of Japanese fighting to the last man on virtually every island. I think Japanese historians see it as a sign of heroism and U.S. historians look at it as a convenient way to ignore that we didn't really offer to accept prisoners (at least of military personnel) when we were island hopping. I remember seeing interviews with G.I.s who just basically said, yeah, some of them tried to surrender, but we didn't have the infrastructure to accept surrender so we shot them. Which, of course, the Japanese did as well, including large civilian forced labor projects that killed somewhere between 3-10 million people. Every country tries to paint a better version of it's history. The U.S. committed genocide against the Native Americans, had slavery and sponsored right wing dictators throughout the Cold War, but I think, at least in the blue states, the U.S. does a better job of covering our sins... although there is always push back from the Right against that.

[@ragingjojo]

"sorry i didnt know the meaning of dipushit" Me: Proceeds to smirk uncontrollably while he searches it... lmao

[@pineappleicecream4826]

Me too

[@theeyeseesyou6419]

"I dont know the meaning of dip shit" Oh no

[@michaelpeer1753]

The atomic bombs which were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were NOT experiments. They weapons WERE prototypes, to be clear. But, they were used against Japan for the reasons that were officially stated. The Manhattan Project, the initiative responsible for inventing the weapons, built THREE devices. President Truman DID want to see if they would work, so he ordered a TEST DETONATION. This occurred on 16 July, 1945, at a military test range in the New Mexico desert. The test was dubbed "Trinity." So, once more, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were performed for the reasons which were officially given. The "proof of concept" had already been tested.

[@UnlicensedOkie]

I understand that, coming from Japan, you were taught about how horrible the bombs were. Many would see them as a necessary evil. Japan would not have surrendered without countless more lives being lost unless the US used drastic measures to stop the war as soon as possible. Also, the Soviet Union was getting close to invading Japan as well. So, Japan could’ve suffered the same fate as East Germany and many other Eastern European countries

[@velianlodestone1249]

"Japan would not have surrendered without countless more lives being lost unless the US used drastic measures to stop the war as soon as possible." - So this is the narrative I always heard, but in reality the Russians were starting their Japanese invasion. Basically the cold war would have been lost before it began if the Americans hadn't dropped the bomb.

[@UnlicensedOkie]

@@velianlodestone1249 not necessarily There would just be more territory to fight over Japan could’ve ended up like Korea or Vietnam

[@razier5299]

@@velianlodestone1249 You put too much hope in the USSR.

[@EyeLean5280]

UnlicensedOkie This is simply NOT true. Japan could not have continued fighting because its military and industry had been so battered. So even if they'd wanted to, they could not have continued to fight. But they didn't want to. Japan was ready to surrender and they sent messages through Scandinavian diplomats attempting to sue for peace. But Truman ignored it and dropped the bombs anyway. We've known this from declassified documents since the late 1970s, but Americans don't like to hear this ugly truth so they continue to cling to the excuse that was offered through propaganda channels at the end of the war.

[@oldblood_eyes]

@@EyeLean5280 do you have sources? i have tried doing a quick search of Truman supposedly ignoring Japan's surrender as you say but nothing really seems to support that. it's weird that i can't find anything to support that when you say we've been known this since the late 70's? one would think by now, it would be a well known thing(unless you're just lying).

[@codyray3344]

oversimplified is right if they sum us dropping the atomic bombs down to just curiosity. yes, we deliberately targeted untouched cities to see the effects, but that wasn't the reason we used them. there were two major reasons, the first of which was to avoid unnecessary loss of life. the estimated loss of life was like 1-2 million u.s. troops and 10 million Japanese, most of whom would have been civilians. less than two-hundred thousand died to the bombs. the second reason was because since the war in europe had concluded, the soviets were planning to invade japan, and in fact had millions of troops on trains in route to japan when we decided to dropped the bombs, so we wanted to end the war quickly so japan would not be split like Germany. another fact to consider is the reason why we had to drop them. the top brass of Imperial japan had long since known that the war was unwindable and defeat was imminent but they didn't want to surrender unconditionally and give up all fo the territories they had conquered so they decided instead to make the price for taking the Japanese mainlands so costly that they could surrender with terms. to give you some idea of the state of japan toward the end was, they literally did not have enough oil to fuel their ships that they kept them in harbor. they also only had enough supplies and munitions to properly equip like 1.2m troops out of their 4.3m man army. they were also planning on conscripting all males 15-50 and all females 17-40 to fight and only equipping them with rudimentary weapons and bamboo spears.

[@janekbrat6951]

But why target civillian cities? I never understood, why they just didn't drop them on military bases or Harbors. Doesn't make the explosion any smaller. I mean with a weapon like this, you should do a warning shot before you are aiming for the Head.

[@mechanomics2649]

That the US dropped the two atomic bombs to save lives is heavily disputed, as is that Nagasaki and Hiroshima were chosen for whatever militarily logistical value they had. What is certain is that the two bombs were dropped as a warning to the Soviet Union, and Nagasaki and Hiroshima specifically were targeted specifically because they hadn't yet been bombed and so it would maximize the psychological effects it would have.

