<p>Essenar,</p>
<p>It’s really rough. Many parts of Japan’s government (including the educational sector) will not even openly admit any wrongdoing in Korea or China. Because of this, many Japanese students never even learn about the “comfort women” in Korea, etc. This desire to ignore the past is troubling. And furthermore, it’s even more troubling considering the institutionalized xenophobia. It’s like this (but not necessarily AS serious): Germany doesn’t discuss/openly admit to their wrongdoings in Poland nor do they teach about it in their education system. Then, Germany doesn’t allow long-term residents of Polish-Jewish blood to vote… Nor do they allow the descendants (born in Germany) of those people to vote… That’s a very serious problem.</p>
<p>And young Japanese people educated in America will, of course, know about these things. But it’s Japanese people living in Japan that are largely unaware of these things. </p>
<p>It’s pretty serious… Like… If I was full Japanese and I moved to Japan, they still wouldn’t consider me “nihonjin.” Nihonjin is reserved for full Japanese people (blood and culture). And it’s perceived that only nihonjin are citizens. So it’s like a perceived official culture that is expressed institutionally.</p>