[@codyray3344]

@@mechanomics2649 heavily disputed or not doesn't matter, the fact is that it did save lives and since everyone who was involved in making the decision is dead, we may never truly know.

[@mechanomics2649]

@@codyray3344 The fact is is that it's disputable whether it actually did save lives given Japan's willingness to surrender. Also the neat thing about written history is that we can often find out the truth about a topic well after those involved are dead.

[@codyray3344]

@@mechanomics2649 except, the weren't willing to surrender unconditionally, which is the only thing we were willing to accept.

[@ximevee]

PLEASE when he googled dipshit 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Tengokujin]

Love the initial confidence followed by the loss of said confidence due to the scope of the video somehow being even greater than he imagined.

[@wendytravis6427]

There was definitely a little more to dropping the bombs than curiosity.

[@mgoboski]

Japanese people don't have the same irony or humor that Americans or say the Brits do, so the "dipshit" part made me laugh out loud.

[@raulvalencia8573]

Same bro

[@bluehawaii0007]

Even though you don't know Japanese people, you're making assumptions.

[@mgoboski]

@@bluehawaii0007 I was stationed in Yokosuka for years. Try again.

[@bluehawaii0007]

@@mgoboski Even if you live in Yokosuka, if you can't speak Japanese and communicate with your Japanese friends in Japanese, there's no way you can understand Japan and Japanese people.

[@mgoboski]

@@bluehawaii0007 Thanks for diminishing my living experience and my time with my Japanese friends.

[@devlinmorin7615]

Japanese Policy at the end of WW2 was to pretend it never happened. Literally before the official surrender, all the posters, language ect was completely shifted to act like there was no war with the "bear the unbearable" mantra being pretty much the only concession to the war's existence. This was done with the USA's blessing and help. For a very important reason. The propaganda up to that point had all been "Die before surrendering." And every time the US captured an island, all the women and children killed themselves and the men suicide charged. (Which ironically tended to result in Suicide by American soldiers not able to stomach heaps of dead children at the bottom of cliffs.) So Denial was the strategy to avoid mass suicide. Even with this strategy though. Plenty of families died by suicide. Clearing put the bodies of children murdered by their suicidal parents was one of the sadder less talked about post-war realities. A task often given to Americans just to avoid a suicide chain. And to be honest Im guessing if Japan changed its policy even today to be like Germany, the suicide rate would skyrocket.

[@pbonfanti]

Around 1940 in Brazil a terrorist group called Shindo Remmei made attacks against people who believed in the defeat of Japan, they called them makegumi (mostly japanese imigrants in São Paulo) , killed at least 23 people and hurted 147.

[@liverpix]

Well, that was a bit of a joke - no mention about the extreme cruelty of the Japanese during WW2, no mention of the rape of Nanking. They starved their prisoners of war, treated the Chinese as subhuman, buried people alive.

[@thatheavyisaspy221]

Technically there is a mention in a annotations section but I think that KZbin removed that feature

[@tekay44]

amazing isn't it? weak ass shite.

[@cactusmanofdestiny3708]

Dipshit is a English derogatory noun, and is a mixture of the words “Dip” and “Shit”. It is in reference to the medical condition IBS, or Irritable bowel syndrome. It was coined in the United Kingdom, supposedly around 1500 AD, and in “”P r o p e r”” usage is used to refer to someone who is either very stupid, or uncivilized.

[@CoL_Drake]

the flag is called the Kyokujitsuki, the Rising Sun Flag. Not only was it used by japans old empire, but its also used again since 1954 on japans navy while the army has a little changed flag but still with the stripes. its REALLY CONTROVERSIAL as alot of asian nations hate that japan still use it and compare it with the german swastika. Games get often banned in China or other nations when this flag is shown and because of this reason, alot of games even playing in ww2 dont show either swastika OR this flag. also games about modern navies dont show this flag and basicly show the wrong japanese flag (the normal one) so the games dont get banned in asia. its really controversial that japan is using it again and really a shame japanese are not learning about it ... i mean japan used this flag while murdering tens of millions in asia during ww2 so i think its not really nice to use it again and show it to ur neighbours. But the biggest problem i think is that japan not learns good about ww2 especially all the crueltys and millions of murders japan did in ww2, i mean in germany we basicly learn like nonstop years after years nothing else to not repeat ww2 ever again.

[@jose6183]

I love your infinite calmness when addressing the meaning of dipshit. Had me in tears laughing.

[@Ornzora]

Kuma Can Japan: *Never know the truth about Japan* Indonesian: Let us introduce ourself

[@RobertSmith-kb3jl]

Korea and the Philippines might have something to say about that as well.

[@ashleybro6933]

For sure, living in Indonesia we saw a lot of the aftermath there. It certainly affected their values, with the way so many of the educated people in the city I lived in were forced on a death march, I think that made school an almost sacred thing, that being educated was a blessing and that it should be used to do good

[@Ryudayz]

When he was about to Google the word, I was like 'NO! Don't do it! Don't do it!' he did.

[@MrDDiRusso]

The video he's watching is full of sarcasm.

[@GregAtlas]

It is a very sensitive subject to most Japanese, but you may want to research the Nanjing Massacre. To my understanding, it isn't taught in most Japanese history courses.

[@sammya7745]

How many murican history books tell about 1,5 million german POW's murdered after the war by americans?

[@joaquincobas2223]

Source for that information? I don't seem to find something related to that, the closest thing I found were related to the soviets, not americans

[@shroomesh6456]

The silence after the bombs were dropped was to respect everyone who died from it

[@secretagentk1108]

Hey Bear, I just found your channel through a KZbin who does similar content. I really appreciate the subtitles, as they do in fact help. However, please be confident! As a native Englush speaker, I didn't have a lot of trouble understanding your English. The grammar was fairly solid, and I only noticed once that something wasn't quite right, but it was still understandable! がんばってよ

[@KumaCanJapan]

ありがとー！アリ🐜が10！

[@Dreamstrafe]

That channel really isn't to learn specifics about recent history, it's focus is a broad overview of an area or nation

[@aleks2194]

you must watch the videos on Unit 731, thats some japanese history you wont learn in a school

[@CertifiedSunset]

There are a few parts of the video that aren't quite accurate, the US didn't drop the bombs "to see if they worked" It was to force Japan into surrendering and as a show of force to scare Russia. And for clarification in the US school system it is emphasized (at least in my school) that dropping the bombs wasn't an easy descision for the US because they knew the kind of damage the bombs inflict and the civilian casulties. I'm not sure if other schools teach this but the US dropped pamphlets warning the Japanese people to leave the cities before the bombs were dropped but through propoganda the Japanese government convinced its people that they had America "on the run" attempting to call their bluff.

[@FfejTball]

Dude, what we learned here is usually garbage. Before the atomic bombs were dropped we firebombed Japan so much that most everything was already destroyed. They were already on the verge of surrender, dropping the atomic bombs was a show of force, 100%, a message to other countries.

[@joshbeezley4234]

I think it was supposed to be a joke

[@reydanielal-os9782]

@@joshbeezley4234 wait really?

[@umbles7007]

This is the most contested topic I ever see by historians. Some say Japan was already going to surrender, other's that the projected war was going to leave 100's of thousands dead, and the war extended for at least a year before surrender would have happened. Obviously the decision would be looked upon differently depending on which one you believe and everyone picks the one that fits their narrative best.

[@bigtime9597]

@@FfejTball Emperor Hirohito wasn't about to surrender. Even his Generals refused to do so. They were prepared to fight to the bitter end. Before the atomic bombs were dropped, an invasion of mainland Japan was being planned. Both sides knew it, so Emperor Hirohito was ready to conscript every man, woman and child, appealing to the love of their homeland and their Emperor. The problem was, he was going to give them outdated weaponry and they'd receive very little training. If the land invasion did take place, it was projected that at least 2 Million civilians would die in the invasion, to say nothing of the soldiers on both sides. Fast forward to a week or so before the bombs were dropped. We had air superiority over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so bombers loaded up with leaflets warning the civilians about the impending bombing, and scattered them throughout both cities. Many of the civilians refused to heed the warning. And then the bombs fell. It wasn't until both cities had been completely leveled by just two bombs that the Emperor chose to surrender. However, some of his General insisted they keep fighting, one of which committed Seppuku (ceremonial suicide) for "failing the Emperor".

[@JaneCMusic1]

Your English isn't bad. some Japanese people have trouble understanding English and prononcing it.

[@Fredrikschou]

yeah, the old flag (旭日旗, Kyokujitsu-ki) is not a manga thing. Try waving it in the face of some koreans, and you might get an intresting response (seriously, don´t) If you are curious why, try looking up the fall of Nanjing 1937, unit 731 and the concept of jongun-ianpu during ww2. If you never heard of this your history teachers should be ashamed of themselves. No need to dwell or emphasize the darker parts of ones history, but its inexcusable to ignore it.

[@AAA-di4qt]

It's funny how people in the comment section below are completely misunderstanding the "dipshit" bit, thinking it's some sort of genuine insult. American humour is more combative. In this situation, it could almost be likened to China calling Japan a dipshit the same way an older brother might tease their sibling. Ultimately Japan's writing system, initial forms of culture and government were heavily influenced by China, so in this time period could be considered as sort of siblings. Insults can also be interpreted entirely differently, like if I said to you "shut up, dipshit" while smiling and laughing over something in a conversation, it's clear I'm joking. Rather than being serious. "Dipshit" could almost be likened to the Japanese "Aho", fool or buffoon.

[@limecat7996]

lmao :') best part of the video was him learning a swear word. Edit: he seemed genuinely shocked lol

[@salahuddinyusuf]

Yeah that old Japanese flag is the flag of Imperial Japan. Some East Asian countries have very strong negative feelings towards it because it stirs up bad memories from World War II. China especially.

[@wizardsuth]

The main part I didn't know was that there were indigenous people in Japan who came there when there was a land bridge to the mainland. I had always assumed that Japan was first settled by people who came there in boats.

[@bambiwaddlefeet]

I think they were called the Ainu people

[@fredneecher1746]

@@bambiwaddlefeet Some were. There were others. There were always people who came before the people who are there now, and people who came before them too, and there will be people who will come after us. All of us have our rightful time while we're here.

[@thaneofeaston8157]

the ending got me, did not expect that from his tone the whole time.

[@oddindian1]

All I could think of was Papa Franku.

[@differnet]

The decision to drop nuclear bombs on Japan was heavily influenced by the experience of invading Okinawa. Based upon the ferocity of fighting in Okinawa and on the suicides by Japanese civilians, it was estimate that estimated that invading Japan would cost 1.7-4 million American casualties, including 400,000-800,000 fatalities, and five to ten million Japanese fatalities (suicide, victims of fighting, disease, and starvation). So, dropping the two bombs on Japan was meant to avoid the far more horrific alternative. If you are interested look up Operation Downfall. One must also look at Japanese war crimes to understand why the bombs were seen as a viable alternative. First, Japan is estimated to have killed about 9 million civilians during the war. Their human experimentation was significantly inhumane. Plus their history of enslavement of civilian populations is actually comparable to Nazi forced labor. And their treatment of POWs is notable for its barbarity. Repatriated POWs (few and far between), made it clear that Allied POWs would most likely be executed in a traditional invasion.

[@betsybattles2696]

You have the gist of it, people have forgotten how awful it was at that time.

[@redshirt49]

Well that's the justification they used anyway to make it seem like wiping a pair of cities off the map isn't totally a war crime. Other projections indicated the Japanese would have surrendered anyway within a few months. A large reason why the bomb was dropped and indeed why it was TWO of different constructions that were dropped was simply to see what they would do and how they compared to each other. There was a very strong attitude of "dammit, we built this thing and we want to see what it does". A lot of the scientists involved in building the thing though had strongly advised against it, as it had barely been adequately tested not to mention the fact that dropping WMDs on population centers isn't the sort of thing the "good guys" ought to be doing; indeed, there was also a very real concern that it might light the earth's atmosphere on fire (as it turns out : no). In the end though, the WHY of it could have very many or very few reasons and Truman was very tight-lipped about them so the best historians can do these days is guess and agree or disagree. You'll certainly never hear it from the military's mouth why they were eager to drop these shiny new A-bombs but didn't use the tried-and-true gas bombs (that even Hitler thought were too inhumane to employ) they were planning to use on Germany (but didn't in the end). It's a moot point anyway, the indiscriminate fire-bombing and carpet-bombing of civilian cities and infrastucture that *all* the parties involved in WW2 engaged in were just as devastating in the long run. The pointing of fingers and counting who killed more innocent civilians than the other guy is the most morbid game of Whataboutism this world had ever seen in its aftermath. No one came out of that war with clean hands. This war and WW1 before it are big reasons why the UN frowns upon the deliberate indiscriminate targeting of civilian infrastructure and living space in the rules of modern warfare.

[@captvimes]

This needs to be taught more because throw away comment like we wanted to see how it worked is not properly learning from history. Japanese culture meant they would not surrender in a conventional way. Plus Japan was also very close to getting thier own A bomb.

[@captvimes]

@@redshirt49 Japan was a submarine short of doing the same thing to the allies. You are spouting retoric from peacetime and have no idea.

[@captvimes]

@@redshirt49 Also Jaanese culture was very much against surrendering ever see how they treated allied troups that surrendered it wasnt in their culture. This was demonstrated clearly in the heavy losses capturing outlying islands before this.

[@johannmueller9660]

Maybe it's because the USA is 200 years old-ish that we learn about history from the beginning... Mesopotamia (3000 BC)... and move forward from there. I didn't know that Japan was 2000 years old-ish, or that the Japaneses didn't think to study history going farther back than that. [according to this video]

[@kpgrubb1]

I love Japan and am grateful that the USA has such a wonderful ally. Please forgive me for saying that this is an incredibly silly account of what the Empire of Japan did to its neighbors. And the incredible loss of life as the US Navy, US Marines, and US Army suffered (as well as the Japanese soldiers) as they fought from island to island fighting against the fanatical Imperial Japanese military. Please, Kuma, watch the HBO miniseries "The Pacific." It is by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, telling the documented stories of three American Marines who fought those island-to-island battles against the Imperial Japanese Military. After you have seen this miniseries, please react to it... I would love to see your reaction to it.

[@patrickbarner1380]

Hello kuma this is my frist video I have seen. But I have to say I'm from America I gotta say we love Japan I hope are cultures visit each other more. I love Japanese culture from all eras

[@yaya-nw4ic]

I think the "dipshit" part is for fun lol. In ancient China we call Japan 扶桑国. In our mythology, the sun is a three-legged golden raven that travels from east to west. Every morning the raven starts its journey from a heavenly tree named 扶桑神木, growing at the eastmost end of the world. And after we made contact with Japan, we recognize it as the place that nutured this great tree。Thus the name "扶桑国" and later on "日出之国".

[@zackfool8931]

The only thing more diverse than American culture is America's diverse forms of swearing

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

Or reasons for sweating

[@ibuprofriends]

3:00 oh my god lmaooo that was so cute

[@MegaRazorback]

It's like he's just seen something awe inspiring for the first time lol!

[@heenthousiast383]

He is too pure. too innocent. he must be protected at all times at any cost.

[@emanymton713]

We here in American schools also emphasize how bad the Atomic bombs are.

[@ObsidianHunter99]

Aww you skipped the best part with the shogunate and the mongol invasions :(

[@sworishina]

You should watch Bill Wurtz's "history of the entire world, i guess". It has a great part where the US goes to make Japan open the country to trade. The way Wurtz talks about it is just really funny

[@TastyChubz]

1:00 ok I'm not gay but that was the cutest "anyway" I've ever heard!

[@lbh002]

Wikipedia says that Wa literally means submissive, distant, or dwarf. The Dipshit reference was done for humor and as others have already state it is an insult in American English.

[@fredneecher1746]

It doesn't. It means 'harmony'. It was an amalgam of Buddhism, Confucianism and native religion (aka Shintoism). All three were said to be in harmony. There are different words in Japanese that all sound 'wa', but they have different kanjis. Incidentally, China looked down on Japan, but I think the portrayal of them in this video as being rude to them is gratuitous.

[@eyesofthefox]

Your english is really good!

[@atorsionx9406]

8:52 I learnt from my Japanese classmate in high school about what wasn't taught in Japan, though. Which was how Imperial Japanese troops treated the people of the countries they invaded. They committed atrocities.

[@chrisbovington9607]

You should not have skipped.

[@FriedToast]

It's funny that he said the teacher couldn't teach everything in class due to lack of time and he only made it to 100 pages of a 300-page book. Want to learn MORE! And then... skips thru the video. :o あれ？！

[@アポロ11号-e7b]

I'm Japanese. To tell the truth,we are taught about WW2 in detail including war crimes. My textbook talks about the Nanjing Massacre, the Pattern Death March, Unit 731, and the Burma-Thailand Railway. There are a lot of incorrect (and exaggerated) stereotypes about Japan on the Internet. We should not take them too seriously. Have you ever seen Japanese textbook we are using now? Just because few people don't know about WW2,it does not mean Japan's education system is bad... I really don't want you guys to belive deeply information on the internet . This doesn't just apply to war crimes, it applies to everything.

[@srahhh]

Americans can relate, we have our own stereotypes about a poor education system & it's frustrating when people exaggerate how stupid they are to make other countries laugh

[@アポロ11号-e7b]

@@srahhh Yeah. I once saw a video where they asked average Americans to answer a lot of geography questions, and they were unable to answer many of them. BUT ,of course , Just because there are ignorant people doesn't mean the education system is bad.... Moreover, What's worse is the exaggerated stereotypes about our country's history education, which is many times more delicate than geography education and may lead to a deterioration in international relations.

[@양윤석-l8g]

No it's not true

[@tiffanyhp7]

im sorry but when you googled dip shit, it killed meeee hahaha

[@Star_Scoot]

Do schools in Japan teach about the "comfort" women they tortured in history?

[@KumaCanJapan]

Yes, we learned about that historical issue in political and economy class in high school.

[@Star_Scoot]

@@KumaCanJapan what is Japan like first hand? My little sister and I have always wanted to visit ever since we were very very young. We don't know what to expect but we wish to visit, or maybe even live there, once we are both adults (I am almost 18 while she is 12 or 13)

[@KumaCanJapan]

That sounds great! I’ll try to make videos about Japan (mostly comedy videos though)!

[@nationalstudyacademykim5030]

So, I have a hypothetical question. If the US did not bomb the two cities where over 200K died and decided to invade Japan with lots of bombing from US bombers, this would have prolonged the war, maybe many scores of thousands of US would have died as well as millions of Japanese would have been sacrificed as well. Have you thought about this question?

[@GrasshopperKelly]

It would have prolonged it by 2-3 months maximum. Japan was already considering surrender, as Russia was also preparing for a beach head in the north of the Japanese home islands. America *Did* want to shorten the war, and the bombs 100% were the best tool they had to do it. Japan prepared for surrender after the first bomb, but wanted concessions and a negotiation. Japan then agreed to an unconditional one, and capitulated after Nagasaki. Ordering all naval and ground forces to surrender (Of course, not all did, and indeed some men fought on believing it was false propaganda. Including one man who believed he was still fighting, until the 1970's). The second purpose, was the reason Japan capitulated of course. A show of force. American had built these, and spent millions on making them. They wanted to show what they could do. Hence why globally, they are considered the largest terror bombings in history (No, I'm not saying US bad... Nor do I mean to create an argument over it. I don't believe the US were laughing back home watching with popcorn). On a side note, this is probably the only time in history "nuclear deterance" has worked.

[@lewisedwardson7776]

Good video. When you said you were hoping to learn more about modern Japanese history, I really felt that. I hope since then you have learned more and are better satisfied with your knowledge.

[@AzerothLatinoamerica]

I think thats a common problem in any education system, sure our history is REALLY important and they always say you must learn it to not repeat it, but...modern history (which is the result of old events) is barely touch on, so people dont relate the root causes of the problems and are reducted to slogans and people in power saying : this bad, this good.

[@lewisedwardson7776]

@@AzerothLatinoamerica Books don't touch as much on modern history because oftentimes career liars who get paid to say what their sponsors want end up being a significant portion of the "experts" in any field, especially history. Because of this, "experts" can never agree on what actually happened, as honest people have to fight against dishonest ones. The people who gave millions of dollars that resulted in war, genocide, starvation, and slavery, are still wealthy and powerful today, and paying money to textbook authors who will gloss over the details they don't want included. In many other countries, censorship is done by imprisoning (Japan or China) or killing (Saudi Arabia or Russia) people, and just because you have the legal freedom to say what you want in the US, people assume that means that people here are free to say the truth. Unfortunately there are still other repercussions for speaking the truth here. If you've spent your entire life studying history and your career depends on saying what they want you to say, you're not likely to touch the subjects they don't want you to touch if it means losing your job and not being able to find a new job in your field of study. You have freedom of speech, as long as you don't mind scrubbing toilets and mopping floors for the rest of your life and not getting to use the degree that you already accrued student loan debt for. Unfortunately, for modern history you have to do your own research, but there is so much misinformation out there and most people don't have a compass for the truth.

[@TBoneTony]

"Dipshit, I don't know the meaning of this word" says the Japanese guy in the video. Looks on Google. Eyes widen.

[@kovanova9409]

As someone studying Japanese and and seeing just how hard English is in retrospect your English is great!

[@ericcheng5496]

"in class they emphasized how bad and awful A-bomb was". I wonder if Japanese teachers also emphasize the more fundamental reason as to why this happened.

[@corneliuscapitalinus845]

That we in the west wanted to make a show of force to the commies, and made gross materialistic calculations that the Japanese had to let us rearrange their internal affairs instead of just knocking them out of other people's territory? Nah, the bomb was objectively terrible. We should have conquered them man to man if anything, but then I'm also unsure how people can have this weird standard where the Japanese taking foreign colonial territories was some crisis but the only reason it affected us was because we already were doing the same thing. The only justification is that it was our naked self interest being contended by the Japanese.

[@MrMrrome]

@@corneliuscapitalinus845 well when you consider the rape of Nanking, the rampant abuse of POWs and civilians under their control, and the fact the population was already radicalized into literally killing themselves for the emperor.... Yea they deserved the nukes.

[@trog7986]

@@corneliuscapitalinus845 should have conquered them "man to man"? Are you stupid? That's not how you fight a war. You try to kill as many of the enemy as possible while trying to keep as many of your people alive as possible. The Japanese poked a bear and then cried about it after America ripped out their guts. The estimated losses for American servicemen and Japanese civilians for a ground invasion were rediculous. The number of Japanese killed by those bombs was miniscule in comparison.

[@tlpineapple1]

@@corneliuscapitalinus845 Im sorry, but the moment you said "conquer them man to man" you lose all validity. Take a moment and look at the analysis of what a ground invasion would have entailed, not to mention that a ground invasion would of paved the way for a soviet invasion, creating a similar situation in Europe. Its easy to say "nuke bad", especially when you are ignorant of the geopolitical climate, societal, and cultural aspects of the time. Further when you cry about "they were only citizens!" you ignore the major fact of WWII and modern warfare. Its not about defeating the enemy in combat, if it was WWII would have ended before it even started. The wars were of industrial might, and no single battle would have stopped it. Hence why throughout the war, millions of civilians were killed, by all sides. (oh and btw, compared to even her allies, the united states barely killed any civilians.) We dont live in a fantasy land, it was war, and the nukes were the fastest way that would cost the least casualties, and given the fear the Soviets had a real chance to try and continue their sweep through europe, it was also a perfect demonstration to end the war

[@corneliuscapitalinus845]

@@tlpineapple1 I do not lose any validity. I am entirely aware of of what the situation entailed, but hold that doctrine of warfare to be unbecoming. By this rationale, the Japanese were in turn correct to experiment with plague bombs, and the Germans correct to experiment on their masses of prisoners. That is where a conception of pure utility ultimately leads. You have just made some massive sweeping assumptions, suggesting I know nothing of anything to do with the period in time because I I condemn the use of a nuke? My attitude is quite clearly reminiscent of idealised conceptions of the warrior - something you'd have noted if YOU had as much familiarity with all the social, cultural, geopolitical, etc aspects of the time. This attitude was in sharp decline by this time it's true, but the way you characterise conflict reveals that you don't have as broad an understanding as you believe. The entire feudal period, for example, championed these attitudes - Nobility, Honour, etc - although OFC it didn't always play out that way. I am writing on a phone that's playing up so forgive the clunkiness of the reply.

[@Qrafter]

Why would you skip a whole big part of the video

[@pokemonmaster8829]

@Ezequiel Hernandez from what I understood, in school they don’t learn about modern Japanese history, because they run out of time, and I’m guessing he wanted to keep the video under ten minutes so he skipped the part that I’m assuming most people in Japan learn a lot about

[@noctisocculta4820]

Fun video! While studying Japanese at university, we learned a little about Japanese history around WWII as it greatly impacted the language. Katakana fell out of favour, Nippong was changed to Nihon, and the flag was redesigned, all to avoid association with Imperial Japan. There were certain Kanji readings that we had to very carefully learn, and had to be very careful when writing Katakana, as these are extremely sensitive. Question: Did the map look strange to you? I'm from New Zealand, so to me it looked very weird. It did not accurately reflect our part of the world! Our version of WWII, as it pertained to the pacific, was a lot different from this video's.

[@hotdropknockdndc681]

Hello! My name is Zac and I am 34 years old and I am from the United States. I want to start off by saying I LOVE JAPAN and your rich and diverse history dating back to before the "recent" war time history. I want to also personally apologize for what my people did to your people with the A-Bomb. While I would be ignorant and arrogant for saying that without it, Japan wouldn't be where it is today. But instead I know how amazingly intelligent, artistic, and filled with pride, and filled with the want to advance into the future the Japanese people are. With that, I seriously believe Japan would be just as far if not farther along than you are today. I subscribed and Liked the video and would love to see more from you and maybe one day in the future I will be able to come to Japan to see the beautiful land of Japan with my own eyes as Japan is the only country that I find so interesting. Your people are of such high beauty and open minded and all my Japanese friends that I have had over the years have always been the bestest, most loyal friends I have ever had. I was introduced to Japanese cars in my teens and I began building, modifying, and becoming obsessed with Honda, Toyota, and Nissans and along with that as a young teenager, was introduced to Japanese Anime and that is when I learned about Japan's Pop-Culture which then created this love for Japan. As I got older, I became more interested in spirituality and philosophy and then into ancient history and art. This all mixed together is what has created who I am today, my interests, hobbies, and what define the things I consider beautiful. The landscape of Japan is so different than it is here in the US but luckily, the US is so diverse and big that there are so many places that can visually relate with various landscapes of various countries around the world just so much smaller that it feeds my hunger to want to adventure and experience them in a bigger, natural, and original way. Thank you for your content and I cannot wait to see more! That being said, I hope one day to make Japanese friends IN JAPAN! :)

[@stevemaurer8120]

A youtube video isn't the place to learn real history. At best, it'll be the Cliff's Notes version.

[@Dianasaurthemelonlord7777]

Funny thing a third A-bomb was built and actually planned to be dropped on either Kyoto or Tokyo and is in a museum in Fredericksburg, here in Texas which is dedicated to the Pacific War, I actually went once with an old friend, lot's of old guns, tanks, unifroms, planes, maps, and of course the crown jewel the bomb

[@MT-it9qt]

whew.... i thought they would talk about Japanese WWII brutality against unarmed prisoners and children.... that was a close one.

[@poptartstheyalludeme3419]

I am so shocked you weren't taught at least what the Imperial Flag of Japan was. Or that it's not even so widely understood that you just sort of knew growing up. Then again I'm British and we still proudly wave our imperial flag. But to be fair, to most British people it represents the Union of the British Isles and that is what the flag literally represents. I can sympathize though English history is generally taught about our history up to the Union - completely nothing - then world war 1 and 2. Resulting in similar levels of ignorance about what that flag represents to most countries. Great vid. Interesting stuff. :3

[@fredneecher1746]

Our flag is not an imperial flag. It represents our three combined kingdoms - England, Scotland and Ireland.

[@davidbaker1069]

Should have gone to Nanking, Manila, Shanghai, or Korea to see how bad the Japanese soldier was to everybody they attacked, which is why the bomb was used in Japan. For every brutal action, there is a reaction. Japan in the 1930’s and 40’s did a lot of very horrible things, the reaction was summed up in the quote, “Sow the seeds of war, reap the whirlwinds of destruction.”

[@zhouwu]

Ok, I'll go and Google what "dipshit" means. Oh. I didn't know that's what that character means. (Technically, not quite accurate. It just means short. But that's still kinda rude. Even if it can be considered bluntly accurate. It is not the most respectful character to use. But I'm sure Billy Wutz was just using artistic license to emphasise how offensive that word must be.)

[@politenessman3901]

The atomic bombs were not dropped to see what they would do (they already knew that from the trinity test), they were dropped in an effort to prevent the need for the land invasion (operation downfall) that was already being planned, the projected allied casualties for that operation were around half a million troops, Japanese casualties (inc civilians) were expected to be almost total, Japanese schoolgirls were being trained to use bamboo pikes. Serious consideration was given to "drenching Japan in chemical weapons".

[@Chillerll]

That is true. It was also a big problem that Japans media at the time was up to the moment of the nuclear attack pretending to win the war. The nuclear bombs made the population realize that Japan is about to lose which help to end the war quicker. Another consideration was that the Soviet Union was planning to invade Japan, too. If they did, Japan could have been divided like Korea.

[@carolgebert7833]

Wrong. They were dropped to demonstrate to the USSR that they had better stop now, rather than invade China and Japan. USSR grabbed Manchuria in the days before, and declined a Japanese offer of surrender. The USSR wanted to keep fighting.

[@politenessman3901]

@@carolgebert7833 You need to read some source material. the US wanted the USSR to invade Nth Japan, they put a lot of diplomatic effort into it and supplied Amphibious ships to assist them to do it, the bombs were dropped because the US wanted to end the war without the bloodbath of an invasion. Manchuria was of no concern to the US. Japan did NOT offer to surrender.

[@carolgebert7833]

@@politenessman3901 I know what the official record says, but you need to read some historical deconstruction. There is usually a lot more going on than the public are told. In truth, the allies could have bombed Japan into the stone age with regular bombs. Peace talks were already in-progress, via the Russians, who then ignored the offer and declared war against Japan, seizing Manchuria. The allies were worried the USSR would over-run China and Japan, just like they did eastern Europe. What display could possibly make the Russians pay attention to allied objectives, and force the Japanese to the table at the same time?

[@politenessman3901]

@@carolgebert7833 Historical deconstruction = fiction.

[@thereaper5743]

Always wanted to go to Japan to learn its unique history and culture. Anime is literally the add-on paid DLC to that wish.

[@aismameijere-cirsa]

Anyone else notice how when japanese comment on “History of Japan” it's always about the a-bombs but never about the things they did in ww2. I mean, Japan started it in Asia and then got hit back. Overall Japan got off easy for all their ww2 war crimes.

[@MsMoons123]

Exactly

[@rbloomquist69]

They aren't taught the full history, just bits and pieces

[@rbinsurance4654]

I have heard a WW II Japanese soldier say the Nuclear bombs dropped o Japan saved millions of lives as Japan would never have surrendered otherwise.

[@jacksmith-vs4ct]

there is some dispute about that as Stalin was very much eyeing japan and japan didn't want to fight Stalin due to obvious reasons in Stalin being quite brutal and they were worried that the US might allow Russia to take land from them (or be unable to stop them) if they got involved Some say that was the real reason the US bombed them to stop Russia from taking over. It seems very likely that Japan was merely months away from discussing terms with the US when the Bombs were dropped. Some of japans communications were even mistranslated as saying they would never surrender when that simply wasn't what they said.

[@rbinsurance4654]

@@jacksmith-vs4ct One thing for sure, I was not at the table of those who made the decisions.

[@williamst.germain3394]

@@jacksmith-vs4ct Actually the Japanese were preparing for a full on defense campaign of their southern most point. The exact point where the US, UK, and Common Wealth armies were going to launch an Amphibious landing that would have dwarfed D-Day dramatically. The operation was called Operation Downfall. The Japanese at this point had extremely limited resources only able to outfit 1.2 million of their soldiers out of the 3 million that they had. But they were conscripting out civilians as well with bamboo spears and other things for jungle guerilla warfare. It was predicted that the war would have lasted years longer because of this. The Japanese leaders at the time did not want to give an 'unconditional surrender' and so were going to use everything they had. But due to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki this provoked Japanese leaders to give in and surrender.

[@mykofreder1682]

Japanese centric history that emphasizes the bomb but fails to mention if the war went on just 6 more months probably another million civilians in occupied territories would have died (using the 2 million per year average of just Chinese civilians let alone other countries). If the war would have gone one a year and Russia got involved in China that number could be 2 or 4 million more dead civilians in occupied countries. Before you weigh the bomb look up civilian deaths in just China along with maybe have been half that number again in other countries, and do math on the monthly civilian deaths and the cost of kicking the war can down the road. When you look at deaths of civilians who were invaded there really isn't a good argument to not use what ever is needed on the invader to end this as fast as possible.

[@loganj.7666]

They would never have surrendered, and many Japanese soldiers didn't believe that Japan surrendered at all (thought it was allied propaganda) and continued to fight WW2 for 5 years or 10 years more, or in Hiroo Onoda's case 30 years later, who was still "fighting in WW2" until 1974.

[@NVRAMboi]

Suggestion: Keep in mind the history of Japan, both good and bad, is the history of the human race. At times we've all been good or great. At times we've been horrible savages. As human beings. The atrocities committed by human beings have always happened, continue to happen and very likely will happen in the future. The important point is for each of us to refuse to be a part of current or future horrific acts, or, perhaps more importantly, to have an awareness of such things in their early stages around us so that just maybe we can prevent or mitigate innocent deaths. It seems all Western nations are practicing "revisionist history" to "sanitize" the historic record. That is a mistake. Best wishes from the USA.

[@shopnil4]

The Japan Flag at 6:30 is I believe the military flag, which is still used today. It's just that since people fighting only saw the military flag, so thats what every associated with the Japanese.

[@oniwaban3198]

"Imperial" flag*